Originally posted by RemainObsolete
I ask this.....If you were never told about god through the bible, priest, your parents ,etc. would you still believe? and why?
The way I see it is that people are taught to believe in god....it's been that way for many years. Heck back in the day you were killed if you
didn't believe.
(They also killed you if you DID believe during Nero's rule)
So if you never ever heard about god or the jesus you would not believe.
By simply asking a question, I've been labeled and put in a box by several respondents. (This tells a lot more about them then me though) I'm ok
with that. I have chosen to believe in Christ as the Messiah because I've searched. Yes, I was raised a Christian but I rebelled in the early
college years. I was borderline athiest for a while, but I didn't give up searching and I didn't close my heart to the possibility. I have had
several epiphany's(awakenings) in my life that have transformed me to who I am now. God came in when I opened the door.
My beliefs come from many sources, not just the bible. I enjoy researching and studying psychic predictions, hypnotherapy, UFO literature, Crop
Circles, Sacred Geometry, theoretical physics, other religious texts (I haven't read the Quran yet, but I'd like to.) The Divine Romance is an
excellent book by Paramahansa Yogananda (Yogi).
Part of my current search is to discover my purpose in the divine plan. And part of my personal search is to try to see how everything fits together
in the "Big Picture." You can read my Bio if you want a summary of my beliefs.
To address your questions, "If I were never exposed to Christ" I believe that I would be limited to the lower dimensions of existence. I would have
to be reborn into a body that would have that access to Christ and his teachings. Since I believe in reincarnation, I can say I also believe that I
did not receive Christ in my previous lives. If I had I don't believe I'd be here now.
I don't believe in the literal interpretations of Heaven and Hell. The world is not black and white and the spiritual world is also composed of
gradients. To me Hell is the absence of God. Many people are there right now in their current experience, but they choose it through their thoughts,
beliefs and actions. I believe we are separated from God by our beliefs. It is true that we are taught to believe in God and are given guidance to
knowing him. I don't feel this is necessary per say but it is useful. Anthropological studies have found that all people have a relationship to a
higher power (God if you will). Indigenous peoples on remote islands in the South Pacific who have had NO exposure to organized religion displayed a
similar relationship to a higher power and immediately understood the Christ concept.
One of the hardest questions that I've wrestled with is this one: (Colonel, I'd like to here your answer to this one.)
Premise 1: God by definition is Perfect and Just.
Premise 2: If Jesus is the ONLY path to God, anyone who was unfortunate enough to have been born before he came or never heard the good news of his
grace are doomed to never reach God.
If both of the above are true, then there is a contradiction here. This is one of the main sticking points for many people I know (including my
wife)
I believe reincarnation solves this problem. I'm currently reading a book by a hypnotherapist who has done something no one else has. He hasn't
just tapped into "past lives" but has found a way to have his subjects describe the spiritual world inbetween lives. Remarkably, most of his
subjects describe very similar accounts in their experiences and they correlate very closely with near death and out-of-body experiences many other
people have reported. In fact, this past weekend a new friend of mine picked up the book and didn't put it down until he was done reading it. He
came up to me and said, "This is exactly true." I said, "Oh really? How do you KNOW that?" He said, "This is what happened to me when I
committed suicide." He hasn't filled me in on all of the details yet because he had to leave, but I was quite taken aback. I'm always open to
things but, being analytical by nature but I like to get a reasonable amount of information before making a firm decision. Anyway, I've been reading
the book and it is fascinating. If anyones interested, the name of the book is "Journey of Souls" by Michael Newton, Ph.D.
Anyway, through reincarnation, we are given many opportunities to "Return Home" through Christ's sacrifice. If we choose not to accept this gift,
we just stay here (in the lower dimensions). If we do accept it, by Christ's atonement for our sins (karma) we are pardoned and may become perfect
again with God.
One last thing... I appreciate all the questions, but I'm really interested in hearing people's personal experiences of why they do or do not
believe in Jesus as God's Son. Antichrist (not GWB) posted a well organized post on why he doesn't believe. I accept that that is where you are
Mr. antichrist and if you are comfortable with those beliefs, I'm ok with that. However, if you are not comfortable in those beliefs. If you want
to believe, don't look for proof in thought. Look for proof in experience. If you've ever felt Love then you've gotten a small bit of experience
of God. You can't "prove" Love is real, but you know it when you feel it. This is how it is with the spiritual. Open up your heart and give HIM
a chance. If you truly do with honest intent, you will be surprised.
Note - these are just my opinions and experiences. You can tak'em or leave'em
God's Love to all of you.
~Jammer
