Jesus Christ, a mental prison guard.

a reply to: Joneselius
The response has shown me that my OP has made you angry, that is irrational anger... That means your solar plexus got a jolt from the truth and your brain went into full defence mode to protect your straw house.

Trust me the house is going to be destroyed by the big bad wolf... He will huff and puff

Nursery rythmes sure have a way with words

Op... You're missing the main part of the Christian walk...

When you give your heart to Jesus, He gives you another one... You are in a real sense: Born Again. You are a different person. That different person Wants to follow everything that Jesus instructs you to do. (Some ppl go overboard and try to impose their things on others... but we are getting off-tangent).

Once you ask Jesus to give you a new heart... and thereby you are trusting Him with it... everything changes.

a reply to: EdisonintheFM

And these lowly gods have nothing to offer except their greed.

Earth gives you a place to live.
Sky gives you air to breathe.
Sun allows plants to make their own food.
Plants give themselves to be eaten.[see note]
I could go on and on, but you should see what they offer.

Typical democrat demigods.

True, none rules the other. They work together to our benefit.
That fable about Sun and North Wind arguing over who is greatest? That is a fable.

[note] It is yet to be determined exactly how willing plants are to give themselves up. It is possible that they are taken against their will. Animals may be greedy and egotistical. On the other hand, invasive species of plants may not be totally benign.

a reply to: Panartisis

Nursery rythmes sure have a way with words

The Christians have their own rhymes and songs.

Sure there is some mixing of metaphors, but still.

I will probably have to start my own thread about closed belief systems.

a reply to: pthena

Those aren't gods. Come on man.

It's 2021, it's time to live in the now, no matter how screwed up it is.

a reply to: Panartisis

Well when you put it that way....

No, I can't. Just cannot do it.

a reply to: EdisonintheFM

I'm all for living in the now.
Here is a short bit about closed belief systems. I was thinking of starting a thread, but I'm too lazy at the moment.

The Christian faith is founded on a definition of God that includes God as being: all-loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful. To be a Christian is to accept this definition of God. These basic assumptions of God (all of the omni’s) undermine any logical discrepancies- they cut the legs out from any argument that either implicitly or explicitly promotes God’s malevolence. If you consider yourself Christian than it is necessary to accept a description of God outlined by Christian theology. This faith and acceptance in God (who God is by definition) is fundamental to the Christian faith.

Christianity, like many other belief systems (both religious or nonreligious) is a closed belief system. It does not lend itself to scientific verification or falsifiability. Its assumptions are metaphysical, and, in so, remain inscrutable.

What is an open belief system? An open belief system operates under a progressive-epistemological worldview. Truth is capable of alteration with the growth of scientific advancement. It is a system of belief capable of not just micro change, but macro, making even fundamental concepts open for alteration, and, in time, replaced with better approximations of the truth. This all comes without any serious damage or instability to the belief system. The held assumptions of an open belief system will always remain open to scrutiny if ever there arises a need to question it. There are no facts that cannot later be contested and overturned with more comprehensive and complete data. Because of this, in an open belief system, there can be no truths with a capital T, that is, the science spirit doesn’t allow or support any absolute, authoritative, or definitive claims to truth. Robert K. Murton explains this point rather succinctly, “Most institutions demand unqualified faith, but the institution of science makes skepticism a virtue.”

Christianity and closed belief systems by drwilder21
It's from a blog. It doesn't seem to have been added to since 2010.

It boils down to what the definition of a god is.
If the definition of gods is:

They are those without whom I would not be alive and aware.
They are the necessary being, without whom I would not exist.

then they most definitely would include Earth, Sky, Ocean, Sun, Plants.

I'm not anti religion, or even anti Christianity for that matter. I am anti-Christian-political-violence though. I took a Sociology class way back in the seventies. Religion of one sort or another is fairly unescapable. It's part of social fabric.

If you would like to look at religion from a Sociology framework, I recommend this Canadian text book: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY – 2ND CANADIAN EDITION: Chapter 15. Religion

a reply to: pthena

Do you understand what you posted, what you quoted?

Science is a closed belief system, and it shouldn't be. Science has constantly changed its opinions, "facts", it has never been the final answer. Science always questions ITSELF....

The Bible is God's Word to man. It never changes, only man's opinions of it.

I'm guessing you one of many that think Christianity and Catholicism are the same. Any person that does automatically exposes the fact they know little to nothing regarding either. Just more parroting of " God's bad, God's not real, Flying Spaghetti Monster ughhhhh", kind of like the MSM parroting that Trump's racist, a failed businessman, yada yada yada.

I've never understood the excitement some show when they parrot, especially when it's obvious they parrot blatant lies.

a reply to: EdisonintheFM

Do you understand what you posted, what you quoted?

