Ask your difficult questions about religion here

Good men will do good things and bad men will do bad things but it takes religion to justify a line like that.

 

What is a soul and how are more and more created?

 

According to the New Testament not everyone sins.

 

Quite the opposite. Paul directly said not one is without sin.

 

In Luke 17:20-21 we have Jesus speaking to Pharisees, -not disciples or believers of any sort, and he says to these Pharisees "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; "nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."
Most assert that the kingdom of God is not within the unbeliever. Can you explain the verse?

And finally, in The Revelation we have:
Rev 2:26-28 "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, . . . I will give him the morning star."
And in Revelation 22:16 we have "I am the . . . bright and morning star."
Question: why not "evening star"? Why "morning star"? What is the significance and meaning?

THESE VERSES ARE THE KEY TO A CORRECT UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE AND ALL ANCIENT AND ENDURING RELIGIONS. BUT YOU PROBABLY WILL NOT FIND ANYONE WHO SO UNDERSTANDS THEM.

 

Please read the fairy tale so that you will know what is in it.

Galatians 2:15 (CEV) = 15 We are Jews by birth and are not sinners like Gentiles.

 

If a Jew, a Catholic and a Muslim enter a bar, which one will be more likely to end up puking the next morning?

 

I know I would. The god I believe in is not a judgemental and vengeful dick head like the one from the Old Testament. The guys who made that god up were obviously trying to control others by using fear for reasons of personal greed.

 

The Moses character was a world-class extortionist and gangster. He forced the people to adhere to his religious scam under penalty of death if they deviated in the smallest matter. He made them fork over their money and their best food to his gang of thieves, the Levites. And he got the Levites a fully paid retirement program while the flunkies had to work to the day they died.

 

What do you think of the American Revolution as it related to this verse?

Romans 13
1 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended.
4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.

 

Romans 3:22-23
There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

 

An interesting quandary since the new government set up as a result of the revolution would then be established by God.

 

he asked you to show where the bible said sell, contract slavery was the usual method to pay off debts

I do, you make a damn good point here.

 

FINALLY! someone who "sees" and understands! So please tell them what the significance of the "morning star" is! What are these verses telling us?

 

I understand what it means however I am not going to argue it and open a can of worms that is outside the platform I argue from. I did grin however when I seen that you posted it and gave you a like because its a good touche' post.

 

Then please provide some sort of hints that show in a covert way that you know why the morning star is mentioned and/or who it is in the phrase "I am the bright and morning star". This can be done without causing any more controversy than we all get anyway.

 

this much only, representative sunrise/sunset
yes its as vague as it gets but its all you will get, the rest you have to add up.

 

Jesus told his disciples after his Resurrection that he wanted them to go out & spread his teachings to the general public. They were to be his first & most important ambassadors after his demise. Yet, the New Testament contains writings by only three of his disciples. All the other books of the NT were written by non-disciples later. We are told 11 of his 12 disciples became his emissaries. What happened to the writings by the other eight disciples? Why aren't they in the NT? I'm sure they were all available to the early Christians as separate writings.

 

I think it is analogous to Lucifer/Prometheus when Adam is given knowledge in the garden of eden he is not ready for it, (as with Prometheus with man and fire) does not have the wisdom/understanding/self awareness of the knowledge that is within him, knowledge of the human condition if you like. Early Gnostic Christians believed that the truth was within ourselves Jesus was to show us the way to discover the wisdom to understand the gift of knowledge that is within us not with an external god. Just my tentative understanding.

 

So who was lying, the guy who wrote Galatians or the one who wrote Romans?

 

Actually early Gnostic Christians believed that we are the truth/reality. In fact, mystics of every religion (Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, etc) believe this and assert the path to REALizing it. There is nothing to change, nothing to become, nothing to seek other than the direct, immediate experience of your True Being as it is because it is unchanged, unchanging, and unchangeable. What changes is not real; what is real does not change. Your True Being exists prior to the arising of any concepts. Apprehending this is being dead to the “I am the body” while alive. This is the essence of all mysticism and gnosticism.

 

Thanks, can you explain the bolded a little better please, what do you mean by concepts?

 

How do theists ignore the aspects of their God that are impossible?

And, how does this impact the books they base it on?

 

Examples?

 

Let us start at the beginning:

Earth created out of thought.
Humans created out of Mud.
No genetic bottle neck from inbreeding of two initial humans..
A flooded Earth and millions of animals on a boat.

That's would be a start, but the list is far more extensive.