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Author Topic:   What is God's Purpose for being?
arachnophilia
Member (Idle past 1373 days)
Posts: 9069
From: god's waiting room
Joined: 05-21-2004


Message 11 of 75 (150012)
10-14-2004 9:57 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by DC85
10-13-2004 10:36 PM


according to ancient traditions, a spirit's name is its duty and function. if you know its name, you can control it. this is probably what moses had in mind when he asked god what his name was. but god answered moses in a sort of play on words. the name god told moses was an obscure form of the verb "to be."
so god's purpose for being is being. according to the bible, anyways.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by DC85, posted 10-13-2004 10:36 PM DC85 has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 12 by DC85, posted 10-14-2004 10:01 PM arachnophilia has replied

  
arachnophilia
Member (Idle past 1373 days)
Posts: 9069
From: god's waiting room
Joined: 05-21-2004


Message 15 of 75 (150046)
10-15-2004 5:19 AM
Reply to: Message 12 by DC85
10-14-2004 10:01 PM


But what is wrong with that for us? Christians claim all things need purpose... Why doesn't God?
i don't understand. why does anything need purpose? meaning? let alone god who defines other purposes and meanings?
similarly, i discovered the meaning of life at some point in high school. namely, to live it and quit worrying about its meaning.

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Replies to this message:
 Message 16 by Tusko, posted 10-15-2004 7:49 AM arachnophilia has replied

  
arachnophilia
Member (Idle past 1373 days)
Posts: 9069
From: god's waiting room
Joined: 05-21-2004


Message 22 of 75 (150193)
10-15-2004 6:31 PM
Reply to: Message 18 by almeyda
10-15-2004 12:07 PM


