Harvard University has selected a man who does not believe in God to be the school’s chief chaplain.
Chief Chaplain Greg Epstein is the author of “** you do not have permission to see this link **: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe.” He also serves as Harvard’s Humanist Chaplain, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) humanist chaplain, and as Convener for Ethical Life at the MIT Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life.
“We don’t look to a god for answers,” 44-year-old Epstein ** you do not have permission to see this link **. “We are each other’s answers.”
** you do not have permission to see this link **
Stephen said
Harvard University has selected a man who does not believe in God to be the school’s chief chaplain.Excellent! Belief in god practically guarantees one will have nothing useful to say about ethics.
Using the Christian notion of God, the Biblical Jesus has been known as a great teacher of ethics.
Using the Christian notion of God, the Biblical Jesus has been known as a great teacher of ethics.
I’ll admit to being a bit puckish and ironical in my response earlier.
But since you brought it up the ethics of Jesus as described in the so-called “Sermon on the Mount” invite critique. Jesus’ radical pacifism and quietism are unworkable. They are the wisdom of someone who is convinced that the Most High is going to Wrap It Up next Tues after lunch. Jesus’ advice is basically for his community to hunker down because the end is night when they’ll all be vindicated while the world burns. The apocalypticists had given up on society and culture. The early Jesus community was a drop-out cult. Only God could save them now. Behold the subsequent historical spectacle of Jesus’ followers worshiping him while ignoring all his teachings.
Google: books on Jesus as a Teacher of Ethics
Results:
** you do not have permission to see this link ** Part I
** you do not have permission to see this link ** Part II
** you do not have permission to see this link **
Jesus as the Ideal of Christian Ethics
** you do not have permission to see this link **
Stephen said
See Hector Avalos’ ** you do not have permission to see this link ** for a sustained scholarly critique.
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that “involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior”.
Is it wrong for Jesus’ disciples to grab wheat on the Sabbath?
Is it wrong for a person to pull a beast of burden from a ditch on the Sabbath?
Jesus said no.
Verily, cases can be made in support of the ethics of Jesus.
Steefen said
Stephen said
See Hector Avalos’ ** you do not have permission to see this link ** for a sustained scholarly critique.
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that “involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior”.
Is it wrong for Jesus’ disciples to grab wheat on the Sabbath?
Is it wrong for a person to pull a beast of burden from a ditch on the Sabbath?
Jesus said no.
Verily, cases can be made in support of the ethics of Jesus.
Jesus didn’t pull beast of burden from a ditch. He quoted that from the HB.
Eating wheat on the Sabbath means Jesus was derelict in “grabbing” it on the previous day. His laziness is in question if you believe in the historical Jesus. As a story about the Judean concept of Jesus, this may have been a commentary on the Sabbath itself. Greeks often noted Judeans as lazy for taking a day off every week.
David ate in the temple on the Sabbath. Judas Maccabee’s first decree was violent attacks were ok on the Sabbath it in defense of God. So perhaps a little hypocrisy is also in play?
BDEhrman
FreedomBen
evgendob
Robert