tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2145367389527980151.post4695854645515272429..comments2023-03-03T23:07:23.807-06:00Comments on Irenist's marginalia: Sheep and GoatsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2145367389527980151.post-58911043405860404562013-02-19T18:44:55.284-06:002013-02-19T18:44:55.284-06:00> ...people who are a lot smarter than me...
T...> ...people who are a lot smarter than me...<br /><br />That's kind, but untrue.<br /><br />- ValAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2145367389527980151.post-63884118247045557952013-02-18T23:15:13.567-06:002013-02-18T23:15:13.567-06:00Val,
This deserves a longer response! In the meant...Val,<br />This deserves a longer response! In the meantime before I can write that response, let me try to briefly answer here:<br /><br />You surely remember the long thread about Hell in Leah Libresco's combox. Some of my contentions in that thread, IIRC, were that Hell exists (whether we like it or not) and that creatures can choose Hell by choosing to be the sorts of persons who are consumed by vice.<br /><br />Assuming Hell's existence, Christ is not especially punitive in warning us about it. It's a warning about an imminent danger, not a choice of how to "frame" a message about charitable works.<br /><br />To be sure, charity can be and has been exhibited without belief in Christ's divinity. Atheists, e.g., have been involved in many humane endeavors. <br /><br />The Gospel message here is not "Charity is good; go do some charity." The Gospel message is closer to "If you cannot reforge yourself into the sort of person who lives in service to the needy, then you will not be fit for Heaven. If you are not fit for Heaven, then your soul will necessarily sink into Hell, just as surely as a lead weight dropped into the sea will sink rather than float. So whether you have sociological reasons to be 'pro-charity' or not is irrelevant. It is the simple fact of the matter that your soul will suffer if you do not do the work of growing into a caring, giving person."<br /><br />Anyway, that's less an answer than a bunch of hand-waving in the general direction of an answer. My post for tomorrow on "aphesis" points in the same direction, I think.<br /><br />With apologies for my continuing time limitations, and hopes of answering more adequately when (if?) things settle down, I remain deeply grateful that you're part of the conversation here. For one thing, having people who are a lot smarter than me around helps me with the valuable spiritual growth task of acquiring humility!Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16967233497214731240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2145367389527980151.post-66238321501477906712013-02-18T08:03:52.794-06:002013-02-18T08:03:52.794-06:00It seems to me that the lesson has very little to ...It seems to me that the lesson has very little to do with whether or not anyone is any Lord, and one's condition of belief, but everything to do with charitable values.<br /><br />It seems counterproductive to me to frame those values in such a spectacularly punitive manner. How are we to understand that?<br /><br />- ValAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com