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Religion Thread: ...and suddenly, everyone's a theology scholar

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Re: Religion Thread: ...and suddenly, everyone's a theology scholar

unofan said:
Tough to square that outlook with the first commandment, but I digress since we've beaten that horse to death.
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Jesus' ministry was not spent showing how to believe...it was based on how to behave/love - which was supported by many other commandments. The miracles were about improving the lives of others. In the end, God is love. Its all rather simple.
 
Re: Religion Thread: ...and suddenly, everyone's a theology scholar

5mn_Major said:
Jesus' ministry was not spent showing how to believe...it was based on how to behave/love - which was supported by many other commandments. The miracles were about improving the lives of others. In the end, God is love. Its all rather simple.
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Do you believe in the Apostles' Creed?
 
Re: Religion Thread: ...and suddenly, everyone's a theology scholar

5mn_Major said:
Jesus' ministry was not spent showing how to believe...it was based on how to behave/love - which was supported by many other commandments. The miracles were about improving the lives of others. In the end, God is love. Its all rather simple.
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Especially when raining Hellfire on two different cities. Can you feel the love?
 
Re: Religion Thread: ...and suddenly, everyone's a theology scholar

5mn_Major said:
Its a prayer. And I use it if that's what you mean.
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How do you use it? Do you accept the literal meaning of the words? I understand "literal meaning" is not terribly useful,
 
Re: Religion Thread: ...and suddenly, everyone's a theology scholar

5mn_Major said:
Its a prayer. And I use it if that's what you mean.
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I thought its purpose was to be a statement of beliefs equivalent to reaffirming your baptism every time you say it.
 
Re: Religion Thread: ...and suddenly, everyone's a theology scholar

leswp1 said:
I thought its purpose was to be a statement of beliefs equivalent to reaffirming your baptism every time you say it.
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I suppose it depends on your denomination.

burd said:
How do you use it? Do you accept the literal meaning of the words? I understand "literal meaning" is not terribly useful,
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I do accept them. And I get why its important - its a reaffirmation that's easy. But I don't use it often and neither do other Christians I know. In fact, I feel there are better directions to go with prayer. Because the AC content does not come from the prayer and is not directed towards either an outcome or God's approach.

Recently I attended a course called Alpha (Christianity 101) often attended by the faith curious. The first day was primarily spent making the case for God. I told everyone I didn't think it was the correct approach and it should have been focused on 'who is God'. In the end, one shouldn't consider marriage unless they know their spouse.
 
Re: Religion Thread: ...and suddenly, everyone's a theology scholar

Thing is, I really like what I understand to be 5mn's philosophy of christianity. Where I lose contact is his readiness to distinguish between christians and others who have a similar philosophy about living but may be muslim, agnostic, or athiest. Religion can be (and usually is) highly metaphorical, and religious texts can be the most elegant and demanding writing out there. But I struggle to understand 5mn on a very basic level, and that is why I asked what the Apostles' Creed means to him. Is any part of that attestation necessary to being "christian?"

edit: this reads like a third person message to you, 5mn. I was just responding to les.
 
5mn_Major said:
No. There is 'just no evidence that God exists'. I have never met anyone who disagrees with this. Atheism by definition is 'the belief that God doesn't exist'...not that there's no evidence. Agnostics are unsure of God.

Assuming atheistic scientists believe that God probably doesn't exist because there is no evidence that S/He does exist...sounds like an appeal to ignorance (beginning to like this logic stuff). That conclusion doesn't sound super scientific to me.



So...if I could prove to you 1) that you can be an agnostic and be part of the team and 2) that being part of this team net improves your life and/or the lives of others...would you take a look at joining the Christian movement?

The answer to this question is actually quite important.
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But not important enough to reply to my answers?
 
Re: Religion Thread: ...and suddenly, everyone's a theology scholar

Kepler said:
Nobody is arguing that God is not a way. The fallacy is God is the way.
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burd said:
Thing is, I really like what I understand to be 5mn's philosophy of christianity. Where I lose contact is his readiness to distinguish between christians and others who have a similar philosophy about living but may be muslim, agnostic, or athiest. Religion can be (and usually is) highly metaphorical, and religious texts can be the most elegant and demanding writing out there.
Click to expand...

