Could only Christian tell us what Jesus meant with these words,
Matt. vi. 25-34.—25. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26. Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27. Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28. And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29. And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Were Christians expected to follow them or was this idle talk? The question I am trying to ask is has there been a Christian in our midst?
To all of us,
Is brotherhood of man a pipe dream. One of those illusions. Can we love one another without loving god? The Christian god no less?
Tolstoi argues thus
The Christian doctrine, and the doctrine of the Positivists, and of all advocates of the universal brotherhood of man, founded on the utility of such a brotherhood, have nothing in common, and especially do they differ in that the doctrine of Christianity has a solid and a clearly defined foundation in the human soul, whereas love of humanity is but a theoretical conclusion reached through analogy.
He writes
But the man who loves humanity, what is it that he loves? There is a State, there is a people, there is the abstract conception of man. But humanity as a concrete conception is impossible.
And concludes
The Christian doctrine teaches to man that the essence of his soul is love; that his well-being may be traced, not to the fact that he loves this object or that one, but to the fact that he loves the principle of all things—God, whom he recognizes in himself through love, and will by the love of God love all men and all things.
A few questions from the ongoing
- Assuming for the sake of argument Jesus was, how do we explain the contradiction between the lives of Christians and his teaching?
- Is it possible to love all humanity without loving god, the Christian god?
- Is the love of all humanity desirable and why?
Random thoughts 
Hey there! I am a new blogger and I’d love for you to check out my first blog. Thanks so much!!
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Hey Nathan,
I did read your blog.
Thanks for visiting mine.
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These are excellent questions. In regards to the first question about the clear contradictions between christians and the teachings of Jesus is to understand that Jesus came to call sinners, not the righteous to repentance. We are all in need of a physician to heal our souls, hence, why Jesus established His Church-mainly as a spiritual hospital. It was explained to me that when you go into a hospital, you don’t expect to see healthy people, hence the same applies to the Church. Don’t expect to go to the spiritual hospital expecting to see holy people. We are all in the process of being healed, it’s just a matter of understanding, love, and patience with one another during this process.
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It’s simple.
The church, and so called Christians, have become our example of people of God.
We should get our examples from scripture just like the one you just posted, and live in that way.
Even if you don’t see one other person around you following it the way you do, praise God because you are one of the few who he will know by name and accept you.
Just stay on the path you know is true.
Thanks for posting and have a powerful day
Breakthrough Futures
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The path I am on is that of disbelief
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Nice work!
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I like how we are not to worry, but to trust God. I think one of the key passages of Matthew 6 is verse 33: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” When we go about seeking God’s kingdom, as believers in Him, we can trust Him to meet our every need. If we seek our needs first, before seeking His kingdom, then its easy to worry. I think worrying is simply an indication that we are not trusting God to fully meet our needs.
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Hi
How do you know these are his needs and these are your needs?
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It comes through being in relationship with Him. One of the closest relationships I can compare it with is relationship with my wife. Through intimacy with her I get to know her needs, and she gets to know mine. Likewise, my relationship with God grows through intimacy with Him. As I understand His ways and His thoughts, I come to know that He really understands my own needs, many times even before I recognize them.
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I find this very interesting, especially given your analogy.
So does god talk to you as does your wife or how does this relationship with god happen?
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I would like to preface this by saying that I am a Christian and therefore, I do have a Christian interpretation. That being said, here goes.
1. Assuming for the sake of argument Jesus was, how do we explain the contradiction between the lives of Christians and his teaching?
This particular teaching is about not worrying, and in particular, not being materialistic, which leads to jealousy because for one thing, God provides what we need even if we don’t understand what that is, and secondly, because jealousy leads to division, which is obviously not conducive to brotherly love. Lastly, there are is a considerable number of people who call themselves Christian, but because they do not really live by Christ’s teachings, they are not actually Christian. To be Christian is to be Christlike. In other words, it is to be selfless and loving.
