Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: avo@icad.com (Alex Orlovsky) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: re: questions I can't answer Message-ID: Date: 5 Feb 90 09:03:13 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: ICAD Inc., Cambridge, MA Lines: 30 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article underdog@portia.stanford.edu (Dwight Joe) writes: > >There are some people who must face gut-wrenching failure in >life. > >What does Christianity offer for such people? Does the >philosophy in Christianity offer any advice for these >people? I am talking about the _PHILOSOPHY_, not the >religion, in Christianity, so please don't bring up any deity. Your first question makes sense, what follows is nonsense. Christianity is the end of religion, and of philosophy: it is ontology, a way of being. It is the way of communion with God. Its "worth" can not be determined solely by proving or disproving its therapeutic value for those "who face ... failure in life", since by prohibiting God from entering the equation you have rendered meaningless any answer a Christian philosopher could give. When you eliminated God you made it impossible for a Christian to state what "life" and "failure" are, let alone what constitutes consolation for the afflicted. You might as well ask physicists, "What can you say about color? but don't bring up electromagnetic radiation!" It is really not a question at all, is it? -- Alex Orlovsky My own opinions, of course.