tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3334391160365031546.post7727663552519734775..comments2023-10-10T05:17:55.737-07:00Comments on Crushed By Ingsoc: SacrificeCrushedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02479751225625007588noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3334391160365031546.post-54429785542138416062008-03-22T11:06:00.000-07:002008-03-22T11:06:00.000-07:00Excellent post Crushed. I think too many people f...Excellent post Crushed. I think too many people forget the emotional struggle that Christ must have suffered and surely it was as painful as the physical suffering.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3334391160365031546.post-13529195483053644822008-03-22T13:08:00.000-07:002008-03-22T13:08:00.000-07:00I dont - and can't - see Jesus as the Son of God, ...I dont - and can't - see Jesus as the Son of God, no matter how hard I try. I dont believe in the resurrection. And I don't believe that he was born of virgin birth.<br><br>Blasphemous to most I don't doubt. But I do believe that he was touched by God in a profound way. Like Spinoza, I see Jesus as a prophet of God rather than a messiah.<br><br>There is a definite mana of God that everyone can either <b>choose</b> to accept or deny - embrace or repel. I think that, what made Jesus so special (divine) was his total acceptance and commitment to <i>God</i> where all others would doubt and fail. A pure and unwavering <b>belief</b>. Belief that what he was doing was right, was good and would endure.<br><br>But was he the Son of God? To me, still no. He was just a man.. and that, for me, makes him even more holy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3334391160365031546.post-6090174011168026282008-03-23T01:41:00.000-07:002008-03-23T01:41:00.000-07:00> He was the Messiah, because he decided to be....> He was the Messiah, because he decided to be. He was the Messiah, because what he did, was so great, so enlightening, so earth shattering, that people stopped and stared in amazement.<br>*Nods* And as you say, thirty. God chose us by sending Jesus, we choose to be chosen by accepting Him. You can ‘decide to be’ used by God, too; as you say, it IS about time, and throughout history, thirty is the age where all the heroes start out… :-)<br><br>> And that sacrifice changed the lives of those who were touched by it. They couldn't keep quiet about it. They went and told the world about the man who had died on the cross, to show people how to love.<br>It takes sacrifice to demonstrate true love. Even in the little things, it’s obvious enough; sacrifice of time, money, convenience; being considerate for the other person’s sake, at the cost of your own, even if just as a listening ear on the phone when you’d rather be doing something else. Jesus set an example to follow, but many of us only remember his example of sacrifice once a year…<br><br>> Single life, unburdened by family or material possession, is a prerequisite for any kind of purposeful existence.<br>Not necessarily a prerequistie. There ARE ways where it’s better to be a couple; like if you’re in the hospitality ministry, opening up your home to lonely people, starting a foster home for orphans…. But if you really want to be free to go where God calls, to take up your cross and follow him, then yes, better not to have a family. ‘cos once you do, your primary responsibility is to please them; easier to only have one master, God.<br><br>>Could you go through that, not knowing for sure it was going to do any good, but really put all your faith in it, that it would?<br>That’s a good question. In some ways, that’s why his sacrifice is worth so much, that because he loved us, he was willing to take the risk of his sacrifice being in vain. Jesus knows that by dying for us, he gives us eternal life if we believe. Yet he runs the risk that even though they hear the message, there are still those who reject him, and waste his sacrifice for them; and some also who will never even hear his gospel…Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3334391160365031546.post-86504333081737164412008-03-23T06:15:00.000-07:002008-03-23T06:15:00.000-07:00"Single life, unburdened by family or material pos..."Single life, unburdened by family or material possession is a prerequisite for any kind of purposeful existence" ----<br><br>On the one hand, family, or posessions will diminish your ability to take risks. If you care for your family or posessions, then taking a risk that would cause them harm becomes unbearable (I know via the family part of this) but sometimes they become the purpose... either way thanks for the post I shall ponder...