Close Menu
    Trending
    • Mamdani, Who Said Israel ‘Not a Place,’ Gets Roasted for Wishing Jewish NYCers ‘Peaceful’ Holiday That’s Definitely About Israel Being a Place
    • ‘The Ultimatum’ Star Blake Robertson Shares Relationship Update
    • US missiles hit Iran as path towards de-escalation uncertain
    • UN rights chief Turk wins second term despite US and Israeli opposition | United Nations News
    • LeBron’s decision might force Jalen Brunson to do the unthinkable
    • 8 Unique Side Hustle Ideas for Summer 2026 and Beyond
    • NHTSA considers new car door safety rules after fatal Tesla crashes
    • PlayStation Network outage resolved after thousands of gamers unable to play
    Benjamin Franklin Institute
    Saturday, July 25
    • Home
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Science
    • Technology
    • Arts & Entertainment
    • International
    Benjamin Franklin Institute
    Home»Opinions»Opinion | How Jesus Altered the World’s Conscience
    Opinions

    Opinion | How Jesus Altered the World’s Conscience

    Team_Benjamin Franklin InstituteBy Team_Benjamin Franklin InstituteApril 3, 2026No Comments3 Mins Read
    Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Copy Link LinkedIn Tumblr Email VKontakte Telegram
    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Copy Link


    What was so transformative about Jesus’ moral message? A lot of my students assume that before Jesus came along, there wasn’t morality in the Greek and Roman worlds. That’s absolutely not right. So I am absolutely not arguing like, Jesus introduced the idea of love into the world, the idea of altruism into the world. What I am arguing is that we today, almost all of us, whether we’re Christian, whether we’re agnostic, atheist, whatever we are, whatever we are in the West, when there’s a disaster that happens, we feel like we ought to do something about it. There’s a hurricane, there’s wildfires, there’s an earthquake, and we feel like we ought to do something. So we might send a check, for example, or we retire and we decide to volunteer in the soup kitchen. We’re helping people we don’t know and we probably never will know, and we may not like when we get to know, if we did get to know them. So why do we help them? That sense that we should help people in need, even if we don’t know them, ultimately derives from the teachings of Jesus. In Greek and Roman moral philosophy at the time, this was not an issue at all. You were not, you were not supposed to be helping people who just because they were in need, but that Jesus — based a large part on his Jewish background, but with some transformations of what he himself knew growing up — is the one who made this part of our conscience. And so that mentality is what led to huge institutional changes in the West, including the invention of public hospitals, orphanages, old people’s homes, private charities dealing with hunger and homelessness, governmental assistance to those who are poor. All of those are Christian innovations you can establish historically. I think it’s pretty obvious that you also want to make a point that’s relevant to our moral and political debates right now. Is that fair? It is. So what would that point — what do you want readers, Christian or otherwise, to take away from this argument that connects to, let’s say, America in the age of Donald Trump? Well, so I don’t get overtly political. I’m not arguing for a particular political position or social agenda position or not. What I am saying is that if people claim to be followers of Jesus, they ought to follow his teachings. And his teachings are quite clear that you should care for people who are not like you, the other. You’re not supposed to bomb them back to Stone Age and you’re not supposed to make them suffer because you don’t like them or you don’t want them among you. You’re supposed to take care of them. But what bothers me is that so many Christians in our world claim to be Christians, claim to be followers of Jesus, and don’t follow his most basic teaching about this.



    Source link

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email Telegram Copy Link

    Related Posts

    Opinions

    Opinion | Trump, the Economy and Work: 10 Gen Z Trump Voters Discuss

    July 16, 2026
    Opinions

    Opinion | Who Will Win the Midterms? Nate Silver and 5 Other Experts Have Thoughts.

    July 13, 2026
    Opinions

    Opinion | Trump and the Democrats: 13 Black Democratic Voters Discuss

    July 8, 2026
    Opinions

    Opinion | 13 George Washington Interpreters on Embodying an Icon

    July 2, 2026
    Opinions

    Opinion | Why Democrats Need a Politics of Joy

    June 23, 2026
    Opinions

    Opinion | The Radical Act of Enjoying This Life

    June 22, 2026
    Editors Picks

    Singapore responds to US probe, says it does not condone forced labour in supply chains

    April 15, 2026

    Is Africa about to see the solar energy boom it needs?

    August 26, 2025

    The ‘2025 leading receiver by team’ quiz

    January 8, 2026

    Don’t Risk Your $2,000 Laptop—Travel With This $324 MacBook Pro Instead

    July 3, 2025

    1 in 3 Entrepreneurs Burn Out — The Ones Who Don’t Do These 4 Things Differently

    July 19, 2026
    About Us
    About Us

    Welcome to Benjamin Franklin Institute, your premier destination for insightful, engaging, and diverse Political News and Opinions.

    The Benjamin Franklin Institute supports free speech, the U.S. Constitution and political candidates and organizations that promote and protect both of these important features of the American Experiment.

    We are passionate about delivering high-quality, accurate, and engaging content that resonates with our readers. Sign up for our text alerts and email newsletter to stay informed.

    Latest Posts

    Mamdani, Who Said Israel ‘Not a Place,’ Gets Roasted for Wishing Jewish NYCers ‘Peaceful’ Holiday That’s Definitely About Israel Being a Place

    July 25, 2026

    ‘The Ultimatum’ Star Blake Robertson Shares Relationship Update

    July 25, 2026

    US missiles hit Iran as path towards de-escalation uncertain

    July 25, 2026

    Subscribe for Updates

    Stay informed by signing up for our free news alerts.

    Paid for by the Benjamin Franklin Institute. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
    • Privacy Policy
    • About us
    • Contact us

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.