Get Over Your Fear of Atheism

Just as, on the factual side, a long preparation culminates in God’s becoming incarnate as Man, so, on the documentary side, the truth first appears in mythical form and then by a long process of condensing or focusing finally becomes incarnate as History. This involves the belief that Myth is ... a real though unfocused gleam of divine truth falling on human imagination. The Hebrews, like other peoples, had mythology: but as they were the chosen people so their mythology was the chosen mythology - the mythology chosen by God to be the vehicle of the earliest sacred truths, the first step in that process which ends in the New Testament where truth has become completely historical.

Larni writes:What supernatural or spiritual world is that, then?

Larni writes:Only if you add the (as yet undetectable, unidentified) supernatural or spiritual world. When you stop doing this one can let go of ones need for gods 'n stuff.

Stile writes:How could someone possibly believe that their God is the only source of goodwill, when there are millions of people who are living, physical proof against this? Or even the billions of people who believe that some other God is the source, and they too live extremely good lives each and every day?

Stile writes:Of course it is. That's my entire point, that this line of thinking, this whole entire idea, is a strawman.

jar writes:The problem is not Atheist Morals but that most Christians are clueless of what Christianity demands.

Doddy writes:Basically, it is against what the Bible teaches to claim that atheists can be moral.

Romans 2:5-16 writes: 5But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6God "will give to each person according to what he has done."[a] 7To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11For God does not show favoritism.12All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) 16This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

sidelined writes:To tell the truth in the days when I read the bible and the sacrifice of Jesus I came to an entirely different conclusion about the meaning of the "accepting the sacrifice" to enter heaven. The sacrifice, I thought, was a test by God to see which people would be so immoral as to lay upon Christ their "sins" and so free themselves of responsibility for their so called crimes against God.

sidelined writes:Indeed, and if Christ represented innocence, then what is the morality involved in having him pay for your sins thereby excusing yourself from taking responsibility as a person with a mature and reasoning mind would?

sidelined writes:The priority in my eyes would be to show God that the welfare of others is first and foremost and not my own selfish needs.
I would further assume that a loving god would find this to be the action of a worthy soul and hence to be rewarded.

sidelined writes:Of course I long ago left such things that I find to be fantasy and no longer deal with it except in where it comes up in conversation. That said I am sorry if I caused you distress and discomfort.

sidelined writes:How does this release us from sorrow to brandish the supposedly only innocent man ever with our transgressions? The sorrow is not something that my point of view diminishes in the least but ,in fact, magnifies it to the point of humbling ourselves for the actions we personally consider wrong.

sidelined writes:Yes and your choice is to relinquish the responsibility onto someone else's shoulder to avoid punishment for your transgressions by shifting the burden to another.

Ringo writes:That's a poor analogy. According to conventional Christian dogma, a perfect stranger comes along and takes the blame for you. That's dishonest on his part - and dishonest on your part if you let him do it.

Ringo writes:I was speaking of the conventional Christian dogma that "Jesus died for our sins", "paid the debt for us", etc. If I understand what sidelined was trying to say, allowing Him to do that would be dishonest on our part.

Ringo writes:Taking the blame means taking your own punishment, paying your own debts. If we are truly responsible, then the dogma is meaningless.

Ringo writes:Regina. The stubble's a little higher here than in Medicine Hat.

Ringo writes:Whether making ourselves right with God or right with our neighbour, the Christ-crutch "mechanism" is still a way of squirming out of our responsibility. Better to stand before God and say, "It's not that I don't appreciate your Son's 'sacrifice', but I'll take what's coming to me anyway."

Ringo writes:They have their ups and downs. Saskatchewan is next-year country.

Ringo writes:I'm talking about the idea of Jesus "paying a debt for us" or something to that effect.