4 ms·

Merry Christmas to everyone. Being a non-Christian and it being Christmas time, I am sharing one verse from the New Testament that is, in my opinion, useful -

by pdevr 9mo ago

Merry Christmas to everyone. Being a non-Christian and it being Christmas time, I am sharing one verse from the New Testament that is, in my opinion, useful - or at the very least, insightful - to anyone, regardless of religion. Luke 16:10: He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.

imchillyb 9mo ago
[flagged]
- swat535 9mo ago
  There are 2 kinds of Christians: Those who actually follow the faith, and those who only show up for Christmas and Easter. There's a German term for that 'Uboot Christen' - submarine Christians. They only emerge twice a year.
  - sva_ 9mo ago
    Considering Christians took the Christmas celebration from what they call "Heathens" or "Pagans", I think it is fair. Eastern celebration probably the same.
    - conception 9mo ago
      Eh not really - https://historyforatheists.com/2024/12/pagan-christmas-again/ https://historyforatheists.com/2024/12/pagan-christmas-again... Easter also not pagan. But pophistory thinks that as well. Scholarship doesn’t line up.
- ynab6 9mo ago
  [flagged]
  - anthonypasq96 9mo ago
    i was a recipient of dreadful christrian brainwashing for about 14 years of schooling, and i got a fairly mild case
  - dang 9mo ago
    "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith." "Don't be snarky." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- KellyCriterion 9mo ago
  Weeks ago a local newspaper had the headline: "keep the big bang until later for your children, the bible is really a great set of fairy tales" Im not religious at all, actually "implicitly fighting against it", though I have to admit: This sentence made sense and Im thinking still until today about it, because actually I think its quite true - for smaller children, the storylines in the bible are much more "real" and understandable than the story of: "hey, there was a big bang, all molecules were created then and you are consisting today of these molecules"
  - a022311 9mo ago
    The Bible and the Big Bang theory are not mutually exclusive. The Old Testament is a very symbolic book and gives no specific details on how exactly the world was created, other than the seven days of creation. We know that the 7 days weren't referring to our current concept of a day. There's also no water above the sky. It was written like that, because it would be easier for people to understand. Science wasn't a thing back then. If it were written in 2025, it would obviously be very different and probably much more detailed. Modern Christians know that religion and science can go together. Science researches _how_ something works. Religion answers _who_ created it. The Big Bang theory is actually accepted by them today.
    - sapphicsnail 9mo ago
      I'm sure there are some that think that but I was taught the earth is 10,000 years, the creation story in Genesis is the literal truth, and people spell Christmas "Xmas" because people are trying to take Christ out of Christmas. None of these are fringe positions in the US. There are so Christians that believe science is real but we're very much the minority.
    - pmcginn 9mo ago
      The big bang theory isn't just "accepted by them today," it has been since the beginning. The father of the big bang theory was a catholic priest.
      - 9mo ago
- tisdadd 9mo ago
  Merry Christmas to all. On the note above, there is not a lot of Biblical Christianity seen today, as many do not read the Bible. It is very sad to me, and why I like to make a distinction. It is lovely to see such cheer in this thread overall though, and if you are a professing Christian I would urge you to be reading and studying your Bible.
jslpc 9mo ago
I'd consider myself more spiritual rather than religious, but do pray to a god of my understanding. Just wanted to say thanks for sharing this, I haven't actually read the whole Bible but, as the other reply states, I'm sure there are so many little nuggets like this in there that many ignore.
pmcginn 9mo ago
Thank you for sharing this one! It's from a beautiful parable found only in Luke's gospel, from which only "no slave can serve two masters" seems to have entered the popular lexicon. Your quote, or the closing line "you cannot serve God and wealth", better speak to the spirit of the passage. For anyone interested in approaching the Bible this season, perhaps as part of a New Year's resolution, there are many wonderful free and paid resources to do so. It's easy to get bogged down in a comparison of translations and tools, or to ambitiously pick a Bible in a Year reading plan and get waylaid in the pentateuch. Instead, I'd recommend starting with the Berean Standard Bible (a modern, public domain translation with good footnotes) and Mark (Matthew is my favorite, but it starts with a genealogy and requires some Old Testament knowledge to fully enjoy.) Here's a link: https://biblehub.com/bsb/mark/1.htm https://biblehub.com/bsb/mark/1.htm
NBJack 9mo ago
Truth. You can evaluate a lot about someone from the details they give attention to, and what they ignore. It's not a hard and fast rule, but helpful in determining who you can trust with work, important things in your life (including your self), etc.
deleted 9mo ago
[deleted]
ndsipa_pomu 9mo ago
That's like how you can evaluate someone's character by whether they return supermarket trolleys when they're done with them
- rhubarbtree 9mo ago
  See also: dropping unwashed spoons in a communal sink
appguy 9mo ago
Wonderful verse, it’s so true, thanks for sharing
RickJWagner 9mo ago
Thank you, and Merry Christmas

