The elementary issue is that of a select group being deemed "The Chosen" that God somehow didn't really make in its image otherwise why should it be different--select, elect, chosen, etc. As I've continually argued for decades, there's only one "race"--the Human Race--that sprang forth from a "bush" of hominid ancestors, and what differences there are no deeper than the depth of the skin.
The elementary issue is that of a select group being deemed "The Chosen" that God somehow didn't really make in its image otherwise why should it be different--select, elect, chosen, etc. As I've continually argued for decades, there's only one "race"--the Human Race--that sprang forth from a "bush" of hominid ancestors, and what differences there are no deeper than the depth of the skin.
You see the "chosen" facet even within Christian denominations, like the whole idea of certain people being predestined for Heaven and the corollary that you don't get that reward based on works alone. Seems like that would incentivize misbehavior.
Martin Luther AND the Venetians shared their hostility of the reigning pole and his 'taxes'. The Venician team printed Martin Luther tracts and seditious publications through their virtual monopoly on the printing technology of the day. Then after the Venetians were almost annihilated, they cut a survival deal, with a new pope and immediately dispersed to Amsterdam, London and Madrid. Married into high society, applied their double entry bookkeeping, managed the east Indies trading ventures to new heights and prospered up to this day. Voila, here wwe are with post Christian, neoliberal economies :{
The elementary issue is that of a select group being deemed "The Chosen" that God somehow didn't really make in its image otherwise why should it be different--select, elect, chosen, etc. As I've continually argued for decades, there's only one "race"--the Human Race--that sprang forth from a "bush" of hominid ancestors, and what differences there are no deeper than the depth of the skin.
You see the "chosen" facet even within Christian denominations, like the whole idea of certain people being predestined for Heaven and the corollary that you don't get that reward based on works alone. Seems like that would incentivize misbehavior.
For hundreds of years, it was clear you could buy your way into heaven. Indulgences they were called.
Yes, I remember that. Wasn't it one of Martin Luther's main criticisms?
Martin Luther AND the Venetians shared their hostility of the reigning pole and his 'taxes'. The Venician team printed Martin Luther tracts and seditious publications through their virtual monopoly on the printing technology of the day. Then after the Venetians were almost annihilated, they cut a survival deal, with a new pope and immediately dispersed to Amsterdam, London and Madrid. Married into high society, applied their double entry bookkeeping, managed the east Indies trading ventures to new heights and prospered up to this day. Voila, here wwe are with post Christian, neoliberal economies :{
Thanks for this fascinating history lesson. I love wading in waters where more knowledgeable people swim.
Pope not pole :))
Uncle, the three dots in a vertical line to the right of your post has an edit feature.
Yes, and he wasn't the only one.