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3334391160365031546.post-8415878338762366142008-03-23T07:25:00.000-07:002008-03-23T07:25:00.000-07:00What gets me is knowing a goodly portion of the lo...What gets me is knowing a goodly portion of the locals were surely munching on sandwiches, passing the popcorn (if they had it), swigging back the red wine and having a merry old time spectating at the crucifixion of Our Lord Jesus Christ... a good public execution was, after all, pretty much the only public entertainment in those times...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3334391160365031546.post-45487904723005725772008-03-23T08:11:00.000-07:002008-03-23T08:11:00.000-07:00jmb- I actually first began to think about this, f...jmb- I actually first began to think about this, from reading a Jwish Author on the subject. He pointed out that it is possible (if we treat Christ as human alone), to see how his thought develops. He suggested (and I sympathise), that the Christ preaching in Galilee is not a Christ determined to die, nor (yet), does he accept himself as the Messiah. In essence, circumstances drove him in that direction, and closer reading of his remarks supports that view. It certainly provides for a very different interpretation of the whole 'Who do you say I am?' conversation.<br><br>I think it's clear he consciously engineered his own death, however we look at it, and that takes guts.<br><br>David- Some points of interest- did you know Muslims accept the Virgin birth and the Ascension, but not the crucifiction and ressurection? They say the Romans crucified the wrong guy by mistake.<br><br>Nietsche argues a similar view to Spinoza in somways. Nietzche, argues that the next step in mans development, total embracement of the will to power, and assuming the place of the dead deity, the Uberman phase, is foreshadowed in Jesus, amongst others.<br><br>Nietzche wasn't hostile to Jesus, more to what he described as Paulicianity.<br><br>I think your last paragraph accords with this view, and in fact it's certainly my view, but it's one area of Nietzscheism one is reluctant to spell out too bluntly, because of course, Hitler got carried away with this bit.<br><br>Of course, it raises profound questions about faith and what it is. History doesn't record too many of the thousands we decided were false messiahs.<br><br>Of course maybe that's the point. The decision that it may well not work, but it's still worth trying.<br><br>I try not to get involved in his divinity. That fact would certainly lead some bloggers to say I'm not Christian.<br><br>I don't agree. Christ had a philosophy. It was a good one. It changed the world for the better. One can count him as one of the greatest philosophers who ever lived and respect the Ideology, without being convinced the Trinity is a scientific fact.<br><br>It's a shame Christism isn't allowed as signifying Ideological acceptance of his position.<br><br>Eve- There is something funny about thirty. I guess it's when you realise 'now or never'.<br>Or you going to waste your life, or not?<br><br>We do seem to forget it, but I think we're not really a society that is prepared to sacrifice.<br><br>I think having a partner and family, creates problems for anyone trying to acheive anything constructive.<br>This is partly why I think removing such concepts from our society wouldn't be a bad thing.<br><br>This was always the paradox thrown up by Christianity. It has been suggested, that it may have had a slightly negative effect in terms of mental evolution, simply because all the brightest and the best, are removed from the reproductive cycle.<br><br>And yet of course, by the same token, really, the brightest and the best are better off not being burdened by partners and families.<br><br>Yet another argument in favour of free love and Communism :)<br><br>It does raise the question, doesn't it?<br>I suppose the faith comes from this. It's faith in your message. If you look at your message and think 'That's a good one. If I REALLY CAN force everyone's attention on it, they'll see what I mean.'<br>And doing what he did, means people think, the man must REALLY have been sure about what he said, let's take a look at what he said.<br><br>It's faith in your own message, isn't it. That it's right.<br><br>Bill- Exactly. It reduces your options, your thoughts are clouded by emotional attachments. You aren't really capable of always putting the cause first.<br><br>You cannot ever allow individuals to be a purpose. Well, you can, if you don't want to acheive anything, except having a family, but if you are aiming for something higher, then really, you have to go it alone.<br><br>Gledwood- Interesting point. I wonder how much of these executions were embellished a bit to amuse spectators. Hanging, drawing and quartering for instance. More for public entertainment, I should imagine. I should think the victims had stopped feeling anything long before the show ended.<br><br>But yes, I think there always an elemtnt of 'rollup, roll up', to these things.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com