Theology

[OmegaZilla]

lol you aint shit

[RagingDragon]

You know... I'll throw this out there to keep the thread going in a somewhat rational direction, outside of the 'look how smart I am' athiests who get their rocks off by reading their own clever posts that they've already written a hundred times.

The mass-murder you claim that the Christian god commits is all justified within the context of the Hebrew bible. It's not meant to be a fuzzy, feel-good Buddhist sort of religion. It's about judgment, condemnation of a very real (within the religion) sin, and ultimate redemption.

God has lots of obvious flaws within the text, but so have all gods. Those of you who are athiests or believe another religion rationalize this by your understanding that god is man-made. Christians usually rationalize this by understanding that the image of man comes from God, ultimately meaning God is as fallible, in the end, as man, and learns.

There are also lots of interesting theories about how the mass killings/genocides in the Hebrew Old Testament had something to do with the Nephilim, genetic inter-breeding, giants, etc etc... It's kind of crazy, but no crazier than anything else in the Christian (or any) bible, and is supported heavily by apocryphal texts.

Don't even argue the apocrypha with me, either. A bunch of assholes got together and decided what goes and what stays. To me, and to most secular people, all of the books have the same merit and bearing on the religion.

[Cvalda]

Christians usually rationalize this by understanding that the image of man comes from God, ultimately meaning God is as fallible, in the end, as man, and learns.

No they don't The majority Christian view is that God is infallible. That's the entire goddamn point of worshipping him.

[RagingDragon]

They may claim that, but talk to them for fifteen seconds and they'll admit that God has expressed at least some human traits in the bible. He's jealous, and he's expressed regret over creating humanity, just to point out the obvious ones.

Real Christians that have thought about their beliefs (gasp) have to come to terms with this.

Many correctly say that part of Jesus' purpose was to allow God to accept humanity in its funk ass condition, and/or he created Jesus so that he would never be jealous or wrathful again. That's canonical. Christians don't have to fulfill the strict Old Testament laws anymore. They have another path of salvation, and this allows God to chill.

[Cvalda]

Real Christians that have thought about their beliefs (gasp) have to come to terms with this.

What separates a real Christian versus a fake Christian

[Aspie]

lol RD go home you're sober

[MoonerSK]

What separates a real Christian versus a fake Christian

fake christian could be someone who is christian because his parents were and he was raised as one. he goes to church because he always did. he don't neccesarily need to believe in god, he just never thought about it, he don't care. god do not have a big role in his life basically all he does is that he goes to church now and then and when someone asks him about his belief that he says he is a christian. you know stuff like that

[Sabby]

I thought Jesus came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Unless I misunderstand that (OMG U NEED DA CONTECKS) then the Old Testament never got tossed out. We're still supposed to be killed by mob justice for planting seeds too close to each other, because that's wasteful and we live in the desert.

[RagingDragon]

lol RD go home you're sober

A welcome twist on the old standby!

What separates a real Christian versus a fake Christian

Christianity, and any religion, is a spiritual commitment. If you don't think about it, and truly live your life in devotion and observation of it, you aren't a true follower of that faith no matter what you call yourself.

A spiritual commitment is meaningful and should be life-changing. We have too many religious people that are religious because it's trendy, or because that's just what everyone else does. They kind of shit on the real concept of belief in a spiritual doctrine, which will always involve a deep and thoughtful commitment when true. This is true for any religion. I'm sure there are plenty of McDonald's Buddhists too.

I also like what Mooner said.

I thought Jesus came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Unless I misunderstand that (OMG U NEED DA CONTECKS) then the Old Testament never got tossed out. We're still supposed to be killed by mob justice for planting seeds too close to each other, because that's wasteful and we live in the desert.

In fulfilling the law, he made it so the rest of us don't have to. That's pretty basic. But the Christian church seems a little confused when it comes to where and how to understand this lol.

Rabbinic Judaism still operates by most of these Old Testament laws, whenever possible. They do not acknowledge Jesus as the messiah, like Islam, only as another prophet that never claimed to be God incarnate.

[Cvalda]

We have too many religious people that are religious because it's trendy, or because that's just what everyone else does.

I'd wager a guess that that's pretty much why the concept of religion thrives in general...

[RagingDragon]

I'd wager a guess that that's pretty much why the concept of religion thrives in general...

Lol. You can tell a 'real' Christian, or a real follower of any religion for that matter, by their life and words.

They're sometimes like, these monks or nuns or something, that actually take the words literally and drastically change their lives according to them! Whoa hooooo what a crazy concept!

Most would rather watch monday night football and take Molly at concerts, and then luckily 'sorry Jesus' at the last minute. Sweet bro.

[Cvalda]

They're sometimes like, these monks or nuns or something, that actually take the words literally and drastically change their lives according to them! Whoa hooooo what a crazy concept!

Sacrificing your life and sexuality to theological bondage, simply on faith, is kind of crazy concept, yeah...

[RagingDragon]

People devote their lives to many things, they just don't think of them in the same light.

Plus even though most religious people perceive that their bondage is actually from living in the humanistic world itself, plenty of people enjoy bondage.

[Sabby]

I actually have to agree with Cvalda here. Devotion is seen as a very positive thing, but it's more dependent on what that person is devoted to. Devotion in itself isn't quantifiable. There are definitely stupid things to devote yourself to. The logic behind a life devoted to, say, Biblical literalism, isn't even remotely the same as, say, devotion to a spouse or family member.

In other words, yeah, devoting your entire life to a crazy concept is crazy It's kind of in the description.

[BANE]

The logic behind a life devoted to, say, Biblical literalism, isn't even remotely the same as, say, devotion to a spouse or family member.

If it makes you happy, sure it is.