Christian Discussion Thread IV

[The Spratly Islands]

I've encountered people who believe Mother Teresa was evil, that she intentionally caused suffering, and was friends with brutal dictators. They even claimed she was an atheist. I want to shut that person down. Can anyone help?

Mother Theresa? Atheist?



I'm surprised...

[Benuty]

I've encountered people who believe Mother Teresa was evil, that she intentionally caused suffering, and was friends with brutal dictators.

Well, considering her relations with Enver Hoxha, Jean-Claude Duvalier and Licio Gelli, or her statement about "how beautiful is for the poor to accept their lot" and that their suffering is good, we can see that criticism isn't exactly ungrounded.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_ ... ationships

Duvalier seems to me personally, the worst person they could have dealt with. I mean they might as well have signed a deal with Satan's lawyer.

[Benuty]

I've encountered people who believe Mother Teresa was evil, that she intentionally caused suffering, and was friends with brutal dictators. They even claimed she was an atheist. I want to shut that person down. Can anyone help?

Mother Theresa? Atheist?



I'm surprised...

She had some severe doubts concerning God, and theology which are etched into their journal. In fact I think someone published a book concerning the doubt Mother Teresa (among other religious figures) had toward their beliefs.

[The Alma Mater]

I've encountered people who believe Mother Teresa was evil, that she intentionally caused suffering, and was friends with brutal dictators. They even claimed she was an atheist. I want to shut that person down. Can anyone help?

You forgot racist. Which she also was.
Atheist otoh.. probably not.

But, happily for you, I assume you refer to Hitchens.
Hitchens died 3 years ago; so he is no longer actively claiming that

[Aelex]

Mother Theresa? Atheist?



I'm surprised...

She had some severe doubts concerning God, and theology which are etched into their journal. In fact I think someone published a book concerning the doubt Mother Teresa (among other religious figures) had toward their beliefs.

I don't know about that, but, as trivial as it can be, that she do recognized to masturbate, so, is she a good christian from YOUR standarts?

[Benuty]

I've encountered people who believe Mother Teresa was evil, that she intentionally caused suffering, and was friends with brutal dictators. They even claimed she was an atheist. I want to shut that person down. Can anyone help?

You forgot racist. Which she also was.
Atheist otoh.. probably not.

But, happily for you, I assume you refer to Hitchens.
Hitchens died 3 years ago; so he is no longer actively claiming that

Not much of a surprise...considering Ghandhi was knee deep in calling blacks in South Africa "the most primitive kind he had ever encountered not worthy of the rights of Indians". Of-course I think they calmed the fuck down as they got older.

[The United Neptumousian Empire]

I've encountered people who believe Mother Teresa was evil, that she intentionally caused suffering, and was friends with brutal dictators. They even claimed she was an atheist. I want to shut that person down. Can anyone help?

You forgot racist. Which she also was.
Atheist otoh.. probably not.
But, happily for you, I assume you refer to Hitchens.
Hitchens died 3 years ago; so he is no longer actively claiming that

I know the claims come from Hitchens, but no it wasn't Hitchens I was arguing with XD

[Malavya]

I'm an oriental orthodox Christian.

[The United Neptumousian Empire]

I'm an oriental orthodox Christian.

Interesting; you're the first one I've encountered here

[Malavya]

I'm an oriental orthodox Christian.

Interesting; you're the first one I've encountered here

Really?

[The United Neptumousian Empire]

Interesting; you're the first one I've encountered here

Really?

Yeah, I don't remember any others in this thread

[Aelex]

Really?

Yeah, I don't remember any others in this thread

Huuuuuuuuh... Constantinopolis?

[Malavya]

Yeah, I don't remember any others in this thread

Huuuuuuuuh... Constantinopolis?

We're different to Eastern Orthodox Christians.

[Aelex]

Huuuuuuuuh... Constantinopolis?

We're different to Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Ho, sorry for the mistake... ^^

[Constantinopolis]

Huuuuuuuuh... Constantinopolis?

We're different to Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Indeed, although the difference is so small that most other Christians probably cannot notice it. And in recent times our two communions have grown very close, particularly in Syria and the Middle East.

