In the first place, no one knows when Christ will return, no matter how many books or tapes they have produced to say they do. In Acts chapter 1, Jesus was asked by His disciples if He would, at that time, set up His kingdom. The first words out of His mouth were, "It is not for you to know." Oh, we can speculate, surmise, and make educated guesses, but that's the best we can do. It's time we were honest enough to admit it: only God knows when Christ will return. In fact, Jesus said, "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only" (Matthew 24:36).And later on Baldwin adds this...In the meantime, millions of Christians across America are trying to play God. They talk as if they know when Christ will come. It's actually worse than that. They have the attitude that they have no personal responsibility to defend freedom and resist despotism. They seem to look at God as some kind of glorified fireman, who is obligated to rush in at the last minute to rescue them from a burning fire--a fire that they helped ignite, or at least, refused to put out themselves when they had the opportunity to do so. It's the old, "God would not let that happen in America" syndrome...
I believe the real reason why so many professing Christians are so apathetic and indifferent to what is happening has nothing to do with the teachings of Scripture, Bible doctrine, eschatology, or anything of the like. It has everything to do with old-fashioned laziness. Today's average Christian just flat does not want to be bothered. He has a comfortable house, an easy chair, television, and a set of golf clubs in the closet. He takes two or three weeks' vacation every year, goes to church on Sunday (a church that does not intrude on his comfort zone, of course), pays taxes, and votes for his favorite "pro-life" Republican candidate every two years, and assumes that he is a "good" Christian and "patriotic" American. He is neither!Hit here for the rest of Baldwin's essay.
4 comments:
A great deal of the Christian symbols come from the Pagan religion. The cross for one thing. In fact the story of Jesus is nothing new.
It's been revised and plagiarized many times. It's symbolism and myth. Like the twelve disciples or 12 months of the year. The winter solstice and the birth of the sun or of Jesus. The three kings and the stars that align also called the three kings. Myth and symbolism.
The point is that it's a myth, perhaps based on an actual person but that's very unlikely as the Bible wasn't written for almost 100 years after the death of the Jesus figure. There is no written record of this Jesus during the time he is supposed to have existed.
I guess you have to have faith and that God works in mysterious ways like the way Christians said the sun revolves around the earth. You would think that God / Jesus would have said something about that seeing as how he is up there in the sky and that he invented the sun and how the universe works and all.
Then you have to look at all religions ... and question ... what's with the 72 virgins. Religions or these religions come from a time when we didn't know that much about the universe and when survival was much trickier.
"There is no written record of this Jesus during the time he is supposed to have existed."
Julius Caesar's chronicle of his campaign in Gaul comes to us in only a few manuscripts, and none of them older than a few hundred years after his death. There are also very few early manuscripts containing Homer's The Odyssey, and they likewise are dated centuries after he first wrote it.
Now, based on your statement friend, we should not believe that Julius Caesar led a military expedition to what is now France and Belgium, and that even as a work of fiction The Odyssey is not due any respect or consideration.
Meanwhile, there are MANY external sources referencing Jesus, all within a hundred years or so of His life. Biographies of Polycarp readily come to mind (second generation Christian who was a disciple of John and spoke often of what John had told him of Jesus), so do the writings of Josephus.
We have more existing evidence that Jesus Christ lived a life in accordance to what we know of Him from the gospels, than we have evidence for Caesar, Alexander or Cyrus. Those guys certainly lived, didn't they? :-)
One does not need to be an intellectual to understand...
That something written 2000 years ago by people who thought the Earth was flat and the center of the universe is ridiculous. Remember, this was a time when rulers were trying to come up with ways to keep the ignorant masses in line, or to trick them into becoming willful participants in bloody conquests. The fear and guilt trips kept people in line. The original christian text was changed MANY times. Hell wasn't even originally in the scriptures until later added to scare people into joining for fear of the fiery pits of darkness and death.
To gain a sense of community, church is great.
To gain a sense of the universe, watch Carl Sagan's Cosmos.
"The knowledge exist by which universal happiness can be secured; the chief obstacle to its utilization for that purpose is the teaching of religion. Religion prevents our children from having a rational education; religion prevents us from removing the fundamental causes of war; Religion prevents us from teaching the ethic of scientific co-operation in the place of old fierce doctrines of sin and punishment. It is possible that mankind is on the threshold of a golden age; but, if so, it will be necessary first to slay the dragon that guards the door, and that dragon is religion."
Bertrand Russell - Why I am not a Christian, pg 47. 1957
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