Frankly, Just What Good is Christianity Anyway?

Apart from the hobby / fellowship nature of Christianity and apart from the apologetic mental gymnastics believers use to keep this ancient concept of reality spinning on the modern stick of logic; just what does Christianity offer over and above that the basic secular world does not give?

The stimulus for this post was a church bulletin I saw announcing “Flu Shots” and listed the times Christians could receive their secular protection from this virus. But why would God fearing, Jesus believing, Bible claiming church members need the same secular protection just as the non-religious / anti -religious secular world would?

I’m an atheist who, as a former Christian, overtly has renounced both God and the Bible. I work with sincere Christians who received free flu shots given at work while I refused it. Over the course of last winter, a number of these Christians became sick with the flu (both those who got the shot and those who did not) and were out of work for a week while this non-believing secular atheist never even got a cold that year.

Paul states in 1 Corinthians 11:30 (For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.) as a supernatural reason why many believers at Corinth were sick and even died was that it was a curse from God for misusing the Lord’s Supper. (This Biblical “Fact” implicitly states that God was active in either attacking his own faithful or, as in the case of Job, used Satan to do his dirty work.)

In short we are told that God actively engages the health of his “children” (remember, he is the Dad…”Our Father who art in Heaven…”) as proof he exists even to the point of sickness and death.

So just what good is Christianity other than a mental apologetic argument used to peddle magical promises to uninformed people understood as “Lost" or "Unsaved” to the believers.

Preachers (ordained and endorsed by an ecclesiastical authorities and lead by the Holy Spirit ) and Christians are arrested for sex crimes, thefts, murders, frauds and just about any and everything the worst anti-Christian could be arrested for even though most minsters make a very good living announcing (preaching) the “absolute truths” of God.

In conclusion, Christians are given a Great Commission by Jesus to tell both the wrong religion and the non-religious world that they are indeed wrong and must submit to the promises of God (as stated in the Bible). If one rejects the Gospel of Jesus, then God will also attack the non-Christian (just as he attacked or allowed the Christian to be attacked in Corinth) at the Great White Throne Judgment; this despite the fact that Biblical promises for Christians for the here and now are failures (just as I’ve pointed out above) .

Now Christians, it’s time to pull the only strings you have to make God appear logical and loving…use your apologetic mental gymnastics and to tell us at DC just why the reality we live with everyday is not the truth and that that mountain Jesus tells us can really be moved and cast into the sea can be done if only we have the oh-so-pure Christian faith (but the size of a mustard seed).

And finally, if the Bible has promises which, in order to keep them true, must be understood as allegories, exactly what is the difference between an allegory and a flat out lie? Or, to put it another way, if God and the Bible are caught with their proverbial pants down, can you apologetic defenders now convince us at DC that you and your God of absolute truth have the gift of deception…that the Bible REALLY does not say what it means?

25 comments:

Unknown said...

Greetings Harry: I hope you stay well and prosper.

You wrote " But why would God fearing, Jesus believing, Bible claiming church members need the same secular protection just as the non-religious / anti -religious secular world would?"

The other day I mentioned to a fundie Christian that existence really does exist in that reality is not contingent to consciousness of any sort. She got angry and replied "That is a matter of opinion." Her statement was a way of saying existence does not exist. She apparently believes that what she perceives is an illusion of some sort. I think many Christians share that point of view at least in part. Yet at the same time, they go about life and their activities as if they mattered. But if what they take for "reality" is only some sort of illusion game, then how can it be important if any particular thing happens or doesn't happen? Herein lies an elemental contradiction to the Christian Worldview.

Dawson Bethrick wrote a blog (I thought pretty good) a few years ago related to this question entitled The Cartoon Universe of Theism

Harry H. McCall said...

Thanks Robert. I’m fine and I trust you are as well.

I loved the website you listed.

Hey, do you remember your cartoon physics?