by pdevr 9mo ago

imchillyb 9mo ago

[flagged]

swat535 9mo ago
There are 2 kinds of Christians: Those who actually follow the faith, and those who only show up for Christmas and Easter. There's a German term for that 'Uboot Christen' - submarine Christians. They only emerge twice a year.
- sva_ 9mo ago
  Considering Christians took the Christmas celebration from what they call "Heathens" or "Pagans", I think it is fair. Eastern celebration probably the same.
  - conception 9mo ago
    Eh not really - https://historyforatheists.com/2024/12/pagan-christmas-again/ https://historyforatheists.com/2024/12/pagan-christmas-again... Easter also not pagan. But pophistory thinks that as well. Scholarship doesn’t line up.
ynab6 9mo ago
[flagged]
- anthonypasq96 9mo ago
  i was a recipient of dreadful christrian brainwashing for about 14 years of schooling, and i got a fairly mild case
- dang 9mo ago
  "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith." "Don't be snarky." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
KellyCriterion 9mo ago
Weeks ago a local newspaper had the headline: "keep the big bang until later for your children, the bible is really a great set of fairy tales" Im not religious at all, actually "implicitly fighting against it", though I have to admit: This sentence made sense and Im thinking still until today about it, because actually I think its quite true - for smaller children, the storylines in the bible are much more "real" and understandable than the story of: "hey, there was a big bang, all molecules were created then and you are consisting today of these molecules"
- a022311 9mo ago
  The Bible and the Big Bang theory are not mutually exclusive. The Old Testament is a very symbolic book and gives no specific details on how exactly the world was created, other than the seven days of creation. We know that the 7 days weren't referring to our current concept of a day. There's also no water above the sky. It was written like that, because it would be easier for people to understand. Science wasn't a thing back then. If it were written in 2025, it would obviously be very different and probably much more detailed. Modern Christians know that religion and science can go together. Science researches _how_ something works. Religion answers _who_ created it. The Big Bang theory is actually accepted by them today.
  - sapphicsnail 9mo ago
    I'm sure there are some that think that but I was taught the earth is 10,000 years, the creation story in Genesis is the literal truth, and people spell Christmas "Xmas" because people are trying to take Christ out of Christmas. None of these are fringe positions in the US. There are so Christians that believe science is real but we're very much the minority.
  - pmcginn 9mo ago
    The big bang theory isn't just "accepted by them today," it has been since the beginning. The father of the big bang theory was a catholic priest.
    - 9mo ago
tisdadd 9mo ago
Merry Christmas to all. On the note above, there is not a lot of Biblical Christianity seen today, as many do not read the Bible. It is very sad to me, and why I like to make a distinction. It is lovely to see such cheer in this thread overall though, and if you are a professing Christian I would urge you to be reading and studying your Bible.

jslpc 9mo ago

I'd consider myself more spiritual rather than religious, but do pray to a god of my understanding. Just wanted to say thanks for sharing this, I haven't actually read the whole Bible but, as the other reply states, I'm sure there are so many little nuggets like this in there that many ignore.

pmcginn 9mo ago

Thank you for sharing this one! It's from a beautiful parable found only in Luke's gospel, from which only "no slave can serve two masters" seems to have entered the popular lexicon. Your quote, or the closing line "you cannot serve God and wealth", better speak to the spirit of the passage. For anyone interested in approaching the Bible this season, perhaps as part of a New Year's resolution, there are many wonderful free and paid resources to do so. It's easy to get bogged down in a comparison of translations and tools, or to ambitiously pick a Bible in a Year reading plan and get waylaid in the pentateuch. Instead, I'd recommend starting with the Berean Standard Bible (a modern, public domain translation with good footnotes) and Mark (Matthew is my favorite, but it starts with a genealogy and requires some Old Testament knowledge to fully enjoy.) Here's a link: https://biblehub.com/bsb/mark/1.htm https://biblehub.com/bsb/mark/1.htm

NBJack 9mo ago

Truth. You can evaluate a lot about someone from the details they give attention to, and what they ignore. It's not a hard and fast rule, but helpful in determining who you can trust with work, important things in your life (including your self), etc.

deleted 9mo ago

[deleted]

ndsipa_pomu 9mo ago

That's like how you can evaluate someone's character by whether they return supermarket trolleys when they're done with them

rhubarbtree 9mo ago
See also: dropping unwashed spoons in a communal sink

appguy 9mo ago

Wonderful verse, it’s so true, thanks for sharing

RickJWagner 9mo ago

Thank you, and Merry Christmas