RE: Fetuses are people. Unless it costs the church money
February 9, 2013 at 9:04 pm
(This post was last modified: February 9, 2013 at 9:06 pm by Gabriel Syme.)
(February 9, 2013 at 8:37 pm)Darkstar Wrote: Yeah, because the bible is an established fa- ...must...resist...urge.
*Darkstar resists urge*
Hi again,
I don't mind if you regard the bible as a load of rubbish, or a bunch of myths, or whatever - you are entitled to your opinion, I would never claim otherwise!
Without taking the thread too much off topic, the Catholic view of the bible is:
Old Testament
-The Jewish Torah, the original covenant of God with humanity.
-Some of it is historical, other parts allegorical, other parts are clearly to do with contemporary Jewish culture (purity laws etc) and so can seem nonsensical to people in the 21st century. Note that, as a Catholic Christian, in 2013, my faith does not require me to follow ancient jewish purity laws regarding shellfish or whatever.
-Given it is an ancient document, its language is at times brutal and uncivilised compared with our 2st century standards. (I rationalise this by accepting that, if you want to get a message across, it has to be pitched in a way the target audience will understand. And this audience lived in ancient, relatively primitive and barbaric times.).
- The main importance of the Old Testament for Christians is that its writings, over 1,000 years, predict the coming of Jesus Christ.
- Some Christians (a tiny, negligible minority) - usually American or African Protestants - believe the Bible is 100% literal fact, such that they believe (for example) the garden of eden was real, or that we should enthusiastically stone people to death for things. This is obviously a nonsense and only serves to discredit Christianity.
New Testament
- The life and times of Jesus Christ. The new covenant of God with humanity.
- Very important as obviously JCs teachings and example are central to the Christian faith
- The life and martyrdom of Jesus Christ fulfilled the original covenant of God with humanity, such that the new convenant - his teachings of love and compassion - supercede the harsh "stone the bastards" morality of the old testament.
- There is no credible doubt in mainstream academia as to the historicity of the figure of Jesus Christ, (but of course his existence as a man does not automatically mean the remarkable claims associated with him are genuine).
(February 9, 2013 at 8:37 pm)Darkstar Wrote: you missed my point. Even if there is a 99.9% chance they are correct, they will say "alleged" or "reported" to avoid liability, so:
Yes - they will also use those words if they know they are wrong!
We are in full agreement as far as I can see!
Well, nice talking to you guys. But it is late here and I am off to bed.
Hope to chat again sometime.
Btw - sometimes some of my separate posts (eg to two separate posters) merge into one - why/how does this happen? (no big deal tho)
Goodnight!
GS
