Recent content by shadow2

Again, very interesting response. Especially "homo incurvatus in se": how true. Perhaps I presume to understand this with too little thought, but when I read this I see a similarity between Christian morality and contractarian ethics.

Interesting! Thank you very much for the thorough response. So it seems the concept of atonement comes from before Christ, to old Judaism, even if it was not called this then. But then I am lead to wonder, why in the first place was it conceived to sacrifice (especially through blood) as a...

Thanks! I actually already presented (and it went well :clap:), left the gif up during a 10 minute break. I'm pretty sure a few members of the audience were hypnotized by the end, just staring at the thing blankly.

Sure. I think abortion is sometimes morally acceptable, other times not. During the first trimester of pregnancy I think it is virtually always acceptable. In the second trimester I think it is only acceptable if there is a health risk, a major deformation in the fetus, or in the case of...

Okay! Would you be interested in sharing what Christians mean by "sin"?

Thanks. Funnily enough it's actually a gif, it just didn't work when I uploaded it as my avatar. It just shows time passing endlessly... well not endlessly... for at some point we reach our last moments. At some point the universe will end, I think, and from that so will this gif. I found it...

I don't know. My understanding of sin is that it is a concept created as a method of social control, such that the fear of punishment for sins prevents people from harming one another even when they otherwise might. I look at the origins of religion, and the time when it was most influential, as...

That seems counter-intuitive... why does more blood atone for sins? Sounds like animal abuse. Or is this just a metaphor from the days when livestock was a prevalent and well understood commodity such that the loss of the stronger animal represents an indirect form of payment for wrongs...

Cool, thanks for the explanation. Though I didn't understand "The idea is that Jesus released people from the penalty of the Law by suffering the penalty in their place. All of humanity is under the God's covenant curse because of sin". Why should everyone be suffering in the first place because...

None at all. I've never read anything in the bible actually, it makes no sense to me.

I posted this in intros but I was told it would be better to post it here! I'm wondering, what does 'Jesus died for our sins' mean? I hear that as a common line, though I don't understand it. How does him getting crucified and suffering have anything to do with us sinning? I don't really see...

Thank you all for the welcomes! This seems like a very nice forum. Sorry for posting in the wrong subforum, perhaps I will move more specific questions to one intended for discussion before diving in. No, not at all.

What a beautiful poem. "To watch his woods fill up with snow." Ha, I am guilty of spending far too much time doing just this :) I don't know if you are familiar with the concept of the flâneur, but it reminds me of such. There is some great peace and wisdom in stopping to observe the world...

Not religious and never will be. But I don't understand religion at all when I study history/philosophy/geography. I don't like gaps in my knowledge of the world. Hopefully I can learn something here and you don't mind atheists on this site. I'll probably just look around but a couple noob...