Are the values we hold 'Christian values'?

[happydolphin]

highwaystar101 said:

happydolphin said:

highwaystar101 said:
I think Christian values are the interpretation of the natural behaviour of humans and the conventions of the time and place. If our values were taken directly from the bible we would look down on people for things like emancipation and divorce, which in many cases serves a real purpose in modern society.

That's not to say that values aren't taken from Christianity though. A lot of modern society's values are in essence Christian, but I believe the Christian values are in turn based on nature and society's conventions/needs.

In a nutshell, I think Christian values act as a middle-man for human instinct.

@italics. It's a good post, but I disagree with italics. If by Christian values you mean values which are derived by people from Christian doctrine, maybe. But if you're talking about Christian values themselves (per Christian doctrine), Christ is extremely counter-intuitive. See my Jesus Difference post, especially the one where he asks us to bless those who curse us and pray for those who persecute us. That is not secular at all. Secularism (society's conventions and needs) demands justice almost at all times.

Well, ultimately Christian values are down to the interpretation of the reader, so derived by people from Christian doctrine.

As Jesus said, those who have ears to hear, let them listen. Reading the Jesus Difference post I gave, it's hard for one to interpret it incorrectly unless one is clearly blocking their ears and understanding.

Not a suitable argument for me in this case. In other cases interpretation may be a factor, but not in Mat 5.