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I like how Rene Girard spoke about Jesus. The good Samaritan for example. Jesus literally talks about how a person from a completely different ethnicity which h

I like how Rene Girard spoke about Jesus. The good Samaritan for example. Jesus literally talks about how a person from a completely different ethnicity which hates Jews is taking care of a Jewish man. His message was absolute love and radical forgiveness. If we really take Jesus' message it would mean no borders, no wars, just pure love for each other. Anybody who doesn't understand that is not a real Christian.

leobg 3y ago
You may find Tolstoy interesting. “What I believe” is the book.
- 082349872349872 3y ago
  also the short story Холстомер ("Strider")
- ilrwbwrkhv 3y ago
  I love it. Turn the other cheek in the face of death. Incredible ideas but we mangle it. Hence we are not in the kingdom yet.
  - leobg 3y ago
    I may have mixed it up with “The Kingdom of God Is Within You”. Some of the big ideas in there: 1. Nonviolence as a Principle: Tolstoy concludes that the core of Jesus’ teachings is nonviolent resistance to evil. This was a radical idea at the time, influencing figures like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. later on. 2. Rejection of the State and All Violence: He argues that all forms of violence, including state-sanctioned violence (like police and military), are fundamentally opposed to Christian teachings. 3. Critique of the Church: Tolstoy is critical of the institutionalized church, asserting it has strayed far from Jesus’ original teachings. He believes the church supports violence and coercion, contrary to the principles of Christianity. 4. Personal Morality Over Legal Systems: He suggests that true Christian ethics are based on personal morality and conscience rather than legal systems or government decrees. 5. The Kingdom of God Is Within: Tolstoy interprets the Kingdom of God not as a physical location or afterlife promise, but as a state of being one can achieve by living in accordance with Jesus’ teachings. 6. Universal Love and Brotherhood: He emphasizes the idea of universal love and brotherhood, extending beyond one’s community or nation, challenging prevailing notions of nationalism and tribalism. 7. Civil Disobedience: Tolstoy advocates for civil disobedience as a means of opposing unjust laws and government actions, prefiguring many 20th-century movements for social change. 8. Simplicity and Asceticism: He also extols the virtues of a simple, ascetic lifestyle, free from the pursuit of wealth and material excess.
    - ilrwbwrkhv 3y ago
      Oh yes. You are right.
UncleOxidant 3y ago
> The good Samaritan for example. Jesus literally talks about how a person from a completely different ethnicity which hates Jews is taking care of a Jewish man. The story would've been shocking to his Jewish audience because of the enmity that existed between Jews and Samaritans. They would've been thinking along the lines of "but how could those people be good?" upon hearing the story. > If we really take Jesus' message it would mean no borders, no wars, just pure love for each other. This is why Christian Nationalism is an oxymoron.
082349872349872 3y ago
> Anybody who doesn't understand that is not a real Christian. I particularly enjoyed the depiction of Pilate's "film noir" reaction in The Master and Margarita. > "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried." —GKC
thinkingemote 3y ago
Additionally some Roman Auxiliaries / guards in Jerusalem may have been Samaritans. Which gives an additional insight into Jesus's persecution and crucifixion as well in this story.
apollo_mojave 3y ago
Amen. What I found so interesting about Girard's perspective on Christ is that Jesus represents the end of the "scapegoat," because he is the "holy and perfect Sacrifice." In Girard's interpretation, Jesus ultimately broke the cycle of imitation because He is the ultimate scapegoat, upon whom all the sins of humanity were placed, and yet He is also God, whom we should love above all other things.
- 082349872349872 3y ago
  > He is the ultimate scapegoat There is a theory that since he was resurrected three days (one long weekend) after dying for our sins, it's a bit of a gaslight to keep eternally playing the guilt card over the whole affair. (personally, although this theory is amusing, I prefer Bulgakov's interpretation of the passion)
silent_cal 3y ago
Girard was a Roman Catholic, not a hippie.
mariodiana 3y ago
My understanding is that it’s the other way around. The Jews despised the Samaritans. The Samaritans were the hayseed, “deplorable” Israelites left behind when Israel was conquered by the Persians and the elites carted off to Babylon. When the elites returned, they who became the Samaritans offered to help rebuild the Temple, but they who became who we know as the Jews spurned their offer.

leobg 3y ago

You may find Tolstoy interesting. “What I believe” is the book.

