In my experiences, the common critic of Christianity, when he thinks of Christianity, imagines a sort of elementary, Sunday School blunder of elements: fiery Hell, an angry God, 'try not to sin', 'be good so that you can go to Heaven', absurd miracles, hyper-fundamentalist tales, religious hypocrites, and Jesus telling people not to judge. There is no horse more dead than such. I maintain that understanding Christianity and the Bible is quite like painting a piece of art. Let a toddler paint a puppy; then let an adult who is a long-time painter paint the very same puppy. They are both paintings of the puppy, but one is far more detailed, rational, realistic, and believable than the other. One is distorted and comical; the other is proportional and lively. One can write off Theology if he so pleases, but he might not be very wise in using the toddler's painting when it comes time to identify the real puppy or when trying to confront actual men of the Faith.
agnosticism
analogy
apologetics
appeal-to-ridicule
argumentation
art
atheism
belief
belief-in-god
christianity
criticism
dead-horse
faith
fallacies
fundamentalism
god
heaven
hell
hypocrisy
immaturity
irrational
jesus
judgment
logic
logical-fallacies
maturity
metaphor
miracles
painting
philosophy
puppy
rational
religion
religious-fundamentalism
sin
skepticism
spiritual-maturity
spirituality
sunday-school
theism
theology
toddler
unbelief
understanding
About This Quote
About Criss Jami
Criss Jami.
Themes
- Art — Creativity, expression, and the role of art in society
- Faith — Reflections on belief, spirituality, and trust in the unseen
- God — Spiritual reflections on the divine, faith, and creation
- Philosophy — Deep thoughts on existence, knowledge, and the nature of reality
- Religion — Exploring belief systems, worship, and spiritual practice