In the Ebionite scriptures Jesus condemned animal sacrifice in the temple of Jerusalem and sought to forever bring that practice to an end. The Ebionite or Hebrew Gospel quotes Jesus as saying, “I have come to abolish the sacrifices, and if you cease not from sacrificing, my wrath will not cease from you.”
cool academic lecture on angels live right now (12/12/2023, 7 EST). i am really enjoying it, currently talking about nephilim and the "sons of God" in the book of Genesis.
i think it gets into the realities of corporations. i had thought of the anthropomorphic nature of corporations and how that affects human consumption and i was nice to read another person's thoughts on it.
though i don't quite understand the ai-angel connection. is it that they were both created to serve and are not human?
@superheroine@religion@religiousstudies
The AI:angel connection. I'm seeing it materially as complex information systems (albeit different substrates). I would say that in both cases, as you say, there is also a 'created to serve' dimension, and also 'subverted for ill' -fallen angels /aingels .
Probably not made sufficiently explicit in that post (I'm taking note for future) is the idea that sometimes 'angel' seems to refer to corporised entities made of humans (see chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation, for example).
Charlie Stross's 'slow ai' remark was really helpful to me in affirming that it wasn't 'just me' seeing it.
I've been thinking that maybe the next post should be to unpack the Revelation 2 & 3 thing a bit...
Where's a good online marketplace to sell #usedbooks that is #NOTAmazon? Their Seller Central has become a little too complicated and I have a lot of former rentals my brother used in college which my mom had to purchase because he missed the return deadline. If it helps any, they are #history, #memoir, #christian, #theology, and some #fiction (editions published within the last decade). Also may sell some to local stores. #amazonalternatives@bookstodon
but i don't feel trapped by faith anymore, i feel "free". like not in a "no restrictions" sense. i have given up things. like i cuss much less (more cultural) and i abstain from alcohol and excessive caffeine.
and I am happier and mentally healthier and so very grateful. i understand this is a personal experience.
so it's also a joyous laugh! i value that time of agnostic atheism a lot too. it wasn't a dark time of sin, it was a time of growth.
i really have! it's not always easy, organized religions will always have some institutional problems. as long as we work to improve conditions and embrace the worth of all, we can minimize harms and instead bless our communities.
my community does that. not perfectly but consistently! and they have helped me grow spiritually and personally.
i enjoy being with those doing their best to honor God and honor the covenants we made with God and each other. brings light to my life
it does not escape me that i take on the sins of #Christianity and Christians, to be railed on by angry white male atheists.
i am willing to take on those sins and repent and atone for them.
but a little perspective please.
it's their ancestors who created this modern #christian landscape, not mine. rejecting the faith doesn't remove the mindset, culture, or learned ideals. there is a ex-christian brand of #atheism that is still authoritarian, eurocentric, and paternalistic.
@superheroine@religion we are all sinners, and that we should all repent of our sins. However, we should also be forgiving of others, and we should not judge them for their past mistakes.
you are welcome to join a service with the Beyond the Walls congregation today.
just getting started. the topic is the Enduring Prinicple of Worth of All Persons. that's one of my favorites. A wonderful way to embody Christ is to advocate and proselytize the principle that ALL people are of worth, and the need to lift up and listen to the marginalized who are often devalued
A favourite verbal mistake I think should enter the language, when I first learnt about "cognitive dissonance" I confused it with "cognitive dissidence" should be a term - for thinking outside the box, for offering uncomfortable truths, for many neurodiverse.
I hear lots of professed Christians say a key belief is seeking truth & why science originated in Christian societies - cognitive dissonance.
This week on The Boomerang. My interview for Foreword Reviews with historian Gary Scott Smith of Grove City College about his book on how Hillary Rodham Clinton's Methodist faith has informed her politics. Enjoy!
‘He is steeped in the traditions of Western #philosophy but comes from a world where the #desert reminds you constantly that you are surrounded by a vast inimical emptiness; the ancient #Christian hermits used to sit in the #Egyptian desert because from there you could place a toll-free call to #Paradise’