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Morality is that which sustains life. | ||
| Christian Morality | ||
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HOME The Basics Definitions What Sin Is Morality Applied Thomas Aquinas Fundamentalism Spirit World Creationism List |
What is Love Christ focused on love as his central theme, while Paul's theology has nothing resembling love in it. Christ's first purpose was to eradicate hate, which is a destructive force inside of persons. Love is always a constructive force inside of persons. Notice that the concern is a force inside of the person. It is subjective, since it is inside of the mind. Subjective means coming from the mind. Christ then linked the subjectivity of the mind to actions showing the difference between constructive and destructive behavior. For example, he said the golden rule is, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" (Mat 7:12). When the mind creates actions, influences are extended into the surrounding medium of objective realities. It is important that the result be constructive rather than destructive. The result is always an integration of internal (subjective) forces and external (objective) actions. The constructivity of results is defined in totally objective terms, while the culpability or moral responsibility is defined in the subjective terms of intentions. Then there is the secondary and return effects which include forces of justice and counterforces that develop inside of the mind of the perpetrators of injustice or sin. While intentions define an individual's moral culpability, they generally cannot be separate from consequences. Allowing a disconnect is another corruption called irresponsibility. Therefore, morality is ultimately defined by objective realities (as consequences of actions), and intentions can only create a limited and temporary disconnect from objective reality without resulting in sin. What Christ described was the relationship between subjective effects in the mind and objective effects in the external medium of life. With sin being the primary concern, the net effect is that to harm others is to harm oneself. Sin begets sin and creates more destructive forces in the mind. There is a high tendency to rationalize sin by calling it love. What Christ taught is that there cannot be such a contradiction between subjective forces in the mind and objective consequences. There are victims to sin, and victimizing people isn't love. Then there is the worldly assumption (subconscious) that there is no sin but the truth about sin. In other words, truth is not loving enough for worldly persons. Nothing but truth ends sin, and sin is not as loving as worldly persons assume that it is. Getting back to Paul, while he throws in a few sentences on love and morality, his only purpose is to cover his behind, while he adds nothing to the subject. He replaces the important information which Christ taught with technicalities which would not be relevant to human responsiblities if they were true.All behavior reflects a person's morality, and Christ said that the most important fact about behavior is love. This means trying to solve problems, so life is not so difficult and miserable for others. Direct assistance is the clearest example, as indicated in the parable about the good Samaritan (Luke 10:30). And on judgment day, the saved are separated from the unsaved on the basis of who did such good deeds as feeding the hungry, healing the sick, etc. Nothing else is mentioned on judgment day. But in the modern world, it is almost impossible to provide direct assistance to the needy. What they need to solve their problems is truth. Nothing but truth feeds the hungry. Morality is relevant to every element of human interactions, but the basic principles can only be described in terms of the large and clear examples. Concerns, Carring, Importance |