Although can't speak to other faiths as I'm not an expert, Christianity is different because of who God is and its platform. That is to say the Jesus content aims to improve the human condition - moral support, the meaning of life, right and wrong and motivations to implement what becomes important. I advocate that spending time with this can get you answers and better arm you to take action on the answers you find.

In the end, Christianity may not deliver any of these benefits. It doesn't appear to for Kepler. But for many, faith is very beneficial - many it helps directly and many more indirectly via others. It comes down to who you are. People are radically different based on politics, pacifism, personality types and the like. Christianity or other faiths may benefit one or it may not - much of it comes down to who you are.

But as with marriage, it also depends on the fit. That is to say some doctrine may not make sense to you. And that's OK. For example, some believe the Bible is literal and the OT is of equal weight to the NT. I believe that Jesus trumps the OT - Jesus was God, He was well documented and He came late and could set the record straight. Some skeptics would tell you I'm 'wrong' or 'cheating' because I don't adhere to the God in which they disbelieve. That doesn't matter. What is important is finding the right community that aligns with your POV (i.e., NT vs. OT)...because community is a big source of the above benefits.

burd said:
But I struggle to understand 5mn on a very basic level, and that is why I asked what the Apostles' Creed means to him. Is any part of that attestation necessary to being "christian?"
Click to expand...

Find a community and spends some time with this stuff. If it improves things, do more. Maybe you'll call yourself a Christian...maybe not. Labeling yourself a Christian, your opinion of the Apostles' Creed or whether your a true believer...none of this really matters until its right for you.
 
Re: Religion Thread: ...and suddenly, everyone's a theology scholar

5mn_major

Small quibble, but Jesus IS God. He has no past or no future. Everything to God is now.
 
Re: Religion Thread: ...and suddenly, everyone's a theology scholar

5mn_Major said:
Although can't speak to other faiths as I'm not an expert, Christianity is different because of who God is and its platform. That is to say the Jesus content aims to improve the human condition - moral support, the meaning of life, right and wrong and motivations to implement what becomes important. I advocate that spending time with this can get you answers and better arm you to take action on the answers you find.

In the end, Christianity may not deliver any of these benefits. It doesn't appear to for Kepler. But for many, faith is very beneficial - many it helps directly and many more indirectly via others. It comes down to who you are. People are radically different based on politics, pacifism, personality types and the like. Christianity or other faiths may benefit one or it may not - much of it comes down to who you are.

But as with marriage, it also depends on the fit. That is to say some doctrine may not make sense to you. And that's OK. For example, some believe the Bible is literal and the OT is of equal weight to the NT. I believe that Jesus trumps the OT - Jesus was God, He was well documented and He came late and could set the record straight. Some skeptics would tell you I'm 'wrong' or 'cheating' because I don't adhere to the God in which they disbelieve. That doesn't matter. What is important is finding the right community that aligns with your POV (i.e., NT vs. OT)...because community is a big source of the above benefits.



Find a community and spends some time with this stuff. If it improves things, do more. Maybe you'll call yourself a Christian...maybe not. Labeling yourself a Christian, your opinion of the Apostles' Creed or whether your a true believer...none of this really matters until its right for you.
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One could argue there are a number of religions that do that. Unitarians are not Christians but they do all those things. I truly don't understand the need to make these things exclusive to one religion. Most religions offer this type of thing and many of them will tell you believing is the way to meet those needs. Jesus is the 'tool' used by God but other religions have other 'tools'
 
Re: Religion Thread: ...and suddenly, everyone's a theology scholar

Which is why I have a dislike for organized religion. If there is something out there, I don’t trust man to get it right
 
Re: Religion Thread: ...and suddenly, everyone's a theology scholar

I always wonder how people who allow church doctrine to control important personal decisions in their lives could be passionately against big government. And in the deep red states, it appears most people do just that.
 
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Re: Religion Thread: ...and suddenly, everyone's a theology scholar

Because they’re dumb. I’m sorry, they just are. Maybe dumb isn’t the right word but it’s the only one that comes to me right now.
 
Re: Religion Thread: ...and suddenly, everyone's a theology scholar

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaig...bama-pastors-sign-letter-denouncing-roy-moore
Nice big rally of Pastors on the News just now. Returns some of my faith in religion. If you believe in God, you believe He is the answer, then voting for a sexual predator to achieve a 'Christian' outcome makes no sense. If you are going to say Tithe and believe the Lord will provide then why is this different?
 
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