#christian philosophy

[yellownavystar]

When you start reading up on Christian philosophy you realize very quickly that Jesus was just an emo communist born in the wrong era

[auntbibby]

me: hey christians why dosnt god just put us all in heaven from the start and skip the "living on earth" thing

christians: "explains the work ethic mindset and how u have to earn good things by suffering"

me: thats total bullshit

also me, later that night: hey mom can u pray for me

BEING RAISED EVANGELICAL. NOT EVEN ONCE!!!

[exvangelicalrage]

What Is Crooked Cannot Be Straightened

5/29/23

When I started going to therapy for religious trauma, my therapist directed me to Abraham Piper, a rather famous exvangelical and son of John Piper, a famous evangelical fundamentalist. Abraham Piper's TikTok account was interesting, philosophical, and entertaining all at the same time, and many of his ideas hit home with me, as someone who was floundering with the idea of religious trauma, despite it having been nearly 8 years after my Exit. 

One of the tags he used was #abusurdism which I'd never heard of before, and being a curious type of person, I googled it. 

"What is absurdism?"

Of course, as you might expect, I found dozens of articles and reddit threads discussing Albert Camus, existentialism, and meaninglessness.

I was hooked. 

Meaninglessness had been an appealing concept to me since the first time I read Ecclesiastes, the only book of the bible I ever really liked. 

Even now, if you asked me what my favorite book of the bible was, I'd still say Ecclesiastes. When I was young, my reason was that it was beautiful poetry written by a clearly intelligent person who understood the futility of life, and which ended by directing you to trust god. 

Now my reason is because Ecclesiastes breaks christianity. It's like a computer virus. As soon as you run ecclesiastes.exe, blue screen.

In Ecclesiastes, the writer concludes that everything is meaningless, therefore, your best bet is to fear god and follow his commandments (cough *philosophical suicide* cough). The ending offers an easy "skip" button. 

"Fear god!" christian you might think. "Great, that's all I need to know. I was gonna do that anyway."

This answer is good enough until you read that verse in Romans about how you're supposed to study the scriptures. And then you do study them.

As soon as you really begin to look deeply into Ecclesiastes, one key thing leaps out: if everything is meaningless... so is following god and his commandments. That solution the Teacher offers? Just as meaningless as any other solution.

All of christianity centers around one foundational element: the meaning of everything is god.

But if there is no meaning to everything, if god is not the meaning after all... what does that mean for the entirety of the christian religion? 

If you take Ecclesiastes literally, then making the choice to "obey god" is just as meaningless as making a different choice. Even if you choose to "follow god," the method for doing so is meaningless. You could choose to follow the old testament god or the new testament god, you could follow Thor or Allah, you could rename the universe "god" and call it a day—and you get to make up your own "rules" about what following god looks like, and at least philosophically speaking, you're good to go.

Most christians would argue that therefore you must follow the christian scripture, because obviously the bible doesn't contradict itself, because it says so. heh

But this doesn't work. Literally no one follows the scriptures literally. Not even literalists. Because it's impossible. Because the bible doesn't agree with itself about anything.

And even if you find ways to look past all the other contradictions, Ecclesiastes undermines everything else. It puts questions where They don't want questions. It adds flexibility where They don't want flexibility. It adds meaninglessness where They want meaning.

And They can't get rid of Ecclesiastes. Because if They do that, then they're picking and choosing what scripture to follow. And if you can cut and paste Ecclesiastes, then it follows you can cut and paste the rest of the bible, in which case you might as well just throw the whole thing in the trash and start over. 

As far as I can tell, the "best" argument against my interpretation of Ecclesiastes is "no, you're misinterpreting it" which... isn't an argument. The very fact that Ecclesiastes demands interpretation in order to "fit" with the rest of christianity, means that I can interpret it however the hell I want.

And I choose to interpret it as an exploration of the meaninglessness of everything that ultimately undermines the whole of christianity.

When faced with ultimate meaninglessness, some people choose to avail themselves of the pleasures of life. Some people choose to work. Some people choose to find meaning in the mundane. Some people create their own meaning. Some people (like Solomon) choose to follow god and obey the king. And some people simply... accept meaninglessness.

And this is the heart of absurdism: choosing to accept meaninglessness as a fact of life, rather than fighting against it, trying to fix it, or trying to solve it.

