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How many Christians understand Jesus’ teachings?
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| LiquidNitrogen |
From daily irrelevant - http://weblog.sinteur.com/
How does it strike you? Do you see it as an expression of Truth, or do you feel the artist was sorely mistaken? If you’re Christian, are you offended? In my opinion, one’s opinion of this painting is a good litmus test of how well one understands Jesus’ message, and the story of this painting is proof that many who claim to be followers of Jesus don’t.
If you’re offended, take some time to read the whole thing. (and if you’re not, go read the whole thing anyway, it tells you something about a lot of Christians) |
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| LiquidNitrogen |
| quote: | Originally posted by LiquidNitrogen
From daily irrelevant - http://weblog.sinteur.com/
How does it strike you? Do you see it as an expression of Truth, or do you feel the artist was sorely mistaken? If you’re Christian, are you offended? In my opinion, one’s opinion of this painting is a good litmus test of how well one understands Jesus’ message, and the story of this painting is proof that many who claim to be followers of Jesus don’t.
If you’re offended, take some time to read the whole thing. (and if you’re not, go read the whole thing anyway, it tells you something about a lot of Christians) |
Here is the URL to the story http://lrs.moonstar.com/blog/2007/1...esus-teachings/ |
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| leph555 |
| i just dont give a |
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| THE_Chris |
No christian understands what they believe in, I'm sorry to say. All they believe is what they're taught, which is a happy and merry 'pick and choose' from various parts of the bible.
Bunch of rubbish. |
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| Moral Hazard |
| quote: | Originally posted by THE_Chris
No christian understands what they believe in, I'm sorry to say. All they believe is what they're taught, |
Is that so... what about those of us that studied numerous faiths for extended periods of time prior to deciding to become Christian? What about those of us that think critically about their faith and consitantly challenge it? What about those of us that take the time to learn the contextual background behind the various inconsistancies of our faith in effort to find some sort of reconcilliation for said inconsistancies? What about those people... those who were not taught but rather learned or more appropriately continue to learn?
There are many who truly understand their faith, unfortunately, they rarely speak as loudly as those that don't... or maybe more acurately... they are rarely heard because anyone who understands their faith also understands that it is complex... far too complex to be boiled down into bite sized chunks that people can readily consume in sound bites or on plackards... and way too complex for someone who's only interest in Christianity is arguing against it to possibly spend the time to listen too and understand. |
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| RJT |
| Craig, your ability to compose yourself and address such intolerance and idiocy so thoroughly on a daily basis is insanely humbling. |
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| chach |
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."(NIV, Mark 12:28-31).
This is what I understand, believe and know, not just with any love but literal translation in greek is agape love, love that is unconditional.Love that is total, and sacrificial. You can't love God and something else. You must only love him. And you can't love God but do nothing for him. Loving someone means doing things for them, caring about them and their feelings.
If you love God, would you ignore him or speak badly about him? If you love your neighbor, will you steal from him or hurt him?.The other commandments (don't steal, don't take the Lord's name in vain) all are based on loving God or loving man. |
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| nefardec |
| that is a terrible painting |
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| Moral Hazard |
| quote: | Originally posted by RJT
Craig, your ability to compose yourself and address such intolerance and idiocy so thoroughly on a daily basis is insanely humbling. |
My faith is an apostalic one, I view this as part of my vocation. |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
Well, since I don't believe there is a single correct way to understand the teachings of Jesus, or even a single body of works that definitively outlines the teachings of Jesus -- see all those books that didn't quite make it into the Bible -- I don't know how coherent this question is. Have a look at the writings of the so-called "fathers of the church" and the men they wrote against if you want to see how quickly and how widely interpretations of Jesus started to diverge. Kind of interesting to watch, really.
As far as the New Testament goes, I think it has a lot of wisdom but also much rubbish in it. The sayings of Jesus are for the most part the highlight of the thing. |
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| RJT |
The initial question reminds me a lot of Ken Ham (those of you who don't know who he is would do well to look him up - check youtube for hilarity) who has a habit of saying things like "I don't interpret the Bible, I just read it."
You can argue that there is some static understanding of Christianity, but it would only be relative to the standards of whichever denomination (or really, any individual interpretation of faith) that you view as "correct" - in truth, you could make the same argument about any belief/political/moral system the world over. |
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