Christianity beginning to not make sense.

Originally posted by mikeprodigy
reply to post by jmdewey60

 

Again I thank you for your comments
I find it Holy for in it I find the prophesies of the Anointed Jesus that's all I need to make it Holy.
The rest we are not in agreement. I'm a scholar for one my Professor of theology is another.
I hope this can be put to rest that we just are not in agreement I bless you just the same.

Not sure what your point is, here. There are things that Jesus believed the Jews had right, which apparently were found in certain prophecies within the scriptures that were held by them as being from God. I don't find that as an endorsement from Jesus as the whole of Judaism being correct, otherwise what was the purpose of his coming.
Obviously to me, there was a need for the overthrow of all of it, including the concepts held by them of what the Messiah was and who the Son of Man was, and the role of religion was to be from that day on.
The old religion was the old wine-skin that had to be discarded in place of the new wine-skin to hold the new wine, which is the spiritual religion which was written in a spiritual language, Greek, which was the product of an old mystery religion which just so happened to understand the basic concepts which Jesus wanted to put across, which was freedom and faith and the immortality of the soul, which the antiquated language of the Hebrews was not able to convey.

reply to post by dudeguyman

1. Why is it that God lets half the world starve? Surely this isn't part of his divine plan.

Think of this and other disasters not as his divine plan.
Think of them as divine tests.
And we are failing these tests miserably.
(ie helping others less fortunate).

Originally posted by CitizenNum287119327
reply to post by dudeguyman

 

1. Why is it that God lets half the world starve? Surely this isn't part of his divine plan.

Think of this and other disasters not as his divine plan.
Think of them as divine tests.
And we are failing these tests miserably.
(ie helping others less fortunate).

Ineffability can explain ANYTHING. What 'divine'? What 'tests'? For what purpose?

reply to post by dudeguyman


Keep questioning. Christianity and religion in general stopped making sense to me long, long ago. But one thing I learned is that religion has palpable answers to ALL the questions you may ask, whether it's "Satan" or "God works in mysterious ways" or "It's a test"... there will always be answers forthcoming from whatever religion you're questioning...

Good luck in your search.

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic
That is because real Christianity can not be allowed to exist, by the powers that be, so it is always attacked and from the inside in the form of infiltrators who pretend to be followers but work to subvert it and make it ineffectual. The original teaching of Jesus was a call to arms but not swords of steel but the sword of truth but to be willing to die for the truth as in an actual war which it is but on a spiritual level and fighting for justice. All the blaming of god for the bad things rightfully should be placed on the people who have failed and have accepted a fake version, which is, just believe and then take it easy while waiting for some future mythical event to fix everything for us.

Originally posted by jmdewey60
That is because real Christianity can not be allowed to exist, by the powers that be, so it is always attacked and from the inside in the form of infiltrators who pretend to be followers but work to subvert it and make it ineffectual.

Are you saying that all the 'bad' Christians are infiltrators? Because I don't believe that. I think anyone can be a Real Christian. Real Christianity CAN and does exist, in people's hearts and lives. It's rare, but it's there.

All the blaming of god for the bad things rightfully should be placed on the people who have failed and have accepted a fake version, which is, just believe and then take it easy while waiting for some future mythical event to fix everything for us.

And all the glory given to God should rightfully go to the people? See? That's something that always bugged me about religion. You're not allowed to blame God for the bad things, but he gets all the glory for the good things. If something bad happens in life, it's my fault, but if I do something wonderful, it's because of God.

Bah! I don't buy it. Sorry.

But I do believe in personal responsibility and accountability. So whatever 'bad' happens in my life is because I attracted it, maybe for a lesson I needed or just to learn from my mistakes - or maybe that's just the way things go sometimes. I don't have to seek out the cause or blame someone else, whether real or imagined. By the same token, when something 'good' happens, I am grateful and I celebrate and take credit for creating goodness. All this blaming and crediting other people and beings is not for me.

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic

That just sounds like a really self centered outlook, seeing how there is no one to blame and the world for you is what you create.

Are you saying that all the 'bad' Christians are infiltrators? Because I don't believe that. I think anyone can be a Real Christian. Real Christianity CAN and does exist, in people's hearts and lives. It's rare, but it's there.

Not anyone you know but the people who get into positions of power, just a in how things work today in politics, the same thing happened in religion.

Originally posted by Keeper of Kheb
**The creation of adam and eve is a "Re-creation" event in which an old world or civilization was devastated and God recreated man. There is plenty of evidence in the bible that supports this theory. research the phrase "Tohu" and "Bohu".

Exactly how many times is it thought that this god had to recreate everything? Let's see: He created Angels, 1/3 of them rebelled. Fail.

He created some other world and people before us. He destroyed them all. Fail.

He created Adam and Eve. They fell. Fail.

For some reason he allowed life to continue after the fall, but then decides to destroy everything except for a few animals and 8 people. Fail.

After he returns, he's going to destroy everything with fire. Fail.

