You don't believe that one's conscience could lead one to, for instance, retrieve an escaped slave or euthanize something or someone hastily — BitconnectCarlos
That's much tougher. Many - I mean, really, very many - people still believe in the Biblical god who arrogates all death-dealing to himself alone. They would be afraid to kill anyone who simply desired to be relieved of life. Oddly enough, a large percentage of these god-fearing people are comfortable with the idea of capital punishment - that, too, is in the Bible.(or not euthanize where it should be done) — BitconnectCarlos
Nonetheless, if sin is in fact some act (or thought) contrary to the will of God, then it’s impossible for me (and for most people, I’d argue) to KNOWINGLY sin. — Art48
Never been a sinner, I never sinned
I got a friend in Jesus
So you know that when I die
He's gonna set me up
with the spirit in the sky — Greenbaum
Whether by official definitions of sin, or my own expectations for moral behavior, I'm a sinner. I have sinned. Just guessing, but all 8 billion of us fail to meet either an official standard of goodness or our own, whatever that may be. We are flawed creatures who try to be good most of the time, except when we are not. — BC
The most decent people I've known tended to fret over every minor infraction — Vera Mont
Paul says a lot of things I don't much like. I like the idea that one's good deeds should outnumber one's bad deeds. That is something we flawed creatures can manage. — BC
Very true. It's difficult to maintain a healthy balance. I suppose 'fret' was not the most accurate word I could have chosen. I meant little mean acts, like passing on gossip or voicing a negative comment on someone's demeanour or taste, taking the last cookie, 'forgetting' to clean the catbox, keeping the felt pen that one overlooked in the shopping cart and didn't pay for. I've known a few people who would really feel guilty about those things - me, I'm a small-time but laid-back sinner; I know it was wrong, but if no great harm came of it, I keep truckin.But fretting over trivial infractions (and confusing etiquette with morality) isn't healthy either. Endless fretting can exhaust people, and hobble their ability to focus on the basics of loving their neighbors. — BC
Above. Moses', too. Jesus tends to get shoved into the background in much of Christian practice.I understand though that many Christians focus quite strongly on Paul's views and place them essentially on par with Jesus's word. — BitconnectCarlos
That's an intriguing thought experiment.Perhaps, but then I don't think we have Christianity given Paul's role in spreading it. — BitconnectCarlos
It is not, and never was, that simple. The ancient Greeks were far more subtle in their thinking, far more canny in their understanding of psychology. (Actually, all the ancients were.)The good king was the king who defeated the enemy and protected his own, and so forth. Failure in these meant he was a bad king. — tim wood
What do you imagine "miss-the-mark" means? — tim wood
I especially like when they excoriate the American natives' practice of human sacrifice — Vera Mont
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