Part 39 of Post Your Tough Questions Regarding Christianity

Some people 'experience' God in a good way. Others 'experience' god telling them to kill someone. It's all in the working of the brain.

 

What you describe is a delusion. Mine is a recollection. And I wasn't religious, neither did I know anything about Christianity. My entire upbringing was non religious. We simply lived by conscience and secular traditions.

 

You may never consciously come into contact with religion but you certainly will have. Your senses pass information to your brain every moment of the day. It is stored in your brain and remains there. Only those pieces of information that are important at the time come to the fore.
If you are driving down the High Street and a child runs out in front of you, your attention is drawn to avoiding the child. The woman in the red dress pushing a pram on the pavement is put to the back of your mind. It may remain there until you see the same or another woman in a similar dress and pushing a pram.
You will have 'come into contact' with religion by various ways but have ignored what you have seen or heard until circumstances present your contact to you. That's why 'forgotten' things come back to mind when some else brings up the subject.

 

Yearsure ok

 

Why would you say that, when you yourself say that there is no God in traditional Christianity and that it is all a hoax. Your error is in assuming the hoax precludes the truth and that there is no God. I didn't remember things spoken of God. I didn't remember concepts. Gods spirit came to me, and I recognized and remembered his spirit, not from anything in this life, but from forever. His spirit isn't of the world or of man or mans traditions, religions, beliefs, philosophies, etc. His spirit is divine.

 

Recognition and memory is a function of the brain. How could you recognize and remember anything from before your brain existed? What else do you remember from 100, 500, 1,000, or 2,000 years ago? Nothing. Because you didn't exist.

 

Then how did I recognize and remember his spirit, though not from anything in the twenty six years that I had lived. God lives and is divine. I tell you of a truth. I wasn't and still am not a religious or mystical person. His spirit filled my heart with divine peace until it overflowed to every molecule of my being. He swept my soul of all obstacles. And I marveled because I had always met my challenges with pride and wrath, which didn't work beyond crystallizing or solidifying my issues, making them worse. But with charity, his spirit swept them away like dust, and I could see far off. Then he filled my mind with light and gave me a vision in answer to a prayer from several days earlier. In remembering him according to his knowing of me, I realized that my true life was in him rather than in myself or in my life alone. Now it is as if there is a new light in my sky, and he is God. So I look to him in all things. His spirit is divine. So much so that baptism is fitting and follows in his grace. It is as normal as receiving a special invitation to a special event. So you get cleaned up, put on your best clothes, and put off all your bad thoughts as a matter of course or priestly order.

 

When I was about 35 I was sure I recalled a previous life.

The brain can play tricks and does. There are those who think they were Alexander the Great. There are those who believe they are the king of Jordan and were deposed and robbed. All kinds of people believe all kinds of things and you don't have any evidence for what you claim. If God exists and he is "no respecter of persons" then why hasn't he revealed himself to more if not all people?

 

I understand what you are saying. Not to be petty or understate your likening of my experience to something other. But I didn't recollect a former life. I was allowed by the spirit of God by the magnitude of its influence, to remember his spirit. And by receiving his spirit, I am edified. But I am still me. Only now I know that God lives and is holy, yet I am not holy or divine. I still have my same life and problems in this world. But now I can look to God to live, rather than to myself, to the world, or to the traditions and doctrines of men to live.

Why did God give me and not everyone this revelation? I guess because I was ready for it. Everyone is in a different place or stage of growth, as well as having differing dispositions. These are the latter days, and Gods work is advancing within the chaos of the world.

 

There are some Bible verses of humor. Here let me give you one.

We Read in Scripture:

17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”
18 The Jews[a] did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” John 9:17-21 ESV

Footnotes
a. John 9:18 Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time; also verse 22

But seriously though, if you want to be entertained with humor the Holy Bible is really not the book to give you this entertainment.

