speed said:
The sad part is- I think Christianity has been proven wrong for almost 2,000 years now- Christianity has been used to justify war- racism- sexism- slavery, just about every atrocity one can think of- through no fault of its creator- I suppose the morality of christ has been so diluted and twisted that it no longer has any meaning- how can it have any meaning when the Catholic church decides what Christian morality is every day- or baptist ministers decide war is sanctified on Christian grounds the list goes on and on-
In truth I understand that after jesus died- his brother james and the apostles carried on a way of life that Christ believed in- they shared all of their property- did not pay taxes to the Romans- nor paid much attention to the Jewish religious hierarchy- yet such a way of life takes dedication , suffering- and is just not fit for the mass of humanity- sadly it seems Christ was not fit for humanity- yet various forms of Christian religious orders and political states made Christ fit humanity.
On this note- I feel even the New Testament is a product of all that Jesus loathed and taught against- as there were such a number of compelling and interesting gospels of christ that were not chosen to make up the new testament- as church leaders didnt believe they fit the message the church was trying to make. I n fact I understand a few gospels were written in much the same way as the Buddhist Dhammapada- others did not mention miracles- others mentioned the role of women- others stated mary was not a virgin- the list goes on. So, as one can see- I feel even the selection of the holy books of the new testament was a political act- contrary to Christ.
Orion- Christianity is not the only religion that teaches compassion, suffering, morality, love of others and oneself etc- all religions pass on a similar message- Christianity's failures have been experienced by all religions- yet maybe never in such a direct blasphemous contradiction. Thus, even if Christianity fails( or in my view has failed)- other religions teaching the same core principles will still be around.
It is indeed sad and a disgrace when the words get twisted, however I don't see if as Christianity failing man... it is more like man failing Christianity...it is not Christianity that has twisted our view of religion, but rather religiosity that has twisted many people's view of Christianity. And Jesus was most definitely not in with humanity - being God, and teaching the things of God...it's very well known and elaborated on many times that man's carnal humanism and God's purpose and right path for man clash, as two sides of the coin (something else I talked a small bit about in another post). However, this does not necessarily mean we are fit or justified to give up on God and deem him not fit for us. Again as I mentioned that's why my kind of faith is referred to as a
walk with God.. - a constant improvement, battle, and learning experience that helps make your soul more knowledgable and mature through it then anything could. And what good would life be without that kind of option to experience? Many people give up and even take their lives because they do not have that.
I agree there are parts of the testaments that are incomplete and such, however as I pointed out in a different post, my faith is centered squarely around the deity of Jesus Christ, and his teachings. He is the rock which I stand upon there, so to speak, and being the centerpiece of the entire Bible you could almost say I don't "need" the rest of the Bible. Many churches are erronous in proclaming it to be the full word of God, although God let it be tampered in whichever way for a reason - perhaps to help point people to Christ more - I have no reason to believe it's the perfect word of God. That is why if one is seeking enlightenment about Christ and things of God he will often get mixed up and feel spun around, because not only are the other books only secondary to the Gospels but some of them as you said are incomplete and this will lead the novice astray to say, "I have proved God does not exist, and if he does, he is a liar." out of complex error unknown to the seeker. Simply put, error is only worth so much to me if it is critical to the status of my salvation. But I do hold a great amount of spiritual/knowledge concerned worth in other books as well, such as Genesis, Romans, and Revelation.
You are correct in saying that many beliefs share a handful of the same virtues in their teaching, - which to me is another testament to a creator - but Christianity differs from other beliefs... while some prefer to pick and choose different (often contradicting) things from everywhere, as if spirituality is a game of buffet, Christianity says:
this is right, and
that is wrong. Jesus proclaimed, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.". This kind of idea is hard to swallow for the jaded critic or spiritualist, but the logical ideal - to speak in metaphorical terms - is to have one absolute sum for one math problem, and all other answers are thus wrong; there are only other answers very near to this sum, but still wrong by way of the 1 or 2 point difference. The various differences in belief in Christ and his teachings and belief in other religions are the boldest, brassiest, and most concrete of all (so much that it's offensive to some), and for the spiritual mathematician who believes Christ is not the correct sum (to revisit the metaphor), and that there
is no correct sum, he will also have a hard time proving it is not the nearest to the correct sum out of all.