Christians aren't to find creation ugly and bad. Nietzsche relies on a false assumption. When Christ talks about hating the "world" in the Bible...the word doesn't translate well to world...as in earth...as in human beings...or creation. The closest translation I can think of is, "the system." The way we lord power over others...the way we oppress...the way we horde...that we've come to believe that God's provision isn't enough, so we have to fight and kill for more and more. Somehow, I don't think Fred understood what the word meant to begin with.
fritz may have been looking at it like this: if you think everyone in the world is a sinner, then they are.
To defend Mr. Nietzsche I think his point was that Christianity teaches that humans are born in sin and therefore are bad and ugly. If you believe you are inherently bad and ugly your world view is likely to be that the world is bad and ugly too.
It seems to me that the Christian world view is the Platonic world view that this world is inherently flawed and there is a greater world to strive for. The promise of Heaven is more important than our current physical lives.
if you read the Bible and get the idea that God thinks people are bad and ugly, then you've missed the entire point of the book. start with the most quoted scripture, John 3:16.
And don't forget the angels message to mankind... "On earth, Peace... and good will toward men." This is God's desire.. and why Jesus was sent for mankind.
The term you're looking for is "omniscient" -all knowing. And it seems that your view of God may be tainted by Bruce Almighty.
Off topic Does anyone else have that Cher song Do you Believe in Love? stuck in their head after seeing the thread title?
I can't help but shake my head in amazement whenever MadMax posts because I am in agreement with him literally 100% of the time... I believe in prayer. I do believe that there are more important things in the world to worry about than sports, although I admit that whenever I'm watching a tight game I almost always shoot up prayers for the Rockets.
^ How does my doubt not make God not omnipotent? Perhaps it is God's will that I have doubts. Its said that in God all things are possible. If God isn't omnipotent then all things are not possible in God.
I'm actually just picking... I'm trying to lighten it up a bit... Although you bring up a good question. It is widely accepted that the God (of the Christian Bible) is a God that allows free will... free choice... So in a way, if you don't believe in Him... He is of little affect on your life (until the day of judgment... and then all will know). Jesus even taught to the Pharisees that their own "traditions of men have made the Word of God of none effect." So, belief, is definitely a major part of faith - I see it that faith is belief in action, and without that faith, one might fail to ever acknowledge that God may have played a roll, if not caused certain things to happen in, their life. But I complicate... and I am trying to bring it back to the lightest of terms.. simply that faith is a choice, and if one chooses no belief in God, then, to them at least, there is no omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God. They make Him of "none effect" in their lives. Sorry to cloud the water.
Something inside your head defines reality, to you. If you believe in God then he is real, to you If you don't believe then he isn't, to you And, your mind can change Strawberry Fields Where nuthin is real
original sin isn't creation. it's not what was intended. it's what we chose. it's what we still choose. sin is just separation between God and man....Christians believe Christ bridged the chasm. Christians believe God loves us all enough to rescue us from a situation we can't seem to rescue ourselves from. that's the very heart of Christianity. God looked at creation and called it, "good." Sorry, but Nietzche, like many others, just got it wrong. What he's criticizing isn't Christianity.
