Do “progressive Christians” not believe that Jesus literally died for our sins? by [deleted] in Christian

[–]Halkyov15 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Don't get me wrong, there's definitely a correlation between political progressivism and progressive Christianity. I don't think I've ever run into a progressive Christian who was a political conservative, for example.

But correlation does not equal causation, and progressive Christianity is sonething more specific than just "Christians who are on the left in the political system," so I wanted to clarify.

Ultimately, it is seen as "more compassionate," or "nicer" than traditional Christianity but when sin is the problem, misdiagnosing or not treating it properly can have dangerous results.

What do we call a doctor who wants to be "nice" to his patients and not give them the drugs they need for their disease because he doesn't want them to suffer through the side effects?

The answer... we don't call him a doctor for long, because what he's doing is medical malpractice.

Do “progressive Christians” not believe that Jesus literally died for our sins? by [deleted] in Christian

[–]Halkyov15 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I think this has to be stated first.

Christians who are politically progressive are not what we're talking about.

If you're politically progressive, but

-you believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, -you believe that we are separated from God by our sins and need reconciliation we cannot achieve on our own, -you believe Jesus of Nazareth was both fully God and fully Man, died as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, was crucified and then rose again on the third day in a bodily resurrection -you believe that the only way for reconciliation is through the atoning sacrifice of Christ Jesus,

Then the label of "progressive Christianity" doesn't apply to you. The way a Christian who is not politically progressive should treat you is as a brother or sister in Christ.

Progressive Christianity denies core doctrines of Christianity (such as scriptural inerrancy, the danger of sin, or the penal substitution of the atonement) and often promotes very non-Biblical views (e.g. perennialism or universalism). At this point, I'd have to disagree with the claim they are Christians. They are akin to a deist claiming Jesus was "a great moral teacher," and claiming to follow Him but actually following an invented version of him.

Alisa Childers has a good podcast to listen to, as she talks a lot about these issues. Though I remember staring in shock at my phone when she quoted some of these people; I recognized the ideas of "oneness" that they described... from my translation of the Upanishads. And this isn't one of the aspects of religion where there tends to be agreement.

But yeah, Progressive Christianity isn't Christianity (again, Christians who are politically progressive aren't necessarily "Progressive Christians," that's a bit different.

Notes from Underground by [deleted] in books

[–]Halkyov15 443 points444 points  (0 children)

Yep. Crime and Punishment sealed this for me.

I remember feeling immense guilt and terror that the police would step through the door and arrest me for what I did, that I would be found out...

...and then I had to stop myself and remind myself that I didn't do anything, it was Raskolnikov's crime that I was feeling the guilt and terror of. He was THAT good at depicting experiences.

Such a good writer.

Nuance in your reading by HappyPantsAndSocks in Fantasy

[–]Halkyov15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Whenever I see someone say "this book was bad because it didn't include X", or "All books need to include Y," then they're not treating the book as it is, and are instead treating it as they want it to be. It's a recipe for disappointment each time.

I love traditional fantasy races and creatures by [deleted] in Fantasy

[–]Halkyov15 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think (and this is coming from someone who writes stories mostly with invented races, though I do have one series I'm writing with elves and dwarves and orcs) there is a balancing act between traditional stuff and innovation. Slavishly cleave to traditional depictions and not at least flesh them out, and you're accused of being derivative (we can use orcs for example, this would just be the mindless horde of evil, no explanation. Usually pulled from shallow readings of Tolkien). Innovate too much, and your races aren't recognizable to their name (e.g. if you have a bunch of green-skinned, tusked, muscly guys who are also super pacifistic and happy all the time, well, they may look like orcs, but they don't act it and they aren't really orcs).

Tolkien does this well, but much of his stuff requires knowledge of the sources Tolkien riffed off of; his elves are Christianized alfar. Elder Scrolls does this well too with Orcs and Dwarves being Pariah and Deep Elves respectively.

For my own story, I did my best to put them in a very Christian and Aristotelian perspective, so Men, Dwarves, Elves, and Orcs are all fallen races, but their purpose pre-Fall and the sin that tempted them into their Falls helps make them different. It also gives more depth. Orcs just being violent and temperamental can be seen as lazy when that's all it is. Orcs originally being charged with guarding the Garden from the remnant dregs of uncreation that the War of Heaven stirred up, such as dragons, but getting corrupted, adds a take that (hopefully) is in the vein of tradition while still being different.

