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It makes me sad for you, Grand. Not believing you can trust your own perceptions of reality is a tough gig. Convincing others is a minor issue, IMO.
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Originally Posted by Grandstander
Cheer up, I trust mine more than I trust yours.
AS you should!
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I suppose we could believe that, or we could believe the 20,946 posts you have devoted to trying to convince the people who patronize these forums.
The posts are my witness to my understanding based on my experiences and my study. They have largely been defenses against those who take issue with my views . . . or explanations of why I hold the views I do with such certainty. If you consider them attempts to convince others . . . I am powerless to stop you. But I have no such agenda. I do take issue with atheists who I know are routinely wrong about God and reality. I do try to shake their unwarranted confidence in their NO God views . . . but they are a special case.
He wasn't detailing the end of the world in Matthew 16. He was detailing discipleship, and mentioned the fruits of following him which is His glory - then He showed them His glory.
Here's the Luke version...
Luke 9:28-32 - Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming. 30 And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, 31 who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him.
Now there is another possibility which points to His ascension which takes place in Acts - since they were speaking of His departure - and the disciples did see that as well.
This is obviously not speaking of His second coming. That doesn't make sense.
Interesting.
In the Bible I'm reading, Jesus tells his audience that some of them will still be alive when he returns "on the clouds."
Must have been pretty cloudy up on transfiguration mount.
Your method however is to pick and choose based on your personal preference for the bits that best suits the world of your own making, without regard to plausibility, and to exclude those bits which do not satisfy you personally. And THAT is known as make believe.
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Originally Posted by MysticPhD
This is not true and I have no idea were you got this idea from. Everything I select is selected based on agape love. I have encountered this love in deep meditation so my certainty about it is non-negotiable. Anything and everything that is in the "spiritual fossil record" is tested against the agape love standard, period. If it is not compatible with agape love it has nothing to do with God or Jesus. There is nothing make believe about it. To unthinking primitive savages perhaps not . . . but God IS love is pretty clear. Everyone who loves is "born of God" and knows God . . . is pretty clear. If it makes you feel better to misrepresent my views as my own personal preferences and imagination I can't stop you. What I know of reality and God tells me you are wrong.
There is no speech. It is all just "known" directly.
"Everything I select is selected based on agape love." This is where I got the idea that you have selected yourself to be the arbitrator for deciding which parts of the Bible are valid and which parts are not. That would be from you. The OT says quite specifically that God's order was to "Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women." (Ezek 9:6). Similar orders were given by Moses, as well as by Joshua. Despite what the OT clearly says however, you have declared it to be untrue that God gave any such order. Because Jesus is God, and Jesus would never give such an order. According to you. ISamuel 6:19 indicates the Jesus/God once personally slew exactly 50,070 people because someone dared to look into the Ark of the Covenant. Killing over fifty thousand people would seem to be less of an act of agape love and more of a serious over reaction, at least to some. Then of course there was the part when he killed all living things on earth, except for the inhabitants of a really REALLY large boat. And the sea creatures, presumably. Are these stories to be included into your cherry-picked version of truth, or are they to be excluded as the mere hyperbole of "ignorant barbarians," and not compatible with the true agape love that you know represents the real Jesus? A couple of billion Christians are breathlessly awaiting your official verdict. Make believe is the act of pretending that something is true, or of pretending that something which is true, is not true. Like pretending that what the Bible specifically says is not what it actually means. And like pretending that you are endowed with the ability to recognize the difference, and then pretending that your version is the "real" or "true" version. THAT'S where I got the idea that you believe in make believe. At least in your commitment to make belief you are not alone. Your personal brand of make belief belongs to you alone however.
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Originally Posted by MysticPhD
To unthinking primitive savages perhaps not . . . but God IS love is pretty clear. Everyone who loves is "born of God" and knows God . . . is pretty clear.
God's love is pretty clear, unless something terrible is happening to you and your family. If you are dying of AIDS and your malnourished children are covered with flies, it's not so clear at all. Ivan the Terrible is reported to have killed entire families by having sharpened poles inserted into their anus', whereby the poles would then be raised to the upright position. God's love might not have been noticeable to those suffering such a death. But at least God was not directly involved. For that, well if you happen to be one of the 50,070 God is slaughtering for something someone else did, you might have some questions concerning God's love and mercy. Or someone on the opposite side of the planet from the Holy Land, suddenly finding themselves and their family drowning in a global flood with no earthly understanding of why. It's at such times that idea's of God's love gets a little fuzzy.
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Originally Posted by MysticPhD
If it makes you feel better to misrepresent my views as my own personal preferences and imagination I can't stop you.
