All paths lead to Father?

Originally posted by Theflyingweldsman
your definition of "good" may be different to mine.

LOL!! The Fly, enjoyed your post.
I have often said that 'Good is simply Evil in colorful robes.'

Give me responsibility any day, over Good.

Loved the pic too.

Originally posted by DanCullen
Karma is heaps like original sin in my opinion.

Do the jews have anything like 'original sin'? Does Hindu?

Karma is a mechanism, not a punishment. It is simple cause and effect, but on a moral tableau. If you take Karma in its bastardized western sense (punishment for wrongs done), then you are right. But in the real sense, the Hindu sense, it is not a punishment, it is the swing of a pendulum.

BTW, there is a way out of the Karmic wheel... Absolute forgiveness.

reply to post by Myrtales Instinct


Do not assume by what I post here, that said post is my stance on a particular topic.

It is very simple, when you are searching for God, truly searching for him, he will reveal himself to you, regardless of what religion you subscribe to. As we are all different not only in appearance but in thought so to will our relationship with the Father vary. It is a personal connection and the way in which we communicate with him is individual, just as we are all unique so to will our experience with him be.
It matters not how one sees him, or how they found him, but that they got there.

PLPL

Originally posted by Akragon

Originally posted by Mads1987
reply to post by Akragon

 

It means what it means. Don't think it needs that much of an interpretation. Be good to others.
But there is also an element of equality in it. That one man is worth just as much as the next, and should be treaded the same.

I hope you have got a point, cause I don't see what it has to do with anything?

Read your previous statement...

That is just to wage for me. You could try forever, but you would never find two people who would always 'hear' the same thing, even if they both truly listened.

I'll give you a while to figure it out...

My previous statement still stands. You could try forever and NEVER find two people who would always hear the same thing, even if they both truly listened.
You should try with some better questions, such as - is it acceptable to kill one person, in order to save two? or even better under what circumstances would it be okay to kill a person?. God clearly says, thou shall not kill. But we know that there are loopholes in the bible, cause people are being killed left and right.

Anyway, you asked me what I thought it ment. Not if I believe it to be true, which I do not. There are no absolutes in this world, so it simply couldn't be.
- and if I actually were to believe in an absolute truth, I would consider all to be my neighbors, and hence treat all as my equals. Not excluding women, homosexuals, non-believers, slaves, animals or any other group that the bible otherwise would say should be beneath me.

You need to try a lot harder if you wan't to convince me.

Originally posted by Mads1987

Originally posted by Akragon

Originally posted by Mads1987
reply to post by Akragon

 

It means what it means. Don't think it needs that much of an interpretation. Be good to others.
But there is also an element of equality in it. That one man is worth just as much as the next, and should be treaded the same.

I hope you have got a point, cause I don't see what it has to do with anything?

Read your previous statement...

That is just to wage for me. You could try forever, but you would never find two people who would always 'hear' the same thing, even if they both truly listened.

I'll give you a while to figure it out...

My previous statement still stands. You could try forever and NEVER find two people who would always hear the same thing, even if they both truly listened.
You should try with some better questions, such as - is it acceptable to kill one person, in order to save two? or even better under what circumstances would it be okay to kill a person?. God clearly says, thou shall not kill. But we know that there are loopholes in the bible, cause people are being killed left and right.

Anyway, you asked me what I thought it ment. Not if I believe it to be true, which I do not. There are no absolutes in this world, so it simply couldn't be.
- and if I actually were to believe in an absolute truth, I would consider all to be my neighbors, and hence treat all as my equals. Not excluding women, homosexuals, non-believers, slaves, animals or any other group that the bible otherwise would say should be beneath me.

You need to try a lot harder if you wan't to convince me.

Maybe that's the problem... Im not trying to convince anyone of anything... that's just not me...

You have your beliefs, stick to them... We all stick to our truths until a greater truth is presented, then what was formerly truth falls away...

