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As a child I had a subconscious assumption that Christianity wasn't rational, and maintained that view into my mid-twenties. Thankfully, I had the drive to do r

by brink 5y ago

As a child I had a subconscious assumption that Christianity wasn't rational, and maintained that view into my mid-twenties. Thankfully, I had the drive to do research on it, and an open enough mind to accept it, because I was ready to reject Christianity completely for a short period. I know this view isn't popular, but today, I see Christianity as the most rational philosophy/religion out there. I think it's been wrongfully misconstrued as irrational by people who don't really understand the religion, inside and out.

tomcooks 5y ago
Could you explain what's rational about Christianity? Moreover, do you refer to a specific branch or Christianity as a whole?
- cyberbanjo 5y ago
  On that subject the blog undivided looking touches on using applied history and theology to rationalize Christianity. It appeals to my sense of mrationality at least. http://www.wall.org/~aron/blog/ http://www.wall.org/~aron/blog/
  - andredz 5y ago
    I would recommend that blog as well; it is among my favorite places on the internet. Aron's writings have had a huge and very positive impact in my life.
  - bnralt 5y ago
    I took a look at that blog, but it doesn't seem historical at all to me (for example, I can't think of any historian that dates the synoptics to before 70 AD). I also can't say I'm a fan of the way he treats other denominations of Christianity as non-Christian religions. For a good historical look at Christianity, I'd recommend people look into the Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean podcast, the NT Pod podcast, or, for the old testament, the writings of Mark S. Smith (you can also find lectures of his on Youtube).
BitwiseFool 5y ago
Speaking as an Atheist, Christianity gets a very bad rap from popular culture and because of the fact that so many people in the west know about it's core tenets but they only have a casual understanding of the theology. And thus, it's much more readily criticized.
boxed 5y ago
You don't need to know much about it. Christians believe in a god. That's open and shut right there.
- collias 5y ago
  Belief in a god in itself is not really that irrational. Even secular thoughts like simulation theory agree in some sort of force that is outside of the material space-time universe we exist in.
- tengbretson 5y ago
  I don't think the belief in creation by God requires any more leaps of faith than a belief in other cosmologies, such as the big bang, etc.
  - skywal_l 5y ago
    The big bang is a scientific hypothesis. You don't have to believe in it. You can accept it because it was proven, reject because it was disproven or suspend your judgement in between.
  - DataGata 5y ago
    The Big Bang has physical evidence for its existence that you can personally verify.
    - biztos 5y ago
      Yes, but in practice who follows it to that level of detail? From a layperson's point of view, are the astrophysicists that much different than a priestly caste? I believe the physicists, but I don't think that by itself makes me a particularly rigorous thinker. In the ancient world I probably would have believed the priests, because it was what made sense to people. And for better or for worse we have lots of evidence that people can reject science and still enjoy its benefits. It's not like refusing to believe in the Big Bang gets you blacklisted from using rockets or microchips, or rejecting evolution means you can't get vaccinated.
x3iv130f 5y ago
Christians have always been 1/3 scholar, 1/3 philosopher, and 1/3 priest. The premise of Christianity is "revelation". That a higher power revealed knowledge to humans that is not knowable by any other means. That there is revealed knowledge has meant that Christians spend much of their time thinking about and working out the implications of their revealed knowledge and trying to fit it into the rest of the world. How rational you find Christianity depends on willing you are to accept it's premise. If you are then it is completely rational. If you aren't then it is nothing but castles built in the clouds.
- tom_mellior 5y ago
  What knowledge would that be? At least in these Catholicism-dominated parts, that knowledge seems to look something like "you better watch it because you're a sinner and might end up burning in hell, except that Jesus saved you because he loves you, but for some reason despite being saved you are still a sinner and might end up burning in hell". You kind of sound like that's not the premise you mean.
  - wirrbel 5y ago
    The roman branch of christianity (from which Roman Catholicism and protestantism arise) are hugely influenced by lawyers and roman law, which emphasises sinning and punishment a lot. If you are a sinner your priest is a parole officer. The eastern christianity still recognises sin, but treats it more like a disease, the priest is more of a doctor. I find this more appealing from a philosophical point of view, yet I lack any reason to believe.
  - cryptochamorro 5y ago
    The whole "Catholic guilt" thing is of often pointed to as some whacky vehicle of control, which is a total mischaracterization of what that perspective is meant to do. Many religions and philosophers understand the idea that humans are not basically good people. They are generally self centered and not sacrificial. So to say that Catholicism or Christianity is strange for placing emphasis on our "fallenness" is a little unfair IMHO. The daily struggle of a Christian is to strive to rid one's self of their sinful desires (selfish / evil) and live as Christ commands. This a continual process, and one that cannot be stopped. If one just "gets tired" of being a Christian, and lives differently, then they are in danger of losing their salvation. I only go into this detail to illustrate that there is more to "Catholic guilt" than a flippant "critique".
vmception 5y ago
It is rational to say that creature won. It is not rational to worship it out of love, which Christians began doing. Whatever it is, it does not act in the interest of mankind.
qwerty456127 5y ago
> I think it's been wrongfully misconstrued as irrational by people who don't really understand the religion, inside and out. You mean by 99.9% of the people. I have no doubt there is everything one may need to get enlightened in Christianity also but Christians have seemingly done amazing job obscuring that. And I can't recognize Christianity as rational because it requires you to just believe all the way through (in Buddhism as I know it believing is considered harmful, you are meant to experience it yourself and even then you are considered a fool if you start believing).

