From 739625fe01dd45b991f430d6960bcff1fdd91d66 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: aethrvmn Date: Sun, 7 Sep 2025 11:54:06 +0200 Subject: added clarifications --- .../theses/metaphysical/religious/catholicism.md | 26 +++++++++++----------- 1 file changed, 13 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-) (limited to 'content') diff --git a/content/theses/metaphysical/religious/catholicism.md b/content/theses/metaphysical/religious/catholicism.md index be266c6..9acdd59 100644 --- a/content/theses/metaphysical/religious/catholicism.md +++ b/content/theses/metaphysical/religious/catholicism.md @@ -2,9 +2,7 @@ title: catholicism weight: 350 --- -It is generally agreed upon that in the Old Testament, the first five Books ---Genesis, Exodus, Levitikon, Numbers, Deuteronomion--- were written by Moses himself, who was granted the authority to do so by God. Following Moses' passing, the rest of the books in the Old Testament were written to describe that acts and words of people chosen by God; the Judges, the Kings, and the Prophets. - -Finally, in Christianity, the Old Testament is fulfilled in the person of Jesus, the Christ, who established the New Testament. +It is generally affirmed by tradition that, in the Old Testament, the first five Books ---Genesis, Exodus, Levitikon, Numbers, Deuteronomion--- were written by Moses himself, who was granted the authority to do so by God. Following Moses' passing, the rest of the books in the Old Testament were written to describe that acts and words of people chosen by God; the Judges, the Kings, and the Prophets. Finally, in Christianity, the Old Testament is fulfilled in the person of Jesus, the Christ, who established the New Testament. ## authority and tradition @@ -23,11 +21,11 @@ Initially this might not seem like a big issue, but because God loves us, He wou This notion of free will is, in Christianity, irrevocably tied with the belief in God. Free will, and by extention you as a person, need a cause in order to exist; one can claim that consciousness is a matter of computational complexity in biological processes, but then *you* as a person don't exist, it is a fake "free will", where you can't believe, you can't choose, and there is only the illusion of choice. The statement therefore becomes "*I* exist if and only if free will exists."; in this way, both free will is acknowledged, and exercised in the first word of the Nicean Creed; "I believe"[^3]. -So due to the admittance that free will is real, and given by God so we may exist as persons, it makes sense that He would never force one to act or to make a move that would be against one's will, and so He would never force one to stay with Him. In fact, there are precedents that God would let us drift so far away from Him that we lost him entirely; this is what happened to the Lost Tribes of Israel in the Old Testament. After the Twelve Tribes moved into, and took over, the land of the Canaanites, first led by Moses, and then by Jesus of Navi, the land was split for the twelve tribes; the tribe of Levi, being ordained as priests, were not allowed land but had dedicated cities[^4]. Ten of these tribes however, Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Manasseh, and Ephraim, turned against God, and chose to abandon Him, and chose to follow the gods of the Canaanites, and chose the idols, and so they made their choice, such that when the Assyrians came, God respected their choice to worship the idols, and let them become lost. And so they got lost; the tribes ontologically ceased to exist. +So due to the admittance that free will is real, and given by God so we may exist as persons, it makes sense that He would never force one to act or to make a move that would be against one's will, and so He would never force one to stay with Him. In fact, there are precedents that God would let us drift so far away from Him that we lost him entirely; this is what happened to the Lost Tribes of Israel in the Old Testament. After the Twelve Tribes moved into, and took over, the land of the Canaanites, first led by Moses, and then by Jesus of Navi, the land was split for the twelve tribes; the tribe of Levi, being ordained as priests, were not allowed land but had dedicated cities[^4]. Ten of these tribes however, Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Manasseh, and Ephraim, turned against God, and chose to abandon Him, and chose to follow the gods of the Canaanites, and chose the idols, and so they made their choice, such that when the Assyrians came, God respected their choice to worship the idols, and let them become lost. And so they got lost; the tribes ontologically ceased to exist.[^5] So this is the consequence of abandoning God. You abandon God, and so God lets you go. -The above contradict the legalistic opinion that Catholics tend to hold; they rather support the notion that God is a judge, and that he passes down divine punishment. It is however self-contradictory to assume this; why would He, having given you free will, punish you for exercising it?[^5] +The above contradict the legalistic opinion that Catholics tend to hold; they rather support the notion that God is a judge, and that he passes down divine punishment. It is however self-contradictory to assume this; why would He, having given you free will, punish you for exercising it?