OT: was christianity the invention of a Troll?

[Darkstone42]

it was Akhenaten (aka Amenhotep IV) who introduced the concept of only one god.
before that, there were about 2,400.

so if there is one... why is it yours instead of Buddha or Vishnu, or even Huitzilopochtli?


/not meaning to troll, but I am genuinely curious. i was raised Roman Catholic, but that always kind of bugged me... why this god and not that one? if catholics are right, does that mean that everyone else (muslims hindis etc) is wrong?

To me, all of those gods, and all of the ancient polytheist gods, represent the same entity. It's just a matter of how you perceive it or what you call it.

The Catholic God is familiar to me (and by the way, how uncreative were we to call our god "God?"), so that's how I practice. But as far as I'm concerned, no one, including atheists and agnostics, is wrong. They just perceive the same entity and the same phenomena differently than I do.

 

[SLY]

To me, all of those gods, and all of the ancient polytheist gods, represent the same entity. It's just a matter of how you perceive it or what you call it.

The Catholic God is familiar to me (and by the way, how uncreative were we to call our god "God?"), so that's how I practice. But as far as I'm concerned, no one, including atheists and agnostics, is wrong. They just perceive the same entity and the same phenomena differently than I do.

Ding ding

 

[dare2be]

Also:

Christians say that Muslims are wrong.
Muslims say that Christians are wrong.

At least they're in agreement.

-----
Logic exercise:

"Noboby is perfect"
"God is perfect"
Therefore, "God is nobody"

 

[filosofy29]

I tend to agree. My God is not an egomaniac or politician.

I agree with this. I am highly spiritual and do believe in a greater "something" that would be similar to what other religions refer to as God, Allah, etc. Even though there are some fatal flaws in his argument, I tend to agree with the the basic ideas laid forth by Saint Thomas Aquinas in one of his arguments for the existence of God (the "design" argument). There are just too many amazing things that happen on a daily basis, happen within a human/animal body, child birth, photosynthesis, the ocean, etc., etc., etc., that make me think this life is more than just a coincidence.

That said, my idea of God is similar to 46's. I view this "God" (for lack of a better term of my belief in this spiritual being) as a being that is all loving and all knowing. I "feel" it in my thoughts and actions when I do something good or when I do something wrong. I feel like God knows whether or not I do my best and try to help out others in need (treat others how you want to be treated so to speak) and I feel like he knows when I did something wrong and feel terrible about it. I don't feel like the "God" I envision would ask that I go to confession and put money in a collection tray.....or even that I show up at a place of worship every certain day of the week or ignore other beliefs. I feel like I have a relationship with my surrounding environment (something breath-taking about hiking to an amazing waterfall in Maui or staring at a serene lake with robust mountains in the background) and that I have a relationship with my fellow human beings and animals too. If I do something to harm or wrong somebody (animal or human), I feel an instant karmic (is Karmic a word??? lol karmaic???) reaction in my gut. I think "God" knows this and will judge me fairly by what I've done in this life. Ironically, after reading about the ideas of both heaven and hell, I don't feel that I deserve to go to either place.

Anyway, these are obviously just my ramblings of a largely incoherent belief.....and quite possibly the ramblings of a future denizen of hell. So take it for what it's worth.

 

[pixburgher66]

it was Akhenaten (aka Amenhotep IV) who introduced the concept of only one god.
before that, there were about 2,400.

so if there is one... why is it yours instead of Buddha or Vishnu, or even Huitzilopochtli?


/not meaning to troll, but I am genuinely curious. i was raised Roman Catholic, but that always kind of bugged me... why this god and not that one? if catholics are right, does that mean that everyone else (muslims hindis etc) is wrong?

Jesus is what separates my religion from the others. Sincerely. There have been many great prophets through many different religions. Only one came back to life. Only one was truly blameless. So, that's who I align my beliefs with. Christianity means Christ follower. I follow Jesus because he separated himself from others who came before him. In Muslim beliefs there is Muhammad, he is their great prophet...but he's no Jesus. I do think that there were distinct similarities between many religions before Jesus' time. Judaism, Islam, etc. There were core similarities. Then Jesus came. And Jesus came for everyone. Not just the Jews. He came for the world.

 

[dare2be]

filosofy, what you describe is empathy. Understanding how your actions or non-actions affect the feelings of others. I really wish more effort was spent in teaching the art of empathy than how to score points for the afterlife.

 

[SLY]

filosofy, what you describe is empathy. Understanding how your actions or non-actions affect the feelings of others. I really wish more effort was spent in teaching the art of empathy than how to score points for the afterlife.

I wonder what my score is?

 

[pixburgher66]

filosofy, what you describe is empathy. Understanding how your actions or non-actions affect the feelings of others. I really wish more effort was spent in teaching the art of empathy than how to score points for the afterlife.