Yes. I read it several times. It expresses my views more succinctly than I could have myself. That's why I quoted it. It's my small contribution to not re-inventing the wheel.

it has never been the final answer. Science always questions ITSELF....

That is precisely what makes it open.

The Bible is God's Word to man. It never changes,

That is a closed system statement.

I'm guessing you one of many that think Christianity and Catholicism are the same.

No.
Below is my modified version of the Apostles Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his Son, our Lord.
Born of Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.

Pthenas 3rd edition of July 12, 2021. An interpretation of Christian belief. Not representative of the personal belief of the author or editor thereof.

You will notice that I have made minor deletions from the official creed, so as to make it universally acceptable to all Bible reading Christians. Even the staunch anti-creedal denominations and sects would be hard pressed to find fault with it, since each statement can be backed up by Bible verses.

It would have to be a very far out pseudo-Christian cult that would fight against that creed.

That creed is a closed system.

The RCC is closed in another way, by using Apostolic Succession and Papal authority to establish a priesthood which alone can dispense certain of the graces of God.

The Mormons follow suit by claiming their priesthood alone may perform true baptism.

Some denominations and sects of Christians pick certain doctrines beyond those listed in the creed as essential for salvation, hence making of themselves the one and only venue of truth.

So no. It is not merely the RCC that is closed.

Flying Spaghetti Monster

I did a thread on the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The Flying Spaghetti Monster - proof

originally posted by: Panartisis
The ancients created gods and avatars to ignite those attributes within themselves, going to war they instill a war god, to grow food its prayers and rituals to the fertility and nature gods, for love...Well you get the idea.
Then governing powers thought it was too hard to govern the minds with so many able to invoke whatever powers they like, to enhance their autonomy. So they created religions with specific ideals that were easy to control, instill guilt, Compassion and sacrifice, two thousands years later we are at a cross roads of change... And it looks like huge sacrifices will be made to usher in a new age, best awaken those latent powers before you become the sacrificed.

Jesus’s teachings were hijacked by Rome & the Jewish Leaders .
30 days for 1400 plus men to put together hundreds of years of codexes and stories of Man that none of them knew . Yeah the meeting in Nicene was a horn swaggling by Eusibius and Constatine. They did not care what the bible said to a point as long as it was agreed upon in 30 days or what ?
We all know what . Don’t blame Jesus who was & is God just like you for mens desires and power .
Religion is control no doubt , but not Jesus’s words and teachings. The greatest teachings ever handed to man came from the Metatron Jesus & Thoth before him . Jesus’s origin story starts in ancient Egypt .

a reply to: pthena

I'll assume the pasta thread is tongue in cheek.

And you are correct, the Bible being God's word IS a closed statement, nothing to add, nothing to take away. It is what it is.

a reply to: EdisonintheFM

I'll assume the pasta thread is tongue in cheek.

Not completely. There is some back story that I didn't include in the opening anecdote.

The Pastafarians have "talk like a pirate" days. Back in 2012, when the incident occurred, I knew nothing about the religion. But I could do a very convincing "talk like a Christian".

An associate of mine at the time had a live podcast. He invited me to phone in. So I told the story of the pirate balloon as a sort of evidence for the existence of God.

Then this other listener phoned in all sarcastic and laughing "I want to hear more about the pirates?" But I didn't phone back in. For a couple of years the same guy would call almost every week saying, "Hey! What about those pirates?" The host of the show finally just started not allowing that phone number to connect.

It did take a few years for all the dots to connect though. I took it as a sign that maybe there is some legitimacy in all religions. So my fallback is the sociological outlook on religion.

I've been feeling bad for over 24 hours now for throwing cold water on solipsism. But seriously, solipsism has got to be the ultimate closed system. (I think, therefore the Universe) Maybe I just don't understand it.

originally posted by: Panartisis
The ancients created gods and avatars to ignite those attributes within themselves, going to war they instill a war god, to grow food its prayers and rituals to the fertility and nature gods, for love...Well you get the idea.
Then governing powers thought it was too hard to govern the minds with so many able to invoke whatever powers they like, to enhance their autonomy. So they created religions with specific ideals that were easy to control, instill guilt, Compassion and sacrifice, two thousands years later we are at a cross roads of change... And it looks like huge sacrifices will be made to usher in a new age, best awaken those latent powers before you become the sacrificed.

to which latent powers do you refer?

originally posted by: Panartisis
a reply to: Nickn3
I Value truth above all else.

Religions should be used to advance humanity, but it is the opposite you know.

Unless you think it's just your ideal that works.

