The New Jerusalem

pg. 174: "Yet he would not promote Christianity at the expense of other faiths."

Good idea, but what happened? This appears to be the problem with established religions. Armstrong details in the chapter how, in a short period of time, the way Christianity was practiced changed. These are lessons that must be learned in order to make any progress in modern terms. We all have to know how things have moved from generous and spiritual to possessive and hurtful.

pg. 177: My minister has always stressed the importance of the Council of Nicaea. He seriously had the entire congregation memorize the date and everything. It was an interesting exercise Biblical history for sure. But I haven't really investigated why the main issue was at the Council itself. The differences in how Jesus was viewed in the early church is very interesting to me. I definitely think there is still differences of opinion in modern Christianity. I was always taught that Jesus is a manifestation of God that He sent to earth to redeem us of our sins. Jesus is the son of God, but not God Himself. I guess I didn't realize that there was such a powerful disagreement over this in the early years of the church.

pg. 185: "Persecution does not always make its victims compassionate."

Ben and Josh please read this all the way through before coming to a conclusion. (Just a bit of a warning I guess ;))
This line definitely seems aimed at the entire religious establishment. It can also add to our conversation about the Holocaust. Grant the Jewish community may learn about the atrocities of the Holocaust and the many persecutions their community has endured, they may even attempt to live their lives in a struggle to avoid recreating a similar situation. But sometimes actions speak louder than words. Ms. Armstrong obviously has a bit of a grudge against organized religion, but here I think she may have a point. Sometimes the organization of our religion makes the practice of it more difficult. This comment makes that much clearer.