Bare Minimum

What is love?

Look at your last interaction with another human, in person, online, on the phone, or in your mind. Was it love? You may not be able to define it, but you know if your action, reaction, whatever was love or something else.

Love your enemy, love your neighbor, those sound like instructions, to me, Jesus (and others throughout the ages) attempted to teach us to save ourselves.
 
Sorry, may not be complex, but I don't think theology needs to be.

Welcome one more to the love camp. Big surprise! :D:rolleyes:

Micah 6:8
Luke 10:27
Matthew 5:1-48

I'd put forth that we can define God in variable terms- many ways for us puny humans to talk about the Divine. I see my faith as being more about practice. This practice is pretty clear. Matthew 5 is no big mystery.

I am also of the opinion that love is pretty well defined. Biblically, the Greek lays out the different types of love and makes it clear what is meant once you understand agape. Furthermore, I believe this is written on every person's heart. We know when we are in the presence of a supremely loving person. We know when we are giving someone the gift of love without strings attached. We know when we are forgiving, as opposed to when we are faking it. It's really not difficult at all to discern. In every moment we can ask ourselves: Am I, in this moment, living in a way to heal and not to hurt?

I think that question applies to all living beings, including ourselves. We should give ourselves the same love, kindness, compassion, and forgiveness we give to everyone. Then we will be able to reach out to others from a place of calm and peace, and a place of mutual understanding.

Anyhoo, there's my bare minimum, extrapolated a bit for the sake of clarity.

Love boundlessly, selflessly, and with total abandon in joy.
 
Fine...

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
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There are still elements that beg definition. There is something that causes God to love the world in a way that compels him to send Jesus to save it. Whatever that is has to be defined exactly to get to the "bare minimum." Did "love" cause the need for salvation? Or is there something that comes before, and is therefore more basic to the necessity of Jesus doing his salvation thing?

Chris
 
Let me put it another way. If we define all of these things: God, love, begotten, "son", belief, "perish", and everlasting "life", then perhaps we can boil it all down to a self-explanatory, further irreducible statement. That would be the "bare minimum" in my view.

Chris
 
I believe the core of Jesus' teachings is Matthew 22:37-40:

"Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

Easier said that done, huh?

Unless we have help, in which case God has given us His Spirit. But since His Spirit is Holy, we need new wineskins to hold the new wine. This where Christ as Savior steps in. He is the conduit from which a righteous God can meet with unrighteous Man.
 
China Cat Sunflower said:
Let me put it another way. If we define all of these things: God, love, begotten, "son", belief, "perish", and everlasting "life", then perhaps we can boil it all down to a self-explanatory, further irreducible statement. That would be the "bare minimum" in my view.

Chris
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I would say that we each have our own understanding of these terms, and of the phrase. Everyone is welcome to explore it and find it and discuss it...or not.
 
lunamoth said:
I would say that we each have our own understanding of these terms, and of the phrase. Everyone is welcome to explore it and find it and discuss it...or not.
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Wait, just a minute. If we broke John 3:16 down somewhat in the way I suggested, and defined each term briefly in perhaps a sentence or two, how would the resulting "creed" compare to, say, the Nicaean Creed? Can we improve on that?

Chris
 
I would say, for me, that all you have to do to consider yourself of my faith, is look into it, like it enough to use it as a label to define yourself with, read the texts, and practise some samatha meditation... thats all...
 
Namaste lunamoth,

i'd suggest that the bare minimum is skillful action in my religious paradigm.

metta,

~v
 
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