Belacqua Wrote:I've always thought that this is one of the main reasons Christianity has been so successful. The idea that God shares an individual's suffering seems very powerful to me, and must be very meaningful for a lot of people.
Cornel West is a fortunate individual, but he knows what it means to be black in America. I suspect that God as Man of Sorrows is particularly powerful among those groups who have been oppressed. I remember seeing very bloody Jesus statues in Mexico, for example. Probably the poorer the village the bloodier the Jesus.
I've been reading about medieval saints who intentionally increased their suffering, as a religious devotion.
Why not in Japan? Was has Christianity not made inroads there? As for the medieval Saints, is not mental illness an explanation for their behavior?
