I get what you mean, but there is a lot of stuff in the Sermon on thee Mount that appears to mandate a sort of extreme pacifism. Do not resist evil, give a robber your cloak as well, etc.
Now, of course, this makes a lot of sense when you are a small band of despised people, as the early Christians were, because if you are despised and you start being violent even in self-defense, then you are in big trouble. But it's very different when you are the majority or at least very influential.
Very true but I have to believe that Jesus wouldn’t want me to stand there if I see an old lady getting beat up or if someone was terrorizing my mom. I have given that a lot of thought. I love the sentiment of the sermon on the mount though. Now sometimes if you are being robbed it may be easier to give up what you have and move on but depends on the circumstances.
Did you grow up going to church? I’m impressed with your knowledge of Christianity. But I’ve had a few atheists friends who were very well versed in the Bible and we were able to have civil discussions
Very true but I have to believe that Jesus wouldn’t want me to stand there if I see an old lady getting beat up or if someone was terrorizing my mom. I have given that a lot of thought. I love the sentiment of the sermon on the mount though. Now sometimes if you are being robbed it may be easier to give up what you have and move on but depends on the circumstances.
Yes, but that is moving it into the area of what is practical rather than what is moral. It is not really "do not resist evil", although if you are unable to resist evil as the Christians were back then - that also makes tons of sense.
Did you grow up going to church? I’m impressed with your knowledge of Christianity. But I’ve had a few atheists friends who were very well versed in the Bible and we were able to have civil discussions
Yes, but I mostly learned about it myself. I actually despised it when I started learning about Christian history and the Middle Ages, in order to better denigrate them as Voltaire said, but then I started actually respecting it.
. I actually despised it when I started learning about Christian history and the Middle Ages, in order to better denigrate them as Voltaire said, but then I started actually respecting it.
This is really common. I was indifferent about Christianity until I became annoyed by so many of my peers just shitting on it constantly out of sheer resentment. Then I began studying it a bit. You need to be Bible literate in order to dig most of English literature prior to the 20th-century, so there's that as well.
I get what you mean, but there is a lot of stuff in the Sermon on thee Mount that appears to mandate a sort of extreme pacifism. Do not resist evil, give a robber your cloak as well, etc.
Now, of course, this makes a lot of sense when you are a small band of despised people, as the early Christians were, because if you are despised and you start being violent even in self-defense, then you are in big trouble. But it's very different when you are the majority or at least very influential.
Very true but I have to believe that Jesus wouldn’t want me to stand there if I see an old lady getting beat up or if someone was terrorizing my mom. I have given that a lot of thought. I love the sentiment of the sermon on the mount though. Now sometimes if you are being robbed it may be easier to give up what you have and move on but depends on the circumstances.
Did you grow up going to church? I’m impressed with your knowledge of Christianity. But I’ve had a few atheists friends who were very well versed in the Bible and we were able to have civil discussions
Yes, but that is moving it into the area of what is practical rather than what is moral. It is not really "do not resist evil", although if you are unable to resist evil as the Christians were back then - that also makes tons of sense.
Yes, but I mostly learned about it myself. I actually despised it when I started learning about Christian history and the Middle Ages, in order to better denigrate them as Voltaire said, but then I started actually respecting it.
This is really common. I was indifferent about Christianity until I became annoyed by so many of my peers just shitting on it constantly out of sheer resentment. Then I began studying it a bit. You need to be Bible literate in order to dig most of English literature prior to the 20th-century, so there's that as well.