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I think they are like a map, garmon or GPS, we continue to not find our way so stories, avatars or technology are created to provide us the path, to find our way back within.
Pick one, or get out a machete clear the mangroves and find your own path back home.
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The Christian God is a forgiving God. He is so forgiving that an evil man can repent even on his death bed. It does not matter what crime the evil man might have committed during his earthly life. The evil man might kill millions of people. The evil man might have raped women and abused children. The evil man might be the most evil person on earth. Yet, if on his death bed, he repented of his sins and asked Jesus into his life to be his savior, the Christian God will forgive him of all the evil he had done during his life. That is just how forgiving the Christian God can be.
This forgiveness of the Christian God, that is so unlimited in its depth, is a stumbling block for many people. Many people cannot accept the depth of God’s forgiveness. They think that God is unjust to let a truly evil man escape his punishment simply because the evil man repents of his sins at the very last minute. These people think that the evil person ought to be punished for his sins and does not deserve to be forgiven. These views reflect not on the flaws of the Christian God but reflect on the flaws of the people who hold these views.
In Ezekiel 18:21-29, the bible talks about how a wicked man will be forgiven if he turns from his sins and decides to do righteous arts, and the Israelites are not happy with this fact. To them, God is unjust, because He forgives the wicked man. Yet, God refutes the Israelites by saying that it is not God who is unjust, but it is the Israelites that are unjust.
When a person cannot accept that God will forgive a very evil man who repents at the last minute, the person is the one who is at fault. God’s forgiveness has no flaw. God is so forgiving that He will give chances to the most evil of men. The person who finds fault with the forgiveness of God is the one at fault. He or she reveals his or her lack of forgiveness. Perfect forgiveness means being able to accept and forgive even the most evil of men. God is perfectly forgiving, and hence He is able to forgive a repenting evil man. People who criticize God for His perfect forgiveness only reflect their own imperfect forgiveness. Unlike God, such people have a limit to their forgiveness. They are able only to forgive minor sinners, they are not able to forgive major sinners. This flaw in forgiveness from such people is in reality a sin. Therefore, it is no wonder that God questions the justness of such people in Ezekiel 18:21-29.
Knowing that it is a fault to not forgive someone, we as Christians ought to be able to forgive and love the most evil of all men. Knowing that God’s forgiveness is extended to everyone, including even the most evil of men, we as Christians need to change the way in which we perceive sinners. When we see an evil person, we ought to pray for his or her salvation instead of his or her destruction. Sadly, that is not what we are doing today. When we see a Muslim terrorist, we want the terrorist to be brought to justice. We desire the terrorist to die. We yearn for the death of a wicked person more than the salvation of such a person. In this manner, our hearts are not forgiving. We do not see sinners with the eyes of God. We need to repent of our unforgiving hearts and start to see sinners in a forgiving light.
We need to be like Stephen in Acts 7:60, who pray for God not to hold the people who stoned him guilty. Stephen forgave the evil men who stoned him to death. He had a heart of forgiveness for evil people. This heart of forgiveness in Stephen probably led to the conversion of the evil Saul, who would later become the famous Paul.
Saul was an evil man. He persecuted the Christians and he approved the death of Stephen. Yet, this same evil man was forgiven by God, and he repented and became an apostle of great faith. It was this evil man Saul, who later became Paul that God used to bring the gospels to the gentiles, namely us.
Think how great it will be if all the evil men like the dictator leader of North Korea, Osama Bin Laden and all terrorist repented and become like Paul. This will bring more glories, honors and praises to God than their deaths. Therefore, as Christians, we ought to pray for the salvations of all men, including very evil, very undeserving men.
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I never bothered to find out exactly how the Trinity “God” was, shall I say…constructed…
To the Christian it is not a problem to say God consists of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
To them it is one God.
Then I was confronted by Muslim, and realized, to my shock, that Christians have a hard time to explain the Trinity.
Well, I previously summarized the Bible and read the Quran a few times, and I decided to see if there is an easy understandable way to explain the Trinity, and to also find out if the Trinity is false, or really a divine god.
Well, I did my learning and have to test my knowledge with religions that do not believe in the Trinity, to validate my understanding.
This is my main reason why I wanted to join this forum.
To test the idea of a Triune God.
What’s the use if I believe in something, and there might be facts I don’t know about that will destroy these “Facts”.
If anyone wants to ask questions or needs some clarification, I will be happy to have a serious but friendly debate.
(OupaPiet 21/12/2022)
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When compared to the sins of someone like Saddam Hussein, your sins might seem small in your own eyes. You might think to yourself, I am really a nice guy/gal. You might think your life is pretty okay and most likely you will make it to heaven. After all, you never steal, never commit murder and is faithful to your spouse. Dear friend, when a child rapist compares himself or herself to someone like Hitler or Saddam Hussein, he will think of himself as a nice guy. But, is he really nice? Anyone will tell you a child rapist is a horrible man. Yet, compared to someone like Hitler or Saddam Hussein, he will seem a saint in his own eyes.