Everything is meaningless. Utterly meaningless.

Including Ecclesiastes.

Everything is meaningless and that’s okay. Not only is it okay, it's good. Because acceptance often brings peace, freedom, and joy where there was only cognitive dissonance before.

[fromearthtolars-blog]

To know God is to know thyself.

            “The first step in knowing thyself is being aware of what we are, Not just an individual, But as a person endowed with gifts and talents that need to be discovered and developed.” - Plato

            It takes special eyes to realize that every person is indeed “endowed with gifts and talents” by God Himself. Billions of people, from generation to generation, are each created unique and diverse by God. I believe we are not just mere accidents who happen to have the ability to reason, love, feel joy and sadness, explore, make art, and create wondrous, beautiful things. Every person is unique, and among those that make them who they are, are the inherent inclinations and natural adaptive caliber they possess to particular subjects such as art, science, cuisine, communication, and even socialization.

             Therefore, in discovering oneself, it is important to explore and wonder what makes “us” us. We have to constantly ask ourselves the questions “What am I created for?”, “What am I good at?”, “What skill can I develop?”. The skills and talents that God has given each person and that he/she is yet to discover are part of their identity. Being a part of the adolescent age group, I am aware that the capabilities or inclinations that an individual has can play a big role in his/her potential career/s. Thus, it is essential that we discover and develop what we are good at and endlessly improve these abilities to the best of our capacity. You’ll never know you’re good at something until you first try. Of course, when you try something, there will always be a possibility of failure. Nevertheless, patience is a virtue. Like the popular adage, Rome wasn’t built in a day - yet James Clear states in addition to that popular quote, “Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour. You don’t have to build everything you want today, just lay a brick.”

             Finally, I think it is important to remember that life is not a competition. Nonetheless, this thought of mine doesn’t mean I am promoting individual mediocrity and passiveness – that we no longer aim for excellence, since there is ultimately no point in competing with others, no, not at all! Rather, I desire a culture that celebrates each other’s achievements and individuality, that people will learn to clap for others’ successes and talents regardless of what they have won themselves. In the end, the purpose of all these gifts and talents bestowed upon us is to glorify God – to show that in each of our extraordinary abilities and strengths, there is an even more amazing Creator and Giver; He is the reason why we exist and why we are able of the things we achieve. Knowing that there is God who has a higher purpose for my talents keeps me humble; There is nothing more validating and fulfilling than to know that the Greatest of all has gifted me abilities in order to also be great. ---exhilarating, 2021.

[novice-at-everything]

Hey, fellow Christians of Tumblr, I have a poll for you.

[vintagelovedream]

This.

[penhive]

Beatitudes and the Philosophy of Reconstruction

The philosophy of reconstruction has been germinated from the Philosophy of deconstruction, and unlike deconstruction which searches for presence and absence in texts, the philosophy of reconstruction is the celebration of presence and privilege and forgiveness of absence.

In this article, I am doing a reconstructive reading of the famous philosophy of Jesus Christ, the beatitudes or the Sermon on the Mount.

Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. A reconstructive approach to this beatitude would be God being the dominant entity and man being submissive and such an action would lead to the inheritance of the kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Unlike the Philosopher Sartre’s angst which has no reprieve and the Heidegger’s concept of Dasein (being) and Kant’s nouemon (a transcendental perception), there for the human is the Shekinah (presence) of God as the comforter, who nourishes individual life with care, comfort and forgiveness.

Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth and in a reconstructive reading it connotes the presence of humility and gratitude and the promise of prosperity while living on earth.

Blessed are those who thirst for hunger and righteousness for they shall be filled. A reconstructive reading of it will be the presence of the Holy Spirit as an edification of presence and obedience to the law of what Christ emulated.

Blessed are the merciful for they shall be shown mercy. A reconstructive reading of it would be being in a state of camaraderie with fellow beings so that God makes a privilege of meaning to be a clemency for human life.

Blessed are the pure in Heart for they shall see God and here in this reconstructive reading it would mean keeping the body: God’s temple in a state of sanctity.

Blessed are the peacemakers and they shall be called the sons and daughters of God. A reconstructive reading if it would a given peace that transcends all understanding. The spirit of God is peace and its dwelling should become a presence of meaning in our relationship with others.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. A reconstructive reading would be the struggle made by various organizations for spreading the gospel. The reward of proselytizing the gospel is a reward of eternity in Heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, say all kinds of evil against you, because of me; rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in Heaven. This is a reminder that it is deemed for us the spread and proselytize people and suffer persecution and great will be our God given tithe for our souls in Heaven.

