life help: Can God be found in many places or is the Christian doctrine true? - Help.com

People who don’t believe in Christianity will not think that is true. Many people who do believe in Christianity do think theirs is the best or only way. The same could be said about the belief of every other religion or faith.

I wouldn’t have answered it if I thought it was useless…

-Phantom- wrote:
But I dearly want to hear a response from people so that I can make up my own mind

Well, are you Christian, or are there proselytizers trying to convert you into Christianity, or do you have some special interest in it? In those specific cases you might want to try to understand and believe in Christianity.

Not biased. We are born with the free will to choose whether or not to follow the one who created us. So we each have a choice, yes.

Bias means a hatred towards others that don’t please our own psyche. God never taught us to hate.

-Phantom- wrote:

mindhealer wrote:

-Phantom- wrote:
But I dearly want to hear a response from people so that I can make up my own mind

Well, are you Christian, or are there proselytizers trying to convert you into Christianity, or do you have some special interest in it? In those specific cases you might want to try to understand and believe in Christianity.

I used to be Christian and I still am in a way, but I have heretic ideas creeping up inside my head that whisper, that God can be found in other places too and I wander if I should listen at the peril of losing my own soul

You aren’t losing your own soul. You’re opening your mind.

There are many different conceptions of God. Most of them are not dependent on the historical Jesus narrative. A few examples include deism, pantheism, and panentheism.

Futher, there are different concepts of “the next life” and some are not dependent on a God concept at all.

-Phantom- wrote:
I used to be Christian and I still am in a way, but I have heretic ideas creeping up inside my head that whisper, that God can be found in other places too and I wander if I should listen at the peril of losing my own soul

Oh. This world has many ideas and religions, and it really can be confusing to listen too much to ideas that seem to contradict your own. Religion is very personal, if your own sense of what is best flashes warnings when you get into other things, then maybe you should heed those warnings. But that doesn’t mean that everyone else is necessarily wrong — I mean, you can think that, people do, this is the wars of the world, but you don’t have to believe like that. Just know what is most meaningful and true to you.

We are not destined to know everything. We can read the Bible and trust in what it says or read something else and believe in it. That is what freedom of religion is all about. But not every country has it.

I would rather have God in my heart and be forced to live in tyranny than to not know him and be free.

Cave ab homine unius libri

-Phantom- wrote:

Grim_Hardcastle wrote:
Cave ab homine unius libri

translated to English that means?

That you need to look at more than one book to gain understanding.
Translated it means to beware of the man that only owns one book.

Depends who you ask. There are about 2 billion Christians, 1.5 billion Muslims who do not follow Jesus, 1 billion non-believers who think religion is a crock and a billion Hindus who also do not follow Jesus. Half a billion Buddhists and billions of other people who have their own religions. Basically nobody really knows but don’t tell any of the people that who are fanatical about their beliefs.

If you are really worried about going to hell why not just lead a good life and don’t lie or steal or do anything to hurt other people? If you want you can pray and accept Jesus as your savior but think about it. Jesus just showed up 2,000 years ago. Archeologists think man has been here for 200,000 years. That means all the people that were born for the first 198,000 years before Jesus came along are in hell… does that seem right to you? Would a fair and just God do that? Being a good person will go a long way if there is an afterlife, regardless of what religious doctrine you follow.

-Phantom- wrote:
Maybe I should stick to my own belief whilst yet not be so quick to dismiss the belief of another even though the Book says so. If that makes sense.

If you believe in the book over the people, and the book tells you to quickly dismiss the beliefs of people, then I guess you might try to do that. Easier said than done, though, humans are social beings, our lives are intertwined and interdependent.

I was afraid I’d lose faith if I learned about other religions. I found the opposite to be true. Denying my doubts weakened my faith.

Read as many religous books as you can.
And then compare them to the Bible.
Research as many Prophet leaders as you canl
And then compare the to Jesus.
Then make a choice.

mindhealer wrote:

-Phantom- wrote:
I used to be Christian and I still am in a way, but I have heretic ideas creeping up inside my head that whisper, that God can be found in other places too and I wander if I should listen at the peril of losing my own soul

Oh. This world has many ideas and religions, and it really can be confusing to listen too much to ideas that seem to contradict your own. Religion is very personal, if your own sense of what is best flashes warnings when you get into other things, then maybe you should heed those warnings. But that doesn’t mean that everyone else is necessarily wrong — I mean, you can think that, people do, this is the wars of the world, but you don’t have to believe like that. Just know what is most meaningful and true to you.