[^6] ## rationalism and legalism Theologically, Catholicism evolved from Chalcedonian Christianity, under the influence of a very strict, disciplined, and militaristic language, Latin. This, in combination with the extremely unstable political situation in Rome, before and at the time of the Schism, resulted in a theology that has no room for the mysteries, or for any metaphysical explanations, but rather necessitates a rationalistic and legalistic approach to all theological manners. @@ -37,25 +35,27 @@ In this process, they also shifted the burden of judgement; rather than the pers This also contradicts the Creed; if you confess that "I believe [...]", and therefore set "free will is the only way that I may be with God" as the entire foundation of the faith, than how can you say that God will punish you for your choices? The Creed seems to present free will as a gift; God gave us free will so that we may choose to *join* Him. Catholicism seems to present free will as the opposite; God gave us free will to see if we would still *stay* with Him, ***or else***... ### the afterlife -This notion of external, rather than internal, judgement is exacerbated by the Catholic notions of Heaven and Hell. In Catholicism, it seems that Heaven and Hell are distinct, seperate locations, where people are sent based on the judgement of God. Worse, it seems that there are seperate levels of Heaven and Hell, and the specific levels correspond with something like a point system, or a "deeds" system, where if you commited "mostly good things", combined with "some bad things", they cancel out, so that you end up in a low level in either place, depending on which of the two outweighted the other; for context, in Orthodoxy, Heaven and Hell are the same "location", where God's full glory and magnificence is visible to all, and it is the personal reaction of the individual that dictates "where" they are. If, upon seeing God's glory, they rejoice, then they are in Heaven and the eternal sight of God's light fills them. If however, upon seeing God's perfection, they are filled with jealousy and anger, they might try to run away, but God's light is everywhere and it will burn anywhere they go, and thus they are in Hell[^5]. +This notion of external, rather than internal, judgement is exacerbated by the Catholic notions of Heaven and Hell. In Catholicism, it seems that Heaven and Hell are distinct, seperate locations, where people are sent based on the judgement of God. Worse, it seems that there are seperate levels of Heaven and Hell, and the specific levels correspond with something like a point system, or a "deeds" system, where if you commited "mostly good things", combined with "some bad things", they cancel out, so that you end up in a low level in either place, depending on which of the two outweighted the other; for context, in Orthodoxy, Heaven and Hell are the same "location", where God's full glory and magnificence is visible to all, and it is the personal reaction of the individual that dictates "where" they are. If, upon seeing God's glory, they rejoice, then they are in Heaven and the eternal sight of God's light fills them. If however, upon seeing God's perfection, they are filled with jealousy and anger, they might try to run away, but God's light is everywhere and it will burn anywhere they go, and thus they are in Hell[^7]. ### inheritance of the Original Sin Another example of the loss of mystery in Catholicism is the interpretation of the Original Sin. In Genesis, Adam and Eve are created by God in the Garden of Eden, and are instructed by God not to eat from the Tree of All Knowledge, lest they die. The devil, in the form of a snake, approaches Eve and convinces her that God doesn't want them to eat from the tree, because they shall become like Him, and so she eats from the tree, and convinces Adam to do so too. By eating from the tree, they gain the knowledge of all good and evil, they realise they are naked, and decide to cover themselves. Then, once God apporaches them, He asks them why they hide from Him, at which point they respond that they hide because they are ashamed to be naked in front of Him. God then asks them about their action, at which point Adam blames Eve and Eve blames the snake; the snake is punished by being made to crawl on the Earth forever by its stomach, and Adam and Eve are expelled from the garden[^7]. -In Catholic theology, it is understood that you are born "in sin"; you inherit the *guilt* of the Original Sin. Just as Adam and Eve were sinners, so are you, and you need to be cleansed, and be made "tabula rasa", a blank slate, and this is one of the purposes that baptism plays within the Catholic Church[^8]. However, this does not make any intuitive sense; to explain why, imagine a baby being born in a prison cell, due to it's parents committing some crime. It is obvious that, although the parents are guilty of murder, the baby itself is not guilty, nor did it inherit any such guilt. What it did inherit however is the *consequence* of the actions of it's parents. It is with this world like that too. Adam and Eve sinned, and were expelled from Eden, so now we are born into a mortal world; we didn't inherit anything except for the consequence.[^9] +In Catholic theology, it is understood that you are born "in sin"; you inherit the *guilt* of the Original Sin. Just as Adam and Eve were sinners, so are you, and you need to be cleansed, and be made "tabula rasa", a blank slate, and this is one of the purposes that baptism plays within the Catholic Church[^8] [^9]. However, this does not make any intuitive sense; to explain why, imagine a baby being born in a prison cell, due to it's parents committing some crime. It is obvious that, although the parents are guilty of murder, the baby itself is not guilty, nor did it inherit any such guilt. What it did inherit however is the *consequence* of the actions of it's parents. It is with this world like that too. Adam and Eve sinned, and were expelled from Eden, so now we are born into a mortal world; we didn't inherit anything except for the consequence.