(November 11, 2021 at 11:26 pm)brewer Wrote: It's been so long now that I don't recall if I feared hell as a youngster. I know I feared my german mother,............. hmmm, don't remember any horns, just a big wooden spoon.
I know that catholics get to buy their way out.
I was taught all about mortal sin and hell by the nuns when I was seven. Scared me shitless.
Umm, Catholics could indeed literally buy their way out of hell. That practice was introduced by the first Borgia Pope , Alexander V1 in the fifteenth century. That especially corrupt practice was one of the many reasons for the protestant reformation.
Literally buying yourself out of hell with money has not been a Catholic practice since the sixteenth century.
Having said that; Christianity is a highly legalistic, transactional religion. Imo it can be argued that Christians effectively buy their way out of hell by performing a bunch of rituals, ranging from prayer to the catholic Mass and by obeying a list of rules***.
Believers of many religions have believed for millennia that they can influence/bargain with their god(s), specifically by the performance of ritual.
Thought for today " Religion: Man's attempt to communicate with he weather" (Graffito, Cambridge, 2000)
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*** Judaism is far more legalistic than Christianity. The Law of Moses consists of not ten but 613 commandments (mitzvah) Collectively they are known as the mitzvot. They cover every aspect of life. Jews have long argued that it was The Law which kept them together as a people for over 1000 years. Today only orthodox Jews even try to keep the mitzvot. Below is link to all 613 commandments.
The 613 Commandments (Mitzvot) - Mitzvahs & Traditions (chabad.org)
