Religious Topics and Questions

[Shooter00]

The only issue I have with this is it seems to be limiting God to one facet of himself. We, ( I include myself in this) have a tendency to say God is love, but then ignore his wrath. He is a Sovereign ruler, but also my Father. We have to plead to him for needs and praise, but the Holy Spirit is one that comes along side of us. He is in Heaven, but lives within you. He is the one true God, but is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Christ himself prayed to his Father, but he was God.

Either Christ was the most magnificent charlatan of all time, or He was who He said He is. He inspired a canon of Scripture that has endured, the world's calendar revolves around his life.

I agree, it's a lot to wrap our jacked up minds around, and I no way intended to come across as limiting God. I believe without a doubt that anything that doesn't make sense concerning God, is just my lack of understanding, lack of wisdom, or it's my pride getting in the way.

I beleive that his justice (concerning wrath) is the same as His grace and mercy. That's not something I can explain, that's just my faith that He is true and just and perfect. I'm not a fire and brimstone preacher, that doesn't demonstrate the love He has for us. But without justice, those who beleive would be wronged, slighted - it wouldn't be "fair."

Everybody forgets that God gets to play the God card! He's perfect, we're not, end of argument! But the rest of the story is that even theough we aren't perfect and we do a lot of horrible things, He loves us and accepts us and has restored us to the way we were orginally created, through Jesus. It's the inheritance of the Father.

 

[gillman7]

No, I'm not talking about universalism. I believe as the bible says, all will be reconciled to Christ one day. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess. There's a special place for believers in the grand plan but that doesn't mean that unbelievers are separated from Christ for all of eternity. The Bible does not say that, anywhere.

1 Timothy 4:10
God is the Savior of all mankind, especially of believers.

I agree wit the KJV here as well. And I believe it is the faith of Christ that is referred to in Ephesians 2:8,9.

Gotcha!! It is real hard to read and type everything in a forum that you could express in person. Thanks for clearing that up!

As far as the Bible being open for interpretation, I beleive so. That's why there are four gospels of the same account, so we can see different perspectives. The rest of the New Testament are all letters, never written with the intention of being "holy scripture." So like in the case of Timothy, he was getting instruction on how to proceed with the boys over at Ephesus. If we take it literally, we can really do some damage. If we understand the time and the place for which it was written, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can start to see why God orchestrated the book in the way He did.

One big part that so may leave out is prayer. If He's out there, and this isn't some big scam, He says He'll answer us if we ask. Too many times we don't like the answer because He convicts us with it and we run back under our rock.

I see the Gospels in line with the personhood of God. Each telling the same event, each focusing on a different part of the accounts. One shows his lineage, etc.

I have to agree on the prayer issue. It is the single most trivialized part of Christian life, and yet, one of the most important. One of the hardest things for me to wrap my mind around is that the Sovereign Creator listens to me, and cares about what I have to say. I can grasp the whole Judgement thing, but thinking of God as the Father amazes me.

I agree, it's a lot to wrap our jacked up minds around, and I no way intended to come across as limiting God. I believe without a doubt that anything that doesn't make sense concerning God, is just my lack of understanding, lack of wisdom, or it's my pride getting in the way.

I beleive that his justice (concerning wrath) is the same as His grace and mercy. That's not something I can explain, that's just my faith that He is true and just and perfect. I'm not a fire and brimstone preacher, that doesn't demonstrate the love He has for us. But without justice, those who beleive would be wronged, slighted - it wouldn't be "fair."

Everybody forgets that God gets to play the God card! He's perfect, we're not, end of argument! But the rest of the story is that even theough we aren't perfect and we do a lot of horrible things, He loves us and accepts us and has restored us to the way we were orginally created, through Jesus. It's the inheritance of the Father.

Well said. We try to understand Him in our limitations. I cannot be Judgemental and Merciful at the same time. I believe as you stated, many times the seeming opposites are simply two sides of the same coin. I didn't mean to suggest that you didn't, I know I struggle with understanding it, and it seems that many get so overwhelmed by one facet of God or the other, they become a One Trick Pony.

 

[bulbboy]

The Gospels were also written focused on different people
Matthew focused on writing to the Jews and the deeply religious of the day
Mark spoke to the Romans (narrative had more action)
Luke was Greek so he spoke to the Greeks (Greeks were known to seek truth - His writings as a doctor focused on details)
John wrote to everyone

 

[Shooter00]

Good video. Martin Zender is great!

