Inspired in part by this thread.
Every so often, a radical fundamentalist Christian* will point to a disaster as being the wrath of God brought down on sinners, or will call down fire and brimstone on those who disagree with them, or will casually use terms like “an eye for an eye”.
Now, I’m no theologian**, but I thought that the Christian Bible had a “before” (Old Testament) and an “after” (New Testament), with the life of Christ defining the transition. I thought that Christian philosophy was that Christ’s death changed the way we should live our lives, that he died for our sins, and that revenge and wrath were no longer the appropriate responses. There seems to be a very different OT God and NT God.
And yet these very people calling for death and destruction are the first to define themselves as Christians.
The paradoxical thing that I have found is that my Jewish acquaintances, without the NT in their libraries, behave in very much of what I consider to be a NT philosophy (charitable giving, "Golden Rule, in general “live and let live”). Except when you talk about Palestine, of course :rolleyes: (And yes, I know that Christian principles sprang in large part from Judaic principles.) On the other hand, the born-again Christians of my acquaintance can be almost rabid in their beliefs, and truly believe that those who don’t follow Christ will burn for eternity in hell.
So, I guess I’m just wondering whether anyone else feels the same way and whether these vocal and venomous vipers are even Christian in the true sense of the word?
*I was raised in a Christian household, but if we can call an angry person of Islamic faith a radical fundamentalist, then I suppose that could apply to an angry religious person of any faith, couldn’t it?
**Other than some Sunday school, most of my knowlege of Christianity comes from reading C.S. Lewis, and G.K. Chesterton, whom I admire very much.