Credi Absudum Est
April 13, 2017
G.D.O'Bradovich III
prorsus crediblile est quia ineptum est
Through the years, there have been many unsuccessful attempts by presumably well intentioned individuals to insure that Yours Truly is “saved”. We are unsure of the reason people mistakenly believe Yours Truly is not a Christian and is duly destined for the place where worms do not die. We attribute this consistent lack of success entirely to their inability to entertain the thought that their presumptions are possibly erroneous.
The term “saved” is both ambiguous and a type of technical jargon employed by modern “Christians” and is frequently applied to themselves. We immediately recognize the tribalism inherent in we, the “saved”, and others, “the unsaved”. Interestingly, the “unsaved” are defined in terms of the “saved”, they are not extended the courtesy of an unrelated word: the “damned”. Historically speaking, Christianity has always taught that all of humanity will be resurrected and in possession of their respective souls, whether immortal or mortal, it is evident that being “saved” and “salvation” cannot be properly applied to the body; and, as the soul does not die after the Judgement, “salvation” and “saved” cannot be properly applied to the soul.
In our attempt to understand modern Christianity, we presume that salvation is indirectly an avoidance of Hell. This presumption is not certain. We caution the Gentle Reader that “Hell” is also an ambiguous term and can be understood in the tradition of the Roman Church, the Orthodox Church, or an independent interpretation of the Gentle Reader’s choosing; as an additional heterodox opinion of Hell will not be detrimental to modern Christianity’s system of beliefs.
We readily acknowledge our bias towards Orthodox Christianity. When pressed for answers, the responses of the Orthodox Church will typically be either “Tradition” or “We don't know”, where a fuller explanation of the later is “The Holy Spirit has not revealed this to the Church.” This response is wholly unacceptable to modern Christians, as they want explicit answers to any and all questions and inquiries. As modern Christians seek answers, so they will find; however, we have serious reservations regarding both the value and veracity of their findings and, as forty thousand protestant denominations testify, there is no consensus on even basic Christian opinions- not all protestants agree that Jesus is God incarnate, some, based solely on sound Biblical exegesis, proclaim he is identical to archangel Michael.
The “good news” is also a type of technical jargon. Yours Truly has the strange belief that the good news is that a faithful servant can be perfected in the next world and he can be with his Master forever. We do not understand how the avoidance of Hell, a “bad”, rather than embracing the Master, the “good”, is a successful method or tactic for convincing unbelievers to become believers. The active avoidance of Hell, through the knowledge of immediate personal salvation, is a revaluation of the “Good News”. We note that Hell dominates the thinking of modern Christians and it is now a substantial aspect of the Gospel. Once again, the modern opinion suggesting that Hell is a location far removed from Heaven has no historical precedent.
Oftentimes in modern Christianity, it seems that the good news of Christ is immediately replaced by rules and the regulation of the convert’s behavior. In essence, the good news is transformed, firstly, into following the certain precepts of the Old Testament and, secondly, endless moralizing directed both at believers and unbelievers alike. We may be forgiven if we conclude that the freedom in Christ seems to be synonymous with dictating behavior accompanied by complaining.
All attempts to convert Yours Truly inevitably arrives at the word of God, not the second person of the Trinity as a Christian would expect, but that modern, all too modern book, the Bible. When applied to the Bible, “the word of God” is both a strange expression and technical language. We caution the Gentle Reader that the “Bible” is invariably presented as one monolithic and invariable work: we explicitly state that this “Bible” exists only as a supposition in the minds of modern Christians and, as a result, the term “Bible” remains ambiguous. The Gentle Researcher will recognize the exact correspondence between the modern Christian’s reliance upon the Bible and the psychic’s attachment to the material realm, that is, faith is the knowledge of things felt, both physically and emotionally, and things read. The various presumptions for the origins, the antiquity, and the authority of the Bible cannot be substantiated, either internally or externally, and, therefore, remain uncertain and, ultimately, unverifiable.
Without precedent or subsequent evidence, in that unique style that always appeals to young men who like to think, Nietzsche writes that Christianity does not touch upon reality. If Christianity is understood as modern Christianity and reality is understood both as recorded history and the harsh discipline of philology, then Yours Truly agrees with Fred’s assessment.
