Many paths...one God?

That is very close to my own beliefs. Like you, I can not accept the belief that person, no matter how good he is in life, could be consigned to hell for eternity simply because he doesn't follow a particular path. I don't believe we are consigned to eternity for the act of a single mortal life. I think, maybe, when we die we are returned to the entity that is God, and then spun out again, to exist in another mortal coat. I believe all life contains a spark of God, a soul, and together we form the entity called earth. Or...God's plan for recycling ;) I also believe God has a great sense of humor.

That is Christianity,
where mere proclamation of belief
is supposed to have you freed from that fallacy.

But...can you conceive that despite beliefs and good deeds,
except in outstanding circumstance, prior, or in approaching eternity,
all humanity faces a phase?
 
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That is Christianity,
where mere proclamation of belief
is supposed to have you freed from that fallacy.

But...can you conceive that despite beliefs and good deeds,
except in outstanding circumstance, prior, or in approaching eternity,
all humanity faces a phase?
I'm not sure what you mean by phase?
 
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Only one who proclaimed to be the Messiah defeated death and returned to cement that fact. And was seen by enough people that His legacy has never waned. He proved who He was.
Actually...technically, the story of birth, death, resurrection is a very old one. It is another story common to many religions
 
Religion fascinates me, in part because there are so many common threads in all the faiths. Perhaps we are like the tale of the blind man and tbe elephant, each of us only able to discern a small portion of what is God. For some, we need an intermediary... like a prophet to show us a path. For others, it is a self-paced journey.

Let me propose an opposite conclusion - the commonalities is proof that humans are not blind, and indeed despite seeming insignificance, there's a historic human conversation,
witnessed from the days of the most ancient civilizations. And if not evident enough,
laying in our most 'primal' unconsciousness.

For commonalities...we all know the Golden Rule, and all religions seem to have some version of this. It makes sense, if we followed it, we would be a better society.

But another commonality exists that is interesting: the acquisition of forbidden knowledge.

In some, this is represented by the acquisition of fire (which in actuality was a major turning point in human development. The Greek Promethius defied Zeus and stole fire to give to man. Across the world, a continent away, Coyote, Rabbit and Crow stoke the fire.

For the Abrahamic faiths, it was Eve and the Apple...which you have to admit kind of sucks, forever blaming Woman for Man’s inability to control himself.

In all cases though...there is a punishment for loss of innocence and it usually involves a seperation from the divine even as it separates humanity from his fellow animals.

Food for thought.

Correct me if I'm wrong, I think you're trying to find a common thread, in archetypal motives of human heritage, that has been the subject of many serious scholars. But to understand what is common you have to actually understand what is unique to each, instead of projecting the western version on them.

The idea is very interesting,
unfortunately you base it on common misconceptions.

It indeed sucks that people are taught
to blame women for an apple that didn't exist,
and that Adam was punished for a sin he wasn't.

Or to find out Greeks didn't even see Zeus as 'god' in Prometheus.

I'm not saying this to mock you,
just food for thought.
 
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There can be Hundreds of religions.......Common sense and logic dictates that All could be wrong.........but not all could be true. There can be only 1 truth.

The Holy Bibles teaches Christians there is only one true path that ends in salvation......one must accept and follow the will of God. True religion is not "picked" by the person as if you are going down a lunch buffet to pick and choose what part you like and what part you wish to ignore.

What is God's will? Its revealed in the Holy Scriptures......you either accept or reject that will. But the scriptures are clear with no ambiguity whatsoever when Jesus (God incarnate) said, "......I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." -- John 4:6. Its repeated by the Apostle Peter, "...........Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no name under heaven among men by which we must be saved." -- Acts 4:12

That there is only one way, one path, one truth is again illustrated by the Christ, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction.............." -- Matthew 7:13-14. There is only 1 system of belief established by the God of Creation......no one can by themselves choose their way into heaven.
That's only truer for people who believe the story of Christianity.

Jews and Muslims worship the same god as Christians yet they don't believe Jesus was the messiah.

All religious people claim their their religion is the right one
 
I'm not sure what you mean by phase?
But you can intuitively understand 'approaching infinity'?

A phase figuratively, the King sends you for a job and gives you time, to clean the pipes in his castle, upon finishing, do you feel like showing up to the King right away?

