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The timing of Jesus' incarnation makes entire sense to me. If Jesus appeared today, we would have full documentary proof of everything he said and did, not only for ourselves but for all future generations as well. It would be entirely coercive, leaving little room for the exercise of free will.
Spoiler
It seems very clear to me that God's plan is to provide sufficient grounds for belief but not coercive grounds. He wants people to turn to him freely, with serious consideration of the issues and consequences.
As Jesus himself said to Thomas after the Resurrection, "Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
I think the Bible stops when it does because God's plan was completed with Jesus. We will either believe or we won't. As it always has been, the evidence is sufficient but not coercive. Obviously, many people who lived with Jesus right in their midst didn't believe.
The fact is, of course, that there is still plenty of modern evidence of God's providence for those with eyes to see and ears to hear. One uncanny item of evidence is the Shroud of Turin. When I first became deeply involved in Shroud studies, it occurred to me how uncanny it was that this ancient artifact possessed properties that couldn't be grasped at all until the late 19th Century and in some respects not until the digital age. It is exactly like a message from the time of Jesus to a skeptical audience of the future. But again - only for those with eyes to see and ears to hear; those who pooh-pooh the Shroud are invariably either agenda-driven or have no real idea what they are talking about.
Why wasn't jesus invented to fix Adam and Eve?
god's first screwup that it declares it regretted doing, Gen 6:6.
god's first screwup that it declares it regretted doing, Gen 6:6.
I think god doesn't quite have the hang of it. When he screws up, he can't fix it, so he moves on to the next debacle...you know...like maybe a universal flood.
The timing of Jesus' incarnation makes entire sense to me. If Jesus appeared today, we would have full documentary proof of everything he said and did, not only for ourselves but for all future generations as well. It would be entirely coercive, leaving little room for the exercise of free will.
It seems very clear to me that God's plan is to provide sufficient grounds for belief but not coercive grounds. He wants people to turn to him freely, with serious consideration of the issues and consequences.
The bold negates your posited rationale. Free choice is devoid of concern for consequences and would reflect a Spirit genuinely in resonance with God out of love. It makes perfect sense that children of God would be desired to achieve His agape love free of any fear of consequences. That is the major flaw in your barbaric understanding of God, especially the fear-mongering Eternal Hell nonsense.
The bold negates your posited rationale. Free choice is devoid of concern for consequences and would reflect a Spirit genuinely in resonance with God out of love. It makes perfect sense that children of God would be desired to achieve His agape love free of any fear of consequences. That is the major flaw in your barbaric understanding of God, especially the fear-mongering Eternal Hell nonsense.
Mystic, if someone believes eternal torment true, why do you think deriding them is appropriate? With all due respect, that behavior may endear you with fellow believers but it does not abate the notion in the least.
Mystic, if someone believes eternal torment true, why do you think deriding them is appropriate? With all due respect, that behavior may endear you with fellow believers but it does not abate the notion in the least.
Can you even remotely justify the logic of eternal punishment for a finite lifetime for ANY reasons. It can have NO purpose or justifiable outcome. If you think it can, please enlighten me. What the hell could Hell accomplish that would make it a remotely rational concept.
Can you even remotely justify the logic of eternal punishment for a finite lifetime for ANY reasons. It can have NO purpose or justifiable outcome. If you think it can, please enlighten me. What the hell could Hell accomplish that would make it a remotely rational concept.
It's not for me to justify eternal punishment. The notion was in place before I was ever on the scene. Can you justify wanting to eliminate carcinogenic cells. They too want to live forever.
It's not for me to justify eternal punishment. The notion was in place before I was ever on the scene. Can you justify wanting to eliminate carcinogenic cells. They too want to live forever.
You bring up an important concept about belief in God by referring to cancer cells. The differences among us concerning God are actually nothing to be concerned about. We needn't all agree. People believing, thinking, and developing differently pose no problem for the achievement of humankind's purpose.
In your own body, you need not be concerned that a cell in your eye develops differently from a cell in your ear. Similarly, a cell in one part of the Cosmic consciousness of God need not be concerned that other cells do not think as it does, However, cancerous minds are another story altogether.
Cancer is a problem in our physical bodies because cancer cells try to develop at the expense of the development of other cells. Cancer cells literally destroy other cells in their process of growth. All cells that are not like the cancerous cells are destroyed as cancer spreads throughout the body, ultimately killing the organism. That is what makes cancer so dangerous to physical life.
Cancer is a problem in God's consciousness because cancerous minds try to develop at the expense of the development of other minds. Cancerous minds literally destroy other minds in their process of growth. All minds that are not like the cancerous minds are destroyed as the cancerous minds spread throughout society, ultimately killing them. (The Christian Crusades and Islamic Jihads come to mind in this context).
That is what makes cancerous minds so dangerous to spiritual life and to the development of the total human consciousness. For this reason, we should all try to understand the agape love of successful, non-cancerous, development of our embryo Spirits, and influence, if possible, our fellow human beings to do likewise. After all, we are all part of the ONE God.
You bring up an important concept about belief in God by referring to cancer cells. The differences among us concerning God are actually nothing to be concerned about. We needn't all agree. People believing, thinking, and developing differently pose no problem for the achievement of humankind's purpose.
In your own body, you need not be concerned that a cell in your eye develops differently from a cell in your ear. Similarly, a cell in one part of the Cosmic consciousness of God need not be concerned that other cells do not think as it does, However, cancerous minds are another story altogether.
Cancer is a problem in our physical bodies because cancer cells try to develop at the expense of the development of other cells. Cancer cells literally destroy other cells in their process of growth. All cells that are not like the cancerous cells are destroyed as cancer spreads throughout the body, ultimately killing the organism. That is what makes cancer so dangerous to physical life.
Cancer is a problem in God's consciousness because cancerous minds try to develop at the expense of the development of other minds. Cancerous minds literally destroy other minds in their process of growth. All minds that are not like the cancerous minds are destroyed as the cancerous minds spread throughout society, ultimately killing them. (The Christian Crusades and Islamic Jihads come to mind in this context).
That is what makes cancerous minds so dangerous to spiritual life and to the development of the total human consciousness. For this reason, we should all try to understand the agape love of successful, non-cancerous, development of our embryo Spirits, and influence, if possible, our fellow human beings to do likewise. After all, we are all part of the ONE God.
With all that said, in order to be a friend of Mystic one must deny Hell.
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