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As a Bible-believing Christian, I am appalled by the ahistoricity and the lack of respect for the plain interpretation of the text of the Bible, as displayed by

As a Bible-believing Christian, I am appalled by the ahistoricity and the lack of respect for the plain interpretation of the text of the Bible, as displayed by the author of this article. It's mind-boggling that one would choose to cherry-pick what amounts to a few chapters of a far larger body of teachings, and re-interpret Christianity as an economic movement. Consider: the core teaching of Christianity is that a certain person, Jesus of Nazareth, was the promised Messiah (the Anointed One, King of Jews, a role written about at length by the Old Testament), that He was the Son of God, that He had both a fully divine and a fully human nature, that He died a painful death on the cross as a price for forgiveness of all human sins and direct access to God for every person, and that He literally rose again from the dead three days after that. That's the core of the faith, that's the most important part that makes Christianity, Christianity. Those are the things you need to agree you believe in so that you can legitimately call yourself a Christian. The rest is secondary. Now tell me, how does this have anything to do with economics or the forgiveness of literal debts? The Bible is very direct and quotes Jesus as saying: "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm." (John 18:36). This verse outright contradicts any interpretation that Christianity is about political power or concerns on this side of the divide between mortality and the eternity (parenthetically, this is the reason why to me what American Evangelism developed into is so disturbing). It should be something of concern, but not the concern. Christianity is not communism. Christianity is not benevolent philanthropy. Christianity is none of those things that one tries to pin it down, if one adopts a frame free of God as the core consideration. Christianity is about trying to establish a connection with God, while it's not too late to do that. Trying to reduce it to a cause revolving around money in some way is absurd in the magnitude of misunderstanding on display here. I know that many here will be sceptics or non-believers, so many will skip this comment. But if you want to critique Christianity, at least do so in the spirit of not misrepresenting fundamental claims and tenets of the faith you disagree with. I trust that intellectual honesty is the name of the game on HN, and that's all I ask for.

scientator 1y ago
Biblical scholar Bart Ehrman argues that there are many versions of Christianity, and there always have been since its inception. What you are representing as the "core teaching of Christianity" is the version that was primarily articulated by Paul, and that became the orthodox version due to its eventual adoption as the religion of the Roman Empire. But even at the time of Paul there were rival interpretations. There were the Gnostics, the group led by James in Jerusalem, and even those who insisted one had to adopt Judaism to follow Jesus. And significantly, Jesus himself probably wouldn't have recognized the interpretation of Paul. And looking beyond early Christianity, one can pick any period of Christianity's history and find numerous rival doctrines.
- positus 1y ago
  Jesus taught Paul everything he knew about Christianity, by the way.
YeGoblynQueenne 1y ago
Happy Easter. I am an atheist but I was raised Christian (Greek Orthodox). I read all four Gospels as a teenager in their original Koine Greek - Greek is my maternal language and I am lucky enough that I still understand its version spoken two thousand years ago. From my reading, and ignoring any later interpretation, what you say is partly right, but you are leaving out a very big part of what Christ taught and what he did when he was with his students. Yes, he claimed he was the son of God, yes he claimed that those who believe in him will find the kingdom of heaven, yes his followers believed he rose from the dead and ascended to the heavens (? "ανελήθφη εις τους ουρανους") afterwards. And that he will return and judge right and wrong in a second coming (that's actually from the Apocalypse). And all that- all that's cannon and nobody denies it. But it makes no sense to deny the fact that while he was here, among us, he defended widows and orphans, the poor, the weak, the downtrodden, he fed the hungry, he healed the paralytics and the blind, and the lepers, and he recruited his followers (among whom Paul, or Saul, was not) from fishers and peasants, and called on them to be "fishers of men". And there is no denying all the parables, mentioned in the article, in which the unrighteous, the rich, the powerful, the selfish and the greedy get their just desserts. There is no denying the parable of the Good Samaritan and Christ's commandment to him who has two chitons, to give one to whomever hasn't. There is no denying that he attacked the usurers in the temple in rage, crying that they desecrated his father's house, no denying that he spoke truth to power and held the feet of the scribes and the pharissees over the fire for their corruption and greed. Christ preached love, and compassion, and philanthropy, for all his followers while they live in the world. And he didn't just preach them! Those are important, fundamental responsibilities that the faithful must observe if they are to gain entry into the kingdom of heaven, after his second coming. His kingdom is not of this world, as you remind us, but to gain entry to his kingdom one must live their life as a Christian in this world. And "it is easier for a camel to pass a needle's eye than a rich man through the gates of heaven" (my liberal translation, from memory). And there is no denying the fact that his teaching was for his followers to share. Share everything, like he shared everything with them. "This is my flesh, eat from it. This is my blood, drink from it". Λάβετε, φάγετε τοῦτο ἐστί τό σῶμα μου, τό ὑπέρ ὑμῶν κλώμενον εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν. Take, eat, this is my body, parceled for you to relieve your sins. The most sacred rite of Christianity, even the most modernised, Westernised Christianity, far removed from its Eastern roots, is the rite of communion. The author of the piece did not hallucinate. Christianity is a form of sacred communism. Maybe the message was twisted and its meaning lost as it travelled in time and space away from its origins, but the message was loud and clear when Christ was here: share everything with your brothers and sisters and take care of each other in this world otherwise you will not be with Christ in the other.

