229: Is Christianity's Idea of Individual Sin and a Need for the Savior Helpful to Becoming Christlike?

About this episode

Dan Wotherspoon discusses the implications of individual sin in Christianity and contrasts it with Eastern traditions that focus on harmony and balance.

In this monologue episode, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon shares some of his recent thinking about the ways Western Christianity has misinterpreted (or ignored) his actual teachings in such a way that we have the rise of Christian Nationalism, increased Patriarchy, name calling, scapegoating, devastating harm to individuals and families, and the notion that Christians have the right to pass judgment on everything! Dan approaches these issues by first asking if Christianity is right about its views that the primary problem in the world is sin (particularly individual sin), which therefore requires a "Savior" to overcome the effects of it and allow us to be "saved." Dan takes us through a fast survey of other religious traditions that don't see "sin" as the primary problem. Eastern traditions don't talk about it in any depth, naming instead things like people being out of harmony with the Tao, out of balance with one's surroundings, suffering because crave things to go the way we want them to but never will, etc. These traditions produce many adherents who are transformed, who see clearly, act harmoniously, are compassionate, eschew violence, and so forth. We Christians might say they…

People in this episode

Host: Dan Wotherspoon

Topics covered

• Christianity
• individual sin
• Savior
• Christlike
• Eastern traditions
• love
• Christian Nationalism

Keywords

• Christianity
• individual sin
• Savior
• Christlike
• Eastern traditions
• love
• Christian Nationalism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Christian Nationalism, Eastern traditions

Books & works: the two great commandments

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