Christianity and Compassion Discussion Plan

Just for Kicks



How exactly do you see compassion or how would you use it?

Chris:

How are we to love...?

Lauren:

"So the Christmas spirit really refers to the spirit of Jesus, which the bible hints is the spirit of love, the spirit of compassion, the spirit of charity."

Helen:

"No one person is better than any other. In these ways, we all must learn to live with compassion for one another."

Molly:

Compassion arises from us loving our neighbors as ourselves, and love springs from the compassion that we show to one another.

Molly:

it is possible to feel love for someone without acting compassionately. It is also possible to act compassionately toward someone without loving them.

Jade:

As we put ourselves in another person’s shoes, we can open our hearts and become more understanding of how our actions affect others.

Jose:

... most try as best they can to live moral lives. I think the New Testament is meant to be a guideline rather than a word-for-word instructional manual to how to live a moral life.

This is was my first time reading certain parts of the bible, so I'm a little in shock and a little in awe and overall a little inspired. There were some lines though, that made me say, "Whaa...?" Do you believe in the New Testament? Are there any parts that confuse you a little?

Maysie:

The Bible is ripe with contradictions, which is mirrored in the religions that fall under the wide umbrella that is Christianity.

Helen:

This DB’s reading assignment was interesting for me because I had never read much of the New Testament.

OH! Another thing that kind of gave me another "Whaa?" moment was the part of charity. Do we donate to charity and offer up our time as community service in an effort to find our way to God?

Emily:

I think that helping people, whether it’s totally selfless or has benefits for you as well, is something to be valued.

Chris:

Personally, I believe that the Christian faith puts a lot of stress of charity because it is almost a human embodiment of God’s divine treatment of mankind.

Another great topic is credibility. This text has been translated so many times. Do you believe it? History shows that people often didn't follow the bible (Crusades) plus it has been translated and edited a whole bunch.

Some Contradictions Pointed Out!


Lauren:

I think that I remember this Christmas most clearly of all because it was the first Christmas that I listened, REALLY listened, to the story

Maysie:

It is because of this contradicting nature in both the New Testament and the Bible

Helen:

It was hard for me to accept the miracles of the stories.

Now, to an intriguing part, was Jesus vegetarian?

I hear this is must see...


Maysie:

am a Doubting Thomas when it comes to the claim that it is possible “to argue that this meal is both literally and figuratively vegetarian, that is, that by remembering the suffering of Jesus in the context of the covenant of God with all of creation, it anticipates the total reign of God in a world of complete harmony, void of all strife and suffering?”(Anthology 135)

Katherine:

egetarianism can be one such practice. After all, as Webb argues the Church even recognizes that “eating meat was not an appropriate way of remembering the vivid and brutal death of Jesus.” (Anthology 135)