On cartoons the characters could run off a cliff and keep on running as long as he did not look down. Should he realize he was running on thin air and look down, the cartoon character would stop, wave at the camera and then fall hundreds of feet only to either end up flat as a pancake or cracked into pieces then (like Jesus) be resurrected or just like Peter walking on water, when he realizes it, he sinks.

Or, if a cartoon character was shot dead in the center in his body leaving a hole the size of a donut, cartoon physiology had all his vital organ locate around the outside of his body, thus he could walk around alive as we laughed.

Just like your website pointed out, the Bible is a cartoon with its own physics and physiology. Jesus is quite a cartoon character himself! The sad part is, since it’s an ancient cartoon, people believe it.

Using the principles of cartoon physics and physiology, we all could be Biblical apologists! We just can NOT loose!

Evan said...

Harry, great post. But you should get a flu shot.

Over 30,000 people die annually from an illness that is preventable by a vaccine. Read about it here.

Logosfera said...

I've made a video containing a test for believers. The only christian that replyed said that the test is "sick".

Zachary Jones said...

I could be wrong, but I don't think the fundie was saying that reality was contingent on her consciousness, but on God's. If so it is the rather commonplace idea of God as a sustainer of the universe. Honestly it is really occcasionalism, which is completely opposed to science in general.

ahswan said...

Harry, with all due respect, I think your initial question is flawed. Christianity (excepting some TV preachers) does not claim to be pragmatic and it doesn't promise to make our life a bed of roses. You should probably back up and ask, "does truth have to be pragmatic or beneficial?"

Anonymous said...

I think a better question is, does god have to be pragmatic and beneficial.

And how exactly do you presuppose a god that is all-knowing but not pragmatic and all-loving but not beneficial?

guamy said...

Harry - Just a quick comment but 1 Corinthians 11:30 makes no reference to God striking anyone with an illness because they "missed the Lord's super". Those who were 'weak and sickly' were the ones 'eating and drinking unworthily' as specifically stated in the preceding verse.

Regarding your comments about the "great commission", Jesus does indeed command his followers to preach the gospel but he doesn't instruct anyone to ram it down the collective throats of non-believers. If people don't want to believe, that's their choice. You don't need to be Christian to come to these conclusions, you simply need to read the book in question.

Harry H. McCall said...

Guamy, I stated: “it was a curse from God for misusing the Lord’s Supper.” this is what Paul states as the reason why “ many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.” They miss-used the Lord’s Supper and reaped God’s punishment…just like when Ananias and Sapphira who God killed for lying (Acts 5:9).

Remember, while Jesus is a savior, God, as he did in the Hebrew Bible, is still the one who deals out sickness and death to believers who misbehave.

Harry H. McCall said...

Great point tigg 13.

Ahswan stated: “Christianity (excepting some TV preachers) does not claim to be pragmatic and it doesn't promise to make our life a bed of roses. You should probably back up and ask, "does truth have to be pragmatic or beneficial?"

Re: When the average person is caught in the wrong, excuses are given be it to the boss, policeman or judge.

When the promises of God / Jesus as given in the Bible are exposed for what they really are - hyped up pseudo claims - the public relation crews (Christian apologists ) present a bag of excuses why, what appears a fact in the Bible, fails in modern reality (that is; they have not failed: you just don’t understand them).

If the Bible was written today, it would be sued out of existence for false advertising.

Religion and State must be separated to protect religion as much as it does the State!

The Blogger Formerly Known As Lvka said...

does not say what it means?

And how do You know what it means?

guamy said...

Harry - my apologies. I misread your post.

I would like to reiterate though that the freedom to believe is up to the individual. If you don't want to believe, it's not as though a Christian's existence will suffer because of it. Likewise, your existence won't be any less diminished if someone doesn't choose atheism. If someone finds comfort or hope or completion in their religion, let them be. They shouldn't be browbeaten into justifying or explaining their beliefs solely because you're a skeptic.

Jason said...

Harry,

Why should a body of believers who respect the Bible as the word of God care if you think you're better off without a religion who worships a God you apparently don't believe in?

Zachary Jones said...

