Atheism and the Good Life |
|||
|
Dear John
You are of course right that there was plenty of ethical thinking before Christ, and in cultures with no Jewish-Christian influence. My point is a little different -- it is that some of the values that we Westerners hold most dear are explicitly derived from the teachings of Jesus in a way that is often not acknowledged. One example is human equality. Often considered an achievement of the Enlightenment, I believe it is more properly drawn from the Bible's teaching about all human beings being created in God's image, all equal in the eyes of God. In fact, it is hard to make sense of John Locke's teaching on human equality without reference to these biblical teachings (so argues Prof Jeremy Waldron). To put it more baldly, without the biblical teaching, we can't presume that we would have got the notion of equality that we now treasure. A side point: would you consider ANY of the Bible to be historical material? What about the Book of Acts, recording what Jesus' followers did after him? My understanding is that most historians think it is pretty sound as a source. Cheers Greg (We ask that you please keep all comments to 200 words or less) |
|
||
Comments