Question to Christians

If the original meaning is already clear, the problems that have developed with christianity wouldn't have developed.. I was talking about the original texts with my original view, people can find meaning in ANY text if they want to enough.

How do you know your interpretations of God are not the corruption within yourself? Many people attempt asking God and find nothing, how come you can believe you are not creating meaning for yourself, the subconcious is far more powerful than you think.

^

For a religion to grow as strong as Christianity it would take something only short of genocide to remove the original words from passing away.

Nostradamus was one of the most famous 'predictors' of future events but he did nothing but make generalised sentences about events that could fit into MANY contexts. What makes you sure those were Jesuses words? I think man could easily altered texts for their own benefit. Ever played chinese whispers?

You think Christianity will never die? That is the only way his words will never die. I hope you are wrong because it gives man far too much excuse for ignorance and hate.

Jesus was no doubt a very wise man, but he isn't here to revoice his words and without the original father of the words, the words can't ever be used correctly without ignorance of personal desires. I can't see how anyone could be sure of themselves enough to think they are taking any meaning in the intended way.

 

I'm mainly wishing to talk to people who view God as corporeal for their viewpoint on christianity, but I also would like to know the views of others.

I would like to know your personal view on what Jesus's teachings encourage as the idea of God.
Is God a single conciousness who set guidlines for life and judges people based on these guidlines?

 

Let me get back to you on this one I need to do some thinking on it

 

You better bloody get back to me!

 

Lol, Well I can definitly tell you that, in my view, God is of one essence though 3 persons compose and are bound together by that essence.

To me it seems very much like the Father is the person who plays a major role on Earthly affairs in the time before Chrsit according to what I've read in the OT. God was directly incarnated as Jesus for a short period on Earth, and the Holy Spirit is what is left here now to help us through our lives. That is not to say that the other two didn't play any part in the past and won't play any other part in the future, but it seems that one is more prevelant that the others in certain persions. (oh my gosh, I am almost sounding dispensational ).

To me, Jesus' teachings on the nature of God point to a loving and merciful God. I don't like to preoccupy my thoughs on Hell and any final destination in the afterlife, but it seems to me that a loving merciful God cannot condem his children to an eternity of pain and suffering.

Hey, I just had a thought. Is it possible that God's intention with the incarnation of Jesus was to experience suffering and temptation, and through his experience realized that love and mercy for his children is better than the wrath and strict judgement that seems to dominate in the OT. Anywho, that is just a thought I don't know if I will end up thinking this way, but it will definitly give me somehting to mull over during the weekend.

 

[owned]

Yay!

Burby 1, devil worshippers 0!

You keep saying that when those snipers with the thermal camo armour come knocking at your door in a few yea--*ptheww*

[blood]

If God (or the Godhead) is omniscient (all-knowing), shouldn't he already understand/have experienced such suffering and temptation?

Or perhaps should we invent a new word ... omniexperient? (laughs)

Is God omniexperient? Does he have all experiences? Is this a requirement for perfection? (As God is perfect, no?)

 

Lol, that was great

Hmm, you do have a point.

Son of a gun! Hikaru, why'd you have to ruin a good thing.

Although you could argue that even though God is omniscient, it cannot feel like we do. This acctually makes me think if God is still omniscient. I am thinking of the free will paradox where an omniscient God knows what we are goignt o do so we don't REALLY have free will. Could God have given up full omniscience to allow us free will? (this is getting kinda off topic, maybe I should make a new thread)

 

How can God know everything and not know how we feel? I don't believe in free will. Life seems the same whether you believe in free will or not, so I don't get why people want it so badly. Maybe just because God's will to be free is so strong that it permeates everything.

Maybe all of this is like a recording...or even an idea as far as God's concerned. All of the times that are on the recording exist at once on the recording, but they are played in what we experience as a linear fashion. The 'spirit' is all that 'feels' the 'work of art'; even our thoughts are just more information to be felt, but it's all already recorded.

If you've ever worked with a mixer, the comparison could even be made that God can add and remove whatever information God wants, and no one will ever know. God could hit the 'pause' button for a million years, hit it again, and we think reality never stopped. And that's just making a comparison from rudimentary 21st century technology.

 

So if god is now purely merciful, what is encouraging us to not be selfish and hurtful towards others? Both are going to meet the same end.

With respect to free will, I think we all have it but that doesn't mean we can't be predicted, something would just need to know us individually and completely to determin our choices.

 

I never said that god would be purely merciful, I said that mercy woudl be favoured over the wrath and sctrict judgement. Look at the Books of Law, there isn't much leeway room, nd you would have to do specific sacrifices the right way for God to (not to fogive you) but to cover your sins. (If Hikaru didn't ruin my thought so quickly [I am not ruling it out completely yet though]) I would say that now, all you need to do is be penetant for your sins and (perhaps) ask for forgiveness because he mercy of God knows how hard it is to not sin.

 

Ah sorry I misunderstood, that makes more sense. Most sins have a victim, would God see asking him for forgiveness as more important than asking the victim?

I'm now finding it hard to see what now is necessary for practicing Christianity.. the ideas that have been encouraged to me before were prayer, attending church and so on, but now it seems like everyone is practicing it as long as they realise they have sinned :/

 

I practice because I know God loves me/us. Prayer and church are forms of woship (well "church" in and of itself isn't worship, it is a place to worship as well as for a community to form)

In regards to your first question, it seems to me that is you are truly sorry for what you did wouldn't you tell that person(s) you harmed that you are sorry as well?

 

I would only tell the person, I don't see why I should ask any form of God for forgiveness, but then I guess you can say a part of God is in that person. Hmmm.

 

I am not goign to try to convince you of anything different, cause well, it all comes down to different ideas of the universe.

Over a year ago, I might have agreed that God is a part of us, but now I am going to disagree.

 

Why have you changed your mind?

 

Maybe he's in a process of development from ignorance to knowledge. Just sticking always to the first idea one has about a thing is sheer narrowness of mind.

 

Of course... but why did he change his mind?

I don't change my mind without cause for the single reason that I want to avoid being narrow minded, I have reasons behind my views.

 

I do not know Burbot extremely well... but we have been on the forums together for quite sometime. And it is my understanding that he has done quite some research in Bible and in all religions over the past year or so.

 

Yeah something like that. I've been a Christian for about a year give or take a month, but before that I was reading about various religions (and before I became Christian I followed my own little variation on the Bahai philosophy of God and it's manifestations).

One of the things I was flirting with is that our soul is a part of God's spirit, and when we die, our afterlife is our soul merging with God's spirit. Yes, you could be a (very liberal) Christian and still believe this...but I don't. I believe our souls aren't a broken off spirit of God, but something seperate in themselves.

 

Hey, I have a question, how is it I have been here for several months and post in several differant forums, and you have jsut been here for a little while and post exclusively in the Christianity forums and you already have about as many posts as I do? That is amazing... And I thought I posted quite a bit...