Are many "Christians" also atheists?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Charlemagne_II
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

Charlemagne_II

Guest
There are two kinds of “atheism”: the atheism of the right, which professes to love God and ignore neighbors; and the atheism of the left, which professes to love neighbor and ignores God.
Bishop Fulton Sheen

It would seem, from Sheen’s remark, that there are many more atheists in the world than we thought.

Any comment?
 
Charlemagne_II said:
There are two kinds of “atheism”: the atheism of the right, which professes to love God and ignore neighbors; and the atheism of the left, which professes to love neighbor and ignores God.
Bishop Fulton Sheen

It would seem, from Sheen’s remark, that there are many more atheists in the world than we thought.

Any comment?
Click to expand...
I am not a baptised person yet, and was an atheist so I would agree there are many kinds of athiests (my parents were very different atheiests also) so I can agree with the Bishop here.
 
Yeah, I totally see that.

I think the first atheist he describes is “a saint gone mad”. The second sounds more like an agnostic than an atheist.

Ironically Yours, Blade and Blood
 
Ah, I like what this bishop says.

All humans have an aspect of divinity within themselves. To not love your neighbor is to not love God; and to not love God, well, I guess that’s what he considers atheism.

Very nice.
 
While listening to Catholic radio, a priest came on and said too many Catholics were living like Agnostics.

I think going to Church has become a kind of habit for some, but in which the level of participation is minimal. But the real problem is leaving your faith back in the Church building and not taking it outside. We, as Catholics, need to live our faith daily. We need to pray daily.

Another priest put it this way. How long do you think you’d stay married if you only talked to your spouse once a week, or for a few minutes each night, and always said the same thing?

I encourage you, my brothers and sisters, bring your problems to God but thank Him also. One last thing I heard that really stuck with me. When you pray, ask God to speak to you. “I’m here Lord. You’re servant is listening.” This phrase is from the Bible. We need to give God permission to act in our lives. So ask for His guidance.

God bless,
Ed
 
the bishop, pithy as usual, true in a practical application of behavior
but i dont think he meant it literally
 
warpspeedpetey said:
no, indeed, he was melodramatic, but very perceptive
Click to expand...
I like the melodrama in a life where there is no drama that is more exciting than Christ.🙂
I have his book, Treasure in Clay. I returned it to the lady who gave it to me though. He had his funny side also, and his prideful side he lamented of. I liked reading about this Bishop, more than any other one I have ever read about. I just got his book “Life in Christ”😃

It’s killer stuff!👍
 
he said if you told him what you hate he could tell you who you are, it was brilliant, but i dont have the list any more
 
Some have said that Christianity has morphed from being **the religion of Jesus **to being a religion about Jesus. It has always been my personal conviction that Christianity without humanism isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. Perhaps others feel similarly about humanism.

Borrowing from Einstein we might aphorize that humanism without Christianity is lame, but that Christianity without humanism is blind. Perhaps this is what the good bishop meant.

I think the good bishop is simply saying that Christianity is both love of god and love of neighbor, and that neither comes first. He must also have a particular definition of atheism that I’m not familiar with.
 
warpspeedpetey said:
he said if you told him what you hate he could tell you who you are, it was brilliant, but i dont have the list any more
Click to expand...
I wish I still had that Treasure in Clay book! It was loaded with laughs and tears.

This one is far more serious, and very insightful and loaded with scriptures to please any bible only beliver to pieces!

I cried at page 289… 30 pieces of silver…:eek:

I cry a lot though. I cry that abortion is legal. I cry out to God that I am so sorry I never acknowledged him until recently…

I have so many sins, but I know even after I am baptised, I will still need his forgiveness! I will still sin!😊
 
notsmart said:
I cry a lot though. I cry that abortion is legal. I cry out to God that I am so sorry I never acknowledged him until recently…

I have so many sins, but I know even after I am baptised, I will still need his forgiveness! I will still sin!😊
Click to expand...
i completely understand those feelings, i still tear up when i receive the Eucharist. and sometimes in the confessional

I am in awe of his Mercy, and i throw myself on His Justice

because I personally crucified Christ,

i wove that crown of thorns, I lashed him with that whip, with every sin i drove those nails deeper into His Divine Hands, with every offense i speared his side, and when he thirsted I laughed and offered him the vinegar of my Pride.

still he begged the father to forgive me,

And then he bowed His Holy Head, and died for me

How can i ever repay this debt?

who dies for the benefit of his tormentor?

