RE: Paul's Writings Underpin Western Thought
August 2, 2018 at 4:52 pm
(This post was last modified: August 2, 2018 at 7:34 pm by vulcanlogician.)
(July 26, 2018 at 5:01 pm)SteveII Wrote: 1. Intrinsic value. The Roman and Greek view was not that people had intrinsic values just for being people. When Paul said such things like "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:28) this was revolutionary. Your birth, your societal status, your nationality, your gender does not give you value in the eyes of God. That would be a very appealing message to entire classes of people who were told otherwise and often lived brutal lives as a consequence.
There are actually a number of things wrapped up in this issue. If you believe everyone is highly valued by God, your worldview must change over time. Things like education and hospitals and social welfare are natural extensions of your worldview. I'm not saying if not for Christianity, then we would not have these, but I think that we can find other cultures to make a comparison and it turns out this is a very far-reaching feature of a Christian worldview.
I would argue that the West's intrinsic value of human beings cannot be attributed to Paul. You can get that stuff (maybe) if you look for it in the Gospels. But Paul delivered a message contrary to "all human beings are intrinsically valuable." Since we are talking about Paul's influence here, it is appropriate to bring up how Paul's notions actually stained Christianity with the idea that humans are only valuable after they accept Christ as Lord. That's hardly intrinsic value. In fact, quite the opposite. Human beings are extrinsically valuable... that is, only valuable when they accept something external to themselves (Christ), and otherwise are considered, according to Paul, depraved and irredeemable.
1 Corinthians 9:19-23 Wrote:19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; 20 and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the [a]law, that I might win those who are under the law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under [c]law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; 22 to the weak I became [d]as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 23 Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.
-my bold-
"I have made myself a servant to all that I might win the more". NOT because they are suffering and struggling beings with intrinsic value... but because Paul wants to add them to the roster. That is the reason for his universal servitude to all men; he has an ulterior motive. Human beings are little more than fresh meat... worthless aside from one parameter: belonging to Paul's religion.
Again, since we are discussing Paul's writings, it is unfair to bring up the Gospels here. Maybe the Gospels do preach intrinsic human value. But if that is the case, maybe Paul's writings took Christianity in the other direction (which would explain all the beheadings, burnings at the stake, and torture of Jews etc. that is inextricable from Christian history). Regardless, something happened along the way with Christians that urged them to assign little to no value to nonbelievers (to the extent that they were executed for their disbelief). That's hardly what I'd call "intrinsic human value." Rather: "only believers of our religion are valuable." Where did that sentiment come from? I think much of it came from Paul.
