(no subject)

[dreamer_easy]

Oh, man. Maybe the Valium last night wasn't such a good idea. I've been scrambleheaded ever since, and I don't know whether it's depression, anxiety, the drugz, or some combination of these.

The local fundamentalists popped a brochure in the post box. "True Christianity is founded on a belief on Jesus Christ, and is not based upon any of our works." Various Bible quotes follow. This was Martin Luther's idea, wasn't it? It's brilliant. It gets rid of all that awkward stuff about having to give other people your money and simplifies religion into a pyramid scheme. [ETA: The thing about Luther was a wee bit seriously uninformed on my part - see the comments. Recommend me a beginner's book on theology!]

Comments

[ikhet-sekhmet.livejournal.com]

Belatedly - ta muchly, this is very helpful! Especially the bit about Paul and James. There's an awful lot of stuff about not boasting in the NT, isn't there? (I still need to get a decent beginner's book on theology - the Very Short Introduction was useless.)

[pbristow.livejournal.com]

[TIPS HAT]

The emphasis on not boasting is one of those things that tends to skew people's perception of mainstream christianity, because the easiest way to not be caught boasting is to be invisible, or failing that at least fail to ever declare anything good you've ever done. This leaves free reign for the more egocentric subset of christians to shape the public perception of what christianity looks like. =:o\

For my money, after years of taking the "keep quiet about everything good about yourself" route (following my Mum's example as well as my reading of the NT), I see the challenge of "not boasting" as this: Do not hesitate to admit to your failings alongside your virtues; Simply be matter of fact about both. Where you've done something good, don't be the first to mention it, unless it's important for someone else to know what's happening (e.g. if you've set up a support fund for people who've accidentally lost their bus tickets, it's a bit stupid to not tell the person who's dejectedly taking their first steps home in the rain! If a few onlookers overhear what you say, don't sweat it). But if someone else brings it up, simply acknowledge it and move on. Above all, don't go *seeking* acclaim unless it's tactically necessary to achieving further good. (As in a job interview: You have to be able to show what you've done well in the past, to get a chance to carrying doing your job well in future; But you show it to the person who needs to know, rather than publishing it far and wide. Trouble is, modern jobhunting works largely by publishing your CV so that employers and recruiters can basically Google it. Jobhunting is one of my least favourite experiences in life, 'cos it goes against a lifetime's habit of (over-)modesty. =:o\

Re. Beginner's guide to theology:
I'm finding that the Wikipedia pages on most theological topics are surprisingly full and balanced and well written, especially on the more obscure topics. It's the hot potatoes between evangelicals and other groups that get a fair bit of amendment warring... And that just tends to highlight how narrow the focus of modern evangelical hot-heads tends to be. =:o\ (...Says the former evangelical hot-head,
now hybrid evangelical/liberal cool-cat with mutant atheist-friendly super-powers. =:o} )

The trick of course is knowing enough of the theological *terms* to know what to seach for. =:o\

Any particlar topics you'd like a briefing on? I'd be happy to help out.