This is brilliant advice. Religion is very personal, and only you will know what’s right for you, and what you truly believe. I love learning about different religions, but I could never settle on one, because while I see a lot of truth in them all, none of them ring completely true for me. But I wouldn’t condemn anyone for being religious, no matter which religion they are, as long as they aren’t hurting anyone and aren’t paying lip service.

Studying other religions may help you define your beliefs. You could end up leaving Christianity, or, as with assembly, it could make your faith in God stronger.

-Phantom- wrote:
Can God be found in many places or is the Christian doctrine true?

If you don’t believe is Jesus you’re done for in the next life?

That’s right, if you don’t believe in Jesus Christ then you are done for in the next life. And the reason is because our sin MUST be properly atoned for, and we MUST be born again to be fit for the perfect world of God’s domain (heaven). And this is what Jesus Christ is all about.

There are certain “legal” requirements involved in our acceptance from God - not just any way will suffice. God wants to forgive people, but He has to do it in a certain way in order to avoid perverting justice, which is something God would never do. These matters are beyond human ability to accomplish or to even fully understand. That is why God has to handle the whole process of redemption, and that is what Jesus Christ is all about. Without Christ, there is no hope and no way to enter heaven upon death.

To think that you just waltz into heaven any old way or by any fanciful notion is to simply ignore what the Bible has told us for the last 2,000 years.

God is Omnipresent He is Everywhere

-Phantom- wrote:
So in a way you’re saying it’s a useless question, because everyone is biased?

Yes. Many, if not most, Christians will say that their way is the only way. Non-Christians will say that is not the case. You are going to have to do deeper research than just a poll on the internet.

Read, learn, explore.

When one book is your prison and haven you will never know truth OR lies. You will only know how to be trapped, quarantined, afraid.

I’m technically Catholic, and have gone to Catholic school my entire life. I have a really hard time believing in Catholicism at this point for a ton of reasons that I could ramble on about forever. However, I won’t do that. Like others have said, it’s important to read and learn about a variety of different religions. It was convenient for me, going to a Catholic school, to have a World Religions class that was mandatory for me to take last year. Do some google searches about Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, and the Eastern worldview and see what you find out.

A recent but simple idea I’ve been thinking about recently is that in Catholicism and presumably other Christian sects, they believe that god is all powerful, all loving, and all knowing. However, this idea itself cannot all be true when one thinks about suffering. If god is all loving, then there would not be suffering for humans. The counter to this is that god gives us free will, and therefore man’s choices make us suffer. However, if god were Really all loving, and since he is all powerful, he would be able to stop suffering if he wanted to. That means that he must not be all loving, or not all powerful. Another possibility is that he is all loving and all powerful, but is unaware of the suffering of man. The fact is, that a divine being cannot be all loving, all powerful, and all knowing at once. Hopefully I explained that decently..

Forget the next life. If you ask me I feel that if I didn’t believe in Jesus Christ in this life I would surely be dead. I always believed in God. I prayed a bunch to God all through my life. I always try to do the right thing because I’m aware of the fact, that is needed in order for our world to be a good place. But my testimony is only one of many that have experience Jesus Christ in their lives. I believe this to be true because Jesus saved me and he truly saved me from death. I was given a second chance he took me out of the darkness and brought me back to the light now with his blessings I will never faint again. Jesus is the truth. I love Him very much. I wish everyone could experience what I have then they would have no doubt. The Holy Bible has promised much to me and the promises live on. It is truly the Living Word. I am so blessed because of this.

Can God be found in many places or is the Christian doctrine true?
If you don’t believe is Jesus you’re done for in the next life?

The Christians can believe in anything they like, it’s a free world.
As for Jesus and the next life, I may see you there, however I shall worry about it till it’s time.

Just a thought, have you thought of livening your life now without warring what’s going to happen in the next?

God can be what ever you imagine him to be, just don’t read the bible or you’ll imagine an all powerful, violent, immature, scary dude.

Better to meet nice people, and see the world, and make up a positive ideal and friend to live your life with

no and no

southern_comfort wrote:
Not biased. We are born with the free will to choose whether or not to follow the one who created us. So we each have a choice, yes.