scientator 1y ago

Biblical scholar Bart Ehrman argues that there are many versions of Christianity, and there always have been since its inception. What you are representing as the "core teaching of Christianity" is the version that was primarily articulated by Paul, and that became the orthodox version due to its eventual adoption as the religion of the Roman Empire. But even at the time of Paul there were rival interpretations. There were the Gnostics, the group led by James in Jerusalem, and even those who insisted one had to adopt Judaism to follow Jesus. And significantly, Jesus himself probably wouldn't have recognized the interpretation of Paul. And looking beyond early Christianity, one can pick any period of Christianity's history and find numerous rival doctrines.

positus 1y ago
Jesus taught Paul everything he knew about Christianity, by the way.

YeGoblynQueenne 1y ago

Happy Easter. I am an atheist but I was raised Christian (Greek Orthodox). I read all four Gospels as a teenager in their original Koine Greek - Greek is my maternal language and I am lucky enough that I still understand its version spoken two thousand years ago. From my reading, and ignoring any later interpretation, what you say is partly right, but you are leaving out a very big part of what Christ taught and what he did when he was with his students. Yes, he claimed he was the son of God, yes he claimed that those who believe in him will find the kingdom of heaven, yes his followers believed he rose from the dead and ascended to the heavens (? "ανελήθφη εις τους ουρανους") afterwards. And that he will return and judge right and wrong in a second coming (that's actually from the Apocalypse). And all that- all that's cannon and nobody denies it. But it makes no sense to deny the fact that while he was here, among us, he defended widows and orphans, the poor, the weak, the downtrodden, he fed the hungry, he healed the paralytics and the blind, and the lepers, and he recruited his followers (among whom Paul, or Saul, was not) from fishers and peasants, and called on them to be "fishers of men". And there is no denying all the parables, mentioned in the article, in which the unrighteous, the rich, the powerful, the selfish and the greedy get their just desserts. There is no denying the parable of the Good Samaritan and Christ's commandment to him who has two chitons, to give one to whomever hasn't. There is no denying that he attacked the usurers in the temple in rage, crying that they desecrated his father's house, no denying that he spoke truth to power and held the feet of the scribes and the pharissees over the fire for their corruption and greed. Christ preached love, and compassion, and philanthropy, for all his followers while they live in the world. And he didn't just preach them! Those are important, fundamental responsibilities that the faithful must observe if they are to gain entry into the kingdom of heaven, after his second coming. His kingdom is not of this world, as you remind us, but to gain entry to his kingdom one must live their life as a Christian in this world. And "it is easier for a camel to pass a needle's eye than a rich man through the gates of heaven" (my liberal translation, from memory). And there is no denying the fact that his teaching was for his followers to share. Share everything, like he shared everything with them. "This is my flesh, eat from it. This is my blood, drink from it". Λάβετε, φάγετε τοῦτο ἐστί τό σῶμα μου, τό ὑπέρ ὑμῶν κλώμενον εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν. Take, eat, this is my body, parceled for you to relieve your sins. The most sacred rite of Christianity, even the most modernised, Westernised Christianity, far removed from its Eastern roots, is the rite of communion. The author of the piece did not hallucinate. Christianity is a form of sacred communism. Maybe the message was twisted and its meaning lost as it travelled in time and space away from its origins, but the message was loud and clear when Christ was here: share everything with your brothers and sisters and take care of each other in this world otherwise you will not be with Christ in the other.