Oh... and by the way... You just defined exactly what my point was...

Love your neighbour as yourself means love everyone... Interesting eh

We are two people with different points of view yet we agree...

You're trying so hard to disagree with me that you ended up proving my point...



Good stuff... I'll expand on my reply after work tonight...

I will also let you know, im not a Christian... I only believe in 4 books in the bible...

The rest is mostly useless to me

reply to post by Minori


Why, because you raise your emotions to a point to where you feel the little tingle feeling up and down your neck and back. Isn't that your emotions just releasing endorphin?

reply to post by skorpius


You can call it what you want, I call it grace.
The overwhelming feeling of love and happiness.
Something that takes hold of all your senses, and emotions.
It is more then just a feeling you get, it is unlike any thing I have ever experienced.
And yes I am aware of endorphins, I run daily......ever hear of "runner's high" ?
Totally different from the grace of God, but nice all the same.

"I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me"
Philippians 4:13

Nothing is as powerful as pure and true faith, NOTHING.

PLPL

reply to post by jhill76


I think it depends on your interpretation of God.

If you believe in the Biblical God ---the God of the Hebrews, the Christians, and the Muslims--- then God definitely demands that you worship Him, and only Him. All worship of any force other than YHVH/Jesus is punishable by damnation, and eternal separation from God's presence.

If you approach the concept of God as polytheistic, pantheistic, or from paganism, then it really doesn't matter who your Personal God is, because all of them are facets of the Universe, and the Universe from any angle is still the Universe. Most pagan religions allowed worship of any number of native deities, and, often, even allowed those from foreign cultures to bring their Personal Gods with them. This was how figures like Baal, Anat, and Qadesh ---originally from the Levant--- ended up being worshiped by the Egyptians; or, how Hecate ---originally from Anatolia (modern day Turkey)--- ended up with widespread worship in Southern Europe (Greece, Romania, etc) and America through the Wicca movement.

If you believe God is a reptilian from Zeta Reticuli... well, I haven't got a clue. UFO cults and "ancient alien" theorists confuse the heck out of me. You'll have to ask someone with a bigger tinfoil hat than I whether or not worship of God by any name other than Xenu is acceptable, heh.

If you believe God is energy, or some kind of universal constant which exists on a quantum level, or some-such quantum woo, then I don't think it matters who/what you call God. Energy is not consciousness. So God could not be consciousness either, if God is just a universal energy. Without a consciousness, God would not have a conscience to listen to, or ignore, and therefore God wouldn't care what it was called.

That's my two cents on the issue.

~ Wandering Scribe

Originally posted by jhill76
I have seen a quote posted:
Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu...all paths lead to God.

It seems as this would be correct. As what all these have in common, is teaching self to be better.

If religion teaches said person to be better, would that be what Father would want ultimately? As long as you lived life in a good way, no matter how you did it, religion or not.

But, it seems religion wants to claim sole rights on God. (Jesus is the only way, Allah is the true God, etc.)

Would God really punish a person for being good throughout life?

I noticed that I participated in this thread, but never addressed the OP. The answer is YES. Good works that are done in the name of ourselves are duplicity. If we do something for another person, we are not doing it for God, but for that person. Can we do anything for God to answer 'bread of shame'? No. God requires nothing and can only give. Why, then, is Christ necessary? For God to see us as we must be seen, we must be see by his will. His will is giving and not taking. On our best day, our own righteousness is as filthy rags. We cannot see this fully in ourselves. To bridge the connection between us and the Father, perfection is necessary. We cannot attain perfection here, but only aspire. We are part of a process of involution and Christ is the one we are entangled with. To focus our own hearts to God, we must use the astrolabe of His Son in the process. Apart from that name, our works are in vain. With that name, we are seen by the one blood in many veins. One heart, yet many pathways. I agree that we can reach the head by many paths, but we can never bypass the heart. Christ is the pathway to God and no other junction will overcome the one we must all flow toward.