Is Christianity too fixated with Salavation?

[Sacredstar]

PS Someone mentioned blaming GOD, I understand there is going to be a lot more of that coming! Big smiles!

Unless humanity begins to take responsibility for what they co-create.

Animals well, l I differ a little in this respect. In our experience with animals we know that they can also change their reality, they also think and have emotions, some like to work, some do not like to compete and some like to have offsprings and partners. This made me think about how they acheive this change in reality....they co-create it like we do.

Love beyond measure

Sacredstar

[Devadatta]

Interesting thread. I agree with wkross up to a point; that is, that we do labour under a legacy of primitive thought when it comes to issues like salvation and life after death. But I wouldn’t be so hard on those pioneering shamen! I don’t think we can dismiss these sorts of non-normal states of consciousness as simple craziness. As Mircea Eliade has pointed out these are really some of the earliest spiritual technologies we know of. The human alienation they address is real enough, even though we now might prefer different practices & conceptual frameworks to address that same alienation.

Here I’m picking up on what Brian said. At the root is the age-old crisis of human consciousness, the coming into the awareness of death and thus our “separation” from God and the flow of life. I think most traditions, one way or another, tell us that this separation is apparent not real. But of course this is easier to understand as a concept than to realize in one’s heart. Hence the huge back catalogue of means to this realization, and the long struggles many of us undergo.

The fact that billions of human beings manage and have managed to live relatively happy & productive lives tells me that there are innumerable ways of getting this message of wholeness across. One might call this a measure of God’s grace. People make the connections, as Luna suggests, even if it’s only through caring for their children or contributing to a just cause. And all these connections I think are emblematic of our essential non-alienation. I think it’s instructive that personal salvation was not much of an issue in the early development of Judaism, with its ethnic rootedness, but did become a big issue with Christianity, which like Stoicism and Epicureanism was a movement built up in the rootless cosmopolitan world of Rome.

Sincerely,
Devadatta

[mee]

"Look! Now is the especially acceptable time. Look! Now is the day of salvation."—2 CORINTHIANS 6:2.

JEHOVAH has set a day of judgment for mankind. (Acts 17:31) If it is to be a day of salvation for us, we need an approved standing with him and his appointed Judge, Jesus Christ. (John 5:22)

[Truth Seeker]

Is Christianity too fixated with Salavation?

In my humble opinion, "yes"!

Am I more saved if I hear the the theory of salvation one billion times vs. one million times?

My church wishes to teach salvation every sunday so it seems.. I get the feeling that there is much more to be known about the word of God than the theory of salvation.. yet we never seem to rise above it.

Begging for the Truth

[BlaznFattyz]

sometimes churches set sunday morning service aside to reach all new comers. you may have heard the message of salvation, but the person coming to your church for the first time may not have. if you already believe and have faith in christ as your saviour, perhaps you want to learn more than what you already know. most churches set aside other times and days for bible study for this reason.

[Jeannot]

Here's an Islamic take on the subject:


"The point is met, for if we preach the Gospel in hope of benefit of any kind, then we are judged by the Gospel. It is as Rabi'a prayed to God, a lesson for us all in seeking God's kingdom with a sight toward reward of any kind.
"Perhaps her most famous saying was that in which she prayed to God that, if she worshiped Him out of fear of Hell, then He should consign her there; and if she worshiped Him hoping for Paradise, then He should exclude her from there; but if she worshiped Him for His own sake alone, then He should not keep His eternal beauty from her." (A Popular Dictionary of Islam; Billing & Sons Ltd; 1992: Page 209)"

[Quahom1]

Originally Posted by foundationist

This topic indirectly arose in another thread - so it would be interesting to see the responses from current and future members.

Is Christianity really too fixated Salvation? If so, why? Is it down to denominationalism, Church power and control, or simply a personal need on an individual level to feel vindicated in their beliefs and actions?

No, Christianity is not too fixated on salvation. Some people are. And one of the problems this brings is that these people by living for the day they enter paradise, totally miss the beauty and lessons of this life. They fail to grow and mature here (as I strongly believe we are meant to do). Some are very naive about the world around them, and that definitely goes counter to what Jesus instructs us to be and to do, namely "be as wise as serpents, and as innocent as doves". Wisdom doesn't come from books. It comes from the school of hard knocks, which means we have to stumble and fall sometimes. Innocence is a gift bestowed on us by trusting in the Lord that He is always with us (not will be), in the now as well as the future.

Being fixated on salvation is also a sin...I bet no one really considered that. Fixating implies obsession, which implies uncertainty, which implies worry, which is a sin. Christ said it once. Once we accept Him, we are saved, end of statement. Everything else then is supposed to become a reflection of that inner confidence over the certainty that God's word does not come back void.

Look, my own dad loves me very much. That doesn't mean that he doesn't get upset when I wreck his car, because I got stupid and careless. But it also doesn't mean that suddenly he is going to kick me out of his house and home.

God is like that. He most likely becomes disappointed when we screw up, but He doesn't hold heaven over our heads, when He's already promised us a place there. What He does expect is that we learn our lessons from such experiences, not repeat them and continue to mature in this life.

my thoughts.

v/r

Q

[lunamoth]

Originally Posted by Quahom1

No, Christianity is not too fixated on salvation. Some people are. And one of the problems this brings is that these people by living for the day they enter paradise, totally miss the beauty and lessons of this life. They fail to grow and mature here (as I strongly believe we are meant to do). Some are very naive about the world around them, and that definitely goes counter to what Jesus instructs us to be and to do, namely "be as wise as serpents, and as innocent as doves". Wisdom doesn't come from books. It comes from the school of hard knocks, which means we have to stumble and fall sometimes. Innocence is a gift bestowed on us by trusting in the Lord that He is always with us (not will be), in the now as well as the future.

Being fixated on salvation is also a sin...I bet no one really considered that. Fixating implies obsession, which implies uncertainty, which implies worry, which is a sin. Christ said it once. Once we accept Him, we are saved, end of statement. Everything else then is supposed to become a reflection of that inner confidence over the certainty that God's word does not come back void.

Look, my own dad loves me very much. That doesn't mean that he doesn't get upset when I wreck his car, because I got stupid and careless. But it also doesn't mean that suddenly he is going to kick me out of his house and home.

God is like that. He most likely becomes disappointed when we screw up, but He doesn't hold heaven over our heads, when He's already promised us a place there. What He does expect is that we learn our lessons from such experiences, not repeat them and continue to mature in this life.

my thoughts.

v/r

Q

Nicely said Q.

luna

[Dor]

Very Nice Q.

Thanks!!