Bias means a hatred towards others that don’t please our own psyche. God never taught us to hate.

That really isn’t what bias means, at all. It means a particular tendency or inclination; or to cause partiality or favoritism in. You are biased towards Christianity because that is your belief. All of your answers swing in favor of your god and Christianity, therefor, you are biased towards the question. The word bias doesn’t at all mean that you hate others who don’t believe what you do.

Also, if you actually read the Bible, there are several instances in which the Christian god very much teaches people to hate.

-Phantom- wrote:
This is an awful battle that goes on in the mind. Is it the devil that is planting seeds of destruction or is it light that leads to the outside, a bigger and more fulfilling world?

There is no “Devil,” except in the mind.

-Phantom- wrote:

mindhealer wrote:

-Phantom- wrote:
I used to be Christian and I still am in a way, but I have heretic ideas creeping up inside my head that whisper, that God can be found in other places too and I wander if I should listen at the peril of losing my own soul

Oh. This world has many ideas and religions, and it really can be confusing to listen too much to ideas that seem to contradict your own. Religion is very personal, if your own sense of what is best flashes warnings when you get into other things, then maybe you should heed those warnings. But that doesn’t mean that everyone else is necessarily wrong — I mean, you can think that, people do, this is the wars of the world, but you don’t have to believe like that. Just know what is most meaningful and true to you.

Maybe I should stick to my own belief whilst yet not be so quick to dismiss the belief of another even though the Book says so. If that makes sense.

“The Book” was written by men.

ReeDeeDee! wrote:
To think that you just waltz into heaven any old way or by any fanciful notion is to simply ignore what the Bible has told us for the last 2,000 years.

On the other hand, the mystics of all stripes say that you can “waltz into heavan” at any moment, right here on Earth.

How are you so certain that he does?

I’d much prefer that there be no afterlife. I’m not terribly interested in ‘living’ for all eternity.

-Phantom- wrote:

☯Minerva☯ wrote:
How are you so certain that he does?

I am not certain.

If you are not certain, but you lean more towards the opinion that he does, what makes you feel the he does? Are you afraid to question because questioning could be the devil at work? Do you think that is true?

This question is tough to answer because the kind of answer you’re looking for depends on what you mean by it. Are you interested in becoming spiritual?

If you are interesting in being a spiritual person, I suspect there is only one way to be sincerely spiritual-you need to have a spiritual experience. If you are interested in Christianity, church or praying is a good place to start. But this is not the only way to have a spiritual experience.

What I would try to do is have a spiritual experience, and try to determine on whether of not there is a god, or what faith to believe in based on that.

Rosabella wrote:

ReeDeeDee! wrote:
To think that you just waltz into heaven any old way or by any fanciful notion is to simply ignore what the Bible has told us for the last 2,000 years.

On the other hand, the mystics of all stripes say that you can “waltz into heavan” at any moment, right here on Earth.

me! me! me! I say that!

… so says The Fish

southern_comfort wrote:
Not biased. We are born with the free will to choose whether or not to follow the one who created us. So we each have a choice, yes.

Bias means a hatred towards others that don’t please our own psyche. God never taught us to hate.

Bias doesn’t = hate. It’s more accurate to say that a bias person favors something, equating it closer to love.

-Phantom- wrote:
I used to be Christian and I still am in a way, but I have heretic ideas creeping up inside my head that whisper, that God can be found in other places too and I wander if I should listen at the peril of losing my own soul

The soul cannot be lost to you, it isn’t yours it’s The Creators. “God” is like the sun and we are like the rays of light that come from it, there is only one source but no two paths back to that source are the same. In short all paths are potentially correct, but only you can say whether a path (or combination of paths) is right for YOU. That is why it has been said you must have a personal relationship with God/Creator/Universe etc. etc. etc. Good luck to you.

Blessed Be
TG

-Phantom- wrote:

☯Minerva☯ wrote:
How are you so certain that he does?

I am not certain.

I am also not so certain that there is such a thing as a soul.

MarlinTheFish wrote:

Rosabella wrote:

ReeDeeDee! wrote:
To think that you just waltz into heaven any old way or by any fanciful notion is to simply ignore what the Bible has told us for the last 2,000 years.

On the other hand, the mystics of all stripes say that you can “waltz into heavan” at any moment, right here on Earth.

me! me! me! I say that!

