Bart Ehrman May Shed Light on the Christian Response to Charleston, South Carolina
June 20, 2015 at 9:36 am
These are a few of the scriptures that allow Christians to hold onto their faith despite the apparent indifference of their god.
Psalm 16:15
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
Matthew 10:29-31
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And not one of them falls to the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are numbered…Fear not you are of more value than many sparrows.
In other words god sees and is aware of what happened in Charleston. Christians are not to see the fact that he did nothing as a reason to stop believing. It is enough that he merely knows.
John 11:26
Whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Believe thou this?
Like Mary, millions of Christians down the ages have believed this. And the more they see other Christians dying, the more strongly they tell themselves they must believe it.
By couching the Charleston tragedy in terms of Christian persecution Fox News has made it possible for believers to identify with the Christian martyrs of the ancient world and they are encouraged to take heart and face the hungry lions of the 21st century.
In Bart Herman’s excellent book, God’s Problem, I read how the Judaism moved away from the teachings of the prophets to apocalyptic theology after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem. The prophets taught that suffering came as punishment for sin. It took a couple hundred years to make the shift but after the Babylonians, it became so obvious that it was the people who were trying to obey god who were doing all the suffering that a wholesale shift in theology became inevitable.
Despite the efforts of Fox News, this could happen in the modern world. It may be happening right now. His Eye is on the Sparrow may actually be Christianity’s swan song. But the ancient Jews did not abandon their god. They simply went from believing in rewards and punishments in this life to believing in rewards and punishments in an afterlife. Like matter, faith cannot be destroyed. It can only change form.
This fact may be enough to cause some atheists to throw up their hands in resignation. It is my hope that most will accept that this is a never ending battle against ignorance and greed Christians may be as mercurial as chameleons, but we should not concede victory to them by default.
Psalm 16:15
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
Matthew 10:29-31
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And not one of them falls to the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are numbered…Fear not you are of more value than many sparrows.
In other words god sees and is aware of what happened in Charleston. Christians are not to see the fact that he did nothing as a reason to stop believing. It is enough that he merely knows.
John 11:26
Whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Believe thou this?
Like Mary, millions of Christians down the ages have believed this. And the more they see other Christians dying, the more strongly they tell themselves they must believe it.
By couching the Charleston tragedy in terms of Christian persecution Fox News has made it possible for believers to identify with the Christian martyrs of the ancient world and they are encouraged to take heart and face the hungry lions of the 21st century.
In Bart Herman’s excellent book, God’s Problem, I read how the Judaism moved away from the teachings of the prophets to apocalyptic theology after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem. The prophets taught that suffering came as punishment for sin. It took a couple hundred years to make the shift but after the Babylonians, it became so obvious that it was the people who were trying to obey god who were doing all the suffering that a wholesale shift in theology became inevitable.
Despite the efforts of Fox News, this could happen in the modern world. It may be happening right now. His Eye is on the Sparrow may actually be Christianity’s swan song. But the ancient Jews did not abandon their god. They simply went from believing in rewards and punishments in this life to believing in rewards and punishments in an afterlife. Like matter, faith cannot be destroyed. It can only change form.
This fact may be enough to cause some atheists to throw up their hands in resignation. It is my hope that most will accept that this is a never ending battle against ignorance and greed Christians may be as mercurial as chameleons, but we should not concede victory to them by default.
The god who allows children to be raped out of respect for the free will choice of the rapist, but punishes gay men for engaging in mutually consensual sex couldn't possibly be responsible for an intelligently designed universe.
I may defend your right to free speech, but i won't help you pass out flyers.
Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.
--Voltaire
Nietzsche isn't dead. How do I know he lives? He lives in my mind.
I may defend your right to free speech, but i won't help you pass out flyers.
Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.
--Voltaire
Nietzsche isn't dead. How do I know he lives? He lives in my mind.