My G-d did, thats who

So like Peter, Paul, James, and John i am a bondservant, a slave to Christ, this man who died that i might live
 
I completely agree with Bishop Sheen.

My form of atheism was what I call “Lazy Atheism”. I did’nt believe, but it made no difference to me if the entire world did.

“In God We Trust” printed on money?..Who cares!

“Christmas break” instead of Holiday Break?..Who cares!

Lazy as in, you can believe and that is fine with me, just LEAVE ME ALONE!

Praise God that HE did not leave me alone.👍
 
crowonsnow

I think the good bishop is simply saying that Christianity is both love of god and love of neighbor, and that neither comes first. He must also have a particular definition of atheism that I’m not familiar with.

I think Sheen is using the literal definition of a-theist:* without-God*.

We are without God if we deny Him with our head, but we are also without God if we affirm Him with our head but deny Him with our heart.

"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. 11 Depart from me, you evildoers.’ " Matthew 7:21-23

So in other words, we can profess to be with god, but if we do not do his will, he never knew us. That is, we were without-God … in other words, a-theists.
 
Charlemagne_II said:
We are without God if we deny Him with our head, but we are also without God if we affirm Him with our head but deny Him with our heart.

"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. 11 Depart from me, you evildoers.’ " Matthew 7:21-23

So in other words, we can profess to be with god, but if we do not do his will, he never knew us. That is, we were without-God … in other words, a-theists.
Click to expand...
For purposes of understanding Sheen’s quote in the OP, what exactly is “the will of my Father?” This must be to practice love of neighbor. Yes?

If you are doing your god’s will you are loving your god. If you are loving your god you are doing your god’s will. It’s a circle. What good is loving your god in your heart if you are not practicing love of neighbor? This seems to be the point of Jesus’s words in Matthew.
 
What the hay?

There is absolutely no such thing as an atheist that loves God.

That’s just silly.

an atheists is someone who does not believe in the existence of God. How can a person love something that doesn’t exists, or hate something that doesn’t exist for that matter?

Also, if you do not believe in the existence of God, you cannot be saved and cannot be a Christian.
 
Starwynd said:
an atheists is someone who does not believe in the existence of God. How can a person love something that doesn’t exists, or hate something that doesn’t exist for that matter?

Also, if you do not believe in the existence of God, you cannot be saved and cannot be a Christian.
Click to expand...
if there is no G-d than what differentiates any collection of atoms from any other collection of atoms?

why would a person be any different than a rock?

you can say they differ in level of functioning, but the rock might think the same thing,

so if there is no G-d than by necessity all collections of atoms are of equal value

so it follows that one can neither love nor hate anything at all

but i am sure you do, most people love their folks, or their dog or their wife or their kids

so either everyone on the planet is delusional, or something is differentiating the value of various collections of atoms

since in the absence of the supernatural we have that equality of substance, than no collection of atoms is capable of assigning more value to one thing or another.

alternatively there is no General to say this soldier is a Lt. or this soldier is Sgt., or this one is infantry

rather everyone would simply be a soldier

so the fact that most people assign value to various collections of atoms means that they are tacitly in agreement that there is a supernatural

otherwise one could neither love nor hate
 
I, though I am probably what many here would call an ‘atheist’ (the technical term is ‘hard agnostic,’) was taught by the Jesuits, and granted respect in turn for my deep love of learning and humanitarianism. In that, I find the best in humanity.

Do not the Moralist of Galilee’s teachings pretty much just boil down to ‘Be not jerks unto each other! Seriously, that doesn’t do anyone any good, not even you, so forget it, and live your lives with love!’

That’s enough for me. Beyond that, I need no more. Perhaps my needs are simple and my wants few, but I am satisfied by this teaching, and Yeshua was neither the first nor last to teach it. It really IS a good idea, after all.
 
crowonsnow

What good is loving your god in your heart if you are not practicing love of neighbor? This seems to be the point of Jesus’s words in Matthew.

If I understand Sheen’s point, based on Matthew, it is that you are not loving God in your heart if you are not loving your neighbor.

And if you are not loving God, you are without God, or a-theist. You could still mentally assent to the idea of God and call yourself a Christian, but you would only be fooling yourself, because if you really believed in God you would find God in others and love them too.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top