@Jason

because Christianity's supposed ability to impart happiness and meaning to a person's life is an oft used selling point.

Jason said...

Yes, but why should Christians care if you don't accept this as a valid selling point when you've already made your mind up that their God doesn't exist in the first place?

Zachary Jones said...

whether or not I believe in God is irrelevant.

The selling point is invalid as a matter of fact, therefore Christians interested in being consistent, truthful, or cohesive in their evangelism should care.

Jason said...

Considering millions and millions of people find happiness and meaning in their religion, I would say the selling point is alive and well. If you don't accept this sentiment, that's your choice, but it's a choice that has no bearing on the life or religion of a happy believer.

Harry H. McCall said...

Jason, Christianity is simply an opinion as you state it. Atheist don’t suffer in any Hell and dead believers don’t go to Heaven at their death.

What you have is a nonfunctioning religion of opinion. Nothing can be really proven since nothing needs to exist.

Again, since there are neither believers or non-believers in either Heaven or Hell, you have simply a nonfunctioning opinion labeled Christianity.

Harry H. McCall said...

As stated: "Christians are given a Great Commission by Jesus to tell both the wrong religion and the non-religious world that they are indeed wrong and must submit to the promises of God (as stated in the Bible). If one rejects the Gospel of Jesus, then God will also attack the non-Christian (just as he attacked or allowed the Christian to be attacked in Corinth) at the Great White Throne Judgment; this despite the fact that Biblical promises for Christians for the here and now are failures (just as I’ve pointed out above)."

Ivka, this is how I understand it just as orthodox Christianity does. Now do you think I know what the Bible means?

Jason said...

Harry,

You don't believe in heaven, hell or the Christian God. Ergo, why should a body of believers who respect the Bible as the word of God care if you think you're better off without a religion who worships a God you apparently don't believe in?

Harry H. McCall said...

Jason: “You don't believe in heaven, hell or the Christian God. Ergo, why should a body of believers who respect the Bible as the word of God care if you think you're better off without a religion who worships a God you apparently don't believe in?”

Reply: Jason your Christadelphians does not believe the traditional heaven, nor any hell or the historical Christian God except only as your Christadelphian cult redefines him. Ergo, why should a body of believers who respect the Bible as the word of God care if you think you're better off without a religion who worships a God you apparently don't believe in?

Jason, if the shoe fit, ware it!

Arizona Atheist said...

Very good post...

I couldn't agree more.

Jason said...

Harry,

It's inconsequential what Christian religions think of each other. This isn't the discussion. You asked "what good is Christianity" and I'm telling you no Christian cares what your opinion is. So you don't think Christianity is good. Good for you. No one cares. You're a non-entity.

Harry H. McCall said...

Jason sated: “It's inconsequential what Christian religions think of each other.”

Re: So why did Catholic and Protestants kill and tortured one another as well as kill Anabaptist and other non conformist at the time of the Reformation? Jason, you show your ignorance here. What was the Spanish Inquisition about then?

Jason: “This isn't the discussion.”

Re: It is here at DC.


Jason: “You asked "what good is Christianity" and I'm telling you no Christian cares what your opinion is.”

Re: Then why respond…Oh that’s right! You’re one of those odd ball Christadelphians that no one has ever heard of around here.

So what’s the I.Q. level required to be a Christadelphian? 50 and below? Little wonder no one comments on your dumb anti-biblical blog.


Jason: “So you don't think Christianity is good. Good for you. No one cares. You're a non-entity.”

Christadelphian cult members think like this.

I notice you don’t defend your Christadelphian cult in public as I addressed it in my last post: What is Christianity.

Jason, I can’t say I blame you. My gosh! Just look at the non-sense you people believe!

Philip R Kreyche said...

Jason,

You're a non-entity.

I've never seen someone, much less a Christian, say something so anti-human and insensitive. I thought theism demands the conclusion that we're all worth something?

If we're non-entities, then you're not talking to anyone. In this case, please leave, insensitive one.