3 ms·

I’m genuinely curious: what biblical sources exist that teach Christian individualism above other ways of living?

• riwsky 6y ago
  The story of Abraham (where he goes to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac) emphasizes one man’s individual devotion to God, over and above any societal (or even his own) sense of consequentialist ethics; while I would probably agree that Christianity as a whole (and particularly the words biblically attributed to Jesus) is prosocial, you still have big name Christian philosophers with an individualist bent—heck, you could even argue that modern individualist philosophy starts with Christianity, in the seminal existentialist works of Kierkegaard.
  • mbesto 6y ago
    Couldn't you basically argue this for any major religions' worship of said prophets/God(s)?
  • MontagFTB 6y ago
    Off the top of my head I’d counter with another OT reference: the Ten Commandments. One could argue every one is an effort to get an individual’s perspective off of themselves as the primary object of worship, and to focus on others as more important than themselves (God among them.)
  • sn41 6y ago
    Abraham would be relevant to Judaism and Islam as well, so attributing individualism to this is somewhat doubtful. In the New Testament, as you mention, society and gathering is actually encouraged. The simplest is: “When two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:20 Moreover, "Render unto Caesar things that are Caesar's" avoids any kind of confrontation between personal worship and fulfilling duties to the secular government.