Heretics

[Crabtownboy]

“The religious geniuses of all ages have been distinguished by this kind of religious feeling, which knows no dogma and no God conceived in man's image; so that there can be no church whose central teachings are based on it. Hence it is precisely among the heretics of every age that we find men who were filled with this highest kind of religious feeling and were in many cases regarded by their contemporaries as atheists, sometimes also as saints. Looked at in this light, men like Democritus, Francis of Assisi, and Spinoza are closely akin to one another.”

― Albert Einstein, The World as I See It

 

[abcgrad94]

OK, that one sailed right over my head. Can someone rephrase it in modern day hillbilly talk so I can understand please? Is Einstein condemning all religious men, or what?

 

[Revmitchell]

OK, that one sailed right over my head. Can someone rephrase it in modern day hillbilly talk so I can understand please? Is Einstein condemning all religious men, or what?

You do not understand it because there is no context to it.

 

[Crabtownboy]

OK, that one sailed right over my head. Can someone rephrase it in modern day hillbilly talk so I can understand please? Is Einstein condemning all religious men, or what?

No, he is not condemning all religious men. He is saying that there are in each generation people who are very religious, but misunderstood and condemned by others in that generation .... and later people find those misunderstood men/women were perhaps the most Christian and religious of their generation. He is also condemning people who make God and religion in their own image. That, it seems to me, is rampant in every generation and is often the most popular beliefs in their day.

Blessings.

 

[abcgrad94]

I see, thanks. Galileo might be a good example of this, then. He was persecuted for believing the planets revolved around the sun when the "church" believed the opposite. Many years later, science proved he was correct.

 

[Alcott]

He is saying that there are in each generation people who are very religious, but misunderstood and condemned by others in that generation ....

If these people are "very religious," what do they base their beliefs on, if they are the one(s) "which knows no dogma and no God conceived in man's image?" And if the god they reject is made in man's image, then (supposing they believe in a god), what is their god?-- one made in their own image?

...That, it seems to me, is rampant in every generation and is often the most popular beliefs in their day.

That obviously leads up to something, though I don't if you anticipate the question.... Just who is an example in this day of rejecting a god in man's image and replacing him/her/it with their own?

 

[Crabtownboy]

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If these people are "very religious," what do they base their beliefs on, if they are the one(s) "which knows no dogma and no God conceived in man's image?" And if the god they reject is made in man's image, then (supposing they believe in a god), what is their god?-- one made in their own image?

Read the writings of some of the folk mentioned, like Spinoza ... or biographies, philosophies, theologies written about by others.

That obviously leads up to something, though I don't if you anticipate the question.... Just who is an example in this day of rejecting a god in man's image and replacing him/her/it with their own?

All those who try to force God into their own world view or their own political view without taking Christ's teaching on how we are to treat each other seriously.

 

[Revmitchell]

[/SIZE]
If these people are "very religious," what do they base their beliefs on, if they are the one(s) "which knows no dogma and no God conceived in man's image?" And if the god they reject is made in man's image, then (supposing they believe in a god), what is their god?-- one made in their own image?



That obviously leads up to something, though I don't if you anticipate the question.... Just who is an example in this day of rejecting a god in man's image and replacing him/her/it with their own?

Old Bill interprets scripture to support his Marxism.

 

[Bro. Curtis]

All those who try to force God into their own world view or their own political view without taking Christ's teaching on how we are to treat each other seriously.

Like when you say we hate the poor without any knowledge of how we live.

 

[just-want-peace]

Like when you say we hate the poor without any knowledge of how we live.

Amazing how one's own words can/will sneak up and bite one's posterior, is it not?? :laugh:

 

[Crabtownboy]

Like when you say we hate the poor without any knowledge of how we live.

What does scripture say about the poor, the hungry, the sick, etc.?

Also, you have never responded to me about your view of helping the poor. Want to answer now?

 

[Bro. Curtis]

I will not answer your framed questions. I am happy to show your hypocrisy. You even admit you know nothing about how I live, yet you are quite happy to judge it. It stands quite well. If you want a thread on how to treat the poor, start one. Given your history of refusing to have a rational discussion about such things, I would be a fool to enter into that discussion.

 

[Bro. Curtis]

Amazing how one's own words can/will sneak up and bite one's posterior, is it not?? :laugh:

Well, no brain, no pain.

 

[BobRyan]

No, he is not condemning all religious men. He is saying that there are in each generation people who are very religious, but misunderstood and condemned by others in that generation . .

The Christians were called a "sect" (what many today call a cult) by the unbelieving Jews that tried to wipe them out.

The protesting reformers in the Catholic church were called heretic, cult, sect (you name it) during the dark ages. Hence the Lateran IV "infallible" decision to "exterminate them".

You can find those who will resort to "all-name-calling all-the-time" over thoughtful objective Bible study in some of the strangest places.

It is a pattern that seems to never grow old and always find fresh recruits to carry on the well established traditions of men.

in Christ,

Bob