You don't know what you're talking about. Someday, soon I hope, maybe you will. Until then, maybe you should be quiet and study. Even more importantly, you should learn to pay attention to reality until "revealing himself to you" actually means something. P.S. If you are not going to respect the Koran, then, please, do not make statements that can so easily be mistaken as ignorant, intolerant, prejudiced and/or hateful. At the very least, please try to respect yourself enough to realize you don't have the authority to dismiss inspiration. Peace and Love
I do know what I am talking about and I am sorry if I came off as arrogant. I am just confident in what I believe but I am willing to examine anything that is set forth. The Koran is not inspired, there is only one book inspired by God and that is the Bible. I know the Bible was inspired by God because it has 100% accuracy in its prophecies and is a flawless book.
In other words you're leaving it up to a group of men who put it to a vote. The Gospel of thomas was recognised as scripture by the early orthodox church and almost made it into the canon. Revelations almost didn't. At the very least you're saying something was scripture (in that it was recognised by the church) for 350 years but then suddenly wasn't.
But there was not a single question or doubt as to the 4 Gospels nor any of the Pauline epistles. So in one way it was a vote (for the few remaining books of the NT) and in another, it wasn't (since most of the NT was accepted without question as being Scripture). Please provide documentation for the "Gospel" of Thomas almost being canonized. This is the first I have heard of it (not the gospel... the near-canonization) and would like to know more.
You didn't read what I wrote: "You didn't miss it, God just didn't reveal it to you. There is a difference. " This was in reference to my belief in God. Through being within God's loving intent for you (all of your experiences, not just the reading of the bible). (You meant word of God).... Faith came to me by experiencing God. I witnessed the actions of God in the world around me. Reading the bible helped explain God to me, a lot like a physics book can clarify the concept of gravity to a child. Some of it. Ok, but you are confused about what it means to personally know Christ. Yeah. When you are older, you will know that you cannot talk to children about the same things as adults- they lack wisdom. I have rebuked you before, about the foolishness of your (and Campbell's) interpretation of the scripture. Your very words are inspired by God and they are not true, they are ignorant.
Karakov, I would agree that faith can come through the world around you. Because through the world man is without excuse of not knowing there is a God (Romans 1:20) However, understand where I was coming from when I say that faith can also come from hearing the word of God... So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). One can get to know Jesus first by accepting Him, then through prayer and through reading the Bible which are His words. What have we interpretated wrong? What I speak comes from straight from the Bible which are trully inspired by God. I cannot predict the future with a 100% accuracy, I am not inspired but the authors of the Bible were. -Karakov, I would say that I agree with you a lot more than most people on these forums. However, you acuse me of wrong interpretation yet I generally agree with most other Christians here on the forums and they agree with me.
Maybe so, but I would love to see you present more depth to your argument. I am not offended, but I do appreciate the apology. Thank you. This is the beginning of wisdom. "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them." Matthew 18:20 If you truly believe Jesus and God are one and the same, then you have to consider and recognize the simple idea that whenever two or more are discussing God, in any time, place, language or culture, then he is present. Around the world, five times a day every day, a billion Muslims stop whatever they're doing at that moment to take one more look at God as expressed in the Koran. Discussions ensue, enlightenment is often realized and God makes his presence known. THAT is inspiration. The Koran IS inspired by God. So is the The Torah, the Talmud, The Gospels, The Bhagavad Gita, The Mahabharat, The Ramayana, The Upanishads, The Dhammapada, The Sutras, and The Tao Te Ching. While we're on the subject, let's put the Dharma Bums, Another Roadside Attraction, The Lord Of The Rings, Cannery Row, Huckleberry Finn, Romeo and Juliet and every other meaningful book onto the shelf of inspired texts. You do not have the authority to do so, but . . . if you confine God to one book, one church, one human being, then you mistakenly identify yourself as God's jailer. Of course, if the Bible is the clearest expression of God you know of, then I wholeheartedly encourage you to read it until you completely understand what it actually is. It is a masterpiece. And it is far more than a collection of prophecies. You must understand this. Every human being has a relationship with the divine, regardless of how, or even if, they realize it. You do not have the authority to judge or desecrate anyone's relationship with God and it is especially unwise to do so in these days when there seems to be so much misunderstanding, poor faith, ill will and violence between so many human beings, all of it based on their ignorance of one another's relationship to God. All you really have to do is encourage the health of everyone's relationships.
