(October 14, 2021 at 11:38 pm)vulcanlogician Wrote:(October 14, 2021 at 9:58 am)Mister Agenda Wrote: You keep talking about those guys like they're a tiny minority, but in the USA they're over a quarter of the population, and in the majority in some states (like mine).
@Belacqua
I agree with Mister here. When you say "only the most" it is inferred that you mean a minority. I appreciate your clarifying that the majority are "often wrong" (just like in politics) but still, Mister is right to point out what Christians believe colloquially.
Many here (especially myself) would have far less an issue with a pantheistic concept in Christianity.
But this does present some contradictions:
First of all, all of Paul's letters and a bunch of stuff found in the Gospels and elsewhere. If God is a hearer and answerer of prayers, then he has an anthropomorphic quality. Listening to someone's desires/wishes and taking steps to fulfil those desires/wishes is something only people do. Having a list of commandments is something only people do.
It's not just everyday Christians who believe this stuff. It is explicitly stated in the Bible that God has human qualities. I'm all for a pantheistic concept of Christianity that has Christ as a universal symbol, accessible to all who deeply contemplate suffering or the human condition.
I dig it. But you know who hates that sort of depiction of Christianity? Evangelicals! They prolly hate it more than the folks on this atheist forum who scoff at that sort of thing. To evangelicals, that sort of idea is "denying God's divinity" or something like that.
I'm all for wresting the ultimate meaning of Christianity from the Evangelicals' dirty little hands (and then taking the conversation from there). So let's do that if you wish. But, at the same time, Mister had a point worth mentioning before the deeper discussion begins.
We should absolutely argue against people with a naive view of theology. That's most of what I do on this forum.
