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be prepared for along one...im going to give you not only my theory but how this revelation came to me...and forgive the format...i tend to write as if i were speaking to you in person
well even at a young age ive been very....i want to say insightful.. i remember at the age of 7 discussing religious matters intelligently with my sundayschool teachers and pastors..as i got older i developed an ability to actually stump these people..and as i grew even more i developed an ability to not only stump them but to actually give personal opinions which they somtimes would agree to..ive never been afraid to question though i did considered myself a christian..which i don't limit myself to anymore...but as the title implies i do believe in all religion....but one sunday in the highschool sundayschool class of my church we were discussing the different denominations in christianity...the teacher explained that their were so many different denominations because people interpreted the word of god differently but they all believe in christ as their savior and therefor will go to heaven..and i thought as a kid you don't get to pick which church you go to..and you don't really get the full interpretation of your specific church..then i came up with the question...if their are so many different denominations how can we be sure that our denomination, which was evangelical, is the closest to being right...he explained that many people go to many different churches before they find the one that suits them best...then he said all the denominations as christians believe in the most important part...and are right...meaning every non christian is wrong....this was sounded surprisingly ignorant to me..because i more or less believed the same thing..but hearing it in those words made me unsettled...i asked isn't it ignorant to assume our beliefs are right and everyone else's are wrong..i mean they must have good reason to believe in what they do ..just as we do...whose to say that our reasons are better then theirs...he said to believe in something you must be sure it is right..and to admit the possibility that a different belief could be right makes your own belief weak...he then talked about the religion of bah'ai mocking its belief that every religion is right..saying it was impossible...since religions directly contradict eachother...this is when i lost trust in church ... i remember saying i believe in christ...just not church..so i still saw myself as a christian i just figured that the churches got it wrong...then i went through my "dark ages" not caring about beliefs what so ever...i figured i still believed in christ so i will go to heaven anyways and the beliefs that surrounded that didn't matter..once in a while id have a revelation on something but nothing to significant..but then after a few years i dated this girl....and i was at her house one night chillin with her mom...i thought she was so cool because she'd smoke pot with us...i learned how she too believed in christ...but she was more of a half n half christian and buddhist...she was a very spiritual lady and when she would talk ...it would sometimes seem like my thoughts were flowing through her mouth ..it was not like she could finish my sentences..she could say the thoughts in my head probono before i could ..she opened up my mind..and after many discussions with her i developed my own set of beliefs(i will post it in another thread)..i made connection after connection..i went so deep most of you can never dream of achieving...i realized there was a truth out there that needed to be grasped..one idea i found was that i can't discredit anyones beliefs for their beliefs were founded by their personal experiences ...and i could not say my personal experiences were in anyway more enlightening...and maybe in some cases their experiences could possibly more enlightening then mine...so slowly i immersed myself in study...first i studied buddhism and all asian philosophies in general ..i was really intrigued by the fact that most of my beliefs were expressed through these and ive never looked into them before....then i studied islam...and i realized...not only was the christian god the same as the jewish god..but so was islam's and just like christianity was an addition to judaism islam was an addition to christianity...there is one quote in the Qur'an that i really liked...it said christians jews and muslims and any god fearing person can go to heaven..this was surprising because this was right around 911 when i read it.. .i then looked into the similarities of these 3 monotheistic religions...and the list is staggering....then i looked into prophets such as nostrodamus and edgar cayce among others ...and the customs and ideals of the myans and hopi indians and other isolated cultures .....and realized as well as many others have that these cultures and prophets of different times and isolated places of the earth ...have said at times the exact same thing...almost if they have read the same "book of life"...and what was really scary...is that my own revelations intertwined with what they said...then i had an epiphany not only are everyones beliefs not discredible but everyones beliefs are actually from the same source....just at different levels of consciousness..and every religion is the same..the differences arouse by different cultures interpreting the same information differently...i think of it as being like a rainbow...somewhere along the path the white light(the one truth) passed through a prism..and was separated...the colors are different...but they all are apart of the white light
now i know that i may have not made any valuable connections in your mind..i think those are for you to make..and i would have to write about a million page essay on my findings and why the are relevant and how they connect with eachother for you to fully understand.which i doubt hardly anyone has read this even in its entirety..but i want you to know there is truth..and knowledge out there that you must explore..research..study..go as deep as you can and never stop
good post you got rep.
wow how do you do that this early in the morning? i can barely shave and get my pants on.
maybe youve never met him...and only met his imposter hmm...this could be repeditive....understand idon't disagree with you ...its just hard for me to imagin...just sayin someone is my savior...as being the only way to save my soul from eternal damnation..i find it rather empty..lacking meaning.....i rather get down a dirty..and do work for it...and establish meaning in everything i believe....but honestly...do you feel like you believe in jesus more then someone of a different religion believes in thiers...if someones right and someones wrong..someones brainwashed...and that could be you:|
Im not just saying he is my savior.I know that he is..and I didnt have to work for anything..Jesus did all the work on the Cross, he paid a debt he didnt owe. And if you knew Jesus, you wuddint find it lacking or empty or all..words cant even describe it!
words cant describe much..this is true..lol i guess im content in that you trully believe but you didn't understand what i meant about it lacking meaning and being empty...or workingfor it..but this is ok ...and i do know that undiscribable feeling....it comes with any belief...maybe cause every belief is the same...im tellin ya tho if you like that ...the realization of the connections of your belief to everything...would set you off in pure bliss
While religions may have the same root, they aren't the same in how they approach and consider that root source. Some religions ask us to withdraw from the world while others ask us to engage it full on. Some tell us to follow a strict set of laws that cover what we can wear and what we can eat, while others tell us that the laws don't mean a thing if you heart isn't into it. Some tell us that we are completely subject to God, while others tell us that we are His partners in the world. Some say that the great mystery is God, while others say that the great mystery is irrelevant because it is not logical or measurable.
