“I am spiritual but not religious”, what does it mean? (believer, Jesus)
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Let's see. "Christian theology can be anything we want it to be". Doesn't matter if it's true and accurate? I think part of the problem here may be your choice of words.
What wrong with my choice of words, my friend? Accuracy and truth pertaining to theology are determinations of the theologian. He alone decides what is true and accurate.
You don't agree? Let's debate and find out what the problem is.
What wrong with my choice of words, my friend? Accuracy and truth pertaining to theology are determinations of the theologian. He alone decides what is true and accurate.
You don't agree? Let's debate and find out what the problem is.
We've never met. We're not friends. Do you just make everything up?
I think the concept of "spiritual but not religious" generally is theist in nature. It is not rejecting both god and religion, but just organized religion. I think it is an incoherent position frankly, but most of the people here who decry organized religion as still of the general Christian persuasion. They might believe in universal reconciliation, for example, but their general line seems to be that organized religion has sucked the spiritual vitality out of the individuals involved with it. That the only path to a "true" "primitive" (meaning, original) Christianity is to shuck all the artifice and ritual and tradition and mine the scriptures with the magic light of the holy spirit.
You are correct that the definition will vary, though. It certainly CAN be agnostic or even atheist while embracing various supernatural or mystical beliefs. But it seems to me that most here who decry organized religion happen to be disgruntled Christians who still believe broadly in Christian theology.
The bold is right on, mordant except it is NOT magical. It is quite easy and obvious since the Holy Spirit IS the "mind of Christ" and our ONLY pure and uncorrupted example of the "mind of God." We just need to read the scriptures in the states of mind associated with God's Holy Spirit of agape as revealed and demonstrated by Jesus.
When we do that, it becomes obvious when the phrasing of our ancestors is corrupted by their using the mind of their wrathful and vengeful War God instead of the God revealed by Christ!! You should try it. Here again, are the states of mind that summon the Holy Spirit (put you in the "mind of Christ.")
Philippians 2:5-30 King James Version
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
The Holy Spirit IS the True Nature of God revealed, described, and demonstrated unambiguously by Jesus. He IS agape love, kindness, mercy, compassion, gentleness, unconditional acceptance, empathy, sympathy, tolerance, long-suffering, decency, friendliness, peacefulness, joyfulness, understanding, care, concern, solicitude, solicitousness, sensitivity, tender-heartedness, soft-heartedness, warm-heartedness, warmth, love, brotherly love, tenderness, gentleness, mercifulness, leniency, lenience, consideration, kindness, humanity, humaneness, kind-heartedness, charity, benevolence, and He is non-judgmental.
When we are in the states of mind associated with the "mind of Christ" we are guided by His Holy Spirit and cannot misread, misinterpret, misunderstand or do anything wrong. We can only do wrong in other states of mind, especially those OPPOSITE of the above..
The bold is right on, mordant except it is NOT magical. It is quite easy and obvious since the Holy Spirit IS the "mind of Christ" and our ONLY pure and uncorrupted example of the "mind of God." We just need to read the scriptures in the states of mind associated with God's Holy Spirit of agape as revealed and demonstrated by Jesus.
When we do that, it becomes obvious when the phrasing of our ancestors is corrupted by their using the mind of their wrathful and vengeful War God instead of the God revealed by Christ!! You should try it. Here again, are the states of mind that summon the Holy Spirit (put you in the "mind of Christ.")
Philippians 2:5-30 King James Version
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
The Holy Spirit IS the True Nature of God revealed, described, and demonstrated unambiguously by Jesus. He IS agape love, kindness, mercy, compassion, gentleness, unconditional acceptance, empathy, sympathy, tolerance, long-suffering, decency, friendliness, peacefulness, joyfulness, understanding, care, concern, solicitude, solicitousness, sensitivity, tender-heartedness, soft-heartedness, warm-heartedness, warmth, love, brotherly love, tenderness, gentleness, mercifulness, leniency, lenience, consideration, kindness, humanity, humaneness, kind-heartedness, charity, benevolence, and He is non-judgmental.