The Bible is really an answer book for life's problems but it's also more than just an answer book for life's problems, it is also made up of beautiful poetry, exciting adventures, inspiring stories, convicting messages and the hope giving life story of Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible as you may already know is actually sixty-six books rolled into one. So it's many books with one message. And that message is God makes it clear that He loves us and has a plan to save us from the destructive power of sin.

We Read in Scripture:

16 "For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 NLT

Ok thanks bt the great for your post.

 

I have books of beautiful poetry written by many poets down the years Bible poetry is found in the OT. There are many exciting adventures - mostly in the OT. There are many inspiring stories and adventures today - Gladys Aylward. A true story as opposed to fictional stories in the Bible.
The Bible is simply 1 book because Christianity wants it so. The OT/Tanakh stands alone. The NT stands alone. Had not early Christian Gospel writers made Jesus 'divine' he would have remained an anonymous Jewish Preacher.
Nothing in the OT relates to the NT. There are no prophecies about Jesus. He was a Jewish preacher. The Tanakh is about Israel. It's message has been distorted by Christianity.
Just because you want the Bible to be true, Mitt, it doesn't mean it is. You claim it must be because there are 2 bn Christians in the world who believe in it. Do you believe the Qu'ran is true? Its followers will soon outnumber the followers of Christianity? A fact that is sadly true.

 

Holy carp this is raging strawman fallacy and other off the page nonsense. I did not confuse Christ with Jesus .. what the freaken hay are you talking about .. I never even compared the two .. and its the Bible telling us what Jesus is thinking .. another bout of furious made up nonsense in relation to my good name .. I do not frame Jesus as man in one instance and Christ in the other .. what are you freaken talking about ..

The Bible depicts Jesus as a Man The Trinity claims Jesus is a God .. and who the heck do you think the first century reader is.. reading the story for the first time ?? is this concept difficult for you friend .. someone in the first century reading the Gospel of Mark or having it read to them for the first time.

Donut or the hole .. which weighs more than disingenuous oblivion ?

 

The Bible simply tells is what the Gospel writers think Jesus is thinking and what they want him to be thinking. They want him to be their Messiah so they make it so. We really don't know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The Gospels were written by anonymous writers decades later possibly by writers who had never met Jesus, but wrote from secondhand knowledge. Or from minds of men in old age.

 

The "Trinity" does not claim Jesus is a god. And you are not a "first century reader". So I don't know how you think a referral to a first century reader has anything to do with this conversation. But onward to Jesus vs. Christ......

You say you didn't confuse them, and then you said the Trinity claims Jesus is a God. Wrong. The concept of the Trinity, in spite of words and common expression used to characterize it, is about the oneness of "Father, Son (Christ), and Holy Spirit". They are one and a brief experience of resting in one of them will demonstrate what they actually are as ONE to anyone with a little awareness. The problem is that modern Christians, with the rare exception of the Christian Mystic, has never rested in any of them, doesn't know what it means, and considers it to be "New Age blasphemy" out of their ignorance of the Spirit.

So when you say the Trinity claims Jesus is a God, you are confusing Jesus with the Christ. That's "what the freaken hay I'm talking about".

 

Actually, Trev, it is very possible to know the truth of the meaning. The entire bible boils down to about 3 or 4 paragraphs of "strong meat" when it is discerned spiritually. The rest of the bible is for the consumption by the carnal mind of the natural man on the off chance he might realize and awaken.

 

Therein lies the problem. Spiritually means? Describe to me my 'spirit'. As someone who believes in evolution - that my ancient ancestors were from the animal world - when did I receive/evolve my spirit. My concience is not my spirit as that came through my upbringing and learning. 'Strong meat' is simply words in a book written by man. I would guess every religion has a book that contains 'strong meat' for its believers to follow. There certainly is some wisdom in the Bible along with much myth and allegorical stories traded as actual fact. The problem is that we have impossible events and miracles we are asked to believe so that Jesus is the Christ.