The fundamental basis may be the same, but the way in which we all choose to believe varies greatly.
...its just hard for me to imagin...just sayin someone is my savior...as being the only way to save my soul from eternal damnation..i find it rather empty..lacking meaning:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you said that all religions teach the same thing? If they do, then why is Christianity "lacking meaning"?
Quote:
Originally Posted by allah truth
.....i rather get down a dirty..and do work for it...and establish meaning in everything i believe
We believe that Christ already did the work. Don't get me wrong, I consider it work to carry my cross daily, but somehow I don't think it is anywhere near the level of sacrifice that Christ made for me.
Oh, and Christianity is dirty work, if it's done right. It is not about dressing up in a suit and tie or a dress and parading yourself to church every Sunday. It is all about reaching out to the hurting, depressed, lonely and wounded. It is impossible to do this successfully without rolling up your sleeves and getting dirty sometimes. But that is what we've been called to do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by allah truth
....but honestly...do you feel like you believe in jesus more then someone of a different religion believes in thiers...if someones right and someones wrong..someones brainwashed...and that could be you:|
No. I think people of other religions believe every bit as strongly in their religion as we believe in Jesus. I'm not saying that I'm any better then them...just different.
well first off i chose really bad words while discussing this with a christian...next christianity doesn't lack meaning..there is meaning in christianity..that i think should be explored more..but its the simplicity of just saying something....saying...jesus saved me...doesn't do anything ...it may make you feel safe...but it doesn't alow for growth...sin is ignorance....the work i was talking about is mentally understanding...not just accepting.....
While religions may have the same root, they aren't the same in how they approach and consider that root source. Some religions ask us to withdraw from the world while others ask us to engage it full on. Some tell us to follow a strict set of laws that cover what we can wear and what we can eat, while others tell us that the laws don't mean a thing if you heart isn't into it. Some tell us that we are completely subject to God, while others tell us that we are His partners in the world. Some say that the great mystery is God, while others say that the great mystery is irrelevant because it is not logical or measurable.
The fundamental basis may be the same, but the way in which we all choose to believe varies greatly.
well first off i chose really bad words while discussing this with a christian...next christianity doesn't lack meaning..there is meaning in christianity..that i think should be explored more..but its the simplicity of just saying something....saying...jesus saved me...doesn't do anything ...it may make you feel safe...but it doesn't alow for growth...sin is ignorance....the work i was talking about is mentally understanding...not just accepting.....
Thank you for acknowledging that it doesn't lack meaning. I do believe that we should commit our lives to growth. I guess I can see what you are saying when you say that by just saying Jesus saved us, we are not growing. Of course that is supposed to be just the beginning of a life-long journey filled with growth.
Your comment about sin being ignorance. I'm not sure I agree with you on that one. By definition, sin is "missing the mark". Sometime we may sin in ignorance of where the "mark" is...but most times, sin is a deliberate choice that we could have opted out of.
btw: I study every day. I do this so that I have a better understanding of what I believe. When I was five years old, I was just accepting. But as an adult, I want to know the why's and the how's. Once I understand it, I can choose to accept it or not.
I know there are Christians (probably people of many different religions) who just accept everything at face value and never understand the deeper meaning behind it. While that may be fine for them, I do not want to settle for blind acceptance. I know why I have made the decision to follow Christ and Christ alone.
Thank you for acknowledging that it doesn't lack meaning. I do believe that we should commit our lives to growth. I guess I can see what you are saying when you say that by just saying Jesus saved us, we are not growing. Of course that is supposed to be just the beginning of a life-long journey filled with growth.
Your comment about sin being ignorance. I'm not sure I agree with you on that one. By definition, sin is "missing the mark". Sometime we may sin in ignorance of where the "mark" is...but most times, sin is a deliberate choice that we could have opted out of.
btw: I study every day. I do this so that I have a better understanding of what I believe. When I was five years old, I was just accepting. But as an adult, I want to know the why's and the how's. Once I understand it, I can choose to accept it or not.
I know there are Christians (probably people of many different religions) who just accept everything at face value and never understand the deeper meaning behind it. While that may be fine for them, I do not want to settle for blind acceptance. I know why I have made the decision to follow Christ and Christ alone.
and for this i am glad n i wish you well...and hope that you never stop studying...if i was solely a christian i would strive to know even more then the pope...whichyoure new pope imho sucks..and is going to destroy catholisism...not necessarily important to you if your protestent but yea he sucks.....but if there were no ignorance there would be no sin..and ignorance is the root of all sin ...in christianity it would be discribed that though we can opt out of sin we choose to sin because it appears more pleasurable..but it is actually dooming our soul..would not that be ignorant
I think sin is rooted in selfishness, not ignorance.
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