by brink 5y ago

tomcooks 5y ago

Could you explain what's rational about Christianity? Moreover, do you refer to a specific branch or Christianity as a whole?

cyberbanjo 5y ago
On that subject the blog undivided looking touches on using applied history and theology to rationalize Christianity. It appeals to my sense of mrationality at least. http://www.wall.org/~aron/blog/ http://www.wall.org/~aron/blog/
- andredz 5y ago
  I would recommend that blog as well; it is among my favorite places on the internet. Aron's writings have had a huge and very positive impact in my life.
- bnralt 5y ago
  I took a look at that blog, but it doesn't seem historical at all to me (for example, I can't think of any historian that dates the synoptics to before 70 AD). I also can't say I'm a fan of the way he treats other denominations of Christianity as non-Christian religions. For a good historical look at Christianity, I'd recommend people look into the Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean podcast, the NT Pod podcast, or, for the old testament, the writings of Mark S. Smith (you can also find lectures of his on Youtube).

BitwiseFool 5y ago

Speaking as an Atheist, Christianity gets a very bad rap from popular culture and because of the fact that so many people in the west know about it's core tenets but they only have a casual understanding of the theology. And thus, it's much more readily criticized.

boxed 5y ago

You don't need to know much about it. Christians believe in a god. That's open and shut right there.

collias 5y ago
Belief in a god in itself is not really that irrational. Even secular thoughts like simulation theory agree in some sort of force that is outside of the material space-time universe we exist in.
tengbretson 5y ago
I don't think the belief in creation by God requires any more leaps of faith than a belief in other cosmologies, such as the big bang, etc.
- skywal_l 5y ago
  The big bang is a scientific hypothesis. You don't have to believe in it. You can accept it because it was proven, reject because it was disproven or suspend your judgement in between.
- DataGata 5y ago
  The Big Bang has physical evidence for its existence that you can personally verify.
  - biztos 5y ago
    Yes, but in practice who follows it to that level of detail? From a layperson's point of view, are the astrophysicists that much different than a priestly caste? I believe the physicists, but I don't think that by itself makes me a particularly rigorous thinker. In the ancient world I probably would have believed the priests, because it was what made sense to people. And for better or for worse we have lots of evidence that people can reject science and still enjoy its benefits. It's not like refusing to believe in the Big Bang gets you blacklisted from using rockets or microchips, or rejecting evolution means you can't get vaccinated.

x3iv130f 5y ago

Christians have always been 1/3 scholar, 1/3 philosopher, and 1/3 priest. The premise of Christianity is "revelation". That a higher power revealed knowledge to humans that is not knowable by any other means. That there is revealed knowledge has meant that Christians spend much of their time thinking about and working out the implications of their revealed knowledge and trying to fit it into the rest of the world. How rational you find Christianity depends on willing you are to accept it's premise. If you are then it is completely rational. If you aren't then it is nothing but castles built in the clouds.

tom_mellior 5y ago
What knowledge would that be? At least in these Catholicism-dominated parts, that knowledge seems to look something like "you better watch it because you're a sinner and might end up burning in hell, except that Jesus saved you because he loves you, but for some reason despite being saved you are still a sinner and might end up burning in hell". You kind of sound like that's not the premise you mean.
- wirrbel 5y ago
  The roman branch of christianity (from which Roman Catholicism and protestantism arise) are hugely influenced by lawyers and roman law, which emphasises sinning and punishment a lot. If you are a sinner your priest is a parole officer. The eastern christianity still recognises sin, but treats it more like a disease, the priest is more of a doctor. I find this more appealing from a philosophical point of view, yet I lack any reason to believe.
- cryptochamorro 5y ago
  The whole "Catholic guilt" thing is of often pointed to as some whacky vehicle of control, which is a total mischaracterization of what that perspective is meant to do. Many religions and philosophers understand the idea that humans are not basically good people. They are generally self centered and not sacrificial. So to say that Catholicism or Christianity is strange for placing emphasis on our "fallenness" is a little unfair IMHO. The daily struggle of a Christian is to strive to rid one's self of their sinful desires (selfish / evil) and live as Christ commands. This a continual process, and one that cannot be stopped. If one just "gets tired" of being a Christian, and lives differently, then they are in danger of losing their salvation. I only go into this detail to illustrate that there is more to "Catholic guilt" than a flippant "critique".

vmception 5y ago

It is rational to say that creature won. It is not rational to worship it out of love, which Christians began doing. Whatever it is, it does not act in the interest of mankind.

qwerty456127 5y ago

> I think it's been wrongfully misconstrued as irrational by people who don't really understand the religion, inside and out. You mean by 99.9% of the people. I have no doubt there is everything one may need to get enlightened in Christianity also but Christians have seemingly done amazing job obscuring that. And I can't recognize Christianity as rational because it requires you to just believe all the way through (in Buddhism as I know it believing is considered harmful, you are meant to experience it yourself and even then you are considered a fool if you start believing).