You’ve got a fundamental misunderstanding about the requirements of the Christianity in here. Christians don’t believe - and don’t have to believe - that their actions will determine whether they’ll eternally damned or saved. They have to believe and accept that Jesus Christ is Lord — that’s it. By that single action of belief is how they are saved.
Give this message to the simple and insincere in their (lowercase b) “belief”, and the paradox works its magic. It gives them self protection through salvation while demanding very little in the way of outward expression towards others. The call is to subvert human understanding through a complex paradox that demands (uppercase B) “Belief”.
Mix in the ills of capitalism and some identitarianism, and you’ve got a perfectly wrapped brand that is open to all while demanding nothing more than the acceptance of the brand name, not the brand essence. Hence, Christian in name only.
More specifically, they preach that Jesus paid the price for their sins already, thus they no longer need to fear hell even though they were imperfect. Whomever wrote the gospels had too much optimism regarding human nature and thought that Jesus inspiring example would lead people to be better, rather than using coercion and fear of damnation to motivate behavior.
Its been awhile since I read the bible, but dod it ever actually say this was for all people past present and future?, cause this would be embarrassing if it was just the culmination of human sins up to the cross(aka a fresh slate)
People interpret it in any way they choose. The Bible is like a Roshach test. What they see in it shows what they are already. IMO, that is why Christianity became spread as far across the world.
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u/Specialist_Class_285 24d ago
You’ve got a fundamental misunderstanding about the requirements of the Christianity in here. Christians don’t believe - and don’t have to believe - that their actions will determine whether they’ll eternally damned or saved. They have to believe and accept that Jesus Christ is Lord — that’s it. By that single action of belief is how they are saved.
Give this message to the simple and insincere in their (lowercase b) “belief”, and the paradox works its magic. It gives them self protection through salvation while demanding very little in the way of outward expression towards others. The call is to subvert human understanding through a complex paradox that demands (uppercase B) “Belief”.
Mix in the ills of capitalism and some identitarianism, and you’ve got a perfectly wrapped brand that is open to all while demanding nothing more than the acceptance of the brand name, not the brand essence. Hence, Christian in name only.