… so says The Fish

:)

ReeDeeDee! wrote:
To think that you just waltz into heaven any old way or by any fanciful notion is to simply ignore what the Bible has told us for the last 2,000 years.

To take the bible at face value is to accept hate, bigotry, incest, and a variety of other “biblical” sins as the way to get to be one of Gods prophets. To accept a bible with an understanding of biblical history is to accept that a majority of Christian structure not only goes contrary to Christ’s teachings but follows the line of reasoning the Christian Lucifer holds (man can’t make good choices and must have their choices made by another), which has lead me to believe that Religion is the cancer of true spirituality and spiritual growth.

Faith must be tested by truth, otherwise its just fanaticism. To get a better understanding you need to look at and accept (that doesn’t mean agree with) EVERYTHING as Gods creation. After all God is everywhere every-when and to say God didn’t intend something is to say God isn’t perfect. So is God perfect or not?

Rosabella wrote:
“The Book” was written by men.

Not only was it written by men, but it has been edited and changed by different men throughout time. The King James Bible is actually a result of two different versions of the Bible smooshed together for political purposes.

Then there’s all of the translations, considering it wasn’t originally written in English. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew in 500 BC(by the way, the Hebrew Bible wasn’t one book, but an assortment of texts, most written anonymously). Keep in mind that even though the Ten Commandments were said to be given to Moses in approximately 1,400 BC, the Old Testament was written and compiled nearly 1000 years later. We can safely assume through that, that the tale was passed down by word of mouth (if such a thing could have happened anyway) over those 1000 years. If the Bible is to be believed, then we have to believe that over 1000 years that tale remained genuine. How many people have played telephone before with 5 or so people? Try multiple generations. Then, 200 years later, the rest of the Old Testament was written in Greek as well as 14 Apocrypha Books (yes, books written for the Bible that were edited out).

It was then in the 1st century that the New Testament was completed, in Greek, and 500 years later it had been translated into 500 different languages. Keep in mind two things here: 1. they didn’t have the internet back then. They couldn’t just type things into google translator (which, as I am sure you all are aware, has a huge margin of error), they had to depend on human translators, who also do not perfectly translate things, and 2. Every single copy was HANDWRITTEN. Can you imagine handwriting the entire Bible? How many errors would occur in handwriting an entire book and translating it?

From there, 100 years later, partly because of the many errors in translation, and mostly because they didn’t want ordinary people to read it (it would be giving a power to the people and taking it away from the church if they could read it) the Roman Catholic Church banned any further translations and used only a particular Latin text, a language only the most learned and upper class people could read. This way, to learn the Bible and “save their souls”, people would have to go to church and listen to it: putting power directly into the hands of the Roman Catholic Church.

About 400 years later, it was translated for the first time into Anglo-Saxon (The beginning of the English language, the common man’s tongue). Then in 1384, about 400 years after it was translated into Anglo-Saxon, the very first complete Bible (containing all 80 books) was handwritten, as up to then it had been composed of separate books. 100 years later, the first printing press was developed, allowing for the Bible to finally be mass produced with some consistency.

Then Martin Luther’s (a man who started the Protestant reformation and who protested the Catholic Church’s claim that God’s favor could be bought with money) German New Testament was written. With his translation, in the German vernacular, it became one of the most influential Bible translations.

I’ve written quite a lot at this point, so I’m going to go ahead and skip to the King James Version (although I greatly suggest that everyone do their own research on this). The one most commonly referred to. James gave the translators instructions intended to guarantee that the new version would conform to the ecclesiology and reflect the episcopal structure of the Church of England and its belief in an ordained clergy. This version wasn’t about translation of the original, it was about conforming to a sort of religious politics.

I don’t believe in the Bible. But what about you? I have heard people say that even though the Bible was written by men, their hands were guided by God… were all the translators and editors and politicians and church swindlers all guided by God as well? All you have to do to get my point is to punch in a verse number into google, and you’ll find about 20 different English translations alone.

Anonymous wrote:
This question is tough to answer because the kind of answer you’re looking for depends on what you mean by it. Are you interested in becoming spiritual?

If you are interesting in being a spiritual person, I suspect there is only one way to be sincerely spiritual-you need to have a spiritual experience. If you are interested in Christianity, church or praying is a good place to start. But this is not the only way to have a spiritual experience.

