the Nature of God

Veronica Poe

Member
Member # 2172

posted 12-01-2004 11:36 PM
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quote:
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2:7.9 The great mistake of the Hebrew religion was its failure to associate the goodness of God with the factual truths of science and the appealing beauty of art. As civilization progressed, and since religion continued to pursue the same unwise course of overemphasizing the goodness of God to the relative exclusion of truth and neglect of beauty, there developed an increasing tendency for certain types of men to turn away from the abstract and dissociated concept of isolated goodness. The overstressed and isolated morality of modern religion, which fails to hold the devotion and loyalty of many twentieth-century men, would rehabilitate itself if, in addition to its moral mandates, it would give equal consideration to the truths of science, philosophy, and spiritual experience, and to the beauties of the physical creation, the charm of intellectual art, and the grandeur of genuine character achievement.
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Sounds rather like something that I happen to believe in myself. I believe that the reason why so many of us "grown-ups" have turned away from the conventional church is that it preaches the dangers that come with "bad" behavior while stressing none of the joys. How long can someone continue to follow such a mesage it only drives home the consequences of "immoral" behavior, and none of the beauty? The only pleasure it seems to promise is in the herafter, and then, only for some of us. Not fair if you ask me.

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