082349872349872 3y ago
also the short story Холстомер ("Strider")
ilrwbwrkhv 3y ago
I love it. Turn the other cheek in the face of death. Incredible ideas but we mangle it. Hence we are not in the kingdom yet.
- leobg 3y ago
  I may have mixed it up with “The Kingdom of God Is Within You”. Some of the big ideas in there: 1. Nonviolence as a Principle: Tolstoy concludes that the core of Jesus’ teachings is nonviolent resistance to evil. This was a radical idea at the time, influencing figures like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. later on. 2. Rejection of the State and All Violence: He argues that all forms of violence, including state-sanctioned violence (like police and military), are fundamentally opposed to Christian teachings. 3. Critique of the Church: Tolstoy is critical of the institutionalized church, asserting it has strayed far from Jesus’ original teachings. He believes the church supports violence and coercion, contrary to the principles of Christianity. 4. Personal Morality Over Legal Systems: He suggests that true Christian ethics are based on personal morality and conscience rather than legal systems or government decrees. 5. The Kingdom of God Is Within: Tolstoy interprets the Kingdom of God not as a physical location or afterlife promise, but as a state of being one can achieve by living in accordance with Jesus’ teachings. 6. Universal Love and Brotherhood: He emphasizes the idea of universal love and brotherhood, extending beyond one’s community or nation, challenging prevailing notions of nationalism and tribalism. 7. Civil Disobedience: Tolstoy advocates for civil disobedience as a means of opposing unjust laws and government actions, prefiguring many 20th-century movements for social change. 8. Simplicity and Asceticism: He also extols the virtues of a simple, ascetic lifestyle, free from the pursuit of wealth and material excess.
  - ilrwbwrkhv 3y ago
    Oh yes. You are right.

UncleOxidant 3y ago

> The good Samaritan for example. Jesus literally talks about how a person from a completely different ethnicity which hates Jews is taking care of a Jewish man. The story would've been shocking to his Jewish audience because of the enmity that existed between Jews and Samaritans. They would've been thinking along the lines of "but how could those people be good?" upon hearing the story. > If we really take Jesus' message it would mean no borders, no wars, just pure love for each other. This is why Christian Nationalism is an oxymoron.

082349872349872 3y ago

> Anybody who doesn't understand that is not a real Christian. I particularly enjoyed the depiction of Pilate's "film noir" reaction in The Master and Margarita. > "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried." —GKC

thinkingemote 3y ago

Additionally some Roman Auxiliaries / guards in Jerusalem may have been Samaritans. Which gives an additional insight into Jesus's persecution and crucifixion as well in this story.

apollo_mojave 3y ago

Amen. What I found so interesting about Girard's perspective on Christ is that Jesus represents the end of the "scapegoat," because he is the "holy and perfect Sacrifice." In Girard's interpretation, Jesus ultimately broke the cycle of imitation because He is the ultimate scapegoat, upon whom all the sins of humanity were placed, and yet He is also God, whom we should love above all other things.

082349872349872 3y ago
> He is the ultimate scapegoat There is a theory that since he was resurrected three days (one long weekend) after dying for our sins, it's a bit of a gaslight to keep eternally playing the guilt card over the whole affair. (personally, although this theory is amusing, I prefer Bulgakov's interpretation of the passion)

silent_cal 3y ago

Girard was a Roman Catholic, not a hippie.

mariodiana 3y ago

My understanding is that it’s the other way around. The Jews despised the Samaritans. The Samaritans were the hayseed, “deplorable” Israelites left behind when Israel was conquered by the Persians and the elites carted off to Babylon. When the elites returned, they who became the Samaritans offered to help rebuild the Temple, but they who became who we know as the Jews spurned their offer.