Now, think about eternity,
and what you wouldn't want to be yours in that context.
 
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Jesus said that He would send another, the Holy Spirit, to guide the apostles, who wrote a significant amount of the New Testament. You can rest assured that same Holy Spirit had a heavy hand in what is in the Bible right now. But you scoff and dismiss, saying "don't fit the agenda".

You scoff at weighty things. You might call me "prune lips" for trying to warn you. Okay, so be it.
As I asked before...

judge much? No need to reply. Walk your path or else, right? Sorry. Not sorry. No.
 
This is why discussing religion is so difficult. If you don't have the trolls, you have those that insist they are right in their beliefs or "paths", and you are wrong when you share your own. Which is exactly why I do not go to church. I had enough of thumpers when I was a kid and I damn sure don't need it now either.

It's a good thread, Coyote. Great discussion. Until judgement arrived.

/thread
 
That's only truer for people who believe the story of Christianity.

Jews and Muslims worship the same god as Christians yet they don't believe Jesus was the messiah.

All religious people claim their their religion is the right one

Well no actually
 
This is why discussing religion is so difficult. If you don't have the trolls, you have those that insist they are right in their beliefs or "paths", and you are wrong when you share your own. Which is exactly why I do not go to church. I had enough of thumpers when I was a kid and I damn sure don't need it now either.

It's a good thread, Coyote. Great discussion. Until judgement arrived.

/thread

You're judging the "Thumpers" and even with a name.

I think if you love Jesus the Christ you really love His Word too.

I hope you will come to understand that Gracie. The Word is Life.
 
Christianity is not a path. Christianity says if Jesus is not raised our preaching is in vain and so is your faith. 1 Cor 15:14
I note the Corinthian verse, but we should also assess Jesus' own words: He said, "Follow me" thirteen times, which certainly implies the way. He also said, "I am the way..." Our faith in Jesus is very much a path. He also told us to follow the narrow way, for the broad way leads to destruction.
 
It indeed sucks that people are taught
to blame women for an apple that didn't exist,
and that Adam was punished for a sin he wasn't.
What if we look at the apple as an idiom instead of a piece of fruit. Eve wanted the knowledge of good and evil, and it was woman that led the way in this, that if humans were to be truly like God, we had to know both good and evil--and choose good. It appears man was satisfied with not knowing about good and evil, perhaps just like men today are satisfied with not moving furniture around.
 
Of course they do.

Christians think they have it right but then again there are countless different Christian sects who can't even agree on everything
Jews think they got it right they are the chosen ones after all
Muslims think they got it right

etc
I agree with SweetSue. You said "everyone" and clearly two people in this thread don't agree with the statement.

I believe in the strength and the power of the Holy Spirit. I believe he meets each person where they are and works from there. This includes people of all beliefs and people with no belief.

I doubt SweetSue and I are the only ones who disagree with your stereotype view of people of faith.
 
Religion fascinates me, in part because there are so many common threads in all the faiths. Perhaps we are like the tale of the blind man and tbe elephant, each of us only able to discern a small portion of what is God. For some, we need an intermediary... like a prophet to show us a path. For others, it is a self-paced journey.

For commonalities...we all know the Golden Rule, and all religions seem to have some version of this. It makes sense, if we followed it, we would be a better society.

But another commonality exists that is interesting: the acquisition of forbidden knowledge.

In some, this is represented by the acquisition of fire (which in actuality was a major turning point in human development. The Greek Promethius defied Zeus and stole fire to give to man. Across the world, a continent away, Coyote, Rabbit and Crow stoke the fire.

For the Abrahamic faiths, it was Eve and the Apple...which you have to admit kind of sucks, forever blaming Woman for Man’s inability to control himself.

In all cases though...there is a punishment for loss of innocence and it usually involves a seperation from the divine even as it separates humanity from his fellow animals.

Food for thought.
I don't believe we were punished by God. That account is saying something else.
 
I don't believe we were punished by God.

I don't either. I think it is clear that mankind has free will to choose his/her own destiny. We create our own hell on Earth when we make bad choices; God does not punish us, he merely allows us to fuck it up and requires us to suffer the consequences of our actions. BUT - unlike some religions, I think we get more chances at redemption, I.E., reincarnation.
 

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