I mean what's the chances 1 in 8 billion

Because of this post, I would have to say I agree with you a little bit about your topic post. No one knows nor cannot prove where God came from. But, I have always suspected that God must have come from a race of beings that perhaps died out? Got killed? How else would He know what love is? How would He know to create family units if He had never experienced it? Just some off-the-wall thoughts. My main point is this: I do believe "religion" was created to control people. Mainly because the message of the Bible, and specifically the message of Jesus is that salvation and eternal life is simple. Belief like a child.

"Religion" has, and still is, being promoted as something it is not in many cases. Some say good works are required. Some say if you pray 50 times a day it will get you to the almighty. Others say donate money and sit on a pew every weekend. Still others believe it can only be achieved by raising your consciousness to, hopefully, 5D at least. Some say do not listen to music, cut your hair, or wear certain types of clothing to be "in" God's favor. Some say worship cows and lay food on an alter as a sacrifice to the many different gods. It is in this regard that I feel many different religions have been created through the ages in order to manipulate the minds of mankind. And this will continue to occur until the appointed time when all shall be revealed.

All of these reasons (plus a myriad of others) actually help to convince me that God IS real and the Bible IS true. They directly point to the deception by the real enemy from the beginning of time until now and the Bible for calling it out centuries ago. And further, Jesus says in the Bible that salvation is simple: simply believe that He died on the cross, rose again the third day, and is coming back again for His own. It is that simple! A good verse related to this is: "Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved". "religion" wants to make it seem so complicated and dependent upon anything except simple faith.

a reply to: TruthJava


I have had flashes of precognition, science shows that a Human has a biological reaction before things happen, as well as being able to communicate with the subconscious. Some people would call the SC God, because it is all knowing, and when you can get information from this omniscience you know there is much more than meats the eye, now I am a bit different from an average person but not an outlier. They say 20% of the population is highly sensitive, that's me.

The only advice I can give right now is to try and distinguish between you and your subconscious.

I did it by watching for thoughts that pop in from nowhere and then entertain that thought in a two way conversation in your head, you may feel like you are talking to yourself but, there is a difference to be noted when you notice some of those thoughts aren't yours.

It's still early for me, but I know it's there

a reply to: Panartisis

just lets see what you can do by yourself alone in the afterlife without the Christ.
good luck.

a reply to: ThothHermes

Ancient Egypt izit?

I mean I think it goes further back than that, the good old holy trinity. Was that not prevalent in the oldest of religions, it think Egypt has had few, Horus, Isis, Osiris.
The baby, God the old wise man with the beard, the great mother.... 5he story seems to be regurgitated and different archetypes seem to guide the narrative, to me it is all inside you.

My gran before she died, she wasn't very intelligent but gave me the best advice ever, even although it was moan and nothing to do with the meaning I took from it.
Her body all sore she always said to me "David don't get old".

The child is within you, so is the Oldman so is the great mother,.... Embrace them all

a reply to: anti72

Eh!

Jesus will be there, an Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Lucifer, Mary, Diana, Sophia, Pan and all the nymphs... It should be good.

originally posted by: Panartisis
a reply to: anti72

Eh!

Jesus will be there, an Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Lucifer, Mary, Diana, Sophia, Pan and all the nymphs... It should be good.

thats what you are being told.
you will be judged for what you take on as god as anyone else.

For narrow is the gate.

good luck again.

Seems to me all religions come from trying to define what 99% of humans inherently have a sixth sense of...God. Over time, the true meanings and intent for much of it changes and the nature of man doesn't help keep in genuine.

Our restlessness and hunger for answers comes from not having a sense of peace with the universe while here on earth, In my humble opinion, our roles in life are encouraged but not guaranteed. We're given many overleaves of personality, certain family connections, physical and mental capacities that are all designed to push us towards things and experiences with others. Those moments are opportunities to engage and now your free will is put into play.

In reading hundreds of NDEs (Near death experiences), from all walks of the world, it seems the vast majority reach a point of "life review" and it's always centered around how our actions affected others. It's all about relationships apparently. They almost all describe a "line" that once crossed, they cannot return, again the mystery is defended. While in this state, they see themselves in idealized states, they are in their prime and without illness and have a clarity and sense of peace that is immeasurable. On return to their bodies, the limitations are back in place but a renewed sense of purpose for their existence is present, even undefined, just knowing it's there has a life altering affect.

As a Christian, I do believe Jesus is the path to "heaven" and completion of our time here on earth. Maybe some achieve whatever is necessary in a single life, but I suspect most need more, which is outside of Christianity, but firmly inside of spirituality. Jesus chose to have others write about and create the religion he inspired (Peter and Paul argued from day one on what defines a Christian) so don't feel bad if you don't have all the answers, no one does, but maybe you're not supposed to, maybe the act of seeking and interacting with others is more important than we realize.

Questioning is fine if your truly seeking. We just have to realize many aren't interested in the hard truth more than their own "personal truths".