Ask the Christian..

[Chesterton]

I mean, come on, bacon is good.

so is polyester and shrimp

They taste good, or they are good? (No comment on polyester. I'm not sure how it's good from any view.)

 

[Rasta]

They taste good, or they are good? (No comment on polyester. I'm not sure how it's good from any view.)

Taste is definately a major factor for my evaluation of food. Carrots can be bad for you if you eat a disproportinate amount.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

Taste is definately a major factor for my evaluation of food. Carrots can be bad for you if you eat a disproportinate amount.

As can spinach and rhubarb, among others.


That said, some food restrictions are very likely based on observations of ancient peoples, some of them accurate ("hey, that guy just toppled over after eating that weird pufferfish! I think we should stay away from that stuff in the future..."), some of them accidental ("hey, that guy toppled over after eating honey while wearing a black shawl! Let's not mix the two in the future...").

Taboo is an altogether interesting subject. An Australian professor of cultural studies I greatly admire is doing some research on the topic. You'd be surprised to find how saturated with utterly random taboos even our oh-so-rational culture happens to be.

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

Originally Posted by Rasta Unless the "commandments" issued by the "ultimate guy with a big stick" were invented by bronze age man as a means to understand the world around them. Then the "nature of ultimate reality" reflects the ideology of bronze age man, rather than a supreme being.

I mean, come on, bacon is good.

So are barbecued pork ribs with a Lonestar Beer.....

 

[Chesterton]

Carrots can be bad for you if you eat a disproportinate amount.

Almost anything in a disproportionate amount can be terribly bad. Drinking too much water can kill; breathing too much oxygen can kill; even the most "humanitarian" things like love can be disproportionate; loving too much can kill; God loved the world so much He sent his only begotten Son to die.

 

[Chesterton]

That said, some food restrictions are very likely based on observations of ancient peoples, some of them accurate ("hey, that guy just toppled over after eating that weird pufferfish! I think we should stay away from that stuff in the future..."), some of them accidental ("hey, that guy toppled over after eating honey while wearing a black shawl! Let's not mix the two in the future...").

If religious ideas come from what works practically, whether accurate or accidental, we’d still be worshiping Jupiter. He blessed the Romans with the greatest civilization in the history of man.

That civilization fell before a God who said “Love your enemies”, which is entirely impractical.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

If religious ideas come from what works practically, whether accurate or accidental, we’d still be worshiping Jupiter. He blessed the Romans with the greatest civilization in the history of man.

Only from a VERY Eurocentric point of view. Besides, the "accidental" component already alludes to the fact that not all hermeneutical circles are based on reasons that are apparent to the outsider, let alone reasonable. Try to find a reasonable argument for female circumcision, for example.

That civilization fell before a God who said “Love your enemies”, which is entirely impractical.

Actually, it fell before Germanic tribes taking advantage of Rome's internal decline. The eventual ascendancy of Christianity played virtually no part in that. Empires, like pretty much everything in this universe, are very much mortal. And they grow somewhat senile in their old age.

 

[morningstar2651]

If religious ideas come from what works practically, whether accurate or accidental, we’d still be worshiping Jupiter. He blessed the Romans with the greatest civilization in the history of man.

That civilization fell before a God who said “Love your enemies”, which is entirely impractical.

Have you ever read Gibbon?

 

[Chesterton]

Try to find a reasonable argument for female circumcision, for example.

That's your job. You're the one inferring ritual from reason.

Actually, it fell before Germanic tribes taking advantage of Rome's internal decline. The eventual ascendancy of Christianity played virtually no part in that.

Have you ever read Gibbon?

I've read some, and Durant, too. The Germanic tribes came later, along with, and after, the internal decline. It's well known that many Romans blamed the invasions on the abandonment of pagan gods.

 

[Secundulus]

Have you ever read Gibbon?

I have. I have read Augustine's City of God also. He wrote this within a decade of Rome's fall to Alaric. The Pagans of the time were trying to blame the fall of Rome on Christianity. Augustine thorougly refuted that idea.

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

I have. I have read Augustine's City of God also. He wrote this within a decade of Rome's fall to Alaric. The Pagans of the time were trying to blame the fall of Rome on Christianity. Augustine thorougly refuted that idea.