By the way, what do you think about the prospects for re-unification between us?

[Aelex]

We're different to Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Indeed, although the difference is so small that most other Christians probably cannot notice it. And in recent times our two communions have grown very close, particularly in Syria and the Middle East.

Kinda like Maronism and Catholiscism, so... Still, there's a thing I do wonder, do you celebrate Christmas in January like Russia's Church, or do you celebrate it in December like Catholic's one?

[Malavya]

We're different to Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Indeed, although the difference is so small that most other Christians probably cannot notice it. And in recent times our two communions have grown very close, particularly in Syria and the Middle East.

By the way, what do you think about the prospects for re-unification between us?

Indifferent, I don't mind. I would support a confederal reunion.

[Malavya]

We're different to Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Indeed, although the difference is so small that most other Christians probably cannot notice it. And in recent times our two communions have grown very close, particularly in Syria and the Middle East.

By the way, what do you think about the prospects for re-unification between us?

Indifferent, I don't mind. I would support a confederal reunion.

[Malavya]

We're different to Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Indeed, although the difference is so small that most other Christians probably cannot notice it. And in recent times our two communions have grown very close, particularly in Syria and the Middle East.

By the way, what do you think about the prospects for re-unification between us?

Indifferent, I don't mind. I would support a confederal reunion.

[Malavya]

We're different to Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Indeed, although the difference is so small that most other Christians probably cannot notice it. And in recent times our two communions have grown very close, particularly in Syria and the Middle East.

By the way, what do you think about the prospects for re-unification between us?

Indifferent, I don't mind. I would support a confederal reunion.

[Malavya]

We're different to Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Indeed, although the difference is so small that most other Christians probably cannot notice it. And in recent times our two communions have grown very close, particularly in Syria and the Middle East.

By the way, what do you think about the prospects for re-unification between us?

Indifferent, I don't mind. I would support a confederal reunion.

[Constantinopolis]

Indeed, although the difference is so small that most other Christians probably cannot notice it. And in recent times our two communions have grown very close, particularly in Syria and the Middle East.

Kinda like Maronism and Catholiscism, so... Still, there's a thing I do wonder, do you celebrate Christmas in January like Russia's Church, or do you celebrate it in December like Catholic's one?

Actually, all churches celebrate Christmas on 25 December. The difference is not an issue of the date, but an issue of the calendar being used.

The secular world uses the Gregorian calendar, which is the most accurate one we have right now (it most accurately matches the movement of the Earth around the Sun). This is the calendar you have on your computer, the calendar used by the government and every public institution. And since it is actually named after a Pope (Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced this new calendar in 1582), it should be no surprise that it's also used by the Catholic Church and all churches that derive from it (that is, all the Protestants).

Before 1582, the Christian world used the Julian calendar (named after Julius Caesar, who introduced it). The Julian calendar is slightly less accurate (by 0.002%), and, to make a long story short, the difference between the two calendars is that the Julian ("old") calendar adds more leap days than the Gregorian ("new") calendar. This amounts to 3 extra leap days every 400 years.

So, for example, in the Julian calendar, the day of 29 February 1900 existed, but in the Gregorian calendar, this day did not exist.

As a result, the two calendars disagree about which day it is today. In the Gregorian calendar, today is 20 December 2014. But in the Julian calendar, today is 7 December 2014.

Some Orthodox jurisdictions (for example Russia) continue to use the Julian calendar, while others have switched to the Gregorian. It only appears that the Julian calendar jurisdictions celebrate Christmas in January. What is actually happening is that, according to their own calendar, they celebrate it on 25 December... but 25 December 2014 on the Julian calendar is the day that we call 7 January 2015 on the Gregorian calendar.

So different Orthodox jurisdictions celebrate Christmas at different times, but all agree that it's on 25 December. They just use different calendars.

[Aelex]

Kinda like Maronism and Catholiscism, so... Still, there's a thing I do wonder, do you celebrate Christmas in January like Russia's Church, or do you celebrate it in December like Catholic's one?

Actually, all churches celebrate Christmas on 25 December. The difference is not an issue of the date, but an issue of the calendar being used.