What I would try to do is have a spiritual experience, and try to determine on whether of not there is a god, or what faith to believe in based on that.

the problem with this is that you can’t really try to have a spiritual experience.

… are you thinking what I’m thinking… cha-ching!

introducing… the worlds first ever drive-through spiritual experience dispensary, with a menu serving all your major religions… and it’s open till 3am!

MarlinTheFish wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This question is tough to answer because the kind of answer you’re looking for depends on what you mean by it. Are you interested in becoming spiritual?

If you are interesting in being a spiritual person, I suspect there is only one way to be sincerely spiritual-you need to have a spiritual experience. If you are interested in Christianity, church or praying is a good place to start. But this is not the only way to have a spiritual experience.

What I would try to do is have a spiritual experience, and try to determine on whether of not there is a god, or what faith to believe in based on that.

the problem with this is that you can’t really try to have a spiritual experience.

… are you thinking what I’m thinking… cha-ching!

introducing… the worlds first ever drive-through spiritual experience dispensary, with a menu serving all your major religions… and it’s open till 3am!

That’s not completely true. Many people can often try to have and succeed in having a spiritual experience through meditation.

MarlinTheFish wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This question is tough to answer because the kind of answer you’re looking for depends on what you mean by it. Are you interested in becoming spiritual?

If you are interesting in being a spiritual person, I suspect there is only one way to be sincerely spiritual-you need to have a spiritual experience. If you are interested in Christianity, church or praying is a good place to start. But this is not the only way to have a spiritual experience.

What I would try to do is have a spiritual experience, and try to determine on whether of not there is a god, or what faith to believe in based on that.

the problem with this is that you can’t really try to have a spiritual experience.

… are you thinking what I’m thinking… cha-ching!

introducing… the worlds first ever drive-through spiritual experience dispensary, with a menu serving all your major religions… and it’s open till 3am!

I think its true you can’t commercialize spiritual experiences-that would be silly :)
But its possible to go out and find it. On a beautiful day, the wind was blowing just right-I sat down on a bench and basked in it-I feel like that was a spiritual experience. To me anyway. Maybe my standards for spirituality are low…

Lady Logical wrote:

MarlinTheFish wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This question is tough to answer because the kind of answer you’re looking for depends on what you mean by it. Are you interested in becoming spiritual?

If you are interesting in being a spiritual person, I suspect there is only one way to be sincerely spiritual-you need to have a spiritual experience. If you are interested in Christianity, church or praying is a good place to start. But this is not the only way to have a spiritual experience.

What I would try to do is have a spiritual experience, and try to determine on whether of not there is a god, or what faith to believe in based on that.

the problem with this is that you can’t really try to have a spiritual experience.

… are you thinking what I’m thinking… cha-ching!

introducing… the worlds first ever drive-through spiritual experience dispensary, with a menu serving all your major religions… and it’s open till 3am!

That’s not completely true. Many people can often try to have and succeed in having a spiritual experience through meditation.

lol. well, that’s my weapon of choice, but trying to have a SE and actually having one are two different things. so how many years will it take you? how hard will you have to try? will you ever get there at this rate? and better yet, but how shall we define and measure spiritual experience? how do we weed out the real from the fake?

Anonymous wrote:
I think its true you can’t commercialize spiritual experiences-that would be silly :)
But its possible to go out and find it. On a beautiful day, the wind was blowing just right-I sat down on a bench and basked in it-I feel like that was a spiritual experience. To me anyway. Maybe my standards for spirituality are low…

Not by Buddhist or Native American (as well as a slew of others) standards. I would say your right on track.

Anonymous wrote:
Maybe my standards for spirituality are low…

lol! then you shall always be amazed!

:)

Spiritualists make spiritual experiences an essential part of the religion, like everything may have been in primitive times, full of spirits and superstitions and supernatural… mainstream Christianity is far more agnostic, relying on tradition and authority of leaders and books.

Better not to be an “ist” then. Or an “ian.”

timmothygreyhouse77 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I think its true you can’t commercialize spiritual experiences-that would be silly :)
But its possible to go out and find it. On a beautiful day, the wind was blowing just right-I sat down on a bench and basked in it-I feel like that was a spiritual experience. To me anyway. Maybe my standards for spirituality are low…

Not by Buddhist or Native American (as well as a slew of others) standards. I would say you’re right on track.

me too

Rosabella wrote:
Better not to be an “ist” then. Or an “ian.”