Okay, I said I wasn't going here, but I'm going here. There is no place in the Bible that says your actions will get you into heaven. They won't. Jesus will. However, having a good healthy relationship with God leads to the DESIRE to do good things. This is something that Catholicism created way way back in the way back time machine. Catholicism isn't alone in this however, but they're the biggest partner. If you do good things, if your a good person, that's great...accepting Christ is how you get to heaven. Because no matter how many good things we do, there's sin in there to taint it. A drop of dye into water. The Good News, or the Gospel, is Jesus coming to save us. He was the ultimate sacrifice, the pure lamb, and he took our sins. So, now you need only accept him to have eternal life. Now, this is the part where people say "oh, so you can just go on leading a sinful life, but if you love Jesus, you're good." Well, the difference is, accepting Christ is being born again. It's a new life. Will you sin and mess up? Yeah, welcome to the club. But it's a life striving to be like Christ. It saddens me that the sins of Christians leads to such cynicism in our world...because if people knew Jesus, and not just those who follow him, they'd see why he is the greatest thing to ever grace the earth.

 

[SLY]

Okay, I said I wasn't going here, but I'm going here. There is no place in the Bible that says your actions will get you into heaven. They won't. Jesus will. However, having a good healthy relationship with God leads to the DESIRE to do good things. This is something that Catholicism created way way back in the way back time machine. Catholicism isn't alone in this however, but they're the biggest partner. If you do good things, if your a good person, that's great...accepting Christ is how you get to heaven. Because no matter how many good things we do, there's sin in there to taint it. A drop of dye into water. The Good News, or the Gospel, is Jesus coming to save us. He was the ultimate sacrifice, the pure lamb, and he took our sins. So, now you need only accept him to have eternal life. Now, this is the part where people say "oh, so you can just go on leading a sinful life, but if you love Jesus, you're good." Well, the difference is, accepting Christ is being born again. It's a new life. Will you sin and mess up? Yeah, welcome to the club. But it's a life striving to be like Christ. It saddens me that the sins of Christians leads to such cynicism in our world...because if people knew Jesus, and not just those who follow him, they'd see why he is the greatest thing to ever grace the earth.

Stop copying me.

 

[pixburgher66]

Stop copying me.

Dagnabbit. I'm usually so good with the grammar.

 

[pixburgher66]

By the way, my goal here isn't to convert or throw stuff in your face. Just explaining what I believe Christianity to be. My beliefs are purely Biblical in nature. I try not to subscribe to man made religious traditions (although not all are bad, none are "necessary" to being a Christian).

 

[filosofy29]

By the way, my goal here isn't to convert or throw stuff in your face. Just explaining what I believe Christianity to be. My beliefs are purely Biblical in nature. I try not to subscribe to man made religious traditions (although not all are bad, none are "necessary" to being a Christian).

Everybody here knows that you're a good lady pix. I don't think anybody believes that after 2+ years of posting here, you're NOW trying to convert the masses. We all know that you're just putting in your $.02 just like everybody else.

 

[SLY]

Everybody here knows that you're a good lady pix, I don't think anybody believes that after 2+ years of posting here, you're NOW trying to convert the masses. We all know that you're just putting in your $.02 just like everybody else.

She has a gun to my head as I type.

 

[pixburgher66]

Everybody here knows that you're a good lady pix, I don't think anybody believes that after 2+ years of posting here, you're NOW trying to convert the masses. We all know that you're just putting in your $.02 just like everybody else.

Haha, just clarifying, and thank you sir.

 

[pixburgher66]

She has a gun to my head as I type.

WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT SPEAKING OUT!?!

 

[SLY]

WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT SPEAKING OUT!?!

lol

 

[dare2be]

By the way, my goal here isn't to convert or throw stuff in your face. Just explaining what I believe Christianity to be. My beliefs are purely Biblical in nature. I try not to subscribe to man made religious traditions (although not all are bad, none are "necessary" to being a Christian).

Back atcha, Pix. I also don't want to go there either, but if anyone wants to use the Bible as their guide for their beliefs, or as the literal word of God, then they can't just pick and choose the parts they want and discard the rest. Which is what I have a problem with. People will take literally the stories of Noah and the flood, yet make no mention of the requirements to stone to death homosexuals, people who work on the Sabbath, etc. (Well, some do, dontcha, WBC?) Seems a bit hypocritical to me.

 

[dare2be]

Okay, I said I wasn't going here, but I'm going here. There is no place in the Bible that says your actions will get you into heaven. They won't. Jesus will.

So, the homily that DS was upset about is correct then, right?

 

[Erdber]

Back atcha, Pix. I also don't want to go there either, but if anyone wants to use the Bible as their guide for their beliefs, or as the literal word of God, then they can't just pick and choose the parts they want and discard the rest. Which is what I have a problem with. People will take literally the stories of Noah and the flood, yet make no mention of the requirements to stone to death homosexuals, people who work on the Sabbath, etc. (Well, some do, dontcha, WBC?) Seems a bit hypocritical to me.

Don't forget Jesus death and res. Before this there were strict rules dealing with sin, after His death and res sin has been paid for.

/my .02 worth

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

If there is any narcissism in the God/human relationship, it is not with God.

I agree. I am pointing out that the worship complex would seem to indicate it in the God side, which I find hard to believe.

I also think critical thinking and healthy skepticism are tools provided to us by God.