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what we experience is our truth.. each of us has a unique human experience.
i can relate to being self righteous.. i think i used to be very much so..
until i realsied that everyon is different and what i choose is my choice and what some else chooses is theirs.. once we dont judge eachother and we respect eachother and we can live in the same world without war-ing with eachother over our differnent opinions.
Live and let live.. choosing goodness all the time.. even though you may choose to express your truth differntly to me.. we are all family. in this together..its time we get along
thank god everyone is not the same, how boring would that be.. lets embrace our differences and celebrate them
Thank you. That's all I ask.
Instead, I see any number of bomb-throwing posts on this forum about how this is wrong and that is right, and how anybody who believes other than the poster in question is making his reservations to Satan's Eternal Hot Tub Lounge. Not only is this compulsion weird, but it seems to be really against the spirit of our faith.
I mean, I don't agree with Catholicism, but I certainly don't believe that Catholics are going to Hell. I don't agree with fundamentalism, either, but I don't think eternal damnation is in store for the fundies either. Instead, I think it is best to think that we are all on our own road to Christ, and that His nature is such that we can all look at Him and understand Him in different ways.
Instead, I see any number of bomb-throwing posts on this forum about how this is wrong and that is right, and how anybody who believes other than the poster in question is making his reservations to Satan's Eternal Hot Tub Lounge. Not only is this compulsion weird, but it seems to be really against the spirit of our faith.
I mean, I don't agree with Catholicism, but I certainly don't believe that Catholics are going to Hell. I don't agree with fundamentalism, either, but I don't think eternal damnation is in store for the fundies either. Instead, I think it is best to think that we are all on our own road to Christ, and that His nature is such that we can all look at Him and understand Him in different ways.
Not all religious folks are fanatical or out of touch with reality. Many freely accept the Socratic notion "I only know I know nothing". The only ones that seem 100% certain are the Christians that believe the Bible is the word of God. They don't have the views that you have on the Bible and use circular arguments to have a debate.
Georges Lemaître, a Belgian cosmologist and Catholic priest was the first physicist to state the universe started with a bang. Einstein did not want to believe him.
"So here's my question to you. How do you really know that you're right? No saying, "Why I read it in the Bible," or "Why, I learned that in parochial school," because those would be cop-outs. Instead, how can you claim to have personal, complete knowledge of God and his intentions? Just as importantly, did God only whisper in your ear, as opposed to the person you disagree with on the forum? I'm really interested in hearing your reply."
I don't claim to have "complete" knowledge. No, it isn't ego. Maybe it was 30yrs. ago but nah.
I have the confidence that bible refers to. I wonder about some things, suspect others, and know what I know about still other things.
I have discernment and intuition. I know things without knowing why I know them,and time after time they bear themselves out as true. Millions of others, I feel sure do have the same things that I describe here.
How do you know one plus one equals two? because a teacher says so? No, because you can see for yourself that it is so. So it is with other things, or it should be.
I am sorry that not all folks see things the same way. Yes, I do believe that many folks get their beliefs from others and cannot even see them for themselves.
My journey is a rocky road. It's two steps forward and one back" all of the way into eternity, but I have not turned around, fallen down and not been able to get back up, and it's an inner leading that guides me.
I like my bibles but if they all disappear tomorrow I won't be void of what to believe, and what I know. Jesus is a spirit and He is THE word, so He replaces any bible that I could ever embrace.
I'll follow what I am now...an inward leading and meditate/pray silently to ignore my intellect as much as possible. It's the intuitive leading, the "wordless word" that is most often from the True spirit.
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[quote=cpg35223;22586312]Seriously.
There's a lot of certainty on this board among people who are quoting from a 1,700 year old collection of works that was cobbled together by a committee from fragments written in ancient languages. Was it penned by God? Was it written by people who, in good faith, tried to explain encounters with the Divine? Who knows?
I like to think of myself as a person of faith. But I don't even pretend to completely understand everything I read in the Bible. I find the Word to be inconsistent in places and hopelessly vague in others. And, with the exception of the Decalogue, it can be maddeningly indirect. To me, to state that I fully understand God's meaning and purposes is an unholy act of hubris. We are talking about the Creator of the Universe, right? How does one person on one small planet circling an insignificant star in a minor galaxy say that he fully understands the Bible's intent and be in his right mind?
Yet, each of us seems to think that we alone have the hotline to God, that we alone are completely and utterly sure in our knowledge and understanding.
So here's my question to you. How do you really know that you're right? No saying, "Why I read it in the Bible," or "Why, I learned that in parochial school," because those would be cop-outs. Instead, how can you claim to have personal, complete knowledge of God and his intentions? Just as importantly, did God only whisper in your ear, as opposed to the person you disagree with on the forum? I'm really interested in hearing your reply.[/quote
Uuuuuh yeah we are. And if anyone, from whatever background does not at least on some level agree with this, than it really is true.
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