Jesus wasn't so "great" as you guys make him out to be.

I don't think Jesus said that.

That's a pretty complicated statement. Being ourselves and trying to be something we're not are not mutually exclusive. Most of us want to be something we're not, and most religions - including Buddhism - encourage people to aspire to some state that they are not already in.

 

Ha ha. We got McDonold's and all's you got is that old welfare burger. Naaner Naaner Neener.

Seriously though. You make a valid point. Christians can be that way. They're young, and full of their new found love of the Lord, and overflowing with their new knowledge, and......well....... STUPID.

Nobody knows what's in a persons heart. Nobody knows who goes and who doesn't. To say "We go, and you don't." Is just a plain stupid, ignorant, compulsive, competitive, Bolshevik, puritanically induced ignorance of what IT ACTUALLY SAYS IN THE BIBLE.

So sure. Some will go and some will not. And it says in the bible that if you do this and that you go to Heaven.

It also says that Jesus will be the judge and that NOBODY ELSE KNOWS WHAT'S IN OUR HEARTS.

So, on behalf of all stupid, unknowing, poorly taught Christians, I apologize for this obviously offensive behavior. If they do it again, send them to my office..


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Are you still trying to defend this lost cause? You stepped in it and now your just trying to clean off your shoe without anyone noticing. Get over it and move on if you just can’t admit your mistakes.

 

So you think the best way for God to get a message to all of mankind is to have it remain untranslated in a language that comparatively few people read and understand, then the majority of mankind will for, some unknown reason learn to read and understand that language, just to see if that book might be God's message for them? And if for some reason, say a lack of language skills, you don't learn that language and find out what God's message is, that's just too bad? You're kidding of course?

 

You have hit on another of my pet peeves. There are glaring mistakes in the translations. I've found that the King James is the closest, but there are still mistakes in translation. Some major and most minor.

There's a book called a Strong's Concordance which contains a complete lexicon of Bible verses and words. With this book you can take any word in any verse in the old or new testament, and go back to the original text. Be it Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, etc... And see for yourself what's what.

This is my right hand when I study. I do this because I'm responsible for my own soul. And because of that, I feel the whole bit is too important for me to leave it up to some fat guy in a pastel suit. Nothing against pastel suits...

The problem is. If someone is interested in making it to Heaven. If a person really makes that choice. Then it's their own responsibility to find these things out for themselves. As I stated earlier. We are responsible for our own souls. The bible is right there for everyone to read. Everybody can have one for free. There are tools for satisfying any of a persons gripes/confusion about the bible as well.

So, if a person is really interested, then they must understand the utmost importance of this issue. And since your soul is no others persons responsibility. Why would a person leave their learning to sumguy...

It's not my soul. Do you really think I, or anybody, could be as proper with your soul as you would? We're just talking about eternal life here. Verses burning in writhing agony for eternity. Why would a person trust their soul to ANYBODY else. It's not like babysitting a dog or something. It's the most important thing a person has.

When we do understand how important this thing is, we end up digging in, and learning all about it intimately. Can't hold a guitar player back, right? Can't keep a historian from having a passion about history, right?

Passion..... That's it. A person has to burn for this information, or they end up asking strangers about it. Way too important for that.

The only place to get the information we personally seek from the Bible is to STUDY it. Then we see how it fits.... YOU/The Person. Everybody has their own Bible suit. It's called your deeds. And it's the only thing we can take into Heaven with us. Through this process we end up understanding how warm it is when we put on our cloak of deeds. And we feel the acceptance of God.


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it really doesn't matter what the guy was or wasn't.
what matters is what he channeled and what chose him to do so.

it also matters that he wasn't the first nor the last to be so chosen.
nor will there ever be a last, even if it might seem that way because
this only happens once every thousand years, give or take a few hundred.

i don't mean to be harsh of offensive nor to sadden anyone,
but i honestly believe it is an error to so obsess on any single one of them

 

You know my analysis of the matter shows, that it is actually not THAT complicated. Let me explain my point.
Your decision over Kur'an/Buddism/Hinduism/... will depend on one important thing, which is NOT in those books. It is in YOUR own heart. What do you expect from a religion?
the answer will be decisive factor as to what you chose for your religion.

Say, you understand it in your heart, that humans can do good, but it takes effort to refrain from doing what your conscience says is bad. And yet you often fall back to this "bad" thing and your conscience keeps telling you over and over, that this won't do... So, suppose, you're tired of this struggle and want your conscience to take it a bit easier. OK! You will find a religion for yourself, which justifies evil inclinations and make more toleration for the wrong you may do. A one, which really takes it easy and tries to show this moral issue to be NOT SO SERIOUS.

Suppose, on the other hand, you really want to keep on doing good and abstain from bad. You believe what your conscience is telling you and want to follow that way. You are pretty sure this is the way to go, just only you are lacking enough spiritual and moral strength. So you will be looking for such religion, that really opens the way to such strength and wisdom.

 

You wouldn't like Islam. Too many external rules. Buddhism is nearly the opposite extreme; especially Zen.

 

Most all these books talk about the same times, the same places, the same wars, the same topography, the same armies and even the same people. Even the eastern religions talk of people, places, things from western reference.

You think, from differing points of view and environment, maybe they're all talking about the same God as well? I do. Because I believe there's only one God.

Whatever brings you closer to God will charge your soul bro. Then the burn begins, and logic combined with sum of that burn and big shake of knowledge gets to simmering in the pot. Out pops the truth.

Whatever tributary of the path, which you are lucky enough to find, that leads to God. Just get on it bro. They all lead to good, if you're a good man. Looking to do good stuff with your life. Then you will find the right stuff. They all converge.

So I say, if it uplifts God, it's good. :cheers2:

PS: That's the path I took. (-:


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There's an argument, and I'm happy enough to be another guy who makes it, that it's preferable to read something in its original language by learning that language than to have someone else translate it into your language for you.

There are of course nuances to that, and I think they're significant too. Good poetry is better in its "native" language. A technical manual is better translated. I believe we've fairly well-established that the Bible falls somewhere between those categories. Personally I think it errs more on the side of the former.

So no, I'm not "kidding of course" at all. The other two Abrahamic religions expect people to read the text as it was written. Christianity doesn't. As a result, there is far more dispute about what the Bible actually says than there is over the Torah or the Koran. So even when there is debate about what the latter books mean, they're at least starting from a more solid position.

 

I'm not even clear on what mistake you think I've made. I pointed out that you were whitewashing your own religion by dismissing any Christian who demonstrates behaviour you find distasteful from the set, while not doing the same courtesy to non-Christians.

You've offered no counter argument, nor even an explanation, and you have yet to explain your rather insipid remarks about me "seeming to" approve of the break-up of families, etc.

 

You're on the the Titanic, the ship is going down, there are instructions on how to save you and your family but you don't know the language it's written in, someone offers to translate but you say; "no thanks, I'll wait until I learn the language for myself, after all I don't want to miss any of the nuances." Well I hope you're a quick study.

 

I see you're "whitewashing" this one.

 

What the fuck?