[^10] ### the vessel of Immaculate Conception The notion that humans inherit the *guilt* rather the consequences of the original sin, inevitably leads to what is, one of the greatest contradictions in Catholicism, and it has to do with Mary, the Theotokos. Because of the fact that all humans are sinners by birth, it poses a theological challenge to justify how Mary, being born of humans, was free of sin, in order to give birth to Jesus Christ. In order to overcome this in a legalistic and rationalistic way, the Catholic theologicians proposed the idea of "Immaculate Conception", where Mary was *designed*, by God, to be free from sin, so that she would be a vessel for Christ to be born from. This detracts from her Holiness rather than adds to it, she didn't choose to be free of sin, nor did she choose to accept the lillies; she was conceived for the explicit purpose of doing so, completely removing her free will and agency; she is not a person. [^1]: It is for this reason that the "Protestant" branches of Christianity are not acknowledged in Orthodox Christianity. There is no Apostolic Succession; there is no divine authority to be passed on from the Apostoles to the Protestants. The Protestants, having decided that they do not recognize the Pope, moved further away from the faith, to the point where they have no claim to any connection with the Apostoles and therefore to Christ. -[^2]: This is in part why the Great Schism holds to this day; the Cahtolics, by "updating" and changing tradition, are in essence invalidating it. In effect they declare that the "old Tradition" isn't good enough, which invalidates its divine authority. +[^2]: This is in part why the Great Schism holds to this day; the Catholics, by "updating" and changing tradition, in essence appear to, invalidate it. In effect they declare that the "old Tradition" isn't good enough, which invalidates its divine authority. [^3]: In both Greek and Latin, "I believe" is in one word (Πιστεύω/Credo). The use of first person affirms the existence of the self, and to state "I believe" is to exercise the free will and choose to believe in God. [^4]: The Twelve Tribes are descendent from Jacob, who later took the name of Israel, and hold his twelve sons to be their patriarchs, however one of the tribes, the Tribe of Joseph, was split into the Tribe of Ephraim and the Tribe of Manasseh, after Joseph's sons, because Israel adopted them. -[^5]: A dear friend of mine suggested to me once that I should imagine myself putting my hand in a fire -- the ensuing burning and pain are not divine judgement but rather me experiencing the consequences of my own actions. -[^6]: It is not necessarily a physical "burning" pain; rather it makes sense to be a "fire" of complete destruction of the ego, that the person held so high in life. -[^7]: Although it was disobidience that was the Original Sin, it was shame, not disobidience, that caused the expulsion. Had Adam and Eve repented, they would have been forgiven. Instead, ashamed, they tried to hide at first, and then they shifted the blame; Adam to Eve, and Eve to the snake, and so it is shame that makes you hide, and abandon God. By eating from the Tree of All Knowledge, they gained the knowledge of all good and evil, and realised that their action was evil, for it was disobidience towards God; this is the reason they sought to hide. They were hiding because they were afraid of judgement, and they were afraid of judgement because they were ashamed. This is a discussion for another time, but it truly feels like shame is the root of non-repentence. -[^8]: In both Orthodoxy and Catholicism, baptism plays the role of cleansing from sin; however it is only in the Catholic Church that humans are born sinful. In Orthodoxy, baptism for babies plays the role of "birth" into the Church, and adoption by God and there is no notion of cleansing, as humans are considered sinless at birth. -[^9]: The Catholic notion of inheriting the guilt once again detracts from free will; I didn't choose to sin, so how am I a sinner? +[^5]: The cessation of the tribes, doesn't mean the cessation of the individuals, or of the biological lineage. A "tribe", like any other societal structure, exists as a metaphysical construct, sustained by a communal identification. To say that the tribes ceased to exist, the implication is that the individuals stopped identifying as such, regardless of biological heritage. +[^6]: A dear friend of mine suggested to me once that I should imagine myself putting my hand in a fire -- the ensuing burning and pain are not divine judgement but rather me experiencing the consequences of my own actions. +[^7]: It is not necessarily a physical "burning" pain; rather it makes sense to be a "fire" of complete destruction of the ego, that the person held so high in life. +[^8]: Although it was disobidience that was the Original Sin, it was shame, not disobidience, that caused the expulsion. Had Adam and Eve repented, they would have been forgiven. Instead, ashamed, they tried to hide at first, and then they shifted the blame; Adam to Eve, and Eve to the snake, and so it is shame that makes you hide, and abandon God. By eating from the Tree of All Knowledge, they gained the knowledge of all good and evil, and realised that their action was evil, for it was disobidience towards God; this is the reason they sought to hide. They were hiding because they were afraid of judgement, and they were afraid of judgement because they were ashamed. This is a discussion for another time, but it truly feels like shame is the root of non-repentence. +[^9]: In both Orthodoxy and Catholicism, baptism plays the role of cleansing from sin; however it is only in the Catholic Church that humans are born sinful. In Orthodoxy, baptism for babies plays the role of "birth" into the Church, and adoption by God and there is no notion of cleansing, as humans are considered sinless at birth. +[^10]: Part of the baptismal liturgy states; "[...] We pray for this child: set him (her) free from original sin, make him (her) a temple of your glory, and send your Holy Spirit to dwell with him (her) [...]." +[^11]: The Catholic notion of inheriting the guilt once again detracts from free will; I didn't choose to sin, so how am I a sinner? -- cgit v1.2.3