 

I'm not talking about "A" spirit or your spirit or my spirit. "Spiritually" means insight beyond the physical, and that can be a reference to the deeper workings of the mind. For example, if I understand myself spiritually, it means I understand and possibly have directly experienced Self as entirely different from this body. It is an experience in mind that brings other insights. But it's not imagination. I have learned how to silence the deepest chatter and churning of the mind. Once you do that you realize ever after, and experience it anytime you like, that the mind normally constantly churns and wells up thoughts from deep within the subconscious. And while sitting in the deep, unspeakable silence that a silent mind brings, Unconditional Love is experienced for the first time. That is a spiritual experience that surpasses any notion of "unconditional love" experienced and referenced by humans and their thoughts and minds. NOTHING you can think of ever having experienced is Unconditional Love. NOTHING! So again, experiencing it in the depths of a completely silent mind where all distractions have ceased, is a unique and spiritual experience. And it doesn't mean that you have a spirit or know what your spirit is. Yet.

So what is a spirit? When your identity as "I, Christ" is realized and you know that has nothing to do with Jesus, you have realized your spirit. It must be a direct, immediate experience for this to be true.

Now, the truth about it is that it can be experienced and it can be very powerful, and it can be and is very convincing. And yet, this realization is the mind's normal but very rare response to specific stresses place upon the mind, usually in prayer or meditation.

Strong meat is a very real thing, by the way. I just gave you some. The usual Christian believes the man, Jesus, was materially and actually "Christ". They see absolutely no difference between Jesus and Christ. To them, Jesus was "the Son of God". Let me clarify: George H.W.Bush was President of the greatest, most powerful, richest nation ever on this earth. He was "President Bush". Does that mean his identity is "President"? No. That was a title bestowed upon him by humans and it conveyed some powers and privileges. But who was he? He was George Bush. He had achieved "Presidency" as Jesus achieved "Christhood". But Jesus was a man who had accomplished something. He achieved Christhood and showed the way for others to follow and become ONE WITH CHRIST (John 17:21-23). And this is "strong meat" and yet not the strongest.

And yet all this is of mind. There is no "spirit" and there is no "God". I went deep enough in "spiritual" experience to reach the point where I became aware of this truth. But there is a deep experience of all this available in mind.

 

No trev, it's not a fact because right now you're expressing your opinion, it is in your opinion that the followers of Islam will soon outnumber the followers of Christianity. Furthermore because at the moment it's your opinion you're expressing and not a fact it cannot be sadly true as you have expressed.

You're getting ahead of yourself trev. But suppose your opinion does come true someday what would it mean?...not a darn thing, I mean it doesn't invalidate the Christian religion.

I know I have never said that just because Christianity has the most followers it must therefore be true or the right religion to follow. Show us the quote trev where I made such a claim...don't bother to look for such a quote of mine because you'll be wasting your time trev since it doesn't exist being that I've made no such claim. It's obviously a misinterpretation of yours...what else is new!...haha!

I have regarded/believed had faith in Christianity as being the true right religion to follow based on convincing factors/reasons that I know I have already expressed/shared on these threads of mine. The first and foremost factor/reason being the virgin birth, the life, the teachings from His ministry, the miracles He performed, His death by crucifixion and His resurrection from the dead of Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ.

Christianity could not exist without the foundations of the Christian faith, the virgin birth of our Lord, His deity, His atonement for sin and His crucifixion and resurrection are all non-negotiable truths.

There is absolutely no other religious figure in the history of mankind that has ever prophesied His own death and resurrection...then accomplished it...not Mohammed, not Buddha, not Confucius ...not any others you could name...none of them...only Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ has accomplished it.

So Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead was the crowning achievement that forever separates Him from any other religious leader who has ever been or will ever live.

No true trev, obviously you are not very well versed in the Holy Bible.

Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ's rise from the dead matters because it fulfilled Bible Prophecy.

We Read in Scripture:

Jesus Predicts His Death

31 Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. Mark 8:31 NLT

This Bible Prophecy is also found in the Old Testament in the Book of Psalms and in the Book of Isaiah.