When we are in the states of mind associated with the "mind of Christ" we are guided by His Holy Spirit and cannot misread, misinterpret, misunderstand or do anything wrong. We can only do wrong in other states of mind, especially those OPPOSITE of the above..
The irony here is that the original argument for fundamentalism was the same -- organized religion has sucked the life out of Christianity, and we're here to restore it with our vital, disorganized religion. But eventually they became and even embraced, what they once hated. It turned out that simply removing the formality and pageantry and ritual and architecture and emphasizing "relationship over religion" didn't solve the problem. In fact in many ways the problem was only one in their perception, anyway. In jettisoning precedent and ritual and custom and culture, they actually reduced the toolset they had to work with.
The bold is right on, mordant except it is NOT magical. It is quite easy and obvious since the Holy Spirit IS the "mind of Christ" and our ONLY pure and uncorrupted example of the "mind of God." We just need to read the scriptures in the states of mind associated with God's Holy Spirit of agape as revealed and demonstrated by Jesus.
When we do that, it becomes obvious when the phrasing of our ancestors is corrupted by their using the mind of their wrathful and vengeful War God instead of the God revealed by Christ!! You should try it. Here again, are the states of mind that summon the Holy Spirit (put you in the "mind of Christ.")
Philippians 2:5-30 King James Version
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
The Holy Spirit IS the True Nature of God revealed, described, and demonstrated unambiguously by Jesus. He IS agape love, kindness, mercy, compassion, gentleness, unconditional acceptance, empathy, sympathy, tolerance, long-suffering, decency, friendliness, peacefulness, joyfulness, understanding, care, concern, solicitude, solicitousness, sensitivity, tender-heartedness, soft-heartedness, warm-heartedness, warmth, love, brotherly love, tenderness, gentleness, mercifulness, leniency, lenience, consideration, kindness, humanity, humaneness, kind-heartedness, charity, benevolence, and He is non-judgmental.
When we are in the states of mind associated with the "mind of Christ" we are guided by His Holy Spirit and cannot misread, misinterpret, misunderstand or do anything wrong. We can only do wrong in other states of mind, especially those OPPOSITE of the above..
Quote:
Originally Posted by mordant
The irony here is that the original argument for fundamentalism was the same -- organized religion has sucked the life out of Christianity, and we're here to restore it with our vital, disorganized religion. But eventually they became and even embraced, what they once hated. It turned out that simply removing the formality and pageantry and ritual and architecture and emphasizing "relationship over religion" didn't solve the problem. In fact in many ways the problem was only one in their perception, anyway. In jettisoning precedent and ritual and custom and culture, they actually reduced the toolset they had to work with.
The cause is obvious, mordant. They made no effort to reconcile the "mind of Christ" as HE REVEALED IT TO BE with the misguided, misinterpreted, and misunderstood conglomeration of human fallibility recorded in the Bible. They made the Bible their God instead of Jesus! The disastrous results were unavoidable. In some ways keeping the Bible inaccessible was not a bad idea. It is the narrative of Jesus and what HE was like that is essential to Christianity, NOT all the other primitive and barbaric nonsense.
I didn't know you were qualified to make that decision.
How could you know? You are not a Christian.
Fellowship is vital in Christian worship. We are the body of Christ. Mystic is a good cell within the spiritual organism. It is easy to detect a malware.
Fellowship is vital in Christian worship. We are the body of Christ. Mystic is a good cell within the spiritual organism. It is easy to detect a malware.
Let's see...I was brought up a methodist, converted to catholicism, and still went to church at least occasionally until 6 years ago (age 67). I know my way around christianity.
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The bold is right on, mordant except it is NOT magical. It is quite easy and obvious since the Holy Spirit IS the "mind of Christ" and our ONLY pure and uncorrupted example of the "mind of God." We just need to read the scriptures in the states of mind associated with God's Holy Spirit of agape as revealed and demonstrated by Jesus. 
