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Questions in Christianity Christanon 07/02/19 (Tue) 01:04:59 6f959f No.818516

I am having a hard time finding answers to these, and my faith is falling because of them. Please answer if you know (if you don't know some please do not give a confusing answer), not even all, one will be plenty towards my understanding a lot of things. God bless anons.

1. Can God do things to His creation that would be wrong for humans to also do?

2. Since Jesus only had immediate knowledge of His identity as God (per St. Thomas), and not knowledge of all things in His humanity, could He have not known of or considered some moral issues and "done wrong" by not acting/teaching against them without culpable sin, if sin is just missing the mark of absolute perfection? Or is sin missing God's will for you, so it doesn't include everything like that?

3. Does morality develop beyond the actions of Christ, humans coming to realize things are immoral that weren't considered so then, like coming to realize polygamy is wrong when it was tolerated in the OT under God (likewise with secular prostitution back then)? And by toleration, I mean God not making it known that this was a horrific sin.

4. Does God adapt moral requirements to the stage of human understanding/culture He is entering into, and He can come to require more of humans later, like the Law being considered good and holy but Jesus elevating the standards of it even higher than before ("if your righteousness doesn't exceed the scribes and Pharisees…")?

5. Can it be appropriate and laudable for Christians to have a more realized eschatology as Pope St. John Paul II calls for and live as much as possible in the morals of Eden and the final Kingdom, approximating them?

6. Also if a Christian buys ice cream without need and could've donated the money to starvation relief (knowing they could do this), do they commit at least a venial sin, or is it allowed action but simply lesser than donating without it being wrong? (Christianity basically calling for absolute perfection but allowing less than that.)

7. And finally, how different is Creation (that God made) and the Nature of the world today? Although it is not evil in itself, can certain things in Nature be considered somewhat "fundamentally wrong" because they out out-of-sync with God's intention (such as the predation of animals, strife and war between humans, the psychological and health problems we are susceptible to, etc), and so it would be at least a good thing to extricate oneself from these things as much as possible to live more in line with God's intention?

It is a lot of questions, any answers appreciated, thank you. God bless anons.

Christanon 07/02/19 (Tue) 02:55:46 0444af No.818553

File: ba74d35bbfcad22⋯.jpg (222.17 KB, 427x640, 427:640, Creation_icon.jpg)

1) Good is good. End of story. God is of a different 'rank', so to speak, and therefore has the authority appropriate to such a 'rank'.

2) Christ is perfect, but he was made incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary.

3) Christ is the absolute standard for morality.

4) All men are enlightened by Christ.

5) Worry about yourself.

6) Sin is sin. Give according to conscience. I was reading the Desert Fathers earlier, and Father Achilles said that he worked unceasingly, even without need, that he may not be asked of God "why did you not work when you could?"

7) I would be inclined to say that creation has been marred insofar as we have marred it: absolutely; and yet we have not changed its nature.

Christanon 07/02/19 (Tue) 03:02:24 73c7ed No.818555

>>818516

>1. Can God do things to His creation that would be wrong for humans to also do?

Can God sin? No. He doesn't have to and it goes against his nature.

But he is the judge of mankind and has power over life and death, he gives it and takes it away; when he floods the world he is acting as Judge, something humans are not.

> Or is sin missing God's will for you, so it doesn't include everything like that?

Sin is acting against God. Jesus incarnate always acted in accordance with the Father and he still continues to act, so there is no 'missing' the mark for him because he is eternally present and living.

>3. Does morality develop beyond the actions of Christ, humans coming to realize things are immoral that weren't considered so then, like coming to realize polygamy is wrong when it was tolerated in the OT under God (likewise with secular prostitution back then)? And by toleration, I mean God not making it known that this was a horrific sin.

The ideal was always like Adam and Eve, one man, one woman, coming together to raise a family.

>4. 5.

the moral law is written in man's heart, and available via intuition and reason, but due to the fall that knowledge has become clouded. Revelation was progressive to a point, but now the law is made clear to all Christians so there's no excuse.

>6. Also if a Christian buys ice cream without need and could've donated the money to starvation relief (knowing they could do this), do they commit at least a venial sin, or is it allowed action but simply lesser than donating without it being wrong? (Christianity basically calling for absolute perfection but allowing less than that.)

