A Christmas gift; thank you! In addition to the harm of the thought of Marx and the actions of Lenin, the impact of Nietzsche was only beginning to be felt and has now come to full flower. His impact on higher education today is palpable, paradoxically akin to a religion, albeit in disguise.
A Christmas gift; thank you! In addition to the harm of the thought of Marx and the actions of Lenin, the impact of Nietzsche was only beginning to be felt and has now come to full flower. His impact on higher education today is palpable, paradoxically akin to a religion, albeit in disguise.
Marx was a brilliant political philosopher, and to describe his work as causing 'harm' is ridiculous. Marx is the reason why we have grown and evolved to care for the sick and disabled, to educate our children, and to feed the poor.
I find the entire narrative on the New Testament to lack any credibility, but I would endorse turning water into wine: that was a cool trick. Shame it didn't actually happen, and neither was Mary a virgin - this kind of nonsense just does not work in an educated society: we all know the New Testament consists mainly of fiction.
Do you not realize that your mind is bound by time and space? Theoretical physics posits the existence of as many as nine realms of reality, perhaps youтАЩve heard? Kind of gauche to pass judgment on a Being that not only transcends time, space and all other realms, but actually communicated in writing with his three-dimensional creatures and even took on their form. And, it doesnтАЩt hurt His feelings that you have the temerity to question His existence. Not. One. Bit.
The Truth of Scripture is not open to anyone who approaches it with arrogance and disdain. Without humility, your search will be in vain. We spoke earlier about Truth. Jesus said, тАЬI am the way, the truth and the life.тАЭ I challenge you to lay aside your preconceptions and take the time to read the book of Matthew in one sitting, with your mind being open to the prospect of just maybeтАж
Oddly enough I can handle the Cinderella story as a prototype myth of rags to riches, but I am simply unwilling to suspend my disbelief quite as far as reading The Bible, which is an astonishing work of brazen fiction from start to finish, containing more propaganda than any other book ever written ;-)
But you don't consider yourself propagandized? Most folks I know who are seeking the Truth don't rely on what they are told by others, but investigate original sources for themselves with an open mind.
The ancient Egyptians pinned it: there was an afterlife, and all you needed to inherit it was wealth, a decent funeral, a deep enough and inviolable grave, and the right kind of pickling techniques.
Christians democratised this: rather than pickle your organs in the hope of reincarnation, they believed that some great supernatural divine justice system would be set up to ensure that the 'bad souls' could be separated from the 'good souls' : adding the extra but conflicting incentive that the 'believers' could be separated from the 'unbelievers' . So, a bad man who believed and repented could be saved, but a good man who did not believe was doomed to the fiery pits.
As any line manager knows, all performance management systems are similarly flawed, and indeed, often counterproductive.
On any reasonable analysis, these two fundamental criteria of Final Judgement are both arbitrary and also in conflict.
I'm afraid that Santa will give me coal this year, for having an enquiring mind.
There is a rather wide swath of disagreement within Christendom regarding very substantial matters. Your summary oversimplifies. My belief is that there is an afterlife and it's God's call, but if our motives are selfish and self-serving, we arenтАЩt paying attention. No, inquiring minds are welcome, and sorely needed! With the right attitude, questions about the meaning of Scripture yield a rich reward. But, as mentioned earlier, humility is the key prerequisite. тАЬGod resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.тАЭ
Understood. While I have a good deal of respect for Catholic social thought by the likes of John Courtney Murray, Francis Canavan and Richard John Neuhaus, Catholic doctrine, not so much.
Venerating the (former) Virgin Mary was something I could never get my head around.
Transubstantiation? No, that misses the point of the matter.
Baptism of infants for original sin? Nope.
The infallibility of the Pope? Negative.
Putting papal decrees above Scripture? Uh uh.
Forbidding priests to marry? A direct violation of Scripture. This absurdity led to the sexual abuse of children that has yet to be fully investigated and disclosed. An absolute abomination. тАЬIt would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.тАЭ
A stumbling block, granted. However, the challenge remains.
