Salvation. Salvation from what?
One of the most enduring delusions of mankind involves the idea of salvation.
Salvation from what? Salvation as in escaping bodily harm only makes sense while alive. For a dead body it makes idealistic sense only if something intangible lives on after death. To date there is not a scintilla of evidence that something like a soul exists. Yet this has not stopped millions of people from embracing the most incredible beliefs in the vain hope their souls would escape eternal damnation (whatever that means). When my 23-year-old daughter to whom I was very close died after a ten month battle with cancer, she promised to give me a sign. I see her occasionally in my dreams but so far no signs after 13 years. The same promise was made by my 95 year old mother with the same result.
The main bone of contention between Roman Catholicism and the heretical Protestant Reformation, to add insult to injury, was how to obtain salvation.
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that prayers or good deeds (in the form of buying an indulgence to put money in the Church coffers) whether by the individuals themselves or by others on their behalf are sufficient to spring towards heaven a damned soul.
Heretical Protestants instead came to believe that salvation is obtained only by embracing Jesus but to do so one must know the word of god. That is the need for the credulous masses to read the Bible. An unintended consequence of this is that it now became necessary to have it commented and go to Sunday school in order to receive the correct spin. No intermediaries necessary huh? A printing industry was born! Not only is the Hebrew Bible the best-selling book of all time, it happens to be a best-seller year after year (thanks to the English speaking world especially America through its Puritanism and Evangelical crowd). A boon ever since for people with the gift of the glib and a Bible in their grasp. Repent, salvation, damnation, fire and brimstone, oh my!
Indulgences I think bring nowadays no income to the Roman Catholic Church but embracing Jesus and bible studies are building megachurches for the heretical Protestant denominations.
Which is worse, the nonsense value of an indulgence and the certainty of complete absolution received through the sacrament of confession or the psyche-scaring value of Hebrew Bible studying and possession while twisting in the wind wondering if god would forgive the sins?
Why have silly ideas like salvation and sin such a hold on some of mankind? Lions, tigers and bears have no scruples about being themselves.
On a sinister note, I find it strange that an oriental tribe that seems to have a hammerlock on divinity with their Hebrew Bible in the real world never had any temporal power. Is this then a conspiracy on their part to hamstring the powers that be?
Repent, salvation, damnation, fire and brimstone, ka-ching!
Salvation from what? Salvation as in escaping bodily harm only makes sense while alive. For a dead body it makes idealistic sense only if something intangible lives on after death. To date there is not a scintilla of evidence that something like a soul exists. Yet this has not stopped millions of people from embracing the most incredible beliefs in the vain hope their souls would escape eternal damnation (whatever that means). When my 23-year-old daughter to whom I was very close died after a ten month battle with cancer, she promised to give me a sign. I see her occasionally in my dreams but so far no signs after 13 years. The same promise was made by my 95 year old mother with the same result.
The main bone of contention between Roman Catholicism and the heretical Protestant Reformation, to add insult to injury, was how to obtain salvation.
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that prayers or good deeds (in the form of buying an indulgence to put money in the Church coffers) whether by the individuals themselves or by others on their behalf are sufficient to spring towards heaven a damned soul.
Heretical Protestants instead came to believe that salvation is obtained only by embracing Jesus but to do so one must know the word of god. That is the need for the credulous masses to read the Bible. An unintended consequence of this is that it now became necessary to have it commented and go to Sunday school in order to receive the correct spin. No intermediaries necessary huh? A printing industry was born! Not only is the Hebrew Bible the best-selling book of all time, it happens to be a best-seller year after year (thanks to the English speaking world especially America through its Puritanism and Evangelical crowd). A boon ever since for people with the gift of the glib and a Bible in their grasp. Repent, salvation, damnation, fire and brimstone, oh my!
Indulgences I think bring nowadays no income to the Roman Catholic Church but embracing Jesus and bible studies are building megachurches for the heretical Protestant denominations.
Which is worse, the nonsense value of an indulgence and the certainty of complete absolution received through the sacrament of confession or the psyche-scaring value of Hebrew Bible studying and possession while twisting in the wind wondering if god would forgive the sins?
Why have silly ideas like salvation and sin such a hold on some of mankind? Lions, tigers and bears have no scruples about being themselves.
On a sinister note, I find it strange that an oriental tribe that seems to have a hammerlock on divinity with their Hebrew Bible in the real world never had any temporal power. Is this then a conspiracy on their part to hamstring the powers that be?
Repent, salvation, damnation, fire and brimstone, ka-ching!
posted by TheEtruscan at 12:19 PM
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