Christianity is a FACT-ual religion. It is not based on the philosophies of man
modern christianity is based on the philosophies of the apostle paul, who last time i checked was a man. it's also partly founded on the philosophis of jesus of nazareth who was at the very least half man.
we all know where Joseph Smith, Buddha, and Muhammads bodies are buried
even thought joseph smith was a hack, he never claimed to be a god. neither did muhammad or siddhartha. and to my knowledge we do not know where those two are buried.
a man who claims to be God of Israel
which is blasphemy, punishable by death. jesus also doesn't make this claim in 3 out of the 4 gospels in the nt.
And the God who fullfilled hundreds of consistent and vividly descripted prophecies in the books of Isaiah, Ezekial, Zechariah, and many more
take this to the prophesy thread. i know lots of unfulfilled prophesies.
no book in the world even BEGINS to come close to the credentials of christianity. I repeat.. A FACT-ual religion.
now this is just a preposterous statement. this book makes a number of claims that clearly contradict any evidence we have. it leaves out important info, and tends to just make stuff up. on top of that, we don't have any evidence that jesus even existed, let alone rose from the dead. we also don't have any proof of abraham, isaac, jacob, or moses.
ISLAM: Founded by Muhammad. Islam scripture combines much of Judaism, christianity, and adds the writings based on Muhammads teaching (the Quran). Why does it have to be an off-shoot of the Bible? Why cant it have its own belief system, without having to rely on our Lord God of Israel and Gentiles?
one could reasonably ask the same thing of christianity, especially with the way it tries to fulfill the wrong ot prophesies.
Can we believe that this so called 'copy-cat' of the Bible is a better, or clearer revelation? I hardly recall debating in any forums about why the Quran 'cant' or 'isnt' the word of God? Why? Why is it that all day long for 95% of the time, do we argue and debate why the Bible 'cant' or isnt' the word of God. Think about that for a while
because we KNOW who wrote the quran: muhammad. we also know who a lot of the authors of the bible were, but christians are less willing to accept that bible was written by people.
Islam denies the deity of Christ. Quite possibly the worst sin of all.
other way around buddy. christ was made in the image of god, and worshipping an image of god is idolatry.
quote:
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
quote:
2Cr 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
quote:
Exd 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth:
Exd 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me;
And he was God
quote:
Mat 26:39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou [wilt].
doesn't sound like it to me.
no standard of morality or authority
actually, buddhism as well as hinduism have STRICT moral standards. your actions in this life are said to impact what role you play in the next.
Every man is equal and in charge of their own life (survival of the fittest).
those two are not equatable. at all. if everyone is equal, there is no fittest.
Yet Buddha believes we should all listen to his opinion? Why? Because it makes me feel good inside?
the first teaching of buddhism is that all life is suffering.
sound pleasant?
the second is that suffering is caused by desire. the third is that suffering can be removed by removing desires. and the fourth is that buddhism is the way to do it.
it teaches that we should give up material wants, and help those around us. sounds like something jesus would say, actually.
Christianity believe everyone is sinful, and need redemption. This makes us personally responsible for our actions, and we live our lives as the only man in history who has been as righteous in character, soul, and teaching.
in my personal experience, christianity plays into the guilt complex. its followers exhibit almost an abused-wife syndrome. we're told that we're born sinful, even though the bible doesn't say any such thing. we're told that we can't be perfect in the eyes of god, even though the bible lists a number of men called perfect by god (who did, btw, sin). and, more importantly, modern christianity gives people an "out" for their actions: if i did something good, praise jesus. if i did something bad, satan made me do it. how does that teach personal responsibility?
Buddhism is simply the original religion that new-age philosophy as arisen from. Among other ancient eastern religions. There are no answers with religions like these. There is no evidence for inspiration. Merely men and women who wish everybody and everything is God. We dont die, we just reorganize. Its simple philosophy that we never ever bother debating.
actually, i've found a lot of truth in buddhism and especially taoism. if i wasn't a christian or a jew, i would have been one of those two. perhaps maybe would should read some hindu or buddhist literature before making this claim.
But with christianity, it is not a search for God. But a personal relationship with God.
i don't see god anywhere. where is he? i'd like to get to know him.
my religion has ALWAYS been a quest for truth, a search for god. the idea that you've found him and know everything there is to know about him is blasphemy. how can your puny finite mortal mind contain all there is to know about god? impossible! everytime i think i've found more, and that i know god, i find there is so much more that i don't.
Thats why you need to keep studying the world-religions,
have you read the bhagavad-gita's? the tao te ching? the quran? the book of mormon? the epic of gilgamesh? norse and greek mythology? the bible? your ideas of them all seem to indicate that you haven't read any of them.
Alot of religion these days are not taking the doctrine of 'inherently evil' or 'sinful nature' seriously enough to provide a change in action, to good. But merely find your inner-godhood and then youll be a god.
quote:
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
quote:
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
the bible says we have a bit of god in us. perhaps you shouldn't be so insulted at ideas that are also very judeo-christian.
But what if my inner-godhead is raping girls? If it makes me happy, why cant i do it?
have you read this chapter?
quote:
Jdg 21:23 And the children of Benjamin did so, and took [them] wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them.
or this one?
quote:
Deu 20:13 And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:
Deu 20:14 But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, [even] all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.
Then they try to bring goodness and say well thats bad because it hurts people. Says who? Whos authoritive standard of morality are we basing this philosophy on?
and in the bible it's god? what about the above verse? what about where god tells the hebrew people to steal from the egyptians before they leave? what abotu where he tells them to kill all the canaanites?
So that leaves us with a bunch of religions who are simply searching for God, or for truth, or for meaning. Yet do we sit here discussing and debating these religions? Not to my recollection.
no, because these "religions" don't go about telling everyone else that they're the only right one and that they should be taught in schools.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 18 by almeyda, posted 10-15-2004 12:07 PM almeyda has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 31 by Taqless, posted 10-15-2004 9:22 PM arachnophilia has replied

  
arachnophilia
Member (Idle past 1373 days)
Posts: 9069
From: god's waiting room
Joined: 05-21-2004


Message 23 of 75 (150194)
10-15-2004 6:36 PM
Reply to: Message 16 by Tusko
10-15-2004 7:49 AM


this was sort of common problem i had on another board. they called me a deist because i believe that we don't need god for meaning, purpose, or even creation. and yet i still believe in god. this puzzled a lot of them.
but i view faith as something special, on top of what i know factually. god, to me, doesn't exist to create or validate my life somehow. god exists because he does.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 16 by Tusko, posted 10-15-2004 7:49 AM Tusko has not replied

  
arachnophilia
Member (Idle past 1373 days)
Posts: 9069
From: god's waiting room
Joined: 05-21-2004


Message 40 of 75 (150250)
10-15-2004 11:12 PM
Reply to: Message 31 by Taqless
10-15-2004 9:22 PM


off topic
Your point about idolatry brings to mind a question I've had for a very long time. Why do catholics elaborately, spectacularly, and consistently make and pray to "graven images"?? As with most things christian I have the cynical pov that they have rationalized it in some way, but somehow I've not heard what it is. Do you know?
the roman catholic church original made images as a form of education: bibles were just as rare as the people who could have read them. people needed pictures, icons.
they do not actually worship the icons as deities. but then again, neither did any of the people the bible calls idolatrous. the golden calf, for instance, is nor more an idol than the cherubim on the ark of covenant. nobody in the middle east at that time worshipped idols, although some USED them in worship or offering much like the catholic church.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 31 by Taqless, posted 10-15-2004 9:22 PM Taqless has not replied

  
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