Throughout the gospels, Jesus says heaps of things like "do not worry about tomorrow, pursue first the kingdom of heaven and what you need will be given to you(not necessarily what you need to survive)" "do not horde wealth" "I never knew you, away from me you evil-doers" "I have not come to bring peace, but the sword (please go and read the full chapter)" and "what good is it to gain the entire world but lose your soul". These imply Christianity is about authenticity.In this case, Christianity is defeatist. As a contingency of the problem of evil, birth defects, and the unknown, there's no guarantee of salvation, even if you're authentic. This is because either God is evil, or god's power is limited to an unknown extent. In addition our souls could be biologically rigged to self destruct before we can demonstrate who we are. They could even act out false patterns before self destructing.That doesn't mean there isn't some merit to Christianity. You shouldn't be divided against yourself, you should pursue righteousness, and the path to salvation is straight and narrow. I beseech you all, seek the ontologically perfect truth, the bread of life, and mastermind your places in the world. Thank you for listening to my Ted talk.
>>18001467There's no redemption without sin. The innovation of Christianity is the mechanism of salvation. If we imagine polytheism as localized and tribalistic in its salvation, and early monotheism as objective, (meaning the rich and powerful are saved) Christianity was the inevitable rise of a religion where personal commitment outranked worldly achievement and even sin. It was inevitable because humanity in the moment is more powerful than any abstract thing valued by civilization. Previous religions that served power were always screwing over a large majority of people. who remembers this classic video about Satan? >https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3dzKfonqDsReligious thought was the philosophy of the period, ever-changing to reflect how people saw the world.
>>18001467I wouldn't be surprised if there was an undiscovered ontological model complicated enough to explain the universe perfectly, wherein immortality is physically possible
>>18001467everything after the pentateuch is just social commentary, nothing in it is suppsoed to establish some kind of centralized religon
This is fucking retardedYou're a illiterate fat idiotThe theme that humans are too small and dumb and have no intellectual or moral grounds to question God - ever - is pounded over and over in the Old Testament. Jesus didn't soften this message at all, so it stands.Are birth defects evil? Who is fucking asking, you? Birth defects exist, and God is good. What God says is good is good. Your take on it and the confusion you feel trying to piece together a rationale are both wastes of time. You should praise, obey, and worship God instead of trying to figure out what the jigsaw puzzle looks like when the box is bigger than your entire understanding.Jesus, on the other hand, pounded one message over and over: Help your fellow men. Share your stuff. Work to be nice to them. No matter what.If you are trying to strip Christianity down to a message you can wake up to every day, and it doesn't include "Good and evil aren't my business" and "Be nice to everyone" you have allowed your own problems to smear a simple set of undisputed moral messages i.e. you're a fat kid who wants something other than what Jesus and God want
>>18002315by your logic the pentateuch itself isn't meant to establish an organized religionyou are a moron
>>18002316It's an interesting take. On the other hand, moral decisions, and even ambiguity, DO arise nearly every day. You get the same problem with utilitarianism and other apparently sinple moral systems. Good and evil are definitionally beyond our control yes but we are still required to make judgements. For example, 2000 years of tradition have been required to make sense of moral obligations when other people beyond yourself are affected by your actions (turn the other cheek for yourself, but what about when you have a duty to protect others?).In my opinion, this expansive tradition still doesn't adequately answer a lot of questions. proof: modern day political philosophy in notionally catholic and orthodox countries. The role of the state in racial policy and immigration are HUGE areas that we are effectively left in the dark on, for example.So yes, in a sense the moral messages are "undisputed" but the peripheral edge cases of the time of Christ are now in my opinion so large as to warrant very significant debate
>>18002530How would you know? Your understanding of the tradition is superficial.
No, salvation is guaranteed, even if one is authentic.
>>18001467>not following clergyReally? Then how do you explain this?"Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you." (hebrews 13:17)
