Jack D Ripper wrote: ↑October 4th, 2020, 2:43 pm
The Bible is not consistently in your favor on that (the following are King James Version); these verses say it is what people do that matters:
There is a reason why there has been disagreement among Christians about whether it is faith or works that matter most. So your description of what Christianity is about is not something that all Christians would agree to. Some of them pay attention to the verses quoted above.
Good point. I was oversimplifying. Also, I wasn't referring to the "faith vs. works" debate, but to the notion that God can see into the hearts of men, and judge them by what is there. Isn't there some quote decrying "lust in one's heart"? Hence the notion that the jailed pedophile who WOULD commit crimes if he were free is just as evil as the ACTUAL criminal.
You quoted the negative lines in Matthew 25; the positive ones ("you gave me to drink") seem to imply that righteous non-Christians can be saved. Still, "by their works you shall know them" refers to us puny humans. We have no way other than works of judging other people. God (presumably) sees into our hearts (Just to clarify, I'm not a Christian, or religious at all.)
Suppose there are two people: one is a successful, charismatic politician (we'll call him Adolf); the other an unpopular nerd who lives in his parents basement. Both hate Jews, and would murder 6 million of them, if they could. Who is more evil?
Of course Adolf, because of his charisma, competence and drive, IS able to murder 6 million Jews, and the nerd isn't. But (it seems to me) from the perspective of an all-knowing God, the nerd might be just as evil as Adolf. Do charisma, drive and competence make Adolf MORE evil? Aren't they positive qualities? Is it reasonable to think that the more competent an evil person is, the more evil he is (he certainly would cause more harm)? Of course this assumes "evil" exists. Nietzsche said, "I have destroyed the distinction between good and evil, but not that between good and bad."