An idol is any god who is not transparent to transcendence, and the worship of that kind of god is idolatry.

That's why I left the church.

So where does golf fit in there?

Joseph’s game used a different set of balls.

Been reading about the Lordship salvation vs Free Grace debate.

BELIEF in Jesus vs belief in JESUS

The two camps would insist on shifting the bolded words to their favor.

Same things about idols vs statue. Shifting perspectives.

Thought from Bruce Campbell about cults....

"A cult classic is one that has been fully embraced by an alternative audience, not the popular audience."

Sounds like mormonism to me.

So, a god that IS apparent for transcendence is how Campbell might explain something that is not an idol? I'm not sure what Campbell means exactly.

A god who is "transparent to transcendence" sounds like a bit of word salad to me. It sounds like the god is all in their head or maybe like a psychoactive drug.

What he basically meant is, stop saying you have all truth just because your religious institution says so. That is self-worship. God, if we can talk of such a concept, is equally accessible to and accepting of everyone, and to believe you are more special in the eyes of God is to entirely miss the point.

Again, I left the church because I really cared about understanding God.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/05/2021 12:21PM by slskipper.

OK, thanks for that.

I might suggest that ultimately belief in God is a form of self worship since the god created is a reflection of what a person wants the god to be (usually a reflection of themselves with their own values).

Joseph Campbell was an eye opener for me to understand how humans use mythology.

Ironically, people 100% of the time amazingly find the God that thinks they are the bee's knees. Nobody goes with the God that sees them as less than and likes all the others better. The God who loves you the most is always easy to find.

And if things just aren't going right and its hard to assume your are god's favorite, there is always that verse to cling to, "The last shall be first and the first shall be last."

Everyone is keeping score.

Yeah, funny how that works. Your land is always the chosen with the sacred spots and God has favorites which happen to be your people.

That's how a culture's mythology works and somehow people keep buying it.

Believing your own publicity. It's not just for movie stars anymore.

Agreed, D&D, but I'd add one wrinkle.

Better than a God who thinks the believer is perfect is a God who thinks the believer could be perfect but is not. In that situation the believer suffers even as s/he believes s/he is better than everyone else.

It's paradoxical, but most people do at some level feel insecure and even damned; and many desire punishment for their shortcomings. Having those doubts vindicated is also an attractive element and one of the reasons that most gods demand pain from their followers.

Great point.

Sinner, but a favorite sinner.

In my week-end reading I came across the term "muscular Christianity." A gong went off in my head when I read it but I can't put the reverberations into words. Says a lot though. Something about your words made the phrase surface.

Damnation, punishment, for those who don't agree. And let's make a few laws while we're at it to make sure things are done "our way."