The secular world uses the Gregorian calendar, which is the most accurate one we have right now (it most accurately matches the movement of the Earth around the Sun). This is the calendar you have on your computer, the calendar used by the government and every public institution. And since it is actually named after a Pope (Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced this new calendar in 1582), it should be no surprise that it's also used by the Catholic Church and all churches that derive from it (that is, all the Protestants).

Before 1582, the Christian world used the Julian calendar (named after Julius Caesar, who introduced it). The Julian calendar is slightly less accurate (by 0.002%), and, to make a long story short, the difference between the two calendars is that the Julian ("old") calendar adds more leap days than the Gregorian ("new") calendar. This amounts to 3 extra leap days every 400 years.

So, for example, in the Julian calendar, the day of 29 February 1900 existed, but in the Gregorian calendar, this day did not exist.

As a result, the two calendars disagree about which day it is today. In the Gregorian calendar, today is 20 December 2014. But in the Julian calendar, today is 7 December 2014.

Some Orthodox jurisdictions (for example Russia) continue to use the Julian calendar, while others have switched to the Gregorian. It only appears that the Julian calendar jurisdictions celebrate Christmas in January. What is actually happening is that, according to their own calendar, they celebrate it on 25 December... but 25 December 2014 on the Julian calendar is the day that we call 7 January 2015 on the Gregorian calendar.

So different Orthodox jurisdictions celebrate Christmas at different times, but all agree that it's on 25 December. They just use different calendars.

Thanks for the explanation, still, for continuating in that subject, I find pretty funny the fact we celebrate the Christ's Birthday the 25 December just because it was the Sol Invictus Birthday's and the early church don't wanted to change the people celebration's habits... ^^

[Sebastianbourg]

Malavya, how did you manage a quintuple post?

[Angleter]

Actually, all churches celebrate Christmas on 25 December. The difference is not an issue of the date, but an issue of the calendar being used.

The secular world uses the Gregorian calendar, which is the most accurate one we have right now (it most accurately matches the movement of the Earth around the Sun). This is the calendar you have on your computer, the calendar used by the government and every public institution. And since it is actually named after a Pope (Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced this new calendar in 1582), it should be no surprise that it's also used by the Catholic Church and all churches that derive from it (that is, all the Protestants).

Before 1582, the Christian world used the Julian calendar (named after Julius Caesar, who introduced it). The Julian calendar is slightly less accurate (by 0.002%), and, to make a long story short, the difference between the two calendars is that the Julian ("old") calendar adds more leap days than the Gregorian ("new") calendar. This amounts to 3 extra leap days every 400 years.

So, for example, in the Julian calendar, the day of 29 February 1900 existed, but in the Gregorian calendar, this day did not exist.

As a result, the two calendars disagree about which day it is today. In the Gregorian calendar, today is 20 December 2014. But in the Julian calendar, today is 7 December 2014.

Some Orthodox jurisdictions (for example Russia) continue to use the Julian calendar, while others have switched to the Gregorian. It only appears that the Julian calendar jurisdictions celebrate Christmas in January. What is actually happening is that, according to their own calendar, they celebrate it on 25 December... but 25 December 2014 on the Julian calendar is the day that we call 7 January 2015 on the Gregorian calendar.

So different Orthodox jurisdictions celebrate Christmas at different times, but all agree that it's on 25 December. They just use different calendars.

Thanks for the explanation, still, for continuating in that subject, I find pretty funny the fact we celebrate the Christ's Birthday the 25 December just because it was the Sol Invictus Birthday's and the early church don't wanted to change the people celebration's habits... ^^

That argument is less credible than it once was. For one, there's little evidence to suggest that the birthday of the Sol Invictus was celebrated significantly before the mid-4th century, by which point Christianity was already well-established. It's more likely that 25 December was chosen because Jesus was believed to have been conceived on 25 March, since the Hebrew date that was believed to correspond to in the appropriate year (14 Nisan) was traditionally considered to be the date of creation, as well of that of Passover (and hence the crucifixion - which meant that Jesus conformed to the tradition that great men died on the day of their conception).