Fortunately, Yours Truly has a skeptical nature regarding unsubstantiated claims that are not internally consistent and contradictory. As always, the burden of evidence falls upon the claimant and various claims of modern Christianity have been weighed and found wanting.
The term “saved” is both ambiguous and a type of technical jargon employed by modern “Christians” and is frequently applied to themselves. We immediately recognize the tribalism inherent in we, the “saved”, and others, “the unsaved”. Interestingly, the “unsaved” are defined in terms of the “saved”, they are not extended the courtesy of an unrelated word: the “damned”. Historically speaking, Christianity has always taught that all of humanity will be resurrected and in possession of their respective souls, whether immortal or mortal, it is evident that being “saved” and “salvation” cannot be properly applied to the body; and, as the soul does not die after the Judgement, “salvation” and “saved” cannot be properly applied to the soul.
In our attempt to understand modern Christianity, we presume that salvation is indirectly an avoidance of Hell. This presumption is not certain. We caution the Gentle Reader that “Hell” is also an ambiguous term and can be understood in the tradition of the Roman Church, the Orthodox Church, or an independent interpretation of the Gentle Reader’s choosing; as an additional heterodox opinion of Hell will not be detrimental to modern Christianity’s system of beliefs.
We readily acknowledge our bias towards Orthodox Christianity. When pressed for answers, the responses of the Orthodox Church will typically be either “Tradition” or “We don't know”, where a fuller explanation of the later is “The Holy Spirit has not revealed this to the Church.” This response is wholly unacceptable to modern Christians, as they want explicit answers to any and all questions and inquiries. As modern Christians seek answers, so they will find; however, we have serious reservations regarding both the value and veracity of their findings and, as forty thousand protestant denominations testify, there is no consensus on even basic Christian opinions- not all protestants agree that Jesus is God incarnate, some, based solely on sound Biblical exegesis, proclaim he is identical to archangel Michael.
The “good news” is also a type of technical jargon. Yours Truly has the strange belief that the good news is that a faithful servant can be perfected in the next world and he can be with his Master forever. We do not understand how the avoidance of Hell, a “bad”, rather than embracing the Master, the “good”, is a successful method or tactic for convincing unbelievers to become believers. The active avoidance of Hell, through the knowledge of immediate personal salvation, is a revaluation of the “Good News”. We note that Hell dominates the thinking of modern Christians and it is now a substantial aspect of the Gospel. Once again, the modern opinion suggesting that Hell is a location far removed from Heaven has no historical precedent.
Oftentimes in modern Christianity, it seems that the good news of Christ is immediately replaced by rules and the regulation of the convert’s behavior. In essence, the good news is transformed, firstly, into following the certain precepts of the Old Testament and, secondly, endless moralizing directed both at believers and unbelievers alike. We may be forgiven if we conclude that the freedom in Christ seems to be synonymous with dictating behavior accompanied by complaining.
All attempts to convert Yours Truly inevitably arrives at the word of God, not the second person of the Trinity as a Christian would expect, but that modern, all too modern book, the Bible. When applied to the Bible, “the word of God” is both a strange expression and technical language. We caution the Gentle Reader that the “Bible” is invariably presented as one monolithic and invariable work: we explicitly state that this “Bible” exists only as a supposition in the minds of modern Christians and, as a result, the term “Bible” remains ambiguous. The Gentle Researcher will recognize the exact correspondence between the modern Christian’s reliance upon the Bible and the psychic’s attachment to the material realm, that is, faith is the knowledge of things felt, both physically and emotionally, and things read. The various presumptions for the origins, the antiquity, and the authority of the Bible cannot be substantiated, either internally or externally, and, therefore, remain uncertain and, ultimately, unverifiable.
Without precedent or subsequent evidence, in that unique style that always appeals to young men who like to think, Nietzsche writes that Christianity does not touch upon reality. If Christianity is understood as modern Christianity and reality is understood both as recorded history and the harsh discipline of philology, then Yours Truly agrees with Fred’s assessment.
Fortunately, Yours Truly has a skeptical nature regarding unsubstantiated claims that are not internally consistent and contradictory. As always, the burden of evidence falls upon the claimant and various claims of modern Christianity have been weighed and found wanting.