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What do invented saints tell us about Christianity?
November 7, 2019 at 9:30 am
There are hundreds of saints (if not thousands) that never lived but have died for Christ. Some of them are: St. Eustace (general in Emperor Trajan’s army), St. George (dragon slayer who could pray so that God destroys pagan temples and kill its priests by fire rain and earthquakes), St. Christopher (Hercules-type guy who carried child Jesus over a dangerous river), St. Alexius Of Rome (son of a Roman senator), St. Philomena (who was so beautiful and devoted to God that emperor Diocletian killed her for not wanting to marry him), St. Catherine Of Alexandria (another one that was close to the Roman emperor who killed her because he couldn't win a debate with her and then her corpse flew in the sky to Mt. Sinai where there is a church devoted on her landing site), St. Veronica (who wiped Jesus' face and healed Emperor Tiberius with it, and is now practically depicted in every church on the Stations of the Cross, although she isn't even mentioned in the Bible), and hundreds more.
So what does that tell us about Christians and Christianity? Does it tell us that Christians love to lie since they made up thousands of people and claimed they were real?
Does it tell us that Christians don't care about reality? Because in spite of the Vatican admitting and removing some of them from the liturgical calendar, Christians persist to see them as inspirational and devote their lives (and churches) to fictional characters.
Does it tell us that Christianity is an impossible set of rules, so Christians needed to invent thousands of fictional Christians who followed Christian credo because real ones are so "bad" at it?
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
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RE: What do invented saints tell us about Christianity?
November 7, 2019 at 9:58 am
They were used as marketing tools. The christian version of Flo, out there selling divine insurance.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: What do invented saints tell us about Christianity?
November 7, 2019 at 10:03 am
Many of those fictional saints were created during Medieval times because the Church wanted a saint for every day of the year.
"The world is my country; all of humanity are my brethren; and to do good deeds is my religion." (Thomas Paine)
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RE: What do invented saints tell us about Christianity?
November 7, 2019 at 10:51 am
And some were created in order to more easily subsume local polytheisms into the Christian one. St. Brigid of Kildare fairly leaps to mind.
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
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RE: What do invented saints tell us about Christianity?
November 7, 2019 at 10:54 am
Then, there's their utility in sympathetic and ritual magic.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: What do invented saints tell us about Christianity?
November 7, 2019 at 11:07 am
(November 7, 2019 at 10:51 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: And some were created in order to more easily subsume local polytheisms into the Christian one. St. Brigid of Kildare fairly leaps to mind.
Boru
Christians hate pagans, but will adopt pagan practices to help convert people, or cover up older traditions.
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RE: What do invented saints tell us about Christianity?
November 7, 2019 at 11:18 am
(This post was last modified: November 7, 2019 at 11:22 am by The Grand Nudger.)
Or sell their house, or make it rain, or....the list is endless. The relationship between religion and it's adherents is a two way street. Yes, the new religion influences them, but they also influence the new religion. People, generally, don't get rid of their lucky rabbits foot just because they start praying to a new god.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: What do invented saints tell us about Christianity?
November 7, 2019 at 11:56 am
I remember hearing a story at some point where christians spread their religion to some country that worshipped many gods, and it was easy primarily because the locals would just put the cross next to symbols of all the other gods they worshipped. That struck me as funny.
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RE: What do invented saints tell us about Christianity?
November 7, 2019 at 12:03 pm
(November 7, 2019 at 9:30 am)Fake Messiah Wrote: So what does that tell us about Christians and Christianity?
That they invented saints the same way they invented gods?
Being told you're delusional does not necessarily mean you're mental.
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RE: What do invented saints tell us about Christianity?
November 7, 2019 at 12:04 pm
The audience was already there for showtime. The craftsman who built the churches often had residual beliefs and artistic inclinations surrounding them, as well. That's how green men, and other cultural analogs, ended up carved into so many walls.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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