Why’s that?

mindhealer wrote:

Rosabella wrote:
Better not to be an “ist” then. Or an “ian.”

Why’s that?

Do the “ist” and “ian” include more than just the obvious spiritualist and christian?

timmothygreyhouse77 wrote:

mindhealer wrote:

Rosabella wrote:
Better not to be an “ist” then. Or an “ian.”

Why’s that?

Do the “ist” and “ian” include more than just the obvious spiritualist and christian?

Sorry, I don’t get it. Those are just generalizations pointing to some trends.

timmothygreyhouse77 wrote:
Faith must be tested by truth, otherwise its just fanaticism.

Wrong, because as soon as you test faith with anything, and make some determination about faith, then it’s not faith! Faith cannot be tested, just by it’s very nature!

And if faith can’t be tested, then that does not make it fanaticism. It’s obvious that you don’t understand what faith is. Faith is something that God has done to a person - God gave faith to me. God is my creator, and He can cause me to believe anything He wants. He can cause me to believe there is a 12 foot tall purple chocolate moose on the far side of the moon and I would believe it with all my heart, even without any evidence, because that is what was done to me. That is what faith is. God caused me to know the unseen reality of Jesus Christ and redemption and the way to eternal life. I can’t prove it to you, and I don’t expect you to just take my word for it (at least if you are logical), but all I can do is state it. Faith is not fanaticism if God is the cause, and He is, which apparently you aren’t aware of.

timmothygreyhouse77 wrote:
To get a better understanding you need to look at and accept (that doesn’t mean agree with) EVERYTHING as Gods creation. After all God is everywhere every-when and to say God didn’t intend something is to say God isn’t perfect. So is God perfect or not?

Of course God is perfect. God created EVERYTHING, and as the Bible says, “not one sparrow falls to the ground apart from the Father’s will. So every baby that was ever burned alive in Pagan sacrifices, every child that was molested and every other thing in the world that happened is and was under God’s sovereign and complete control.

And yes, God is a perfect being, glorious and perfect in love. So what’s your point?

mindhealer wrote:

Rosabella wrote:
Better not to be an “ist” then. Or an “ian.”

Why’s that?

mindhealer said “Spiritualists make spiritual experiences an essential part of the religion.” I think/feel that Religion is a combination of codified “experience” (sort of impossible to do, since experience is right now, and not “words” or thought). So, better not to be an “ist” - well, at least that “ist,” to answer timmothygreyhouse.

He also says “mainstream Christianity is far more agnostic, relying on tradition and authority of leaders and books.”

I’d rather go for “experience”

Rosabella wrote:
mindhealer said “Spiritualists make spiritual experiences an essential part of the religion.” I think/feel that Religion is a combination of codified “experience” (sort of impossible to do, since experience is right now, and not “words” or thought).

(Here, I meant to say “Religion is a combination of codified ‘experience’ ” and … and something else. Only I forgot what else, and then I drifted off, and now it’s too late to go back.)

ReeDeeDee! wrote:

timmothygreyhouse77 wrote:
Faith must be tested by truth, otherwise its just fanaticism.

Wrong, because as soon as you test faith with anything, and make some determination about faith, then it’s not faith! Faith cannot be tested, just by it’s very nature!

And if faith can’t be tested, then that does not make it fanaticism. It’s obvious that you don’t understand what faith is. Faith is something that God has done to a person - God gave faith to me. God is my creator, and He can cause me to believe anything He wants. He can cause me to believe there is a 12 foot tall purple chocolate moose on the far side of the moon and I would believe it with all my heart, even without any evidence, because that is what was done to me. That is what faith is. God caused me to know the unseen reality of Jesus Christ and redemption and the way to eternal life. I can’t prove it to you, and I don’t expect you to just take my word for it (at least if you are logical), but all I can do is state it. Faith is not fanaticism if God is the cause, and He is, which apparently you aren’t aware of.

The problem with your reasoning is it is circular. It is its own answer, and that’s not an answer at all. Yes you DO need to test faith as apparently you are not as versed in the bible as you claim. God doesn’t make you do anything, you must take responsibility for yourself and your own actions, thoughts, and feelings. Remember 9/11 was perpetrated with the same reasoning you hold and the bible is a direct descendant of the Koran (or is one of the things used to “wright” the current bible). You are right that once you’ve made a determination its not faith but knowledge and that’s what God wants us to find.

