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The Forum > Article Comments > Resurrection and time > Comments

Resurrection and time : Comments

By Peter Sellick, published 31/8/2015

Readers of biblical texts who have only a Newtonian understanding of time will be at a disadvantage because they will insist that one event follows from another in a linear sequence of cause and effect.

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//The problem is that Christianity took up all of the space leaving nothing outside of itself. Now, with its withdrawal, it leaves a vacuum in which people believe in nothing i.e.. in nihilism//

Because those are your choices: Christianity or nothing. Hinduism and Buddhism and pantheism et. al. have nothing to teach us because there is only Christianity or nothing.

Sells, the notion that meaning can only be found within Christianity is parochial to the point of solipsism. Christianity does not have some sort of monopoly on truth and enlightenment, and I don't see that it is any better guide to living a good life than other great religious and philosophical works.
Posted by Toni Lavis, Sunday, 13 September 2015 4:44:01 PM
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I am serious. No one on this thread offers an alternative. Nihilism is not doing us much good. But what else is there? Rationalism cannot simply spin meaning out of thin air. The constructions of modernity are paper thin like the language of human rights. Please direct me to a system of thought that will carry the day!
Posted by Sells, Sunday, 13 September 2015 6:38:52 PM
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The problem with Christianity is not that evil men have perverted the message of Jesus. To be a Christian one is required to believe in a series of propositions.

1. There is a God.

2. This God is all-knowing, all-good and all-powerful.

3. In spite of being all-knowing, all-good and all-powerful this God needs a sidekick like Batman needs Robin.

4. The sidekick is produced by a human female impregnated by a spirit in much the same way Zeus impregnated a number of ancient women.

None of the above has any relation to reality, but Christians are required to believe the above nonsense is true along with other nonsense. Not only are the assertions unprovable, but Christians are required to impose them on others. Thus, others are regarded as infidels that Christians have a right to either convert or bring under subjection. Christianity as MacCullough in "A History of Christianity" contends is therefore the most intolerant of religions. Christian notables such as the Archbishop of Canterbury have endorsed his book. Believing Marxists maintain that the revolution was subverted by the evil Stalin. It is similar to your contention that the message of Jesus was valid, but all the atrocities were the work of evil men.

As Toni Lavis pointed out there were many alternatives. There were many alternatives even in Christianity - the Ebionites, the Docetists, the Arians and others. It didn't matter which version eventually triumphed because basically they all rested on nonsense.

Any authoritarian system which contends that it has the only truth and this truth is not subject to verification has the potential for atrocity. Christianity has not been subverted by evil men any more than Marxism has been. The evil men are a product of Christian belief.

Opposed to authoritarian systems such as Christianity or Marxism is democracy. Democracy recognises that evil men may take power so checks and balances are necessary. These checks and balances assume that the ideas and acts of those in power can be challenged by discussion, the vote and other means. Such checks and balances are lacking in Christianity and Marxism.
Posted by david f, Sunday, 13 September 2015 7:03:54 PM
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Dear Peter,

<<No one on this thread offers an alternative... Please direct me to a system of thought that will carry the day!>>

I do offer an alternative, a system of thought that will carry the day.

I have nothing against Christianity, which I consider a valid path to God, but as per your request, may I direct you to the Vedanta system of thought, aiming to unite us with God and heal our every pain of feeling limited, impure and separate from Him.

http://vedanta.org/vedanta-overview
Posted by Yuyutsu, Sunday, 13 September 2015 11:06:37 PM
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Sells (and others),

Aren’t you confusing Christianity with Christendom?

“Ye are the salt of the earth …” (Mt 5:13). Many meals become tasteless without salt but no meal should have salt as its main ingredient.

Although I do not like conclusions drawn from “what if”s in contemplating history, perhaps it is indeed a pity that Constantine, the founder of Christendom, did not differently interpret his dream.
Posted by George, Monday, 14 September 2015 12:14:11 AM
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Dear George,

Christianity is a belief system that has brought comfort and meaning to many. With that I have absolutely no argument.

However, if there is not separation of religion and state Christianity has a tendency to become Christendom.

In Weimar Germany there were several forces. One force were those who supported democracy and the Weimar Republic. Another force were the communists who wanted to convert Germany into a soviet. Another force was the Nazis who put themselves forward as a bulwark against Bolshevism. The German people in general regarded the Weimar Republic as something that had been foisted on them. To some extent that was true. Many Germans saw Hitler as a saviour who would save them from decadent democracy and godless Bolshevism. "The Crisis of German Ideology" is one source which tells part of the story. In general Christian churches supported Hitler as he was regarded by many as one who could rescue Germany from godless Bolshevism and decadent democracy. Nazism with its faith in a peerless leader and its authoritarian character had a great appeal to many German people and both the Protestant and Catholic churches. Germany had a tradition of merging church and state. The Kaiser was the head of the German Lutheran church. Martin Luther became a vitriolic Jew hater when Jews refused to join in his new religion. The Nazis printed Luther's hate diatribes in their newspaper. This supported Hitler's prejudices along with the prejudice in much of the German people. The Nazis signed a Concordant with the Vatican which saw Hitler as a bulwark against Bolshevism.

There is a vastly different Germany today. Apparently most Germans now accept democracy. However, without an acceptance of democracy and separation of religion and state Christianity has a tendency to become Christendom.
Posted by david f, Monday, 14 September 2015 5:50:33 AM
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