It is the same for yourself. When you compare your morality with a child rapist, you might think of yourself as a nice guy/gal. But what if you compare yourself with the holiness of God? God, who is perfectly righteous and holy consider telling a lie a terrible sin. Do you ever tell a lie? If you do, that takes away any nice guy/gal image you may think to portray yourself in God’s eyes. God look at you as a bad guy/gal because you tell a lie. That is because compared to your morality, God’s morality is so much higher. God keeps all His promises and never tells a lie. You are a liar and that means, in God’s eyes, you deserve to go to hell. God, who is perfectly just, cannot spare you from hell just like how you, who think you are a nice guy/gal, cannot spare a child rapist from jail and how a child rapist, with still some conscience in himself, cannot spare someone like Saddam Hussein or Hitler from the justice he deserves.
Therefore, even if you never steal or murder or commit adultery, as long as you ever tell a lie or break a promise or disappoint your father/mother, you are heading for hell. You are not going to heaven as you might think. And hell, I tell you, is a terrible place. It is a place of extreme heat and utter thirst. Nothing in your life, no matter how bad it is, can be compared to hell.
So, what can you do to avoid hell? Well, Jesus is the answer. Jesus, the only man on earth who never tell a lie or break a promise or commits any sin, and the only man who deserved to make it to heaven on His own merit, came down to earth 2000 years ago to die for your sins. He chose to die in your place that you might live in what is His place.
However, to avoid hell, you have to make the free choice to accept Jesus as your savior. You need to confess your sins to God, accept that you cannot make it to heaven on your own merit and invite Jesus into your life as your savior.
That way, when God looks at you, He no longer sees your sins but Jesus’ righteousness. Jesus had traded place with you. God cannot punish sin twice. Since He punished your sins by punishing Jesus, He will never punish you. Your sins had been placed on Jesus when He died on the cross for you. When God looks at you now, He sees a holy man/woman, one who deserves to make it to heaven. You have moved from eternal death in hell to eternal life in heaven.
Won’t you accept Jesus into your life before it is too late? If you want to accept Jesus, say out loud and mean it, “Father, I confess I am a sinner. I accept Jesus into my life as my savior. From now on, I will do my best to obey your will in my life. Thank you for sending Jesus to die on the cross for me.” Have you prayed that prayer? If so, congratulation, you are now a perfect man/woman in God’s eyes. Find a good church where the members love Jesus to continue your journey with God.
And I will meet you in heaven one day, my beloved brother/sister-in Christ!
(chongjasmine 7/12/2022)
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https://www.interfaith.org/community/threads/20459/#post-368533
Taking a serious note of such proselytization through deception, allurement, and intimidation, the Court opined that if such religious conversions are not stopped, they may pose a danger to the national security and the fundamental right of the citizens to freedom of religion and conscience.
The Bench instructed the Union government to make its stand clear and file a counter on what steps can be taken by Union and/or others to curb such forced conversion by force, allurement, or fraudulent means. The Court observed in this connection that there may be freedom of religion, but there cannot be freedom of religion by forced conversion.
One of India’s essential rights is the right to practice one’s religion freely. India is a secular nation and each Indian Citizen is thus free to practice and spread his faith peacefully. This indicates that changing one’s religion due to personal conviction, marriage, or divorce is acceptable in India so long as the decision is made voluntarily and without the use of pressure or force.
It is also worthwhile to note here that, in a case, Rev Stanislaus vs Madhya Pradesh, 1977 SCR (2) 611, the Supreme Court of India had considered the issue whether the fundamental right to practice and propagate religion includes the right to convert.
The Apex Court had then held that the right to propagate does not include the right to convert, and therefore had upheld the constitutional validity of the laws enacted by Madhya Pradesh and Odisha legislatures prohibiting conversion by force, fraud, or allurement.
Supreme Court on forced religious conversion
Taking cognizance of increasing instances of Forced Religious Conversion in the country as pointed out by Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, the Supreme Court on Monday, November 14, 2022 urged the government to act to check it….
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
(Aupmanyav 6/12/2022)
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Are you familiar with the phrase “Spiritual Bypassing”? My understanding is that it refers to using spiritual or religious concepts to justify to oneself and others why one does not acknowledge and confront one’s own shadow side in behavior.
An example from Buddhist circles: Using the concept of the “Emptiness of Phenomena” to justify unethical behavior.
I think it happens to a majority of people. I myself am certainly no exception.
What are your thoughts on this? Is it useful to engage the spiritual fallacies involved, to talk sense into people? In the Buddhist example above, one could point out that to the Emptiness used for spiritual bypassing is not empty at all, but rather, full of self-justification. What are your experiences with arguing along such lines, in whichever tradition? Do you know other ways to approach this?
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In a recent thread, @Ahanu mentioned having read certain texts of Nietzsche very carefully on the recommendation of a roommate.
Since I only casually read “The Gay Science” and “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”, decades ago, and admittedly for the shock value (I was a believer back then), I would like to have a more in-depth discussion of his work, and learn from those who know his works.
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Around the age of eighteen, my hardcore materialism got its first major dent. A friend showed me a magazine article about Pre-Raphaelite paintings. There was a moment of emotion that was both unique and very at odds with my worldview. I experienced something similar when many years later I discovered the work of Frederic Edwin Church.
Now in old age, I have been making a final attempt to get to grips with poetry. I am beginning to find it there now. Not in the same way, seeing a special painting is a little like an explosion. Poetry is more gentle, something to be savored.
I once read an article about some aspect of quantum physics. The author wrote that what he was trying to describe could only really be understood through the language of mathematics. I sometimes wonder if the same is not true of spirituality and the language of the arts.
Any thoughts?
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