ReeDeeDee! wrote:
So every baby that was ever burned alive in Pagan sacrifices

We won’t mention the innocent men, women, and children murdered by the “christian” banner and how the numbers and reasoning of the children alone killed by the christian people were far heavier in their own definition of “sin” than the Pagans they oppressed. Pagans as a whole being far more accepting of life as the creator made it and more peaceful in general.

So if you want to believe in a purple chocolate moose on the far side of the moon without even testing it be my guest, but that sounds like an excuse to be mentally lazy and a call to ignorance which is a far greater sin in my book than questioning God which He invites us to do in the bible “Ask and ye shall receive” and all that.

After all that I do hope you can find the true happiness you seek.

Blessed Be
TG

I’d rather be a spiritualist if you define it as spiritual and not religious. As soon as you try to make “spiritualist into a religion I’m not so sure…

ReeDeeDee! wrote:
Of course God is perfect.

um. have you read genesis?

http://goodoldneon.wordpress.com/2012…

MarlinTheFish wrote:

ReeDeeDee! wrote:
Of course God is perfect.

um. have you read genesis?

http://goodoldneon.wordpress.com/2012…

Exodus 22:19: “Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.” Also, in Leviticus 18:23: “Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.” Levitius 20:15: “And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.”

I will assume God is perfect and the bible is not, as it is obvious to me that man wrote the bible and man is not perfect.

-Phantom- wrote:

timmothygreyhouse77 wrote:
I will assume God is perfect and the bible is not, as it is obvious to me that man wrote the bible and man is not perfect.

But the big question is, was it all inspired by the Holy Spirit of God? At least for me it’s a big question. One that means the difference between burning forever in a pit of flames or not if you ignore the Bible.

There are many songs inspired by love yet they are all different. In the same way there are many books inspired by the idea of God, however man being man none of them are perfect. Regardless of what any other MAN has told you, you will not burn in hell for asking questions or having doubts. In fact I think you’ll find that the ones that shout this idea the loudest are actually trying to convince themselves.

If you want a true teacher look for someone more Christ-like. They won’t proselytize. They won’t push or condemn. And when they do finally say something it will be spoken soft and gentle, not screamed at the top of their lungs… Keep in mind God wants their to be plenty of variety so we can choose. Ultimately I believe heaven and hell will be the same place, the only difference will be the point of view of the person experiencing it.

I think its safe to say that any idea that makes it impossible to do anything but follow blindly is an invention of man for the purpose of controlling anyone foolish enough to believe them. After all wouldn’t it be a kind of hell if someone got to heaven just to find out that they didn’t need to put themselves through so much torture while alive?

timmothygreyhouse77 wrote:
I’d rather be a spiritualist if you define it as spiritual and not religious. As soon as you try to make “spiritualist into a religion I’m not so sure…

That’s what I was groping for a way to say. :)

-Phantom- wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This question is tough to answer because the kind of answer you’re looking for depends on what you mean by it. Are you interested in becoming spiritual?

If you are interesting in being a spiritual person, I suspect there is only one way to be sincerely spiritual-you need to have a spiritual experience. If you are interested in Christianity, church or praying is a good place to start. But this is not the only way to have a spiritual experience.

What I would try to do is have a spiritual experience, and try to determine on whether of not there is a god, or what faith to believe in based on that.

I’ve had a spiritual experience, but I wonder if one can have an equal spiritual experience in all religions.

This is worth wondering about, but its impossible to say which religions are better at facilitating such an experience. How does one gauge “better” when it comes to that stuff? I think you just have to go on the kind of experience you have.

I think you have to pray and ask God what he thinks you should do. If all else fails stay away from organized religion and do what you believe God would want you to do.

Dr. Ralph wrote:
I think you have to pray and ask God what he thinks you should do. If all else fails stay away from organized religion and do what you believe God would want you to do.

Simply put, I second the motion!

Dr. Ralph wrote:
I think you have to pray and ask God what he thinks you should do. If all else fails stay away from organized religion and do what you believe God would want you to do.

I will agree with this as well because when I started my journey with God it was said to me to forget everything I was taught about God and pretty much listen to what God has to say.

Dr. Ralph wrote:
I think you have to pray and ask God what he thinks you should do. If all else fails stay away from organized religion and do what you believe God would want you to do.

Sounds fair to me.