How many times does he have to fail before he realizes he's just no good at creating things?

reply to post by dudeguyman


Hi my friend,i am a long time lurker here on ATS,and in search of answers as many...these questions you asked have made me join.
I am asking myself a lot of these same questions,and i think i can contribute with what i have conceived.

The starvation and suffering many of our brothers are experiencing is a test for us,for all of us,for us who have it on a silver plate as much for them who have nothing...the God says so.

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Matthew 5:5

I think that this life is just a blink of an eye,and all the suffering they go through is nothing compared to eternity with our father.
Ask yourself,can you really perceive eternity?


As we go through this life we learn so much,ask yourself:
Can you appreciate the good without the bad?

And there is nothing in the Bible,which is the Holy word of God,that's implying that the earth is 6000 years old....
Look at the evolution as a tool of God....
In our world everything has a pattern,look up Pi,the golden ratio.

But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
7:14

God bless you,and may He help you come to the truth.

reply to post by Keeper of Kheb

**The creation of adam and eve is a "Re-creation" event in which an old world or civilization was devastated and God recreated man. There is plenty of evidence in the bible that supports this theory. research the phrase "Tohu" and "Bohu"

Better results can be had by looking up, "gap theory".
Those two words (tohu and bohu) are just the Hebrew in Genesis for "without form and void" or whatever alternative translation one chooses.
I don't see evidence in support of that in the Bible and if one wants to accept the Bible as having any sort of validity, then you would understand it to mean that what they are describing is their serious account of how the world began.
I personally do not see it as an actual history but as a religious teaching and one designed to specifically counteract competing creation myths from other religions. One such myth being that people were created as a sort of prank by a mischievous lower god.

reply to post by faithplusone

As we go through this life we learn so much,ask yourself:
Can you appreciate the good without the bad?

This sounds like a selfish explanation to me and seems to promote indolence by not facing a course of action laid before you, but a way of having inner reflection concerning ideas about appreciation.

Originally posted by faithplusone
Can you appreciate the good without the bad?

Yes, you can. There is also a neutral point. At one point, I had no children. Now I have four. I appreciate having children over not having children. To me, having children is good. Not knowing what it is like to have children is neutral.

Having an orgasm is good. I can walk around all day and not have one and feel neutral. Then, when I have one, it is something that I can appreciate. There is no "bad" necessary to appreciate it.

What about a first kiss? That can be a good experience. Until you have that, you are only neutral towards it. No "bad" is necessary in order to appreciate the "goodness" of a first kiss.

So, what I'm saying is that "bad" isn't necessary in order to appreciate something "good". You can be at a neutral standpoint and feel the "goodness".

reply to post by Hydroman


I think you don't comprehend the true meaning of the word bad...I was in a world of drugs and violence,and really headed down,some things happened that changed my life drastically,and i learned to appreciate the true wealth,that is love.
And sexual pleasure remark was seriously completely unnecessary.
Think about this for a second,can we all as a whole,i mean the whole world....can we make it better for less fortunate?The answer is yes.
But can few make it on their own?
You have four children,so how much can you contribute?
My guess is little or none,so i think everything has its purpose...even suffering,though it may seem very cruel and tough it can't last very long,but eternity?That is something we can't perceive.

Take care,with love,your brother.

reply to post by faithplusone

But can few make it on their own?

I guess according to your philosophy, Jesus should have just stayed home and minded his own business, since after he died and went to heaven, he could not help the blind and crippled, could he?
So, just sit around and contemplate how you feel, that is the only important thing, right?

reply to post by faithplusone

Happy that you found Love in the middle of everything.
I welcome you and your thoughts on the way of life.

Originally posted by jmdewey60
That just sounds like a really self centered outlook, seeing how there is no one to blame and the world for you is what you create.

Personal responsibility IS self-centered. I prefer to look INSIDE when I have problems, not pray to an entity that may or may not exist. I prefer to take responsibility for that which is in my life. In fact, to me, blaming man for everything bad in life and giving God the glory for everything good in life is like living in a fantasy world. I just can't imagine it. Nor do I want it.

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic
I don't know about blaming "man" as in people in general, as if the existence of people means there has to be an overwhelmingly evil system in place. I mean people sitting around being unhappy about that there does seems to be an evil system in place, but just assuming that the Cosmos made it that way for their personal progress, by having to just sit there and try to be happy about it, seems selfish.

Originally posted by jmdewey60
I mean people sitting around being unhappy about that there does seems to be an evil system in place, but just assuming that the Cosmos made it that way for their personal progress, by having to just sit there and try to be happy about it, seems selfish.

Ok. I don't know where you got ANY of that from my post, but what is written above has NOTHING in common with what I said or what I mean. If you're saying I'm selfish because I take personal responsibility, so be it. You're entitled to your opinion about it, even if you're mistaken.

But have a nice day, anyway.

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic
I'm not saying anything about you, but what it seems to me where this general sort of philosophy is likely to end up at, and I don't think it has anything to with believing in a religion or not because people are free to drift into the religion they choose, whatever fits their way they want to view the world.

reply to post by faithplusone

Not robbing and not killing people is better than robbing and killing people, so you can say that is a plus for humanity by discontinuing such things. So, good one.