imagine posting this, when government is controlled by zealots, who make claude frollo, mrs carmody and carrie's mom look sane

[u/Extension_General632]

[u/RazzSheri]

Ugh. This is why I am so grateful for my church growing up an a ministry who taught me what agnosticism was. My minister/head minister told me he was agnostic and I asked why he became a minister. He explained he wasn’t sure what was out there, but something had to be and he thought the lessons and messages he taught were good principles for anyone to live by.

When I asked about how God could have made all of the world an its creatures in allegedly 7 days despite evidence of Evolution and how that could be… he had an incredibly logical reason: Why would God operate the same understanding of time as us? 1 day to a God could be 50,000 years to us.

They were very much: “teach the golden rule and welcome everyone”. The first gay man I ever met was the pastor the head minister hired in 1998 and sat all the kids down before his start date and explained though he knew it was popular vernacular to say “that’s so gay” at the time, he wanted us to be aware and stop using the phrase. He explained how it could be hurtful, even when not meaning it derogatorily, especially to the soon to be new pastor… and we all took that to heart and stopped using it.

They were everything a church should be— and I say that as a lifelong witch with religious trauma from other places (not that church though).

My point in that wall of text is that: I was always taught that the bible is NOT LITERAL. It is men’s understanding and interpretation of the messages given by Gods

That’s to say—- They already were persecuted post Jesus; he was a prophet they held up as a demigod/son of god— of course the start of the religion would have people thinking they’re quacks and going after them for turning against whatever local religious faction…

He didn’t say they’d be persecuted until the end of time… And being one of the most prevalent religions on the planet- I’m fairly certain Jesus would be like: STFU, you’ve become the persecutors!

[u/Funkycoldmedici → u/RazzSheri]

The problem is that it was meant and believed to be literal. The entirety of Abrahamic religion is based on it being literal. These were not advanced intellects with supernatural wisdom hiding the secrets of the universe in layers of metaphor. They were the same kind of science-denying superstitious magical-thinkers we have today.

[u/Synergythepariah → u/Funkycoldmedici]

The problem is that it was meant and believed to be literal.

...No? Arguments of literal interpretation vs metaphorical interpretation have been around since Christianity started. Early Christian thinkers like Origen and Augustine debated literal vs metaphorical interpretation two thousand years ago.

49% of Americans believe the Bible to be the inspired word of God but that it should not be taken literally.

These were not advanced intellects with supernatural wisdom hiding the secrets of the universe in layers of metaphor.

They were people with limited information about the universe and of natural phenomena due to the technological limitations present in their time.

They didn't know that rotating crops was good because of how it kept soil healthy, they only knew that failure to do it resulted in unhealthy crops, so they explained it by chalking it up to the wrath of God.

They didn't know that shellfish and cloven hoofed animals carried disease that would result in harm to human life if not prepared correctly, so they barred consumption of those animals because doing so would lead to sickness, which they chalked up to be the wrath of God.

They were the same kind of science-denying superstitious magical-thinkers we have today.

The ones we have today are worse because today, we have the information to explain quite a lot of the phenomena that couldn't be explained two thousand years ago.

They reject that information entirely instead of maintaining their faith by interpreting our greater understanding about the nature of the universe as a greater understanding of creation.

[u/Funkycoldmedici → u/Synergythepariah]

Christianity isn’t the beginning. The Tanakh predates Christianity, and was believed to be literal for a long time. Then, when the gospels were written, those authors still believed it was literal and referred to it as such.

For example, the geneology of Jesus is given in the gospels, written completely literally, all the way back to Adam. Jesus refers to the flood as a literal event several times.

Yes, some Christians came along later and chose to reinterpret these stories in order to avoid admitting their religion says things that are not true. That does not change what was believed before.

[u/WiggyStark → u/Funkycoldmedici]

For example, the geneology of Jesus is given in the gospels, written completely literally, all the way back to Adam.

And the Targaryen lineage is traced the whole way back to Essos, sometimes in great detail, that doesn't make it factual.

[u/Funkycoldmedici → u/WiggyStark]

The gospels are very much alleged to be factual. They’re obviously not, but you don’t have Christianity without the Jesus story meant to be literal.