We Read in Scripture:

10 For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. 11 You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. Psalm 16:10-11 NLT

12 I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels. Isaiah 53:12 NLT

Ok thanks trev for your post.

 

This Bible Prophecy is also found in the Old Testament in the Book of Psalms and in the Book of Isaiah?

That's simply Christian interpretation. There is no reference to Jesus in the OT. Show me where his name is mentioned.
Again. We don't know what Jesus really said. You simply take the Gospels as true.
You say - Christianity could not exist without the foundations of the Christian faith, the virgin birth of our Lord, His deity, His atonement for sin and His crucifixion and resurrection are all non-negotiable truths.
I can show you quite clearly that the Nativity stories are made up. And contradict themselves. And don't ask GotQuestions. They could not even answer my question without showing their lack of knowledge. There's no evidence that Jesus did miracles or rose from the dead. Just words on paper. We know the OT is full of stories which are simply that, stories -sometimes allegories - but not real. The Hebrews were never in Egypt. There was no Abraham through to Moses and the Exodus. Jonah is just a story written much later. How do we know? When Jonah lived the Jews believed that God had no influence outside the borders of Israel. David - according to the story - pleaded with Saul not to force him out of Judah and gods presence. So Jonah would have not had any effect on Nineveh. Nineveh was 600 miles from Judah. 600 miles outside gods influence. When the story was written the Hebrews were in - or had been - in exile. In that exile they realised the god was not limited. So the story was written. If Jonah had been spewed up anywhere if would have been on the Mediterranean coast. The journey to Nineveh would have been a rather long walk of 700 miles of more without supplies and change of clothing. It was/is just a story.
The book of Job is simply a story following the subject of why the righteous suffer. The same subject was discussed centuries earlier by a Mesopotamian - Shubshi-meshre-Shakkan - in Ludlul bēl nēmeqi ("I Will Praise the Lord of Wisdom"). A lot in the Bible is simply taken, or based on - earlier stories.
Believe what you will. You've been well indoctrinated.
Now just show me where Jesus name is mentioned in the OT.

 

His name (Yeshua) was common. The prophecies are in regards to his mission and purpose, not his name. For instance, Isaiah said, "All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."

 

I dare you to read the true interpretation of Isaiah 53 and see the errors Christianity has made in the interpretation due to taking one chapter out of a context which clearly shows that Isaiah is all about Israel. Jews for Judaism | Isaiah 53 - A Jewish Perspective. It's a long article.

In verse 5, the text is translated as ‘But he was wounded FOR our transgressions, he was bruised FOR our iniquities.’ The mistake is that the prefix to the words meaning ‘our transgressions’ and ‘our iniquities’ is the Hebrew letter mem. This is a prepositional prefix meaning ‘from’ and not ‘for.’ A more accurate translation would be, ‘But he was wounded FROM our transgressions, he was bruised FROM our iniquities.’ This means that Isaiah 53 is not talking about a man who died ‘for our sins,’ but rather it is about a man who died ‘BECAUSE of our sins,’ or ‘AS A RESULT of our sins.’ In other words, they died because we sinned against them by murdering them. This, indeed, is the Jewish understanding of Isaiah 53: the nations of the earth will finally understand that the Jews have been right all along, and the sins committed against the Jews by the nations of the earth resulted in the death of countless innocent Jews.

In verse 9, the text is translated as, ‘And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death.’ However, this last word in the Hebrew should be translated as ‘in his deaths,’ because the word appears in the Hebrew in the plural. The text reads, ‘b’mo-taYv.’ The Hebrew letter, Yod, indicated by the capital Y in the transliterated word, indicates the plural, as anyone who knows Hebrew would know. To read, ‘in his death,’ the text would have to read ‘b’moto.’ Since the word ‘b’mo-taYv’ actually means ‘in his deaths,’ then for Jesus to fulfill this verse, he must therefore come back to earth and die at least another time. The Jews, personified as the servant as we shall see below, have fulfilled this verse time and time again, because countless millions have died an undeserved death.

