Most people don't argue bible texts but rather they argue the dogma put onto the bible texts.
How do you do the one without the other?
FASCINATING debate: do we actually know what JESUS taught at all??
by Terry 34 Replies latest watchtower bible
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THE GLADIATOR
Jesus taught us not to mess with the Romans.
If only he had asked me, I could told him that loving your enemies is not a bright idea.
Calling your peers hypocrites, who are full of dead men's bones, is asking for trouble.
Smashing up a Jewish temple is a big no, no.
As for telling Rome that you have your own kingdom, was he nuts!
When in Rome...
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mindmelda
I didn't get back to this thread until now, but, no, I think secular humanism pretty much demonstrates that people can be good or "moral" without benefit of Christ.
What belief in any religion or philosophy that has elements of humanism built into it is give a person a structured way to express that, and an organized way if they wish. I was discussing that with someone the other day, and what it seems to me is that many people use religion that way, but they may not necessarily believe in every tenet or dogma or their chosen faith, but enough that it doesn't create that much dissonance for them. They use it as a means to express their spirituality, their morality, their altruism, whatever qualities of an esoteric nature that appeal to them.
But, from what I read, what we call "morality" is simply an innate trait to help us form social bonds and then we intelligently form social constructs to encourage it. Even chimps have the rudiments of it, they can and do behave altruistically in certain situations. Anything that increases survival tends to remain and dominate as a trait, and there's a mathematical dynamic that proves that any action that benefits both yourself AND others is the one that tends to persist, as it gives everyone a leg up, in terms of survival. (True economically, socially and in evolutionary terms.)
Evolution tends to support that sort of thing...social creatures, who became social in the first place because there's safety and comfort in numbers, socially oriented creatures tend to kick social misfits to the curb and they get less chance to breed, survive and pass on their traits.
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debator
Hi terry
Good question, it certainly isn't easy. With the amount of different Christian denominations out there. They are no longer identitified by their Christianity but by what dogmas they believe, that are perculiar to their religion. Getting back to basics is good with the bible. Noting that it wasn't written for complicated philosophical concepts but for Fred Bloggs your average man to understand.
I honestly believe the Witnesses are nearest to what the first century christians believed but I allow others may disagree. That is their option.
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designs
A good and caring young Jew got his image confiscated by some really horrible Bishops who all but made a sick laughing stock of him.
Do a little good each day, care for the earth, feed the hungry, you'll be very much in the mode of this good Jew.
Shalom aleichem