I read the post by shav about eternity with Christians and laughed and laughed until....I realized what it meant about the message that lots of Christians are sending out into the world...
I am no expert but when I think about Jesus...I think about water becoming wine to keep a celebration going, a picnic on a hillside with plenty for all and lots left over, many suppers with friends and storytellings and an occasional healing or saving. Didn't he hang with whomever (leper, tax collector, prosititute, fishermen, tentmaker) wanted to hang with him? I don't recall him forcing himself or his ideas on anyone. I don't recall judgement or damnation.
Yes, I recall the incident at the temple...so even Jesus could lose his cool...but I don't recall him calling down a rain of hellfire eternal damnation on those people.
Weren't his last words as a man about forgiveness and making sure his Mom would be okay?
Again, I could be wrong but when Jesus left, didn't he say to spread the word but also to tend the poor, feed the hungry, visit the sick and imprisioned? Weren't we told to love one another? Weren't we told to do as he had done?
Obviously, I am a christian of sorts...maybe not a great one by some of what I have read in the forums (actually, not a very good one by my own lights)
I think it may be time to go dancing and have a drink with some friends and share a story or two. Of course, I could be wrong....
Originally posted by Aynatthe closest to true christianity I've seen in these forums. Great post.
I read the post by shav about eternity with Christians and laughed and laughed until....I realized what it meant about the message that lots of Christians are sending out into the world...
I am no expert but when I think about Jesus...I think about water becoming wine to keep a celebration going, a picnic on a hillside with plenty for all and lots left ove ...[text shortened]... ing and have a drink with some friends and share a story or two. Of course, I could be wrong....
Originally posted by frogstompIts the closest to alot of religions.. but then again most share the basic concept of kindness twards others... as mine and the three fold rule.. or the Rede... in one form or another. whoa... is this a thread with no bickering or debating yet.. uh oh.. some one get darfius!!!!
the closest to true christianity I've seen in these forums. Great post.
Originally posted by xxxenophobewhy ? are you looking to to get burned at the stake? lol
Its the closest to alot of religions.. but then again most share the basic concept of kindness twards others... as mine and the three fold rule.. or the Rede... in one form or another. whoa... is this a thread with no bickering or debating yet.. uh oh.. some one get darfius!!!!
Originally posted by Aynat
I think it may be time to go dancing and have a drink with some friends and share a story or two. Of course, I could be wrong....
Jesus = God = Holy Spirit. The same God who destroyed Sodom is the same God that dies on the cross.
With all due respect, don't enter a Spirituality forum if you don't want to hear about Heaven or Hell. RHP has restricted spiritual posts to this forum, so sensitive souls don't have to listen to preachers in the General or Debates forum. Funny, but its the same posters that complained about spiritual posts in the Debating forums that are now familiar posters in the Spirituality forum.
If you want happy news, ask Russ for a Budhist specific forum and someone can post happy messages there. I can guarantee you I won't be posting any Christian propaganda in there 🙂
Sincerely though Aynat, the bitching is getting rather lame. For people that couldn't care less about 'God', seems they really do have some need to re-enforce their views in these forums. Almost as if they're not sure about themselves.
Respect to true atheists, those that accept their beliefs, accept that the overhelming evidence points to no God, and move on with their lives. If I were to lose faith in God, that is certainly where I would go. The rest of ya that can't stop posting here, I recon it's because you're afraid of Hell and you need to reassure yourselves you are not making the biggest mistake of your eternity 😉
Just hope you guys have something else to talk about outside of RHP, because if I heard someone moan about Christianity so often I'd politely ask him to move on. Heck, please someone spend an hour replying to this, and all please rec that post so you can prove this Christian wrong 😉
cheers
PC
Originally posted by pcaspianGets my rec. 😉
Originally posted by Aynat
[b]
I think it may be time to go dancing and have a drink with some friends and share a story or two. Of course, I could be wrong....
Jesus = God = Holy Spirit. The same God who destroyed Sodom is the same God that dies on the cross.
With all due respect, don't enter a Spirituality forum if you don't want to h ...[text shortened]... nd all please rec that post so you can prove this Christian wrong 😉
cheers
PC
[/b]
Originally posted by pcaspianAssuming for the moment that the basic elements of Christianity are true...
Jesus = God = Holy Spirit. The same God who destroyed Sodom is the same God that dies on the cross.
