Q&A 162
Q. Haha! Hate to admit this, but one problem I have with religion, one reason why I always prefer atheism and agnosticism to religion - especially Catholic religion, is that religion makes demands on you! It prohibits! It commands! And especially Catholicism! Atheism and agnosticism are in that sense comfortable.
A. C. S. Lewis again said something similar: "I didn't go to religion to make me "happy." I always knew a bottle of whiskey would do that.
If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don't recommend Christianity."
Q. Moving on... We should be on point 7 now...
A. Right... And point seven is related to what we were just commenting... The Jewish God is a moralist. He himself is moral, righteous, holy' and his command to us is: "Be holy, for I am holy" (1 Pet 1:16). He gives commandments. He has a will. He discriminates. He hates evil and loves good.
The pantheistic god of the gurus has no will, no law, no preferences. He is totally non-discriminating, like modern amoral Westerners. For the gurus, morality is at best a preliminary for enlightenment, a means to free the mind from passion (and love); at worst it is a dualistic illusion. It is our invention, not God's. Their god is "beyond good and evil".
Q. And lastly?
A. And lastly, perhaps the major reason why Eastern religions are so popular among modern ex-Jews and ex-Christians is that they have no hell. There may be temporary purgatories - for example, reincarnations in this life... - but everyone automatically gets to heaven eventually. The god of the gurus does not judge or punish sin. There is no sin, no separation from God, for God is the All.
Biblical and orthodox Judaism, like Christianity, teaches an eternal, ultimate justice and judgement. Not everyone is automatically guaranteed salvation. The existence of hell logically follows from two other distinctively Judeo-Christian doctrines: the distinction between the Creator and the creature, and human free will. Pantheists cannot believe in hell because for them there is nothing but God, there can be no being apart from God. Determinists do not believe in hell because we are not free to choose it. Orthodox Jews and Christians believe in the possibility of hell (eternal separation from God) because ware not parts of God, and we are free to reject him. Which side is Jesus on? Jesus clearly, strongly and evidently believed in hell - and talked a lot about it.
Happy voting!
8th August 2017