A Christmas gift; thank you! In addition to the harm of the thought of Marx and the actions of Lenin, the impact of Nietzsche was only beginning to be felt and has now come to full flower. His impact on higher education today is palpable, paradoxically akin to a religion, albeit in disguise.
Marx was a brilliant political philosopher, and to describe his work as causing 'harm' is ridiculous. Marx is the reason why we have grown and evolved to care for the sick and disabled, to educate our children, and to feed the poor.
Bullshit
No, that would be Jesus Christ.
I find the entire narrative on the New Testament to lack any credibility, but I would endorse turning water into wine: that was a cool trick. Shame it didn't actually happen, and neither was Mary a virgin - this kind of nonsense just does not work in an educated society: we all know the New Testament consists mainly of fiction.
Do you not realize that your mind is bound by time and space? Theoretical physics posits the existence of as many as nine realms of reality, perhaps youтАЩve heard? Kind of gauche to pass judgment on a Being that not only transcends time, space and all other realms, but actually communicated in writing with his three-dimensional creatures and even took on their form. And, it doesnтАЩt hurt His feelings that you have the temerity to question His existence. Not. One. Bit.
The Truth of Scripture is not open to anyone who approaches it with arrogance and disdain. Without humility, your search will be in vain. We spoke earlier about Truth. Jesus said, тАЬI am the way, the truth and the life.тАЭ I challenge you to lay aside your preconceptions and take the time to read the book of Matthew in one sitting, with your mind being open to the prospect of just maybeтАж
Oddly enough I can handle the Cinderella story as a prototype myth of rags to riches, but I am simply unwilling to suspend my disbelief quite as far as reading The Bible, which is an astonishing work of brazen fiction from start to finish, containing more propaganda than any other book ever written ;-)
But you don't consider yourself propagandized? Most folks I know who are seeking the Truth don't rely on what they are told by others, but investigate original sources for themselves with an open mind.
The ancient Egyptians pinned it: there was an afterlife, and all you needed to inherit it was wealth, a decent funeral, a deep enough and inviolable grave, and the right kind of pickling techniques.
Christians democratised this: rather than pickle your organs in the hope of reincarnation, they believed that some great supernatural divine justice system would be set up to ensure that the 'bad souls' could be separated from the 'good souls' : adding the extra but conflicting incentive that the 'believers' could be separated from the 'unbelievers' . So, a bad man who believed and repented could be saved, but a good man who did not believe was doomed to the fiery pits.
As any line manager knows, all performance management systems are similarly flawed, and indeed, often counterproductive.
On any reasonable analysis, these two fundamental criteria of Final Judgement are both arbitrary and also in conflict.
I'm afraid that Santa will give me coal this year, for having an enquiring mind.
There is a rather wide swath of disagreement within Christendom regarding very substantial matters. Your summary oversimplifies. My belief is that there is an afterlife and it's God's call, but if our motives are selfish and self-serving, we arenтАЩt paying attention. No, inquiring minds are welcome, and sorely needed! With the right attitude, questions about the meaning of Scripture yield a rich reward. But, as mentioned earlier, humility is the key prerequisite. тАЬGod resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.тАЭ
Not really: I spent long enough in Catholic schools to realise that this Bleeding Heart and Holy Mary cult was all baloney.
Understood. While I have a good deal of respect for Catholic social thought by the likes of John Courtney Murray, Francis Canavan and Richard John Neuhaus, Catholic doctrine, not so much.
Venerating the (former) Virgin Mary was something I could never get my head around.
Transubstantiation? No, that misses the point of the matter.
Baptism of infants for original sin? Nope.
The infallibility of the Pope? Negative.
Putting papal decrees above Scripture? Uh uh.
Forbidding priests to marry? A direct violation of Scripture. This absurdity led to the sexual abuse of children that has yet to be fully investigated and disclosed. An absolute abomination. тАЬIt would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.тАЭ
A stumbling block, granted. However, the challenge remains.