Acts 4:34-36
"For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need."
They mean this Christianity, right???
Somehow that translates to you have to give 10% of your income to Pastor Brian. Any other form of charity is great but you should still give Pastor Brian his 10% because he's doing a lot by telling you to give him 10% of your income.
The vast majority of pastors are volunteers or bi-vocational. And yes there are abuses. But also lots of them giving their time and resources to care for the under-resourced. My church''s sr. pastor is going from full time to bi-vocational this year because inflation hit the church and his family. But our church distributed 12 million pounds of food since covid
Ok? So now he's earned 10% of my income?
The tithe doesn't go to a pastor, it goes to fund the whole ministry. People working full time deserve a living wage, he's no different. Most Christians don't tithe anyway, it's usually 15% of the people giving 85% of the funds.
Our church distributed those millions of pounds of food on a $350k total budget each year which includes still paying mortgage on an under-maintained property. The total payroll and benefits for two full time and four part time staff was $165k last year. I don't think they're robbing people who chose to support that.
I really not sure your point. Does acts tell you that God requires you to give 10% of your income?
Your church sounds like an outlier. Many of the church I've seen have been seeded by larger churches and ministries which they are then indebted to. Most of which would not be so forthcoming with their financials.
Thats not the question though. Why is it a church would say that tithing 10% of your income is a requirement?
Because it's a tradition from the old testament that some (by no means all) churches use. It's nowhere near as universal as your own anecdotal references seem to imply.
“From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” – sounds familiar 🤔
Oh yeah there’s a reason a chunk of early communists were Christian pacifists
Christian communism is a theological view (with some historic precedent) that believes Jesus and his apostles were the first communists, so the overlap is clearly there.
Not THAT Christianity. The war hungry, blood thirsty, brown people hating, brainwashing Christianity!
which does all of it's atrocities out of love
Love for only those that are worthy .... everyone else is an animal that is working for Satan and should be killed in the name of God
Ah, yes, the Crusaders. Using religion to further the state since the HRE.
Exactly! People keep confusing Christianity with the bible but the former is a patriotic American religion and the latter is middle eastern leftist propaganda
And prevent anyone from being really rich.
And prevent banks from getting too big.
And be hospitable to refugees.
And a whole lot of other things that Y’all Qaeda don’t want.
In many historical societies including ancient Christian, Jewish, and Islamic societies, usury meant the charging of interest of any kind, and was considered wrong, or was made illegal.[3]
BTW chrishitery should be the next capitalist McCarthyism. Muhh! red hats!
No, no this is the part of Christianity where we convert heretics. With heavy automatic weaponry
"I say the whole world must learn of our peaceful ways.
By force!"
Oh lord, he's made of wood.
Ha.. this is an obligation in Islam. I rather my tax dollars help the needy than help my nation and or other nations bomb nations.
this is an obligation in Islam.
Obligation doesn't mean they'll ever apply it. They only ever mention such when it's convenient, to make themselves look like better people. All Abrahamic religions are this way(doesn't mean any other religion's any better either). I live in a muslim country, it's just another tool of the state & the ultra rich to control people.
"You don't actually read the bible, you just cherry picked some bits out of the atheist meme book" - actual response I've gotten when I've brought this up.
Funny, the whole thing is supposed to be applicable. They can't just ignore the parts that fit your terrible atheist agenda. And these points certainly aren't a matter of ignored context.
I've actually had other Christians argue against the message of love preached by Jesus, saying it's inapplicable here or there. Of course, I can't be a true Christian if I want equal rights for "the gays," healthcare for all, or any of the other various far left (for the US) views I hold.
Note: I'm a Christian who firmly supports the separation of church and state, sooooo...
Sneaky little atheistses, always being tricksy to outsmart the omnipotent & omniscient creator and maintainer of existence itself, precious!
The government is going to force all women to have abortions to prove they’ve been faithful
You mean with a magic potion of dirty water that should not by any mechanism cause an abortion that doubled as a paternity test because God would only cause the abortion if she cheated.
Realistically this probably mostly served to cow men into accepting that their wife's child is theirs regardless of any suspicions because God said so. There's a reason being Jewish is matrilineal.
... As a Christian, I approve.
The idea that the government should run off of some merciless view that the principles of free market capitalism dictate who eats and who doesn't is completely bizarre.
I have nothing against capitalist Christians who think that the principles of capitalism are generally fine and that, otherwise, we have an obligation as Christians to feed the poor and it just so happens to not be the role of government, but any explicitly Christian state has to feed the poor.
Narrator:
They didn’t
That's accurate.
Obviously, he meant Maronite Christianity, which is the only^tm^ true^tm^ christianity^tm^
For when you need a laugh!
The definition of a "meme" here is intentionally pretty loose. Images, screenshots, and the like are welcome!
But, keep it lighthearted and/or within our server's ideals.
Posts and comments that are hateful, trolling, inciting, and/or overly negative will be removed at the moderators' discretion.
Please follow all slrpnk.net rules and community guidelines
Have fun!