Theres a lot more. Jesus did not fulfil 2 examples given
.
And remember this was written in 2 parts 700 and around 500 years before Jesus by the Hebrews in the Hebrew language. If |I told you that the devil would return in 2824CE would you be worried. It's to far ahead to affect us today. So why would god through Isaiah refer to an event that was not relevant to them or their descendants for centuries to come.

 

Sorry Kodo ... The Trinity doctrine claims Jesus is a God --- "Homoousios" -- one substance with the Father. ==== FULL STOP

"You are not a first century Reader" --- you say .. unaware of the blistering oblivion the statement implies .. to the rational behind looking at the Gospel of Mark .. from the perspective of a first century reader .. to ascertain meaning in the text ..

I have not used the term "Christ" .. never mind confused it with the trinity .. nor understood what on earth this made up definition of Christ is if you would not mind elaborating .. are you saying the three are one in spirit ?

So .. to a first century reader .. Jesus is not depicted as a God .. .. I can go with the divine spark idea that you may or may not be getting at .. little piece of the all-spark .. like transformers.

What ever was bestowed on Jesus by God at his baptism .. it was bestowed on a man .. of 30 ... who then goes through a ritual trial .. where he meets up with a Son of God .. and tester of souls .. chief God on Earth it would seem .. to a 1st century reader .. a motif very familiar to the reader .. God adopting some human .. this human bestowed with powers or gifts .. or receives help from the Patron Goddess/God - but all believe Jesus is a man .. not God The Father .. as Trinity Doctrine says .. Co-Equal - with the Father for Goodness sakes .. not only is Jesus a God .. but his powers are that of the Primordial uncreated one .. according to Trinity Doctrine.

 

No, you don't understand Kode and same with you trev. Both of you need to watch this video that I'm presenting from my favorite Christian Ministry, the one that trev can't stand because they keep in line with what's written in Scripture, whereas trev only presents unbiblical made up material that tries in vain to discredit the Holy Bible but to no avail.



Ok thanks Kode & trev for your posts. Did y'all enjoy the video?

 

Ya think? Can you direct me to a reliable source? I think you're misreading it.

Are you trying to communicate something here? Can you write clearly and in sentences?

Then if you refer to the Trinity, salvation, the Son of God, or oneness with the Father and you don't mention "Christ", you are grossly mistaken.

Regarding the Trinity, the "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" are ONE "IS". They are not three separate entities. They are experienced as one God. This is strong meat. But you aren't ready to digest and assimilate it.

There you go again. If you want to discuss this any further with me then write proper sentences. I can't make reliable sense out of your game.

 

The video is a conglomeration of confused crap.

Let me try just once more.

The bible's actual story is that there is a Christ, and this Christ is not different from God. This one Christ is the True Self of you, me, the beggar, the genius, and Jesus. When a "God-realized" person is aware of his humanity and says "I", he is referring to his humanity which is his "body-mind complex" as I call it. But when he is resting in the awareness of his True Self and says "I", he is referring to the universal Christ.

So, is he the Christ? No, because to ask it that way is to ask if his humanity, his body, his mind, and all that comprises the MAN, is the Christ! CHRIST IS THE CHRIST! And that is who you are, always. But you don't know it. You think you are your body when you say "I got home and 5:30 tonight". And you think you are your mind when you say "I'm worried" or "I think . . . etc". In both cases you don't know your own true identity! So you pretend you are your body or mind. YOU HAVE A BODY AND A MIND! But you are neither!

What I'm saying is that if you understand the bible correctly you will know that this is the real message hiding in it as is presented in The Revelation in the comments about "the morning star". This is strong meat. Rejecting it results from only being ready for milk, like a babe.

This is what Jesus was trying to tell us all, and it's what he secretly taught his disciples.