Again I would like to reiterate that the Philosophy of Reconstruction unlike Deconstruction which searches presence and absence in texts is a reading of texts as celebration of presence and forgiveness and privilege of absence.

[seraphim-eternal]

A little while, and you will see me no longer. Again in a little while, and you will see me.

John 16:16

[vulnerasti-cor-meum]

what’s the point of watching more films and reading more books and watching more shows if I’m going to be dead in ~ half a lifetime. will they still be around/also be restored at the renewal and resurrection of the earth at the end of time

[typhlonectes]

[veryintricaterituals]

Something about Good Omens from a Jewish perspective, something about Crowley, about questions, something about how we are not in heaven, about how we get to decide the rules here on Earth, something about discussion, about wrestling with G-d, and something about how G-d is outnumbered and doesn't get a say, something about how "heaven" and "hell" don't really matter, about trying to make things better from the context of our lives, something about leaving the world a better place than you found it, something about drinking and enjoying life right here and now, something about "they tried to kill us and failed, let's eat".

[fictionadventurer]

From what I can see, all the commentary on the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie thinks this story is trying to answer its philosopical questions, and completely overlooking the fact that all the answers these characters find are the wrong ones. The right answer is in The Hunger Games and Catching Fire and Mockingjay. You can tell because the main character of this story is the villain in the other ones.

[hairtusk]

Simone Weil, 'Void and Compensation' (in Gravity and Grace, trans. Emma Craufurd)

[philosophybits]

Freedom demands that man maintain his dignity and purity, that he control himself.

Nikolai Berdyaev, Christian Existentialism

[eelhound]

"Rituals are architectures of time, structuring and stabilising life, and they are on the wane. The pandemic has accelerated the disappearance of rituals. Work also has ritual aspects. We go to work at set times. Work takes place in a community. In the home office, the ritual of work is completely lost. The day loses its rhythm and structure. This somehow makes us tired and depressed.

In The Little Prince [1943], by [Antoine de] Saint-Exupéry, the little prince asks the fox to always visit at the exact same time, so that the visit becomes a ritual. The little prince explains to the fox what a ritual is. Rituals are to time as rooms are to an apartment. They make time accessible like a house. They organise time, arrange it. In this way you make time appear meaningful.

Time today lacks a solid structure. It is not a house, but a capricious river. The disappearance of rituals does not simply mean that we have more freedom. The total flexibilisation of life brings loss, too. Rituals may restrict freedom, but they structure and stabilise life. They anchor values and symbolic systems in the body, reinforcing community. In rituals we experience community, communal closeness, physically.

Digitalisation strips away the physicality of the world. Then comes the pandemic. It aggravates the loss of the physical experience of community. You’re asking: can’t we do this by ourselves? Today we reject all rituals as something external, formal and therefore inauthentic. Neoliberalism produces a culture of authenticity, which places the ego at its centre. The culture of authenticity develops a suspicion of ritualised forms of interaction. Only spontaneous emotions, subjective states, are authentic. Modelled behaviour, for example courtesy, is written off as inauthentic or superficial. The narcissistic cult of authenticity is partly responsible for the increasing brutality of society.

In my book I argue the case against the cult of authenticity, for an ethic of beautiful forms. Gestures of courtesy are not just superficial. The French philosopher Alain says that gestures of courtesy hold a great power on our thoughts. That if you mime kindness, goodwill and joy, and go through motions such as bowing, they help against foul moods as well as stomach ache. Often the external has a stronger hold than the internal.

Blaise Pascal once said that instead of despairing over a loss of faith, one should simply go to mass and join in rituals such as prayer and song, in other words mime, since it is precisely this that will bring back faith. The external transforms the internal, brings about new conditions. Therein lies the power of rituals. And our consciousness today is no longer rooted in objects. These external things can be very effective in stabilising consciousness. It is very difficult with information, since it is really volatile and holds a very narrow range of relevance."

- Byung-Chul Han being interviewed by Gesine Borcherdt, from "Byung-Chul Han: 'I Practise Philosophy as Art.'" Art Review, 2 December 2021.

[tumbler-polls]