No, you were saying that the central message was " This is how to get into heaven." We were saying it's not reducible to a bargain.The Pixie wrote:My point was that a lot of Christians think there is a central message to the Bible, and therefore it is not "ridiculous" of me to ask you guys what you think it is.
Okay, neither of you can discern any such message. I suppose we need to accept that and move on.
What is hell?
Moderator:Metacrock
Re: What is hell?
Px, I didn't mean to infer the question was "ridiculous of you to ask", just that, if there is an entity like "God," it's prima facie ridiculous to believe such an entity will "make a deal with you", isn't it?My point was that a lot of Christians think there is a central message to the Bible, and therefore it is not "ridiculous" of me to ask you guys what you think it is.
(Of course, the Jewish belief has always been that God DOES IN FACT have a "deal" (convenant) with a specific group of people or culture - ie them - but this belief is espoused IN SPITE of its ridiculousness and unreasonableness & not in denial of same.)
The “One” is the space of the “world” of the tick, but also the “pinch” of the lobster, or that rendezvous in person to confirm online pictures (with a new lover or an old God). This is the machinery operative...as “onto-theology."
Dr Ward Blanton
Dr Ward Blanton
Re: What is hell?
Ah, right.
So what is the central message in your opinion?
So what is the central message in your opinion?
Re: What is hell?
there were church fathers who dealt with it that way,I think Oregin for example.The Pixie wrote:This has become a popular belief in Christianity recently as sensibilitiers have changed. Nowadays the idea of eternal torture is considered morally wrong, so many Christians have redefined hell to make it more acceptable, so God is not morally culpable for the torture of billions. Thus Christianity reflects a difference in human thinking, rather than the divine.Jim B. wrote:I'm not sure I believe that hell is a literal place or even a condition. It might be a metaphor for irrevocable separation from God or for annihilation.
Have Theology, Will argue: wire Metacrock
Buy My book: The Trace of God: Warrant for belief
Buy My book: The Trace of God: Warrant for belief
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Re: What is hell?
Jumping in here as a non-Christian but sort of fellow traveler, it would be kind of silly for God to create a world whose point was to get to heaven instead of just making it all heaven to begin with (to state things naively).
It's true that a lot of American Christians would say that believing in Jesus to get to heaven is the point, but you know Christianity isn't reducible to what Christians in just one time and place think about it. There are also Christian groups who try to "get back to basics" all the time, without agreeing what those basics are: is it taking the King James(!)
Bible literally and following all the rules they can find? Is it feeding the poor and visiting widows? Following Jesus' "Two Great Commandments" or
the Sermon on the Mount? Is it just saying the magic words to get saved?
Not to mention all the Christians following the elaborately worked institutions of Roman Catholicism or the various Orthodox Churches.
It's not the case that I don't have a stake in how this comes out, as I identify as post-Christian and would kind of like that to sound positive rather than negative (i.e. accepting Christian insights, not going back to Paganism or superstition, etc. rather than "Christianity is toast").
It's true that a lot of American Christians would say that believing in Jesus to get to heaven is the point, but you know Christianity isn't reducible to what Christians in just one time and place think about it. There are also Christian groups who try to "get back to basics" all the time, without agreeing what those basics are: is it taking the King James(!)
Bible literally and following all the rules they can find? Is it feeding the poor and visiting widows? Following Jesus' "Two Great Commandments" or
the Sermon on the Mount? Is it just saying the magic words to get saved?
Not to mention all the Christians following the elaborately worked institutions of Roman Catholicism or the various Orthodox Churches.
It's not the case that I don't have a stake in how this comes out, as I identify as post-Christian and would kind of like that to sound positive rather than negative (i.e. accepting Christian insights, not going back to Paganism or superstition, etc. rather than "Christianity is toast").
Re: What is hell?
I think the major point,the bottom line to Christianity is to know God (this is just my theory I know I don't know God's ultimate purposes). seems to be God created a physical world because to crate free moral agents who will willingly choose the Good, he wants us to go thorough a process of seeking because that's how we will internationalize the values of the good. If we are just hand perfect existence with no choices to make then we wont really understand the good we wont reality value the good or or seek truth.
more about it: http://religiousapriori.blogspot.com/20 ... drama.html
more about it: http://religiousapriori.blogspot.com/20 ... drama.html
Have Theology, Will argue: wire Metacrock
Buy My book: The Trace of God: Warrant for belief
Buy My book: The Trace of God: Warrant for belief