<<That said, you seem to know a lot about the bible and Christianity, and I'd like to here your responses to questions I have. My views are Christian, but I am not convinced of a literal interpretation of the bible.
The biggest one regards the whole frying in hell part and how believing in Jesus will save you from this. It is hard for me to believe that one could lead a virtuous life, but not be convinced that Jesus was the son of God, and therefore be condemend to an eternal misery in flaming hell. And another could be quite abominable (priest child molestors for instance), yet believe firmly that Jesus is the son of God, and therefore get a trip to heaven, and eternal bliss.>>
Yes, to put it another way, those 6 million Jews exterminated by the Nazis are all burning in hell for eternity sharing the same fate as Hitler according to Christian Fundamentalists. Same with Nicolas Berg beheaded by terrorists: burning in hell.
I'd think you'd do well to realize that these fundamentalists are only one wing of the Christian religion. Just like there are Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Jews, and many different strains of Islam.
Here's a link summing up different Christian ideas about the afterlife: religioustolerance.org
Thomas Jefferson was not a Christian (didn't believe Christ divine) but thought the teachings attributed to Christ were excellent.
I am a Christian, in the only sense he wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines, in preference to all others; ascribing to himself every human excellence; & believing he never claimed any other.
I personally find my philosophy close to this passage from Ecclesiastes:
For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
Or perhaps Einstein:
The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. He who knows it not and can no longer wonder, no longer feel amazement, is as good as dead, a snuffed-out candle. It was the experience of mystery--even if mixed with fear-that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we can not penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which are only accessible to our reason in their most elementary forms-it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute the truly religious attitude; in this sense, and in this alone, I am a deeply religious man. I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the type of which we are conscious in ourselves. An individual who should survive his physical death is also beyond my comprehension, nor do I wish it otherwise; such notions are for the fears or absurd egoism of feeble souls. Enough for me the mystery of the eternity of life, and the inkling of the marvelous structure of reality, together with the single-hearted endeavor to comprehend a portion, be it never so tiny, of the reason that manifests itself in nature. - "The World as I See It"
The point is, there's a lot you can read about these issues.
Steve Dietrich |