You think Jesus is God instead of a creation of (son of) God. Wide is the path that leads to destruction, narrow is the path that leads to life. The reason for this is that there are fewer teachers than students.
Varuna, If there is Devil according to the Bible don't you think that he would try to create other religions that divert and lead people away from the one true religion that the Bible claims to have. Jesus himself said He was the only way. That statement itself shows that religions cannot go hand and hand because they promote other God's. The Bible even spoke against belief in other religions. Also keep in mind quote you took from Matthew is taken from the Bible and was specifically spoken by Jesus. However, I believe Jesus is "the image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15). Therefore when Jesus says "where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them" Jesus is not talking about Buddah or Allah or any other God but Himself. Because again I cannot stress this enough, Jesus said, "I am the way the truth and the life." The Bible is the only religious text that can predict future events-in detail-with a 100% accuracy. And again, religions cannot be one in the same for they contradict each other. Jesus said straight up he is the ONLY way to life and the Bible on countless times warns about not going astray to other religions. The Bible is a gift for us to understand God and its proof of validity is in its prophecies. No other religious text can compare to the Bible and it's prophecies. Again I think Jesus explains it the best: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” -I am willing to look at any idea you give me that suggests that another religion can coincide with the faith of the Bible.
Not exactly true. Not only was there some question as to whether or not to include some of Pauls epistles but there were actually a cpl that weren't included. I'll try to find a link about this and the gospel of T if I have time today.
How about this - every religion has some variation of the golden rule - "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." And I quote: "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye so to them; for this is the law and the prophets." Matthew 7:1 (Christianity) "Do not do to others what you would not like yourself. Then there will be no resentment against you, either in the family or in the state." Analects 12:2 (Confucianism) "Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." Udana-Varga 5,1 (Buddhism) "This is the sum of duty; do naught onto others what you would not have them do unto you." Mahabharata 5,1517 (Hinduism) "No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself." Sunnah (Islam) "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellowman. This is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary." Talmud, Shabbat 3id (Judaism) "Regard your neighbor’s gain as your gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss." Tai Shang Kan Yin P’ien (Taoism) "That nature alone is good which refrains from doing another whatsoever is not good for itself." Dadisten-I-dinik, 94,5 (Zoroastrianism) What this means is simple, every religion teaches you to "love your neighbor as yourself," to identify with humanity, to be responsible for the health and benevolence of all of your relationships. Please, stop ignoring the meaning of what I, and others, have written for you. Peace and Love
Truth is we don't know exactly what went on when the church bigwigs got together and decided on what was to be the officail canon. It does, I have to admit, seem unlikely that thomas was ever up for considerration (I went back to check my source and realised the author was just speculating). Still, going back to my original point, Paul couldn't have been talking about the gospels or any of the NT when he said what he said in II Tim 3:16 so he must have been talking about the OT, being that it was the only scripture extant at the time. The accertion that he was also talking about future "scripture", aside from being speculation, leaves you with the fact that, while rejecting catholisism, christians have still left it up to catholics to decide what is and isn't scripture.
It does not matter if they have a variation of the Golden rule. The fact is, is that ALL have sinned. The Bible states that there is only one name that can wash away sin and He goes by the name of Jesus and few actually find Him. "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" (Matthew 7:13,14). "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
Actually there are alot of people who claim to have "found Jesus", and very few who treat people the way they themselves want to be treated, so I'd say anybody living by the golden rule, no matter where they heard it, are "passing through the narrow gate".
My point is; you quoted a verse that says (in reference to the narrow gate) "only a few find it". There are more than a few people who claim to have "found christ"--they're actually a pretty large % of the world-- while the people who truly live by the golden rule are indeed few.
Many have claimed to found Christ but few have actually made the commitment. And that is what the broad road and narrow gate is all about--trully accepting Christ not the golden rule.
What do you mean by "made the commitment" exactly? And how do you determine that, by whatever standard you're using, there are only a few? And if christ taught the golden rule (as the second most important part of the law) how do you accept him without accepting the golden rule?
-Following Christ is much more than words, but a lifestyle. God knows who loves Him in their heart. People who trully love Him will strive to follow His commands and love Him in their heart. Jesus said, "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." and He also stated, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching." Paul stated, "They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him." If it is a true acceptance of Jesus, one has to sincerely try to follow Christ's teachings. Therefore, if someone was to totally neglect the golden rule, then it would not be a sincere acceptance of Jesus. If one is not loving other people how can one love Jesus?
