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Old 07-10-2013, 04:18 PM   #45
graham christian
Dojo: golden center aikido-highgate
Location: london
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 2,697
England
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Re: Religion....No Competition.

Quote:
Ewen Ebsworth wrote: View Post
Absolutely, I would agree there were some incredulous superstitions perpetuated by Catholicism in the Middle Ages and in some denominations today. However, the tradition of buying sacred relics purported to have efficacious qualities was put to an end through the Reformation in Protestant countries that adopted the religious reforms. The Reformers understood that the Bible was a higher authority than the traditions of the Catholic Church and purged practices that did not conform to Scripture. The Catholicism of the Middle Ages was not true Christianity.

As for the snake handling, the irony of their misguided practice is that the particular part of Scripture they appeal to in defence of their practice is not even considered canonical. The passage comes from Mark 16:18 about handling serpents and drinking deadly poison but the earliest manuscripts of Mark's Gospel do not include chapter 16:9-20, which means most Christians now only recognize Mark 16:1-8 as being canonical. It is widely accepted that verses 9-20 were added later and not originally written by the author of Mark's Gospel.

I don't deny that Christianity has its fair share of misguided practises but these practises when scrutinised by the authority of Scripture are shown to be fraudulent and worthy of rejection.
Hi Ewen. Whether catholisism at a certain time was or was not true christianity I see people can debate and reason. The removal of one thing and concentration on another is fine but within that personally I still see a human trait of symbology. Therefor if symbols have such a rewarding effect then why say anyone can't have them? I haven't seen any religion or person or group that doesn't have some or many sybolic representation.

A symbol basically represents something, that's why it is a symbol. Letters are symbols too and so are words. So a snake, an idol, the M of macdonalds.....all symbols. So for me I never blame the symbol or put a symbol down for I only look at what it represents to me.

To do with 'other' religions I would err on the side of respecting what they do and if in 'their house' so to speak would thus follow the ritual or procedure out of respect. If I consider it breaks a firmly held rule of mine then of course I would politely refuse. Thus I see generally no problem there or need to be against.

Peace.G.
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