2007 21
Christianity Makes Sense?
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in General with No Comments
I just saw this in Reddit as one of the most voted pieces of the day in the United States. Even though USA is a mostly a Christian nation I can see why this was so voted. I think that believers and non believers can agree that if we had never heard of the Bible and were introduced to Judaism or Christianity for the first time, the story of Jesus would be pretty hard to accept.
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Fabian on April 22, 2007 ·
Although I’m not a religious person myself, I find this as a perfect example of a simple minded and childish approach to a ancient doctrine. Any religion would be an easy target for something similar.
Hernán on April 23, 2007 ·
A jewish child told her babysitter (a friend of mine) if it was true that she believed in a man that supposedly walked on the water and that later died and resurrected and finally took off for a “space voyage”? (these are actual words).
One thing that is obvious to anyone with 2 neurons alive is that there is something of greater proportions than our thoughts can figure.
Having said that, all those who defend the catholic church or any political religion, give us a break and stop trying to sell the invisible man story. If you´re weak enough to need such thing, that´s your business, but please, do not present it as “the truth” or we´ll have to start presenting you with the truth of your untruthfullness. Your silence is a better deal for you!
No blessings.
Lee on April 23, 2007 ·
Hi Martin,
Thanks for posting this. I’ve corrected a grammatical error and cleaned up the picture a bit:
http://base.colleton.net/~lc/christianity.png
As Fabian says, any religion would be an easy target for ridicule if you’re willing to take an honest look at it’s fundamental doctrine. For someone who hasn’t been indoctrinated from an early age, religious teachings simply do not pass the laugh test.
I think of religion as a disease of the mind, one which can be cured merely by a willingness to be honest with oneself. Humanity had better wake up from it’s spellbound stupor before we’ve wandered over the precipice of our extinction.
Cheers,
Lee
Lee on April 23, 2007 ·
Here’s a slimmer JPEG version of that same file.
LordJohnWhorfin on April 25, 2007 ·
Cardinal Ratzinger was also in the Hitler Youth before he was pope… I wonder what his “thinking” is about that. As far as I’m concerned he’s just an evil old man who wears a dress, silly hats and Prada shoes and spews hatred from his position of influence on gullible followers. Hallowed is the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
ylon on April 26, 2007 ·
I could understand why things would be laughable if you don’t have a foundational understanding. Many “Christian” religions are bizarre and hard to believe in the sense of logic, however I will say that I am a Latter-day Saint, member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and see things in a very logical way. Due to a happy meld of logic and the true power of the Holy Spirit (undeniable feelings of peace, happiness, joy, etc. as outlined as the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians chapter 5) I *know* with all of my heart and mind that Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed One.
He came in the meridian of time and performed the Atonement (At-one-ment; to help us to become one with God and interestingly suffered for the sins of the world in the Garden of Gethsemane which many folks seem to overlook and dwell primarily on the cross) that we might avoid the full punishment required of the law if we but live lives that he asks us to live in terms of keeping his commandments and entering into covenants to obey his law.
He became our mediator, a third party that acts as proxy for us before the judgement. God has to be perfectly just and perfectly merciful. Unfortunately those two do not go together unless there is a third party. Jesus Christ becomes that third party. As the bible actually states, Jesus is the son of God, he is not the father of our spirits, but the father of our salvation in that he expiated our sins and “bought” us (at least those willing to follow him). Therefore there are three parties involved in our “final judgement”: Us, God the Father (who is the literal father of our spirits) and Jesus Christ who can be likened to a mediator or attorney, or perhaps a better term, intercessor as he gained that privilege for his sacrifice because of his great love for us.
Again, I have to say that these things can sound bizarre and I have to admit that my jaw drops in amazement to see what some of my friends and family proclaim who are of different religions. If you find yourself scratching your head and saying, how can this be and laughing at religion, go and research The Church of Jesus Christ fully (not the bologna that so many false preachers and various folks throw at the Church; if you want to know about a Toyota, go to a toyota dealer and not a Chevy dealer) and with an open mind. I promise you that you’ll find some pleasant surprises and understand why some amazing scientists come out of this church. Salvation is not so free as so many professors make it sound. It is only free after we do what Jesus the Christ as asked us to do and that is more involved that most folks think.
Finally, a very good book to read is “Jesus the Christ” by James E. Talmage. It is a profound book. James Talmage was a very learned man and the saying of his day was something along the lines of “if you want to know something about physics, ask Einstein, but if you want to know anything else, ask James Talmage.” He studied chemistry, geology, was a Fellow for the Royal Microscopical Society (London), Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society (Edinbugh), Fellow of the Geological Society (London), Fellow of the Geological Society of America, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinbugh, Associate of the Philosophical Society of Great Britain, or Victoria Institute, and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He taught science at Brigham Young Academy and served as president of the University of Utah.
Martin Varsavsky on April 26, 2007 ·
Hi Ylon,
I picked up the image from http://www.reddit.com and simply wondered how is it that it could have been voted to the top.
Brenna on July 20, 2008 ·
That definition of christianty is far more than insulting and im so sorry that whoever came up with that must live with those lies. That is a shame.
I agree with the first comment as well and just to add, do ANY research, spend ANY time with the Lord and THEN come make those judgements and offend us believers.
Oh.. and…
I’m disgusted.
Josh on July 27, 2008 ·
This just goes to show the ignorance of some people. Not just atheist, but some “Christians” as well. I believe that the only logical solution is to agree that both science and religion are necessary. Anyone who says that these to subjects cannot fit together in harmony are not educated well enough. Science is great, but it can only explain so much.
I think the problem is that people misunderstand the Christian faith. First of all, the quote “…a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree…” is inaccurate. Nowhere in the Bible is there any mention of Eve (“rib-woman”) eating from a “magical” tree.
People, including some Christians, expect God to perform some type of “magic”. They think that by praying they can bargain with God and get what they want. It doesn’t work like that. God doesn’t just make everything the way we want it, rather He helps us to get through our problems. In this way God is more of a freind than a master.
Brenna on July 28, 2008 ·
Wow. That was really great.
I agree with what you said and i just think that most people have a huge misunderstanding on christianity and on god and dont see the difference between faith and spirituality and religion. which, is immense.
Josh-I’d like to talk to you more on your ideas of some other things, if your interested
BrennaCaillat@gmail.com
thanks
Leah on August 12, 2008 ·
dude, if you don’t like Christianity, then don’t bother with it, leave it alone. Because no matter what, people are gonna keep being Christians and not caring what your opinion is because they’re happy no matter what situation or test God puts them through like your offenses in your picture, because frankly no matter what you say they’re not gonna care because the god who created the whole universe. And before you bash Christianity, realize that alot of other religeons and theories (like evolution) make alot less sense. And the only other religeons that do make sense blind you by showing you things you like, and shuns you from reality.
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Fernando López de Ayala on April 22, 2007 ·
Varsavsky, I recommend you to read JESUS DE NAZARET written by Pope Benedict XVI, before you continue ofending all the members of the Catholic Church.
In this book, recently released in Italian, German and Polish, he offers a personal meditation on Jesus Christ’s teaching, while he criticizes the “cruelty” of capitalism and colonialism and the power of the wealthy over the poor.
Benedict XVI starts out by stressing that the book, which he began writing in 2003 when he was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, is an expression of his “personal search for the face of the Lord” and is not an official part of Catholic Church doctrine, which means that everyone is free to contradict him.
Cardinal Ratzinger was a prolific and well-known theologian well before he became pope and for this reason his thinking on this subject offers much more credibility than yours.