Great video, Madd! My favorite part is at 4:40, talking about how we have the best of both worlds. Thanks bro!

 

[MaddSkillz]

Another great video on the subject matter of this thread. I recommend watching this one for sure.

 

[Shooter00]

I see the Gospels in line with the personhood of God. Each telling the same event, each focusing on a different part of the accounts. One shows his lineage, etc.

I have to agree on the prayer issue. It is the single most trivialized part of Christian life, and yet, one of the most important. One of the hardest things for me to wrap my mind around is that the Sovereign Creator listens to me, and cares about what I have to say. I can grasp the whole Judgement thing, but thinking of God as the Father amazes me.



Well said. We try to understand Him in our limitations. I cannot be Judgemental and Merciful at the same time. I believe as you stated, many times the seeming opposites are simply two sides of the same coin. I didn't mean to suggest that you didn't, I know I struggle with understanding it, and it seems that many get so overwhelmed by one facet of God or the other, they become a One Trick Pony.

This is good stuff, albeit hard to keep up while typing. The thing I've learned the most in the last few years in just how much He loves me as a Father. It has totally changed my life, and the more I get "better," the more I need how much better I need to get. I was a hard core drunk for years even though I was "saved." I drank a 1.75L of whiskey every two days or so and popped pain pills like candy at the end. I did other horrible things, but at the worst time in my life, without anyone else around to influence anything, He came to me and fixed those parts of me. In a split second I didn't need the booze anymore. I still keep a stocked bar and don't have any desire to get into it. I've been sober since that day, January 9, 2009. And it's not because I did anything. I beleive that He put a deep desire for Him in me before I was even thought of, and the enemy used everything he had to kill that. He didn't win because my Daddy fought for me, He knows me and knows who I'm going to be.

 

[MaddSkillz]

Great video, Madd! My favorite part is at 4:40, talking about how we have the best of both worlds. Thanks bro!

Yup! He states it well!

 

[inactive]

I'm telling you God is more compassionate then the fundamental teachings would have you to believe. Unbelief was not too big for God. He knows what's best for us even if we don't believe it is. He knows in the end we'll be set straight and all will be reconciled to Him one day.

This is my view on things, honestly. If asked my religion, I state I am Abrahemian. I believe in God, one God, and the Judeo-Christian-Islamic God. I believe that all of man evolved from our origins that we have scientifically tracked back to the Middle East / Northern Africa, and that the Old Testament of the Bible describes this. I believe the moral lessons taught in the Bible, Torah and Koran provide a sound foundation to an honorable life.

I do not believe in the dogmatic ways of worshiping and believing that either of those three faiths prescribe. The existence of the many varied Protestant denominations is enough for me to see that this Platonic categorization of beliefs under labels like "Methodist," "Lutheran," or "Mormon" is inherently flawed. These are Christian, but similar fragmentation is equally prevalent in Judaism and Islam.

I believe that if one lives a virtuous life, with love for our fellow man, humility towards ourselves, and respect for our Creator, we will be "set straight" in the end. I believe good people of all faiths (Eastern, Western, aboriginal New World, etc...) will see salvation. This thread has been very good reading and exposed some of the many questions I have myself, as well as shared many of the same conclusions I have come to on my own. I know to many this may seem like an oversimplification, but (in short) I am strong in my faith, as I believe it, and will live out the choices I make knowing I am doing my best to live as God wants to see it.

 

[Shooter00]

Another great video on the subject matter of this thread. I recommend watching this one for sure.

WOW. I'll be using this, thanks again! It is a lot to take in, but great stuff!

 

[Leemaxx]

So salvation is up to us even though the bible says it's "not of ourselves." C'mon, don't you see the contradiction?

Well, I don't believe "hell" is biblical... The lake of fire is, but not hell.

I haven't read all the posts yet, but I think you are over thinking this. If you were drowning and someone offered a hand to "save" you who do you think is doing the saving? You, saving yourself by taking the hand or the one offering the hand? We cannot save ourselves. God saved us through Jesus Christ. Yes, we can chose to be saved or not, but salvation is something we cannot do on our own. We can take the hand or we can drown.