Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: tblake@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu (Thomas Blake) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: On Daoism, Buddhism & Confucianism Message-ID: Date: 5 May 91 01:37:53 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: State University of New York at Binghamton Lines: 44 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article dhsy@vax5.cit.cornell.edu writes: > james@jack.sns.com (James Hwang) writes: >> ... >> My father once said to me that Jesus is good and he want to believe >> in him, because he makes people good or can save people. Then I told >> him you can not worship our ancestor after you believe in Jesus. >> Then he said this Jesus is a dirty God and we should destroy it >> and he also said how can people can live without their root(ancestors). >> >> I give you this example to show how people can destroy a God, if >> they believe this God is a bad God. > > This is a interesting observation. Would any of the true Christians > here explain this: can we worship, pray and idolize our ancesters and > the same time be a christian? For example, pray to Jesus and Confucious > (or one of the ancesters of our specific root) for help at the same time > when we have a problem? I don't see why we can't. I may or may not be a "true Christian" that would depend upon who you ask. God and Jesus both have made it clear that we are to honor our parents. We as Christians often honor those who have gone before, and look to them as examples. *Some* Christians may even take this a step further, (I.E. asking saints in prayer to intercede on their behalf). God also makes quite plain from the beginning that he is a "jealous God", and will not tolerate his people holding any other God above him. I don't believe it would be bad for you to admire Confucious, or his teachings, or his wisdom. Many Christians would be made uncomfortable by your praying to him. Putting Jesus and Confucious on the same level would make still more uncomfortable. While Christians feel that Jesus was a great teacher, we also feel that he was much more than just a teacher. I guess it kinda comes down to this. If you call yourself a Christian, this would suggest that you worship "Christ" (hence the name). Holding both Christ and Confucious at the same level rather seems to conflict there. If you held them both at the same level, you might call yourself a Christian-Confucian, or simply a religious person, or something else. If you would like to call yourself a Christian, I won't argue with you, but stand fore-warned that many "Christians" will take great exception. Tom Blake SUNY-Binghamton