Dig. Ding. Winner. Winner. Chicken dinner. Not very religious myself, but Christianity has always been dangerous to the so called "elite". If we are all equal in the eyes of God, which is a big departure from Judaism, there is no need for an Elite. There is no kissing the ring. There is no king or queen (unless you highjack Christianity). People fail to realize what an astoundingly earth shattering concept equality in the eyes of GOD, particularly in the ancient world, was/is.
Well... I agree in principal, but lets be clear about one thing. Christianity is absolutely about kissing the ring.
In fact that's been the default state of Christianity for the majority of Western history.
I understand the whole "all men are created equal" thing, but the point is that's a relatively modern concept, and that position is a departure from traditional Christianity, or the "highjacking" if you will.
Christian monarchs and the elite in the ancient world have always derived their authority from religion, And Christianity is no exception.
Oh I disagree, all men are equal in the eyes of God is what early Christianity was all about, and it was subverted by the Romans and others. Having that kind of shenanigans in your religion does not lend itself to hierarchical control. The Sermon on the Mount, as an example, is all about equality in the eyes of God. Turning the other cheek does not mean what you, likely, think it means.
The fact is that IN PRACTICE Christianity was never about empowering the masses on a political level or taking down the class structure of ancient times.
You can tell me how the Devine right of kings is a corruption of the intent of the religion, but you don't have the authority to just dictate the "correct" interpretation of the bible, Certainly not more so than the early popes and scholars from long before we were born.
If you're going to tell me their interpretations weren't correct, and you don't accept their authority to decide these matters, then you should understand that also applies to YOUR modern interpretations. You also lack the authority to dictate these things.
So therefore it's completely useless to try and decipher the "correct" meaning from a religion, and it's instead far more useful to study how they were actually implemented IN PRACTICE. Because those practice are what created our modern world.
The fact is throughout most of western history the concept of people being equal before god was looked at as a spiritual matter.
The king was equal to a peasant in the sense that they would both face judgement after they die, they could both be sent to hell, they could both earn a place in heaven, etc...
But this idea that equality before god should translate into the real world and that people should be treated equally by the state is a very modern concept that would have been completely foreign to someone in the middle ages.
Dig. Ding. Winner. Winner. Chicken dinner. Not very religious myself, but Christianity has always been dangerous to the so called "elite". If we are all equal in the eyes of God, which is a big departure from Judaism, there is no need for an Elite. There is no kissing the ring. There is no king or queen (unless you highjack Christianity). People fail to realize what an astoundingly earth shattering concept equality in the eyes of GOD, particularly in the ancient world, was/is.
Well... I agree in principal, but lets be clear about one thing. Christianity is absolutely about kissing the ring.
In fact that's been the default state of Christianity for the majority of Western history.
I understand the whole "all men are created equal" thing, but the point is that's a relatively modern concept, and that position is a departure from traditional Christianity, or the "highjacking" if you will.
Christian monarchs and the elite in the ancient world have always derived their authority from religion, And Christianity is no exception.
Oh I disagree, all men are equal in the eyes of God is what early Christianity was all about, and it was subverted by the Romans and others. Having that kind of shenanigans in your religion does not lend itself to hierarchical control. The Sermon on the Mount, as an example, is all about equality in the eyes of God. Turning the other cheek does not mean what you, likely, think it means.
The fact is that IN PRACTICE Christianity was never about empowering the masses on a political level or taking down the class structure of ancient times.
You can tell me how the Devine right of kings is a corruption of the intent of the religion, but you don't have the authority to just dictate the "correct" interpretation of the bible, Certainly not more so than the early popes and scholars from long before we were born.
If you're going to tell me their interpretations weren't correct, and you don't accept their authority to decide these matters, then you should understand that also applies to YOUR modern interpretations. You also lack the authority to dictate these things.
So therefore it's completely useless to try and decipher the "correct" meaning from a religion, and it's instead far more useful to study how they were actually implemented IN PRACTICE. Because those practice are what created our modern world.
The fact is throughout most of western history the concept of people being equal before god was looked at as a spiritual matter.
The king was equal to a peasant in the sense that they would both face judgement after they die, they could both be sent to hell, they could both earn a place in heaven, etc...
But this idea that equality before god should translate into the real world and that people should be treated equally by the state is a very modern concept that would have been completely foreign to someone in the middle ages.
Correct, Christianity only covers equality in God's eyes. That, however, is still a major major shift, particularly in antiquity.
"elite," like Pope "elite"?
Yes. I would go so far as to say that the entire Church of Rome is only tangentially "Christian".
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/story-jesus-christ-was-fabricated-pacify-poor-claims-controversial-biblical-scholar-8870879.html