Much in the same way that if you decided to pick and choose the various aspects of your belief system that serve to please you, while discarding those aspects which you find offensive and repugnant, then no one is going to stop you. But when you peddle your personal make belief version of reality publicly, some snickering may well occur.
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Originally Posted by Tired of the Nonsense
As a side note, when you speak to your invisible friends do they audibly speak back to you? If so, do they speak in English, or in the language of tongues?
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Originally Posted by MysticPhD
There is no speech. It is all just "known" directly.
It just appears as thoughts in your head? This differs from making it up as you go along, how, exactly?
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Originally Posted by Tired of the Nonsense
But in the real world which the rest of us inhabit, the dead remain dead without exception.
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Originally Posted by MysticPhD
What I know of reality and God tells me you are wrong.
This according to someone who is making up his reality as he goes along. And yet despite your make believe reality, everyone who has ever died is still securely dead. Make believe, versus reality. One occurs in your head, and the other corresponds to what can actually be observed to be physically true. Are you beginning to see the difference? If so close your eyes and listen to the thoughts in your head, and it will all go away.
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Originally Posted by MysticPhD
This is why i am convinced you are either not reading or not comprehending my posts. I pretty much agree with you about a lot of the Bible . . . but I do NOT write it all off. It contains God-inspired information . . . interpreted by ignorant savages . . . but God-inspired nonetheless. BTW I don't believe in any re-animated corpse either . . . that would be the reborn as Spirit part you keep ignoring.
And yet you see no sign of make believe in any of this? Well of course you wouldn't would you! You have essentially created your own religion complete with your own scripture. If I misunderstood your position, it is because I originally mistook you for a Christian.
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Originally Posted by MysticPhD
Nonsense. It is not remotely necessary to repudiate the ENTIRE Bible because it DOES contain revealed truth . . . it just needs to be properly divided and tested with the Spirit of agape love.
So you only repudiate those portions of the Bible which you personally disagree with. And, voila, an entirely new religion is born. The name Mysticanity is available, at least insofar as I am aware. Now all you have to do is get someone else to buy into it. At 20,952 posts and counting, it seems you are trying your best. Any takers so far?
Last edited by Tired of the Nonsense; 06-06-2014 at 11:58 PM..
This is not true and I have no idea were you got this idea from. Everything I select is selected based on agape love. I have encountered this love in deep meditation so my certainty about it is non-negotiable. Anything and everything that is in the "spiritual fossil record" is tested against the agape love standard, period. If it is not compatible with agape love it has nothing to do with God or Jesus. There is nothing make believe about it. To unthinking primitive savages perhaps not . . . but God IS love is pretty clear. Everyone who loves is "born of God" and knows God . . . is pretty clear. If it makes you feel better to misrepresent my views as my own personal preferences and imagination I can't stop you. What I know of reality and God tells me you are wrong.
There is no speech. It is all just "known" directly.
This is why i am convinced you are either not reading or not comprehending my posts. I pretty much agree with you about a lot of the Bible . . . but I do NOT write it all off. It contains God-inspired information . . . interpreted by ignorant savages . . . but God-inspired nonetheless. BTW I don't believe in any re-animated corpse either . . . that would be the reborn as Spirit part you keep ignoring.
Too bad for you it isn't true. As I have repeatedly tried to tell you, our ancestors simply did not distinguish their own thoughts and the actions from God. EVERYTHING that happened was God doing it or ordering it or whatever. Given this prevalent mindset . . . we have to take these attributions to God with more than an abundance of salt!!! They didn't know they were lies . . . that is the point you seem to miss. In their minds they were not lies. Receiving the inspirations from God was like any inspiration. It was not dictation and they had to formulate interpretations of their thoughts and form explanations that made sense to them and their limited (non-existent) knowledge of reality and beliefs about God.Wrong. He said nothing about the OT . . . just the Ten Commandments that were the first step in achieving self-control over our baser urges and promoting agape love for others. The Spirit behind the letter of the law is agape love. This is why When Jesus condensed His instructions into only two "love God and each other" he encompassed all the law . . . and then some. There are far more things that can harm another and violate agape love than the Ten supposedly written in stone. Nonsense. It is not remotely necessary to repudiate the ENTIRE Bible because it DOES contain revealed truth . . . it just needs to be properly divided and tested with the Spirit of agape love. We still receive inspirations from God even to this day because Christ abides with us within our consciousness. But we are no less ill-equipped to understand them than our ancestors were. We still have to use our own knowledge and beliefs to interpret them. But our saving grace is the Good News that God IS agape love. It makes interpreting much easier than it would otherwise be. What you call cherry-picking using my own preferences is actually testing the Spirit with agape love.
