Which the Bible explicitly calls out. Can’t be bothered to research it in the scripture right now (I’m an agnostic these days) but it says it’s better to revere God privately and mean it than to make a whole performance out of your faith just to look good.
Hey, fellow former Christian! Do you also find it infuriating that we know more about Jesus’ teachings than literally every politician who claims to be a Christian?
Matthew 6 is all about this. People think the Sermon on the Mount was just the beatitudes, but Jesus spent more time talking about how wrong it is to make a show of your faith.
Matthew 6:1-4
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Unfortunately, it’s a classic case of self-contradiction. Both old and new testaments are full of calls to openly and explicitly praising God.
Cases in point:
God instructing Joshua to have the Israelite army, led by priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant and blowing rams’ horns, march around the walled city of Jericho.
The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19–20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” and Mark 16:15: “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”
I’m not christian, but that’s not really a contradiction. According to the bible the best case scenario is for you to proclaim your faith to others while truly following the scripture. The part you’re replying to just means that the “following the scripture” part is more important.
The part you’re replying to just means that the “following the scripture” part is more important.
The old testament is a constant call and refrain of prophets and kings denouncing a lack of piety, rallying the people to some triumphant reform, getting too comfortable, abandoning piety, and collapsing the society. Sometimes you get this cycle in a single generation. Other times it is used - for instance, with King David - to explain how sins of the patriarch doom the kingdom centuries later.
So much of scripture is people not following scripture and reconciling with the consequences. And then new people coming in to reaffirm and reform the old laws.
8 I desire therefore that the men in every place pray, lifting up holy hands without anger and doubting.
Bonus sexism later in the same chapter:
11 Let a woman learn in quietness with full submission. 12 But I don’t permit a woman to teach, nor to exercise authority over a man, but to be in quietness.
Keeping in mind this duty of love, and building on the preceding verse (21) that introduces this passage in Ephesians—“Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ”— John Paul II interpreted these passages slightly differently: in a context of “mutual submission.”
Although there’s an apparent contradiction in such language, since two people or things can’t be “put under” each other in the same respect, in this understanding we can interpret submission not as an ordering of authority but as the mutual regard and self-giving love that both husband and wife must practice in marriage. Paul is simply expressing that idea in two different ways, corresponding to the analogy of marriage with the relationship between Christ and his Church.
also, the first verse is just calling everyone in the world to pray
Why does Eve get the blame for the snake’s lie when both she and Adam agreed to eat the fruit?
Why are women expected to be submissive to their husbands? You disgustingly pretend it’s a two-way street, but it’s not. The bible disproportionately favors men.
Which the Bible explicitly calls out. Can’t be bothered to research it in the scripture right now (I’m an agnostic these days) but it says it’s better to revere God privately and mean it than to make a whole performance out of your faith just to look good.
Hey, fellow former Christian! Do you also find it infuriating that we know more about Jesus’ teachings than literally every politician who claims to be a Christian?
Matthew 6 is all about this. People think the Sermon on the Mount was just the beatitudes, but Jesus spent more time talking about how wrong it is to make a show of your faith.
Matthew 6:1-4
And it keeps going.
Verily, and thank you for the quotation! 🙏😅
Unfortunately, it’s a classic case of self-contradiction. Both old and new testaments are full of calls to openly and explicitly praising God.
Cases in point:
God instructing Joshua to have the Israelite army, led by priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant and blowing rams’ horns, march around the walled city of Jericho.
The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19–20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” and Mark 16:15: “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”
I’m not christian, but that’s not really a contradiction. According to the bible the best case scenario is for you to proclaim your faith to others while truly following the scripture. The part you’re replying to just means that the “following the scripture” part is more important.
The old testament is a constant call and refrain of prophets and kings denouncing a lack of piety, rallying the people to some triumphant reform, getting too comfortable, abandoning piety, and collapsing the society. Sometimes you get this cycle in a single generation. Other times it is used - for instance, with King David - to explain how sins of the patriarch doom the kingdom centuries later.
So much of scripture is people not following scripture and reconciling with the consequences. And then new people coming in to reaffirm and reform the old laws.
How does anyone follow a scripture that contradicts itself?
it really isnt
do not brag about your prayer, thus staying away from pride
but help as many people as you can physically and spiritually
1 Timothy 2:
Bonus sexism later in the same chapter:
Keeping in mind this duty of love, and building on the preceding verse (21) that introduces this passage in Ephesians—“Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ”— John Paul II interpreted these passages slightly differently: in a context of “mutual submission.”
Although there’s an apparent contradiction in such language, since two people or things can’t be “put under” each other in the same respect, in this understanding we can interpret submission not as an ordering of authority but as the mutual regard and self-giving love that both husband and wife must practice in marriage. Paul is simply expressing that idea in two different ways, corresponding to the analogy of marriage with the relationship between Christ and his Church.
also, the first verse is just calling everyone in the world to pray
Absolute bullshit. The bible is relentlessly misogynistic.
I just showed you how it is not
No, you didn’t.
Why does Eve get the blame for the snake’s lie when both she and Adam agreed to eat the fruit?
Why are women expected to be submissive to their husbands? You disgustingly pretend it’s a two-way street, but it’s not. The bible disproportionately favors men.
Why can’t women preach?
Why were daughters considered property?