Humans don't have perfect knowledge of consequences and action. It's easy to get into analysis-paralysis over moral issues and "what ifs". The point is to develop humility and help others when you can by relying on God and his power, live in a way that avoids lust, greed, and sloth and fosters generosity, then you won't have to nitpick scenarios like this.

>7. And finally, how different is Creation (that God made) and the Nature of the world today? Although it is not evil in itself, can certain things in Nature be considered somewhat "fundamentally wrong" because they out out-of-sync with God's intention (such as the predation of animals, strife and war between humans, the psychological and health problems we are susceptible to, etc), and so it would be at least a good thing to extricate oneself from these things as much as possible to live more in line with God's intention?

The substance of the world is good, but it is in a fallen state and so is man's mind and reasoning. Sin is inherently disordered and so are its manifestations, best to flee from sin.

Christanon 07/02/19 (Tue) 21:33:25 6f959f No.818696

>>818553

Thank you for your answers anon, although I had a few other questions.

1) By this do you mean He can act in ways that would be wrong for us to do but good for Him to do because He is good? Such as condemning people to hell, causing grave evil for minor goods, etc?

2) Perfect in what way? Did He perfectly do God's will for Him at this time for His specific mission? Would trying to do these things be imperfect for us?

3) This seems to be true, but how do we draw this standard from Him? The patterns of virtue that He displayed (the reasons behind the actions, but not the actions)? If so, can we extend these virtues to encompass things He didn't even touch on in His life on earth?

4) I fail to understand how this relates, unless you mean the increasingly high moral standards for humanity displayed across the OT and across history is because of the enlightenment of Christ, which would make sense. If this is the case, can there be moral imperatives for us to do now, in the 21st century, that would not have been moral imperatives in the 1st century?

5) I am, this question is not me hating on JP2 or any such things, it is just if it would be appropriate for any Christian to approximate the final Kingdom and Eden in this life. I am thinking specifically of how monks and nuns and certain laypeople do, who were praised by the Church Fathers for "living like in Eden."

6) This makes sense, thank you. Especially considering ignorance, and how certain moral options aren't "live" to some people because of it.

7) Does this mean that things as lions eating gazelles has been alays a part of their nature, and in Eden God supernaturally withheld them? Or humans and their strife between each other? Unless these things is what you mean by "marred."

>>818555

Thank you also anon.

1) The power over life and death makes sense to me, although as I said to this with the first anon, God can seemingly allow a grave evl for a minor good then? I am thinking of something like when the guy grabbed the Ark to prevent it falling, and God killed Him. For Christians, in the example of self-defense, it is a sin to kill if you could reasonably run away (causing grave evil for a minor good), but would it be the same for God? It seems that He could've made the point about trusting His providence in a way that didn't cause the death of this man.

>Sin is acting against God. Jesus incarnate always acted in accordance with the Father and he still continues to act, so there is no 'missing' the mark for him because he is eternally present and living.

This makes sense, I assume it also applies to His humanity.

>The ideal was always like Adam and Eve, one man, one woman, coming together to raise a family.

Can this logic of "in the beginning it was not so" be applied to all things Eden/paradisiacal?

>the moral law is written in man's heart, and available via intuition and reason, but due to the fall that knowledge has become clouded. Revelation was progressive to a point, but now the law is made clear to all Christians so there's no excuse.

Can this law develop, or is it completely finished, and new moral standards or areas of morality untouched? I mean, Christians recognizing as immoral things previously considered moral and just, since the salvation history isn't finished yet, and still the "revelation of the Lord to all creation" hasn't come yet, we are still in a sort of middle-passage. Can I trust my reason to see new moral imperatives with arguments and such, and follow it (as long as it doesn't contradict the former)?

>Humans don't have perfect knowledge of consequences and action. It's easy to get into analysis-paralysis over moral issues and "what ifs". The point is to develop humility and help others when you can by relying on God and his power, live in a way that avoids lust, greed, and sloth and fosters generosity, then you won't have to nitpick scenarios like this.

This makes sense, thank you.

>The substance of the world is good, but it is in a fallen state and so is man's mind and reasoning. Sin is inherently disordered and so are its manifestations, best to flee from sin.

This makes sense also, thank you.