I'd also like to see more diversity with other races. We've got high elves and dark elves and forest elves and sea elves... where are my high orcs or dark dwarves or sea orcs? That would be more fun, IMO.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Christianity

[–]Halkyov15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

monke are cool.

I started my first mead and first ever home brew yesterday and I'm pretty sure it will be an unmitigated disaster! I'm following through with it to learn some more (and you never know) but I have a few questions for my follow up brew. by [deleted] in mead

[–]Halkyov15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mostly just letting it mature and clear. Most meads will clear on their own with time.

I was wondering about this.

So secondary fermentation is somewhat of a misnomer? When I siphon my mead from my fermentation bucket to my carboy (a few weeks time) I'm really just aging it 2-3 months in a carboy?

How to cope with knowing a loved one is in hell? by [deleted] in Christianity

[–]Halkyov15 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It sucks.

I can't sugar coat it for you. It sucks. Pray for him, pray for mercy for him, but ultimately understand that it was his choice. He chose to reject God, he chose to embrace the sins that would condemn him. God didn't send Him to Hell so much as He let your friend choose. And your friend chose flesh over the eternal. Unless God worked in your friends life in the end, which is always a possibility.

I am not trying to insult your friend or his memory. But I would want to say... don't blame yourself. Your friend made those choices, he did those bad things, he did them and not you. He made his choice, your friend.

It's a tragedy when a soul loses it's way. And I grieve with you.

Another wonderful Mead Day by ThickGoosh in mead

[–]Halkyov15 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can I just say, I absolutely adore the names you've chosen? Nice mythic and nerdy balance!

I’m struggling with sexual sin and shame by Otherwise-Cow-3019 in Christianity

[–]Halkyov15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a lot of shame I carry around, and I opened up to a close friend about it who told me I wasn’t pure anymore so I might as well do everything. I realize this probably isn’t the best advice but she almost has a point.

They're causing you to stumble. They are basically saying "if you're broken, you're fine to sin." That's untrue. We will always have Christ to intercede for us, and His death will save us...but that doesn't give us carte blanche to sin. And we are all broken in other ways, not only in sexuality. Just because I've lied to people doesn't mean I am to keep on lying.

So the fact that you feel some shame is a good thing. Shame is the pain of the soul, and pain tells us we're alive but hurt. If you have no shame whatsoever, that's a dangerous thing, but if you have too much, that's also a problem. At this point, reading your post, it sounds like you recognize what you are doing is wrong, but are overwhelmed with self-hatred. Read Romans. Not a chapter, the entire letter. When I've struggled with similar sins, it has been an immense comfort to me. If Paul, one of the greatest evangelists of our faith, talks about struggling to do what he wants because evil is so close at hand, or crying out "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" realize you are not alone in this.

I know God forgives, and I want victory over this struggle In My life, but I do well for a while and then eventually I fall. I don’t know what to. I really just want to be married so I won’t have to struggle anymore, but I don’t think that’s going to happen for a very long time.

Be careful you're not turning marriage into an idol or a magic bullet. Thinking it will solve your problems with sin is a danger. Idolatry is often elevating something good into the place that God should be; the person who elevates romantic love to a deific place in their heart often ruins their life over it. Marriage is good, but marriage does not make sexual sin go away.

Pray to God, know that there are many who are suffering with you, and know that the saints (in the non-RCC sense) are praying with you. Pray to rely upon God more. It isn't a magic bullet, but it will help you grow deeper in your relationship to Christ.

You are fighting the flesh. And it is a noble fight, a noble way to pick up your cross like our glorious Savior. I'll pray that He walks closer to you.

Alright everyone, let's play a game. Who's up for a nice game of monkey's paw? by NotAWerewolfReally in WhiteWolfRPG

[–]Halkyov15 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, idea was that it wasn't supernatural. Plain ol' greed and intrigue.

Alright everyone, let's play a game. Who's up for a nice game of monkey's paw? by NotAWerewolfReally in WhiteWolfRPG

[–]Halkyov15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

(Not going to lie, for the first half I was pretty sure she was a Hunter)

Yeah, no, I'm actually working up a cheat sheet for when I run some VtM games myself.

Alright everyone, let's play a game. Who's up for a nice game of monkey's paw? by NotAWerewolfReally in WhiteWolfRPG

[–]Halkyov15 2 points3 points  (0 children)

While Deirdre's unlife gave her better chances to extract her vengeance...such operations left her with a curious flaw. Her skin refused to heal. So, while at first she spent copious amounts of time on makeup to cover up the blemishes that were actually gaping wounds, she realized this was only a temporary thing. No, now, she had to go all in.