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Originally Posted by Tired of the Nonsense
"Everything I select is selected based on agape love." This is where I got the idea that you have selected yourself to be the arbitrator for deciding which parts of the Bible are valid and which parts are not. That would be from you.
Well . . . Tired . . . I am quite tired of your obtuseness and pigheaded insistence on whatever you THINK my views are or should be..Educate yourself about me and then maybe we can try again to discuss things intelligently. Have a nice day! My Synthesis1
No one knows when he will return because what would be the point of saying " On December 21, 2010 im coming back so be ready?" People could sin all they want as long as they repent before he comes...thats not the way it was all designed. We are to be ready at any time because they bible says he will come in the blink of an eye.
No one knows when he will return because what would be the point of saying " On December 21, 2010 im coming back so be ready?" People could sin all they want as long as they repent before he comes...thats not the way it was all designed. We are to be ready at any time because they bible says he will come in the blink of an eye.
That's quite convenient isn't it? If the Bible God wanted followers because of the love he supposedly shows us, instead of this carrot/stick conversion, why would he need the threat of coming back "in the blink of an eye"? If his followers love him regardless then the timing of his return wouldn't matter. Only those afraid of being caught with their pants down would be the ones concerned with his unknown return. Is this the objective?
"Everything I select is selected based on agape love." This is where I got the idea that you have selected yourself to be the arbitrator for deciding which parts of the Bible are valid and which parts are not. That would be from you. The OT says quite specifically that God's order was to "Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women." (Ezek 9:6). Similar orders were given by Moses, as well as by Joshua. Despite what the OT clearly says however, you have declared it to be untrue that God gave any such order. Because Jesus is God, and Jesus would never give such an order. According to you. ISamuel 6:19 indicates the Jesus/God once personally slew exactly 50,070 people because someone dared to look into the Ark of the Covenant. Killing over fifty thousand people would seem to be less of an act of agape love and more of a serious over reaction, at least to some. Then of course there was the part when he killed all living things on earth, except for the inhabitants of a really REALLY large boat. And the sea creatures, presumably. Are these stories to be included into your cherry-picked version of truth, or are they to be excluded as the mere hyperbole of "ignorant barbarians," and not compatible with the true agape love that you know represents the real Jesus? A couple of billion Christians are breathlessly awaiting your official verdict. Make believe is the act of pretending that something is true, or of pretending that something which is true, is not true. Like pretending that what the Bible specifically says is not what it actually means. And like pretending that you are endowed with the ability to recognize the difference, and then pretending that your version is the "real" or "true" version. THAT'S where I got the idea that you believe in make believe. At least in your commitment to make belief you are not alone. Your personal brand of make belief belongs to you alone however.
God's love is pretty clear, unless something terrible is happening to you and your family. If you are dying of AIDS and your malnourished children are covered with flies, it's not so clear at all. Ivan the Terrible is reported to have killed entire families by having sharpened poles inserted into their anus', whereby the poles would then be raised to the upright position. God's love might not have been noticeable to those suffering such a death. But at least God was not directly involved. For that, well if you happen to be one of the 50,070 God is slaughtering for something someone else did, you might have some questions concerning God's love and mercy. Or someone on the opposite side of the planet from the Holy Land, suddenly finding themselves and their family drowning in a global flood with no earthly understanding of why. It's at such times that idea's of God's love gets a little fuzzy.
Much in the same way that if you decided to pick and choose the various aspects of your belief system that serve to please you, while discarding those aspects which you find offensive and repugnant, then no one is going to stop you. But when you peddle your personal make belief version of reality publicly, some snickering may well occur.
It just appears as thoughts in your head? This differs from making it up as you go along, how, exactly?
This according to someone who is making up his reality as he goes along. And yet despite your make believe reality, everyone who has ever died is still securely dead. Make believe, versus reality. One occurs in your head, and the other corresponds to what can actually be observed to be physically true. Are you beginning to see the difference? If so close your eyes and listen to the thoughts in your head, and it will all go away.
And yet you see no sign of make believe in any of this? Well of course you wouldn't would you! You have essentially created your own religion complete with your own scripture. If I misunderstood your position, it is because I originally mistook you for a Christian.
So you only repudiate those portions of the Bible which you personally disagree with. And, voila, an entirely new religion is born. The name Mysticanity is available, at least insofar as I am aware. Now all you have to do is get someone else to buy into it. At 20,952 posts and counting, it seems you are trying your best. Any takers so far?
Unfortunately he does have some takers supposedly, who post on this forum, unless he posts as more than one individual. But, you seem to have him perfectly pegged. Mysticanity is no different than the multitude of other "Christian" denominations who all claim to have had some divine revelation, though their views/interpretations vary greatly. None are demonstrable, so none really have any credibility.
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