...Of your religion? ...How closely does the preaching and practice match what should be done? I've always been curious about this since there are different approaches to religion, and since false prophets are a reality in many religions.
A good question. As a Gnostic Christian whose theology makes man the supreme being here, my spiritual practice and my physical reality and what I try to practice are identical. Let me give you an overview of it that I hope is as understandable to you as I hope it is. Gnostic Christians are perpetual seekers after God. God here I define as the best laws and rules to live life with. We believe that those laws and rules, as Jesus said, are found in our minds/hearts. I use the following to try to illustrate this notion. A bit of history and then a mindset and method to do what I promote. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR02ciandvg&feature=BFa&list=PLCBF574D The thinking shown below is the Gnostic Christian’s goal as taught by Jesus but know that any belief can be internalized to activate your higher mind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alRNbesfXXw&feature=player_embedded This method and mind set is how you become I am and brethren to Jesus, in the esoteric sense. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdSVl_HOo8Y When you can name your God, I am, and mean yourself, you will begin to know the only God you will ever find. Becoming a God is to become more fully human and a brethren to Jesus. Regards DL
but if there is only one correct interpretation of spiritual reality and many different practices, that means someone out there is probably not only incorrect, but is getting punished for it. Since I am not a divine creature I've always been hesitant to stick to a path, because a religious leader out there claiming that I am wrong.
He is the one that is likely wrong so you should be ignoring him. All he wants is your cash. I know of no one, other than idol worshipers, who have ever suggested that there is only one spiritual path. All idol worshipers believe in the supernatural and are mentally inferior and their theologies should be rejected out of hand. To create a theology based on the supernatural is to ignore reality, logic and reason and such minds should be pitied, not followed. Regards DL
doesn't the bible claim that there is only one spiritual path? doesn't the qu'ran claim that there is only one spiritual path? seems to be its all in the interpretation that provides one's spiritual path which for many is the exclusive one. Sectarian animosity being what it is and all.
Every known religion claims to be the only possible path. I will leave it to you to sort which of the many Gods is the right one. All I can tell you is that if you like the ideas of being homophobic and misogynous the Christianity or Islam is the best that for you. Do not expect moral people to follow you. Regards DL
and each religion has many different paths to that end goal, most can't agree on the path, just the end goal
Not quite. Have you not heard Christians say that Jesus is the way the truth and the light etc., ad infinitum? I have. Regards DL
I don't believe it is particularly close, which is why i focus on how to deal with our incomplete knowledge.
Yes that is annoying. When someone is without the gift of spiritual discernment, it is very difficult to determine which message is correct and IMHO that is especially true for those who are continuously involved in a struggle against religion as a whole and specifically against Christianity.
To a point, sure. But at the end of the day, all who fly the cross and see Jesus as their savior support substitutionary atonement and the notion that it is ok for them to profit from the torture and murder of an innocent man. That is an immoral tenet yet most Christians embrace it. Add in their homophobia and misogyny and you have a vile and immoral creed. Regards DL