Kathryn
It was on fire when I laid down on it.
Hey. I try.:foryou:
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Should Christianity Be Easy?
- Thread starter connermt
- Start date
Hey. I try.:foryou:
sojourner
Annoyingly Progressive Since 2006
Or maybe he's simply a pansophistic iconoclast...
lunamoth
Will to love
Maybe...if I knew what that is.
InformedIgnorance
Do you 'know' or believe?
'Should' Christianity be ___? supposes a reason, therefore the answer is dependant on the reason for Christianity, who's reason? the average devotee's? the struggling devotee? the clergy's? God's?
I think it depends on what you believe is the purpose of Christianity, what it is 'supposed' to achieve.
For many people I believe the answer is to make the devotee's better people (for whatever cause - i.e. heaven, gratitude towards god or whatever); if we take this as being the purpose, then Christianity as a system of philosophies and beliefs should encourage people to become 'better', by providing an 'ideal', providing some sort of guide or set of principles to follow and providing a means by which devotees who wish to become 'better' can measure themselves against those principles - including the capacity to resolve their shortcomings (especially if the 'ideal' is principles as one of those measures - which is so far out of the reach of devotees as to be something to constantly strive for and fail to measure up to) to assist them in reducing the likelihood of further shortcomings in the future. Christianity provides Christ as the ideal and the Saints as slightly lesser ideals, provides sins by which to regulate behaviour and repentance by which to resolve their sins (which become unavoidable if measured against Christ which can either engender the desire to better oneself or despondence from realising that the ideal is impossible to measure up against)
I think it depends on what you believe is the purpose of Christianity, what it is 'supposed' to achieve.
For many people I believe the answer is to make the devotee's better people (for whatever cause - i.e. heaven, gratitude towards god or whatever); if we take this as being the purpose, then Christianity as a system of philosophies and beliefs should encourage people to become 'better', by providing an 'ideal', providing some sort of guide or set of principles to follow and providing a means by which devotees who wish to become 'better' can measure themselves against those principles - including the capacity to resolve their shortcomings (especially if the 'ideal' is principles as one of those measures - which is so far out of the reach of devotees as to be something to constantly strive for and fail to measure up to) to assist them in reducing the likelihood of further shortcomings in the future. Christianity provides Christ as the ideal and the Saints as slightly lesser ideals, provides sins by which to regulate behaviour and repentance by which to resolve their sins (which become unavoidable if measured against Christ which can either engender the desire to better oneself or despondence from realising that the ideal is impossible to measure up against)
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lunamoth
Will to love
I think Christianity is ... accessible. There is no need to do more than find peace and fulfillment in it by going to church, praying, reading the Bible, doing the rituals, or being part of the Christian community. It does not have to be a head thing. But, for those who wish to go deeper, there is depth and breadth of scholarship to keep one intrigued.
Good point. For most of the world, Christ's message remains simple and clear. Love God with all your heart, soul and strength, And, love your neighbor as yourself. That is how most all will be judged. Mathew 25:31-52 (the Last Judgment) confirms this.
The greater "nuances" taught by the scholars are their to bolster the faith of the faithful and to maybe become inspired by such revelations and truth. Whether those nuances are of great value to the high-minded doubter, I am thinking maybe not in most cases. But they can still get in the first way noted above though.
So god makes people work for his acceptance? That doesn't sound very loving.
Maybe I should calrify: easy meaning no need for advance education in understanding what should be simple concept.
Do you really believe that you would do your children a kindness by just handing them everything they want? Do you believe your children would be able to make a life for themselves without any education? I would say no, on both counts. I believe that God wants us to keep learning- just as parents want their children to keep learning. No, we don't need to "work for acceptance" but we do have to work to grow in our faith. Just as we have to exercise to keep our bodies strong.
InformedIgnorance
Do you 'know' or believe?
I would suggest connermt, that given your reaction to their responses, you might be better off posting such threads in the Non-Theistic/Non-Religious Beliefs DIR or the intra-faith board; on the other hand, in the general religious debates your thread is subjected to greater scrutiny.
sojourner
Annoyingly Progressive Since 2006
"All-knowledgeable basher of faith."
Jeremiah
Well-Known Member
"But a good solid knowledge of early Christianity, the early Church, and the development of Judaism, the nation of Israel, etc. is very helpful in making sense out of the rest of history, up to current events. The rise and fall of the Roman Empire, the Reformation, the conflicts in the Middle East, the spread of communism and the Cold War - just to name a few pretty significant events in history - all can be traced back at least in part to doctrines based on biblical events and their ramifications. "
As long as it is real history and not made up history.
"Silly person. If truth was as easy to define and determine as you seem to think it is, we'd already be living in a utopia.
(Looks around)
Nope, no sign of utopia yet."
A bit rude....
"you seem to think"
I am sorry but what were my thoughts on determining/defining truth? I don't remember posting them in this thread. Perhaps you'd like to quote it for me.....
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Very good points - thanks!
You can't legitimately compare the limited actions of a parent with the limitless ability of an almight deity.
:slap:
As a parent, if I had unlimited abilities, I would ensure my children would not have any chance in spending eternity in hell.
:no:
He doesn't have to quit the thread just because you said so.
To not be a literal reader of the bible, you sure can't take that with any salt or humor....:sarcastic
e.r.m.
Church of Christ
Really good question!
I don't think the difficulty is with average intelligence people reading and understanding the Bible. The difficulty is when these people are biased and influenced by other people's ideas. People are very vulnerable to being influence with false ideas. The book Made to Stick is a good reference book on how this happens. In the Bible, it advocates for diligence . 1 Timothy 4:16 and gives examples of people who are diligent Acts 17:10-11. Unfortunately, these days more effort is required to distinguish between scripture and what sounds like scripture, but isn't. For those who teach scripture to others, the burden is great because they will be judged more strictly.
I hope I helped answer your question. If I missed anything, let me know.
Scott1
Well-Known Member
How many times do I have to tell you that I don't believe in a literal hell? And I don't see God or the idea of God the same way you do.
blackout
Violet.
People will always see things through their own eyes.
This idea however that the bible is somehow gods authoritative word
causes people to hear god sayin' all KINDS of (authoritative) things.
Even entirely conflicting things.
Hundreds of them.
Even thousands.
As an authoritative god book, it's a mess.
This idea however that the bible is somehow gods authoritative word
causes people to hear god sayin' all KINDS of (authoritative) things.
Even entirely conflicting things.
Hundreds of them.
Even thousands.
As an authoritative god book, it's a mess.
That's an important concept, but I'd replace the word FALSE with ANY. It's the receptiveness of the individual more than the idea being resented it seems to me.