Greetings. Did Augustine ever refer to the Jewish/Hebrew book of Revelation as perhaps signifying the Fall/Destruction of the OC Jewish Temple/Priesthood as I view as? Thanks.

John 11:48 "If-ever we may be be letting Him thus, all shall be believing in Him. And shall be coming the Romans and they shall be taking away/arousin <142> (5692) of Us and the Place and the Nation

Revelation 6:6 And I hear a voice in midst of the four living-ones saying "choinex of grain/wheat a denarius and three choinex of barleys/kriqhV <2915> a denarius, and the oil and the wine no you should be injuring".

http://www.davieapostolicchurch.com/studies/destuct/

The day on which Titus encompassed Jerusalem, was the feast of the Passover. At this season multitudes came up from all the surrounding country, and from distant parts, to keep the festival and the city was at this time crowded with Jewish strangers,...........

.......The Temple now presented little more than a heap of ruins

 

[Secundulus]

Greetings. Did Augustine ever refer to the Jewish/Hebrew book of Revelation as perhaps signifying the Fall/Destruction of the OC Jewish Temple/Priesthood as I view as? Thanks.

I don't recall Augustine saying anything about this.

Here it is if you want to look. Book XX Concerning the last judgment, and the declarations regarding it in the old and new testaments

 

[morningstar2651]

I ignore everything that is 25 words or more.

Since the 25 word version was too hard...

 

[morningstar2651]

Since the 25 word version was too hard...

Is salvation by faith or works?

What must a Christian believe? What can't they believe?

What is your denomination and what is its history?

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

Is salvation by faith or works?

What must a Christian believe? What can't they believe?

What is your denomination and what is its history?

I am of the same denomination the "adam/eve" were of....

Genesis 2:16 And YHWH 'Elohiym is laying command on the 'adam to say: "from of every tree of the garden to eat, thou shall eat.
17 And from tree of the knowledge of good and evil, not thou shall eat from, that in day of the to eat from him, to die thou shall die".

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

That's your job. You're the one inferring ritual from reason.

Actually, I'm not. I'm merely observing that some taboos are based on correct observations, such as: "Staying away from diseased people reduces your risk of contracting the plague yourself."

I've read some, and Durant, too. The Germanic tribes came later, along with, and after, the internal decline. It's well known that many Romans blamed the invasions on the abandonment of pagan gods.

Strangely enough, you seemed to do the same in your last post. Personally, I'd say that religion played virtually no part in Rome's decline.

 

[Arthra]

A apologise if this has been brought up before but

Quoting from the Opening Post:

"I lament and pray for the eudamonai, pantheists, atheists, muslims, hindu, buddhists, bahai, mormons, J witessnesses and even catholics.."

I was curious to know why "Catholics" are included in this list of lamentations and prayers... since Catholics comprise probably one of the largest denominations of Christianity and one of the oldest? Isn't Christian Forums supposed to unite all Christians here?

- Art

 

[Chesterton]

Strangely enough, you seemed to do the same in your last post.

Okay. For the record, I don't believe in a literal Jupiter who made Rome great. I was writing from the view of a Roman pagan of that time.

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

Okay. For the record, I don't believe in a literal Jupiter who made Rome great. I was writing from the view of a Roman pagan of that time.

I was curious to know why "Catholics" are included in this list of lamentations and prayers... since Catholics comprise probably one of the largest denominations of Christianity and one of the oldest? Isn't Christian Forums supposed to unite all Christians here?
- ArtThe

Greeks and Romans also had their differences

http://christianforums.com/showthread.php?t=6790703
Great Schism and effect on Christianity and Theology

Following the rule of Charlemagne, Christianity spread throughout Europe which served as a unifying force for the continent. This was in part due to the Great Schism of 1054 where two competing religious authorities, Pope Leo IX of the Roman Catholic Church, and Patriarch Michael I of the Eastern Orthodox faith, excommunicated each other in a dispute over authority..............

 

[awitch]

Sorry if this one was posted already - it was posed in the Ask A Pagan thread and I wanted to return it...

Do you (Christians) feel that non-Christians have unjust misconceptions about Christians/Christianity? Which ones do you find most bothersome?