“No act of virtue can be great if it is not followed by advantage for others. So, no matter how much time you spend fasting, no matter how much you sleep on a hard floor and eat ashes and sigh continually, if you do no good to others, you do nothing great.”-St John the Chrysostom
The Start of Orthodox Lent
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@Vader
Nice, reminds me of …..
1 Corinthians 13
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.
11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
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@Vader
So:
What do you think that any of the above data output actually means in a presumably realistic context?
In other words, what are you on about?
I don't know much about the gods but one thing is for certain..
He lovessssssssssssssssssssssssssss when you guys do the don't eat things at certain times for him.
Loves it.
This basic level fasting, and the giving up of luxuries is a + PLUS + to the Christians.
I can only see good from it. Within reason.
The atheists don't have nothing like this.
Why they don't even sing songs together.
Christians.
☆☆☆ GOLD STARS ☆☆☆
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@zedvictor4
What do you think that any of the above data output actually means in a presumably realistic context?In other words, what are you on about?
It applies to how you approach life and interaction with others. It's basically saying without the right intentions your actions become worthless or what do they really mean, what weight do they have behind them....meaning what is really any action worth without love or care for another? have you ever noticed the difference between your interactions with life when you just do things for yourself as opposed to when you really put your heart into something for another person? a gift, a surprise, comforting words, a nice gesture, a helping hand or anything you put your passion and love behind? these passages are attempting to draw you back towards that moment when you had those feelings, it's trying to get you to see things from a different point of view.
The Christian perspective tries to draw the individual into a more sacrificial nature or way of living, as opposed to just self gratification or just doing things always for yourself not noticing or caring for others either in need or just to make someone else happy or feel better about themselves. It's trying to make your life and actions mean something more, mean something greater, of more value.
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@Vader
did mopac cause you to convert to orthodoxy? did he have an influence? were you orthodox when you started at this website or before you knew mopac?
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@n8nrgmi
No I've been Orthodox since birth
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@Deb-8-a-bull
I don't know much about the gods but one thing is for certain..He lovessssssssssssssssssssssssssss when you guys do the don't eat things at certain times for him.Loves it.
For my part, I just love to sit at the back of a Synagogue and munch down on a bacon sandwich.
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@EtrnlVw
Ok.
So I won't argue against those sentiments.
But I think that is how most ordinary people try to behave, within the constraints applied to them by everyday social pressures.
I would suggest that whether or not one is a theist makes very little difference.
I would also suggest that professing Christianity is no guarantee of a persons character.
Also, given the nature of World theism, Christianity by itself becomes unavoidably divisive.
So it would clearly be far better to teach our children the above sentiments within an atheist context.