u/ArrantPariah — reddlx

>I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. > >And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made...

The Nicene Creed officially countered the perspective of Arian Christianity, which taught that Jesus Christ was a created being subordinate to God the Father. This perspective directly challenged the emerging Trinitarian view that the Father and the Son are of the exact same divine essence and co-eternal.

The definition of beget

>1: to procreate as the father : sire > >He died without begetting an heir. > >2: to produce especially as an effect or outgrowth > >Violence only begets more violence

Whether made or begotten, the Father and the Son could not have been "co-eternal." One thing has to exist first, in order to beget another thing.

If the Father begat the Son, then there had to have been a mother (perhaps Asherah?). Although, to be fair, Judaism had kicked Asherah out of the picture some centuries earlier.

Anyway, the writers of the creed overlooked Genesis 6:

>And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

If Genesis is to be believed, then God the Father did, in fact, beget additional sons, who were Jesus' brothers.

2 Peter 2 appears to consign these sons to an unpleasant place:

>cast down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

Even so, these are begotten sons of God, and brothers of Jesus.

reddit.com

u/ArrantPariah — 8 days ago

▲ 2 r/DebateAChristian

The Bible should be taught in public schools

The Bible should be taught in public schools. But, strictly from an objective reading.

A recent Associated Press article

>Texas would make Bible stories required reading for more than 5 million public school students under a proposal that has reignited debate over widening efforts in the U.S. to put more religion in classrooms... > >The proposed list has drawn fierce opposition. Critics argue that it violates the constitutional separation of church, lacks diversity and favors Christianity over other religions. Supporters say Judeo-Christian traditions were fundamental to the nation’s founding and that should be reflected in the public school curriculum...

Students need to be disabused of the notion that "Judeo-Christian traditions were fundamental to the nation's founding." For one thing, there were no Jews among our Founding Fathers. For another, John Adams himself declared

>the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion

The First Amendment does state that

>Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof

Studying the Bible objectively could be done without establishing any religion.

No body of literature has had a more profound impact upon the course of Western history. The Reformation led to Catholics and Protestants murdering each other by the millions in Europe. The founders of the United States were motivated by enlightenment thought, and sought to get beyond this. Nowadays, Europe is littered with very impressive church buildings, and very few people bother to attend services any more.

The Blood Curse of Matthew 27, and other passages in Matthew, did provoke a lot of antisemitism over the centuries. Now, a lot of American evangelicals are basically loving the Jews to death, even as Palestinian Christians have suffered.

If more people actually read and understood the Bible, then fewer would fall victim to the scoundrels who preach for faith seed offerings.

I would prefer that students not be treated to the bowdlerized versions of Bible stories. With all of the sex and violence, the Bible is extremely entertaining in its own right.

Reading texts from other religions is also laudable. Especially Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist and Confucian. The Book of Mormon is just plain dumb. So too is the Koran, although a few verses would be worth mentioning, given that Islam is an important world religion. At least having a passing understanding of Islam would be worthwhile, given our penchant for getting involved militarily in Muslim countries. Not just "Durrr...Muslims bad! They won't get to Heaven!"

u/ArrantPariah — 11 days ago

▲ 0 r/MURICA