God did not die on the cross. Jesus died on the cross as a man; because he did this as a man, God the father is able to forgive Adam's sin, and no longer condemn all mankind.
When you remove the mystery from the central "truths" of Christianity, rendering complex notions about the infinite God in a manner that is fully comprehensible to a third-grade child, you create lies. Thus, you show yourself to be the offspring of the father of lies.
Assuming for the moment that the basic elements of Christianity are true, many fundamentalist Christians are teaching doctrines so contrary to these truths that they should tremble in fear of eternal damnation. The early American settlers (AKA the Puritans) so trembled, but they never promoted a simplistic distortion of the Trinity, such as that pcaspian put forth above.
Originally posted by pcaspianPC, you don't really believe that buddhists are about 'happy news', do you? To do so ignores the fact that many, many sincere, compassionate buddhist practitioners having a very realistic view of suffering and its causes. They strive to alleviate suffering for human and non-human beings through their practice.
If you want happy news, ask Russ for a Budhist specific forum and someone can post happy messages there. I can guarantee you I won't be posting any Christian propaganda in there 🙂
Maybe I'm just missing the intent of your comment.
Originally posted by WulebgrYour lack of knowledge about what you condemn is appalling. Honestly, this is your eternal soul we're discussing and you just said something completely foreign from the Bible.
Assuming for the moment that the basic elements of Christianity are true...
God did not die on the cross. Jesus died on the cross as a man; because he did this as a man, God the father is able to forgive Adam's sin, and no longer condemn all mankind.
When you remove the mystery from the central "truths" of Christianity, rendering complex notions abo ...[text shortened]... ey never promoted a simplistic distortion of the Trinity, such as that pcaspian put forth above.
Do you know what the term Son of God means? Son of Man? Why do you think the Jews called Jesus a blasphemer? The Jews knew that the Son of Man was God and that God would come to the world as a man to lead them.
The reason they rejected Jesus was because Jesus came the first time to conquer sin. It is only the 2nd time He comes that He will conquer evil.
God = Jesus = Holy Spirit without question.
Originally posted by Darfius
Do you know what the term Son of God means? Son of Man? Why do you think the Jews called Jesus a blasphemer? The Jews knew that the Son of Man was God and that God would come to the world as a man to lead them.
I suppose trying to argue with you that 'Son of God' and 'Son of Man'
were two very different terms which have come to mean the same
thing. But, you'll ask for a link, I'll provide it, and then you will simply
say, 'That's your opinion,' keeping your head in the sand and your
mind closed the whole time anywa.
Here's a question, Darfius:
If God is all-powerful, why did Jesus need to come as man in order to
have our sins we inherited from Adam destroyed? Why couldn't God
have just waved his 'hand' and made it go away, or send a whole new
tablet of commandments or a variety of other things?
The reason they rejected Jesus was because Jesus came the first time to conquer sin. It is only the 2nd time He comes that He will conquer evil.
How do you distinguish between sin and evil? The above statement
is very confused.
Nemesio
If God is all-powerful, why did Jesus need to come as man in order to
have our sins we inherited from Adam destroyed? Why couldn't God
have just waved his 'hand' and made it go away, or send a whole new
tablet of commandments or a variety of other things?
Think of it this way. If your parents had simply "waved it away" everytime you misbehaved, you would grow up to be a crappy person, wouldn't you? But if they disciplined you and gave you rules, you'd be a pretty decent person. That was what God did when He gave the Laws to Moses. It was time for the kids to be disciplined.
When Jesus sacrificed Himself, God was offering us a way to be free from sin forever. But instead of forcing it upon us with "a wave of the hand", it is a choice we must make. Heaven is not a place for obediant servants. It is a place for loving children. If you love God, you'll accept Jesus. If not, you won't. That is why God did what He did.
How do you distinguish between sin and evil? The above statement
is very confused.
Sin is the plague we are all under, not due to Adam, but due to the choices we make to defy God. When Jesus sacrificed His perfect, sinless blood on the cross, He offered a cleansing soap to wash away our sin. That soap conquers all sin, we just have to accept and use it.
Evil are those who have completely abandoned themselves to Satan and to fulfilling their own desires. When Jesus comes again, those who used the soap will be given eternal life and those who languished in the filth will be left to rot in it.