Why would a divine creator make a city with only one road to the center?

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
i honestly can't follow your train of thought.

and in response to the one path question, why would such a loving being damn people for leading a good life without following specific dogmas and doctrines?

There are plenty of excuses not to believe the Bible is true. There are many people, like me, who have read it and studied it and have heard God speak to us. We have a relationship with God and His Spirit lives in us and confirms that it is true.

One way puts everyone on even ground. Money can't buy your way into heaven. Wordly knowledge can't earn it for you. The person disabled and limited is on even ground with the "star player" who can throw TD's and win the Rose Bowl.

One way offers everyone the opportunity, through faith.

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
and in response to the one path question, why would such a loving being damn people for leading a good life without following specific dogmas and doctrines?

would a being rational enough to create the laws of physics and all the other complicated things in the universe make salvation so irrational?

I thought of something else I wanted to say at while I was at work.

No man or woman has seen God in His complete fullness. The standard to be able to be in God's presence is perfection. No person has this. No one is perfect, and since that is the case no one can see God as He truly is.

This is not what God wants. He longs to be with us fully. He wants us to be able to live with Him and see Him and know Him without any restrictions. So mankinds imperfection had to be dealt with and settled. We cannot do this on our own, leading a good life included, because there isn't a ratio to make up for sins. It's not that it takes 4 good deeds to erase 1 sin. Sin is like a stain on us and as such seperates us from God. The sin has to be removed completely, but sin brings death and seperation from God.

Someone who has no sin of their own was needed. That's why Jesus came as God but also as man. Not half and half, but full and full. 100% God and 100% man at the same time. He lived under the law and satisfied it's strict demands for perfection.

Since He passed the test of the law, it became possible for each person's sin/sins to literally be transferred to Him while on the cross. God's justice and wrath against sin was poured out on Jesus. Jesus rose again because His sacrifice was accepted by God the Father. He willingly took our sins and the shame and guilt that go with them and in exchange He gave us His righteousness. By faith in Christ it is a done deal for each individual who is in Christ. We become justified(which means just as if we had never sinned).

Now with this exchange, sin for righteousness, it will be possible, for us to be able to see God as He really is throughout eternity. Nothing no longer stands in the way. The only thing holding it back is the proper moment when God has determined that it will take place.

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul

do you believe that linguistics is some form of witchcraft?

do you believe that you are consciously aware of the effects your subconscious fit into the equasion that equals the sums of your actions and behaviors?

Communication is key.
- Someone

edited to add quote.

[edit on 6-1-2006 by Esoteric Teacher]

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
why is anyone under the impression that there is only one path to god? it seems like a bit of arrogance to think that your way is the divinly ordained way to get to your version of the positive afterlife.

Right. It is. God isn't arrogant--man is.
It's not 'one path to god'--it is 'one religion to god.'

And the thing is, God is not religious--man is.
There is but one 'way' to the Father.

But for every pair of feet, there is a path.

God made us different on purpose, and it wasn't in order to infect us with endless contention.
God is not contentious--man is.

from what i understand of the judeochristian god, it is a very powerful, wise, and all knowing being. someone so wise would realize that there is always one way to every goal, oh wait, that being would have created the universe in which this is true.

Correct. But the 'judechristian god' is not God. There is only one--over all. Religions aside.

God created man.
Man created religion.
Religion creates man's gods.
One is called the 'judeochristian' god.

The one in the bible is God, but God isn't the property of Israel, or Jews, or christians. That's not to say that other gods are not God.
God doesn't play favorites--man does.

God is God, whatever we call Him/Her/The.
God doesn't apply labels as limits--man does.

so if there is more than one way to get achieve everything else, why is there only one path to god?

One way--not one path.
One gate--narrow because only one soul fits through at a time.

That time is our physical death.
If not for someone to 'open the matrix' and be 'the first born of the dead' (the dead--that's us) then no one else could follow.

All it takes is just one soul to make a change.
Just one soul--like a drop of water on the surface of the sea...

[edit on 1/6/2006 by queenannie38]

I bet that if God is real, the faith or lack of it that anyone has in God means nothing to God. A circle with a dot in the middle, humanity being the circle, God, the dot, is an apt analogy I heard. No matter how one believes, if God exists, there is no 'correct' belief. In my mind, atheists are just as acceptable to God than theists. I do imagine that the path to Godliness is a very hard one, and it is easy to get lost. My own life is good evidence of the getting lost part.
It may be impossible to understand, define, or even conceive the nature of God, and therefore futile to posit why God would do anything.

first off, props to guard.

second, so what is the "one way" you speak of queen? i could kind of follow what you said, but i didn't pick up what the meaning of "one way" was.

The only 'way' to get to the other side is to die on this side.

But there is a door. It was opened by Christ--he opened the 'matrix'--and was the 'first born of the dead.' The first one who died on this side to be born on the other.

Now we can follow.

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
why is anyone under the impression that there is only one path to god? it seems like a bit of arrogance to think that your way is the divinly ordained way to get to your version of the positive afterlife.

I detect a bit of mysticism no? Those who have objectified god do not even understand what you're talking about. To them, god is some objective external being out there somewhere, just like you or I.

He sits in some palace with angels bowed down worshipping him and singing endless praises, with Jesus at his right hand, and the holy spirit nebulously floating around in an indeterminate way.

For these, there can be only one path to god because they view god as sort of a super being who has dictated the Bible to people and given a prescription on how to get to heaven.

To these, god is not simply a mystical amalgamation of analogies and intentional contradictions as you likely view it.

spam, you read me like a book. buddhist mysticism, the ultimate disobjectification (not sure if that's a word) of the divine.

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
spam, you read me like a book. buddhist mysticism, the ultimate disobjectification (not sure if that's a word) of the divine.

And/or de-anthropomorphization.

'There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.' Beverly Sills
'Everybody wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.'
'In a world of individuals, comparison is ludicrous.'
'Success is getting up once more than you fall down.'
'We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.' Anais Nin
'If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.' Kathrine Hepburn
'Keep your face to the sunshine, and you will not see the shadows.' Helen Keller
'Love is what makes your soul crawl out of it's hiding place.' Zora Neale Hurston
'Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.' James M. Barrie
'Strangers are just friends I haven't met yet.' Will Rogers
'If you are going through hell... keep going.' Winston Churchill