2. Is it possible to love all humanity without loving god, the Christian god?
I would probably have to say no. I will say most people, Christian or not, have a natural inclination towards loving and helping others. However, Jesus says that we should love our enemies, which I’m not sure people are naturally inclined to do. I would also add that God commands people to love him, but he doesn’t force anyone to. He created us with free will precisely because he loves us and just wants us to love him back. When we have a loving relationship with God, he gives us the Holy Spirit which, among many other things, helps us to love all of humanity.
3. Is the love of all humanity desirable and why?
Yes, because ideally, it would lead to an end to wars, greater and quicker advances in scientific research, and many other desirable things.
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For some reason, your comment had been spammed.
1. God in the old testament is portrayed as jealous. I think god would be the last being to talk contra justice. And was Christ selfless?
2. If god created people with freewill, then it can’t be a bad thing to use to hate. Unless you are saying something different.
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The first in the Ten Commandments is, “You shall have no other gods before me.” God wants his people to be in a relationship with him like a husband is in a relationship with his wife. Jesus says that people cannot serve two masters because we will love one and hate the other or vise versa. You will notice also, that though the word “jealous” is used to describe him, and though he punishes people for turning against him, he also forgives time and again. Ergo, he is really a very loyal God.
You ask if Christ was selfless. Can you point out a place where he wasn’t? He put himself in danger multiple times for the benefit of others. He forgave sins. He healed the sick. He raised the dead. He served others and fed thousands even when all he wanted to do was escape the crowds for a little while. He sacrificed his life to save the entire human race. There are countless other stories of redemption, love, and miracles, including my own that can also be attributed to Jesus, so you don’t just have to take the Bible’s word for it. Does that sound like a selfish person to you?
I am assuming that we’re talking about the Christian God here. I would argue simply that while we are given the choice to hate, it is not good to do so for several reasons. It has negative effects on others, psychological repercussions on the one who hates, and causes a spiritual divide between the self and God.
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You shall have no other gods is an acknowledgement that there are other gods and one wants to hog all the space. I don’t think jealous in this case means what it means in daily use. It makes no sense to punish and forgive. Either I forgive you or punish you.
Haha. You are funny. You believers claim he is god. There is possibly no way a god can be at risk in a human world. And he knew by committing suicide he would join himself in heaven. There is no sacrifice. How is it a sacrifice when he wakes up from his hangover three days later? You talk of healing the sick. He is said to have healed one person here another there, wouldn’t it have been better for all of us if he left the formula he used or if he took away sickness from all since it does appear he had the power? Fed thousands, once! Why not end world hunger? Your expectations from a god are very modest it seems.
While I agree hate has negative consequences, my point is if the freewill you are talking about is to have only one result, then why have it?
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You shall have no other gods is a warning that idolizing anything, whether it be money, possessions or false deities takes away from a true loving relationship. Parents don’t punish their children for doing wrong and yet forgive them because they love them?
When Jesus was here on earth in human form he took on every condition of human nature. Therefore, he could only be in one place at one time and by extension, could not feed or heal everyone all at once. Taking on all conditions of human nature, he put himself at risk even though he didn’t have to. He could have abandoned us. Lastly, as I have said, he is part of the Holy Trinity. There are three people, but one God. He did not sacrifice himself to himself. He sacrificed himself to his father.
We have free will because if we don’t we’re basically robots.
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I will start with your last comment. IS there freewill in heaven? While at it, would you tell me what you understand freewill to be.
So in Genesis when the author says man has eaten of the tree of knowledge and should now be put out before he eats of the tree of life not to become like one of us, who is god talking about? When the Israelites are told not to worship the gods of other communities, what did that mean?
So was he god or not? Did he fall in love, suffer heartbreak, fall sick, lose employment, be homeless? Please don’t insult our intelligence. What does it mean to say they are three persons but god is one. Did you read that statement aloud before posting?
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My understanding of free will is the ability to do what we want and to choose our own path. We’re not on a predetermined trajectory. Yes there will be free will in heaven because we will retain our human nature. However, our decisions will conform to God’s will because God is inherently good and we will, by the time we get to heaven, know and want what is best.
