i would say it has a lot to do with the scientific revolution along with less emphasis on strict religious dogma. christianity has become sort of watered down in the west which has made it a lot more compatible with a modern progressive society. also i would say reformed christian values did help influence a lot of things that made things better such as humanism and what not but it wasn't the sole influence by any means.
as for islamic countries i think when they were on top it was a lot of the same virtues mentioned above which helped get them there. they took quite a few steps backwards when they started emphasizing a more fundamentalist approach imo, and that was made even worse through western colonialism which marginalized their political structures and bolstered the power of the mosques in those societies. and of course that same colonialism helped the west get to the point we're currently at financially so it cuts both ways.
to be fair he could just think he's deceived by satan. doesn't necessarily make him evil. plus greatest i am hasn't exactly been shy about blasting other people's religions so fair game imo.
i think everything is a work in progress tbh, religion included. being a godless heathen myself i obviously don't believe in divinely inspired writing in general.
but to be perfectly blunt i do prefer some religions over others. fundamentalist islam is probably my least favorite aside from some fringe ones like scientology and black hebrews.
It makes sense for a religion to adapt itself to how humans grow and learn, their practices and their experiences. I don't remember if it's from the Bible (it does have that snarky Jesus tone to it, but I'm not 100% sure and in this forum I'll be corrected if I'm misquoting), but the famous line "sabath is made for man and not man for sabath" comes to mind.
Maybe christianity was never meant to have a "pure form"? Or it got properly altered later, afterall, the church is supposed to be a living entity and by definition it should change.
Gender: Male Location: Southern Oregon,
Looking at you.
I believe that Christianity was man-made, and therefore, should grow and change over time. But that is in direct contradiction with a divine Jesus that leads the Church.
that really depends on how much authority you place on orthodox interpretations of scripture imo. maybe reinterpreting it isn't a contradiction if the original interpretation was flawed. plus if it's jesus changing the rules then you would have to assume he has the authority to do so.
Well, Jesus was a man so his teaching are all man-made. Those who consider Jesus to be divine also admit, for most christian denominations at least, that he was truly a man.
I'm tempted to ascribe this to something getting lost in translation, as French, not English, is your first language.
The truth, however, is that this is a somewhat difficult concept to relate even for native English speakers.
The flaw is hard to state directly but perhaps can be illustrated by parallel example:
"Jesus was a man. So his power to heal sick people was all man-made."
"Jesus was a man. So his ability to walk on water was all man-made."
"Jesus was a man. So his prowess at multiplying a boy's lunch into a meal for thousands was all man-made."
It is, of course, possible to say "Right! Everything listed above is an invention that did not happen, or used the most liberal interpretations imaginable! It is the fanciful storytelling of man. It is man-made."
On the other hand, if you believe Jesus really did all the things listed above, you would see the implication that Jesus was ONLY a man, fails.
From the Christian perspective, the authors of the Bible clearly intended us to understand there was a supernatural aspect to Jesus that is beyond man as we commonly employ the term, or at least that he used power which is not innately OF man.
LOL@ the ridiculous notion that Jesus was only a man. He was MUCH more than that AND He still is. You atheists keep the silly comments coming. They give me a good laugh.
__________________ Darwin's theory of evolution is the great white elephant of contemporary thought. It is large, completely useless, and the object of superstitious awe.-Dr. David Berlinski, Philosophy
Most people believe Evolution not because they themselves are dumb, but cause they trust the "experts" who are feeding them evolutionary fast food, and so they don't bother questioning whether or not it's true.
Last edited by Star428 on Dec 4th, 2014 at 02:59 AM
For the record, I was not and am not trying to personally attack GreatestIAm.
The problem is precisely that Gnosticism IS connected to Lucifer, because it is tightly connected to the story of Creation, God, the Garden of Eden, and knowledge and wisdom, which Gnosticism asserts Lucifer, as the snake, helped BRING to mankind.
It is simply not possible to talk about Gnosticism in a meaningful way without connecting it to Lucifer.
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Dec 3rd, 2014 08:15 PM
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