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MysticPhD makes a good point here. One must find Christ within and then take that wisdom back to the Bible to begin to understand what he really said (and what he didn't say but is accused of saying). It cannot begin with the Bible or you will block yourself from experiencing Christ.
I was raised Christian, realized it couldn't possibly have all the answers during an incident in my church, and set out to seek what I could hold onto and know in my heart is true.
I found it first within myself but did not trust myself yet to know the answers. Then I saw what I had learned within reflected and expanded upon in the book "Conversations with God" by Neale Donald Walsch. From there, I saw it reflected in Hinduism, in Buddhism, in New Ageism, and in many spiritual traditions as well as in the frontiers of science. Most importantly, I tested the ideas within my real life and found them to prove true. There was no belief involved. Because Christianity had walked in step with Empire and power for so long, it took a long time to find that transcendent wisdom buried in so much greed and lust.
When I did finally cut through it and find Christ, I, like Mystic, recognized that he is the only one I could find of many enlightened masters who has truly walked with all 7 chakras illuminated (which is ultimately very scientific).
So, you can understand why "because the Bible tells me so" responses remind me of a 4th grader trying to teach calculus to a senior. He can merely only recognize numbers and symbols at that point but not know how to interpret them to solve the problem.
MysticPhD makes a good point here. One must find Christ within and then take that wisdom back to the Bible to begin to understand what he really said.....
No one must take the bible literally and using context, Holy Spirit for guidance thru prayer and study guides to interpret scripture. Any other way is dangerous
(Genesis 3:1) 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
What you mean by such statements of intellectual assent is entirely different from what the Bible would have us believe MysticPhD.
You say, for example, that Jesus is the Word of God but rather than following Him and placing your faith in what the Bible says about Him...you follow a Jesus of your own making. A Jesus who does not have any of the characteristics of the Jesus of the Bible (the true Jesus) that you deem to be unloving. Your Jesus is all about "love" and anything that the Jesus of the Bible says which does not line up with your idea of what love is...is rejected.
Jesus is the Word of God . . . not your interpretation of what the bible says. His life and actions speak far louder than your interpretation of what the bible says! You merge the distorted primitive concepts of our ancestors about Jehovah with the Jesus who was tortured and died on the Cross. Jesus came to reveal in the flesh what God is actually like to refute and correct the erroneous impression and vail of mis-understandings created in the OT by savage minds.2 Corinthians 3:14
But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
Jesus came to fulfill the OT and redeem God's pledge to send a messiah. Fulfilling the OT means to complete its message and encompass its purpose in a new truer understanding of God and what is wanted of us. What is wanted is NOT a bunch of lowly pets performing ten obedience tricks to please their Master. The Supreme God of the Universe could not possibly have such a petty goal for us . . . His children.
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You are not open to correction MysticPhD. You are not open to hearing that your Jesus is just a make believe Jesus. And that your Jesus is not the Jesus of the Bible. You are so closed minded about your idea of Jesus that you even twist the words of the Bible and filter them through your own belief system to justify your own belief! All the while claiming to believe what the Bible says!
I am open to intelligent correction, Carlos . . . not mindless drivel from close-minded simplistic literal readers of words whose true spiritual significance escapes them completely.
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You are on extremely shaky ground MysticPhD. I hope you realize that.
My God is pleased with me . . . I am assured of it every day, Carlos. I suspect it is you and your fundy friends who are on the shakiest ground.
I suspect it is you and your fundy friends who are on the shakiest ground.
Mystic,
Can you please share what it is you believe?
I may not have followed your posts as closely as everyone else.
It appears you consider yourself a Christian.....tell me about that.
How is one saved?
How does one come to know God?
What is the way to eternal life?
And on what do you base your opinion/knowledge?
If this is too personal, perhaps a DM? I hope you will say though because if you fly under the same banner of 'Christian' that I do, then I hope we could discuss these things openly.
I'm good either way....just let me know if you don't mind.
Christ is not 'in' us prior to salvation.(Being 'indwelt' with the Hopy Spirit)
We (Christians, that is) are 'in' Christ.
There is a work going on within us to be more Christ-like...but God is a 'real', 'external' entity that we have a relationship with.
We are 'reborn' into the Kingdom of God through faith in Christ and the Holy Spirit's working.
There's nothing biblical about extra-biblical salvation.
And surely we can all agree on that, right?
Yes, we can agree that there is little Biblical about extra-biblical salvation.
That certainly doesn't mean biblical salvation is superior to extra-biblical. In fact, it is a far less evolved experience in Christ.
You assertion that God is "external" is incorrect. When you understand that God exists throughout all life like a Force, you begin to understand how to harness his power within. You have to experience it to know what I'm talking about. It's quite profound. That's when you start to deconstruct the mythology that God is "out there" and begin to experience firsthand that God is within.
We are collectively doing that as a global society. Thus, why so many literalists feel threatened by it.
Yes, we can agree that there is little Biblical about extra-biblical salvation.
That certainly doesn't mean biblical salvation is superior to extra-biblical. In fact, it is a far less evolved experience in Christ.
You assertion that God is "external" is incorrect. When you understand that God exists throughout all life like a Force, you begin to understand how to harness his power within. You have to experience it to know what I'm talking about. It's quite profound. That's when you start to deconstruct the mythology that God is "out there" and begin to experience firsthand that God is within.
We are collectively doing that as a global society. Thus, why so many literalists feel threatened by it.
Yes, we can agree that there is little Biblical about extra-biblical salvation.
That certainly doesn't mean biblical salvation is superior to extra-biblical. In fact, it is a far less evolved experience in Christ.
You assertion that God is "external" is incorrect. When you understand that God exists throughout all life like a Force, you begin to understand how to harness his power within. You have to experience it to know what I'm talking about. It's quite profound. That's when you start to deconstruct the mythology that God is "out there" and begin to experience firsthand that God is within.
We are collectively doing that as a global society. Thus, why so many literalists feel threatened by it.
Maybe you've found a god within you, Bluefly.
But it's dishonest to call that a Christian perspective.
God (of the Bible, the Christian God, The One True God) isn't found within us. He desires to have a relationship with us....but we have not been invaded by Him.
That's fine if that's your belief.....but labeling that 'Christian' is very inaccurate.
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