The author uses the personal plural when God is speaking to refer to the fact that even before he made anything he was not alone. As I said before, God is a Trinity. Jesus is called the Word of God. God spoke the universe into being. Much later, before he went back to his Father, Jesus gave his disciples the Holy Spirit so he, God, would always be with us. God did not want the Israelites to “worship other gods” for several reasons. First, he wanted them to know and love the God who made them and was helping them find the promised land. Second, those “gods” were idols and could do nothing for them. Third, God needed his people to follow him and learn his ways and his laws so that his plan would work out. Granted, God can always work around us if we choose not to do his will, but he prefers to work with us.
There’s a large part of his life that I don’t know about. I know he had the full range of human emotions, and yes, things affected him greatly. Before raising his friend Lazarus from the dead, he wept. He was human, so he must have got sick or tired or what have you. Most of the time during his ministry he spent living with other people, so he was technically homeless. As for the loss of employment, I just don’t know. Well, my family is one singular unit, but we are four individual people. It’s not a perfect comparison, but maybe it helps. I’m sorry if I’ve offended you. I really didn’t mean to. If you think we’ve reached an impasse, that’s okay.
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I find it rather fascinating how Christians come up with ways to explain their beliefs …
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It’s fascinating. Do they believe these things they write or this fellow is trolling me?
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1. While you are in heaven, will there be possibility of doing wrong? Do you get banished from heaven if say you commit a crime? Do you think I can use my freewill to become the president of the US of A?
2. Aha, so there were beings in existence before god made anything. We are making progress. Are they of same age and origin with god? So who was the god of the Amelekites(?), god of the Egyptians, Canaanites, Medianites? What does trinity imply? 3 equal gods, one god in 3 or what does it mean?
3. So he was sometimes jealous, sometimes he desired women, or men, angry, petulant, obnoxious, and that is not the full range of what human beings are. What happened to Lazarus after being brought back to life? I am not offended as yet I just can’t believe you hold these beliefs so deeply.
It will help to read your comments aloud to your friends, they may help you identify the bs
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Other Gods is not a reference to actual gods. You can make a God out of anything. Some people worship money, sex, drugs. Whatever you spend the most time and money on tends to be your God. If God where to prevent everything evil from happening…many of us wouldn’t be here…some of us wouldn’t be married to those we now love. Some of our children would never have been born. If God gets to start forcing everyone to do what he wants…you may need to find a new house a different career…and whatever the love of your life is…they are replaced with a better one. We live in a sin infected world. The wages of sin is death. There will always be sickness here, the trees leaves will always wilt and die in winter. The world here is one of decay. As humans there is no getting out of it…non-believers want heaven on earth…now. And that’s not how it is written. There is a place of no decay…where death does not dwell…and I am going there not because a man died…but because THE SON OF GOD sacrificed by blood atonement his body…Holy Redeemer – scourged and beaten for my transgressions, hung on a cross – the most humiliating death. When his blood poured out on Calvary the veil in the Temple ripped…time was split in half…he went to hell and conquered Sheol…he stole the keys to Hades and set the captives free…he now sits on a throne in heaven…the world is his footstool and you WILL see his face.
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Do not judge Christ according to the way those who claim to follow Him fail. True Christians do abide by a Spirit of love. The passage you picked is a parable. Jesus taught in parables and according to the Bible it served a couple different reasons but there are certain lost souls that will not, nor ever will understand the teachings of Christ. Jesus summarized this with “seeing they will not see and hearing they will not hear” – the parable you have chosen speaks of faith. Faith in Gods provision to be supplied to those that believe. There is an underlying theme through tout the Bible to abandon the cares of this World…because as children of God we are in this world…but not of this world.
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I was going to answer your questions, then I read through the third one to the end. I have decided to stop because calling my beliefs bs is not kind, nor is it civilized.
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Of course they are bs. You can demonstrate they are not bs or forever rest your peace.
I am not going to call them reasonable just so we have a conversation, no, I will not do that.
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I will rest my peace, then.
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