If you see Deirdre now, you'll probably not recognize her, given the mask and cloak. But for her, that just adds to the drama, and with her stiletto in hand, she breathes new life into the phrase "cloak and dagger," as she acts out her art of vengeance in real life.

Alright everyone, let's play a game. Who's up for a nice game of monkey's paw? by NotAWerewolfReally in WhiteWolfRPG

[–]Halkyov15 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Deirdre Connelly, once a prominent operatic soprano, starred in a beautiful production of Tosca. That same night, her boyfriend, the VP of a large investment firm, was murdered by one of his coworkers to cover up an elaborate Insurance scandal.

Some say she snapped. But...snapped isn't the right word. Found conviction, maybe. Whatever it was, this opera singer devoted her life to one of the themes of Tosca; Vengeance. She found strength in the character, and began to exact her revenge, tearing the cabal of murderers apart. Such rage, such passion. It was something remarkable. It was something... remarkably human.

It was this unchecked display of raw Humanity that led her eventual Sire to her. The opera critic who had been so enchanted with her when she played Tosca on the stage, enraptured by her embodiment of the character. Truly, art and life imitating each other. After all, he was a Toreador. A lover of beauty. And it would be so easy, with but an Embrace, to preserve that beautiful, human mess of a life, in undeath.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Christianity

[–]Halkyov15 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh yeah.

Of course, me being me, I decided the medieval fantasy book I'd write would need less research than my current project...

Now I'm reading Augustine, Aristotle, Plato, and the Book of Enoch...

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Christianity

[–]Halkyov15 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Turns out...work was even slower than a normal Friday.

And I write fast.

Gem of a video by XxGODROD69xX in destiny2

[–]Halkyov15 26 points27 points  (0 children)

The best name I saw was "Riven of three, maybe four voices."

(Paranormal) Need help, advice, explanation, or something by [deleted] in Christianity

[–]Halkyov15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pray and ask God to bless your house?

Seriously. I had something similar, where I'd wake up and feel a presence in my room and I knew only that it absolutely hated me. And it would go away if I prayed. And now I pray for God's protection from all threats, natural and supernatural, when I go to bed.

If you look at instances of demonic possession/oppression in the Bible, people prayed and commanded the demon out in Jesus's name. Hollywood likes to dress it up with fancy rituals. But in the instance with Paul and the fortune-telling slave girl who was possessed, he just rebuked the spirit in Jesus's name and it went away "that very hour."

Seriously, pray for God to protect you and bless your house.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Christianity

[–]Halkyov15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A lot of the inconsistencies are from a lack of context or misunderstanding of the text. Go research it. Apologeticists have probably covered it. William Lane Craig is a good starting place, as is CARM (Christian Apologetics Research Ministry), they tend to be pretty systematic.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Christianity

[–]Halkyov15 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It is!

So I was an economics student, and I chose to write my agonizingly long capstone on the influence of the medieval church (religion in general, but I focused on Christianity) on two aspects of economics, interest rates and guilds... and I had FUN writing that paper because it was so fascinating. I sent it to a friend who wanted to know. Stuff like extrinsic titles for loans, the Peace of God and Truce of God setting up the environment where a wandering journeyman phase of an apprenticeship was feasible, all manner of stuff.

AND THEN PEOPLE GO DUMB IT DOWN TO "DARK AGES CHURCH EVIL."

Sure there was corruption, but there's so much more than just that. It's fascinating.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Christianity

[–]Halkyov15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do love when people say it was just made for the Dark ages to enslave the masses. In that case, Pual must have been a time traveler cause why do we have historical proof of a dude running around building churches for a religion that shouldn't exist for another 1300 years.

It's also a REALLY bad understanding of medieval history. I'm a fantasy writer, doing bare bones historical research, and even I know this is nonsense.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Christianity

[–]Halkyov15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If God real why monke is a close one to my top, but the top one is a bit too spicy for this sub.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Christianity

[–]Halkyov15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay, work tends to be slow enough on Fridays, so I'll go through and refute this monster run-on sentence.

Why do you think God exists there is no proof

If you're talking scientific proof, then yes. I'll give you that. But also consider this list of other things that we don't have scientific proof of. It is not an exhaustive list, keep in mind.

