An Intolerant ReligionChristianity is a fundamentally intolerant religion, both in its principles and its practices. Jesus, at least in this respect, can truly be said to be its originator. We have seen elsewhere that Jesus was a typical first century Galilean fanatic who could not accept those who doubted his message. Christian tradition, preserved in the gospels, had Jesus uttering the sentences below:
When the choice is between truth which saves a person and everything else which condemns him or her to the eternal fires of hell, the source of this intolerance can be understood. Jesus knew he had found the truth and could not bring himself to believe that he could be wrong. Marcello Craveri's summary of Jesus' fundamental intolerance is apt:
Paul, although preaching a fundamentally different message from Jesus, shared with the Galilean this basic intolerance of differing ideas. Paul insisted that those he converted follow only what he preached and nobody else. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul sounded a warning which was to be repeated throughout the history of Christianity: [2]
Thus the seed of intolerance was planted, a seed that was destined to grow into monstrous proportions. Back to the top
References
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