Jesus is said to have simplified the divine command to: love God and love your neighbour as yourself. In contemporary terms this might translate into something like: have faith and act with compassion.

Faith and belief are necessary in the battle against nihilism. Believing in something is more important than what you believe just as a way of getting through life. Belief can be the initiator of action.

This has to be tempered though to avert what is done in the name of that belief becoming overzealous and misguided. The fundamentalist tendency in believing needs to be restrained. This is done by conducting actions with respect to compassion for their consequences.

These two imperatives are in accordance with the Christian ideal and are as relevant today as a way to life live as they ever were. Question: can they be live up to?