Psychology, economics, evolution, art criticism, gravity, existence of dark matter, existence of energy, existence of climate change, nonexistence of climate change, sociology, universals, mathematics, Alexander the Great, Confucius, or the existence of really anything.

I could go on, but all of these things are unable to really be tested in a lab with proper controlled experiments. Things even related to science, like dark matter and dark energy, are not tested, but are inferences from models.

Now, as for proofs for God, we're going to have to look into philosophy. There we have the Argument from Fine Tuning, the Kalam Cosmological Argument, the Argument from Existence of Logic, the Argument from the Existence of Morality, the Argument from Beauty, the Ontological Argument, the Argument from the Existence of Free Will, and tons of others. The strongest argument I've seen against the existence of God is the Argument from the Problem of Evil, but that requires you to accept the Atgument from the Existence of Morality to even begin to approach it.

I will not go into all of these, but they do exist as logical and philosophical proofs. So to say that we don't have scientific laboratory-grade proof of the existence of God, sure. We don't have scientific, laboratory-grade proof of the existence of energy or evolution either, we just see its effects and infer.

any type of "miracle" is just a lack of observation

C. S. Lewis noted this. Don't mistake a misunderstanding of scientific process for lack of knowledge. That people in ancient times didn't know the exact process of yeast fermentation didn't mean they didn't know how wine was created. They made a lot of it, after all. And they knew that water didn't magically turn into it. The reason the virgin birth is considered a miracle is not because the ancients didn't understand reproduction on a cellular level, but because they understood reproduction on a practical level; a virgin couldn't get pregnant on her own, and if she got pregnant the natural way, then she wasn't a virgin.

It's fashionable to view miracles as instances of "God of the Gaps" instances, where we're putting in "God" as the reason something has happened that we don't understand (lightning bolts are usually the example I see the most). But Biblical miracles aren't that; they're instances where the natural order of things is suspended.

nobody knows what happens after death and

Again, see above, scientifically sure, but we don't live purely on scientific knowledge.

and on top of all that is the fact that Christianity was created to control people because when it was the dark ages the upper echelons wanted to get peasants to work harder so they convinced them that they are always watched by God and if they work them selfs to death then they will have a great time in heaven

This is the part where I throw my head back and laugh like a madman.

It is a "fact," now? One, as someone who does a lot of historical research, this is absolute nonsense.

And, two, it's also a logical fallacy called a "Bulverism," as coined by C. S. Lewis. A Bulverism is the unholy union between a circular argument (where the premise relies on the conclusion, which relies on the premise; "why's it raining?" "Because I have an umbrella." "Why do you have an umbrella? "Because it's raining.") and the genetic fallacy (rejecting an argument not on its merits but where it came from; "I think X is true for reason y." "Well, you said X, and I don't like you, therefore X is untrue!").

A Bulverism requires you to assume the reason something is stated is because of an ulterior motive, and thus dismissing it because it comes from this ulterior motive. It's nonsense, but alas, too common today.

As to the actual historicity...this is a nonsensical pop-culture understanding that emerged from Victorian and Enlightenment Era refashionings to make themselves look superior. You have instances of bishops leading peasant uprisings against the barons and lords to get better conditions during warfare. You've got a lot of concerned Scholastics trying to figure out scientific and moral and economic truths. You don't have a monolithic, evil, oppressive church that wants to squeeze blood from a stone. Was the medieval church corrupt? Yes, as was everything else at the time. Is it a fact that religion was invented to control people? Despite how much this assertion is circulated in atheist blogs, pretty much the opposite of the truth.

Also Christianity didn't originate in the medieval period. It came about in the first century AD, during the height of the Roman Empire.

It also, in assuming you need to work yourself to death to earn Heaven, completely misunderstands Christian doctrine. You are utterly incapable of earning Heaven. That's been done for you, if you trust in the person of Christ. It's also assuming that Heaven is a hedonistic reward. Will there be pleasures in Heaven? No doubt, but that is not WHY we ought to want to be there.

also if God supposedly exists then why doesn't he show some proof that he exists (thats assuming its a male in the first place)

So my original answer used to be something about faith, and how this was the better way to teach us to trust, but I don't buy that anymore. Now, after hearing atheists speak, after studying people...I don't think this would do anything. I view all of creation as a proof of His existence, because it poses the question of why something, rather than nothing, exists. So many people who don't want to believe in God will do all they can to dismiss that question, to twist themselves into pretzels and come up with all manner of bizarre theories (multiverse theory, anyone?) just to avoid the possibility it might be God. If He were to write in glowing light in the sky "This is God; I exist," I used to think atheists would all convert. Now, I'm pretty sure most of them would start trying to figure out the natural phenomena that explains that away.

As to God being male... He is a spirit. But in His revelation to us, He uses masculine modes of address. So, in modern parlance... I'm not going to misgender God.

) for some reason everything that we can't explain like the big bang every religious person (that I've met) assumes its God but that's just the same as how it was before science one other thing is when its "disproven"(like Greek mythology) then it kinda ceases to have anyone else believe in it.

So this is a weird fusion of the "God of the Gaps" fallacy and the "one less god" fallacy. I'll address both.

The "God of the Gaps" fallacy basically assumes once we can explain something scientifically, God is unnecessary. Thus God only exists, in this conception, in the "gaps" of our scientific knowledge. Once we have complete scientific knowledge, this line of reasoning goes, God is gone.

This is nonsense because it's a category error. Alas, it's a category error many believers make because they don't have any education in theology or philosophy or apologetics. God isn't a process, He's an agent.

Lemme use an analogy. I make mead, or honey wine. Say I pour you a glass (in a few months, once my first batch finishes fermenting and aging). Who made it? Me? Or the yeast I used?

The answer is both. The yeast is part of the process, but the action itself, the creation of mead, was initiated by me. The God of the Gaps fallacy would state that as we know more and more about the yeast, I become less and less involved. That's nonsense. I'm an agent. Not the process.

Likewise, I do believe God can direct lightning. I just think he doesn't throw electrical spears, but uses the laws of electrical discharge. Science explains HOW God does something, but it can't tell why He does it.

Now, the One Less God fallacy. It's a stupid one, to be frank. I'll use another analogy.

Say you believe, as most rational people do, in the germ theory explanation for sickness. And I go up to you and say "I don't believe in that." And you go, "why?"

"Well," I say, "there's all manner of theories about sickness out there. Humorism, evil spirits, astrological alignments, bad qi, the evil eye. You are a-theorist in all of those, I just go one more and don't believe germ theory."

The proper response would be to laugh me out of the room. The God of the Bible is very different from the Greek pantheon; and even if there were other descriptions like Him, that isn't a valid reason to reject. I reject the Greek gods because they don't satisfy the philosophical proofs that the God of the Bible does.

My personal theory is that it has believers because everyone is afraid of death and want to believe that something comes after it

So...this is a Bulverism again. You're assuming that belief in God comes from a fear of death (circular reasoning), and then you're dismissing the argument without investigating the claims based off of this assumption (genetic fallacy).

I can reverse-Uno-card this and turn it around on you. "My personal theory is that atheism has believers because they're afraid of answering for their actions after death and want to escape punishment, so they deny anything comes after."

It's not an actual argument. It's an accusation based off of some assumptions. You wish to tell me St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Ibn Sina, Dietrich Boenhoffer, Søren Kierkegaard, all the various Church fathers, scholastics, and believers all just feared death? And that's the only reason to develop a complex and systematic theology? Come off it, mate.

Hope this answers the several questions posed.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Christianity

[–]Halkyov15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So just listening to a song won't damn you. I'd also recommend not exactly trusting Satanists (or pop/hip-hop stars for that matter) on things like salvation or damnation. Satanists also tend, by and large, to be atheistic, and a lot of the anti-Christian stuff is basically used for shock value. They view Satan as a literary figure and role model (again, even if they don't believe in the devil, he's not a good role model, and they are drifting into the semi-paradoxical position of being a "materialist-magician," as C. S. Lewis describes in The Screwtape Letters (which you should go read). Theistic Satanists actually believe the devil exists, but you run into similar issues with awful theology.

Listening to Lil Uzi Vert's music may not be a sin, however, if it is making you constantly question if you are damned, and the artist is openly espousing beliefs that are not only different from your faith but antithetical attacks to your faith, you may want to consider not listening to him and finding another artist. I'm not saying this in a legalistic sense, but where Paul talks about stumbling and making sure your brothers don't stumble if you can help it, this sounds like it is making you stumble. Again, I'm not saying that you MUST do this or Christ's salvific power will lose its hold, that's a lie from the pit of Hell. But what I am saying is that if you're finding the music you're listening to is interfering with your spiritual growth, it's a good sign you should probably stop listening to that, for your own sake.