Holy bible discussions

private beliefs held by a few spread, and naturally the repeated actions of these groups, such as meetings or communal prayers, become rituals.

Overtime, these rituals are seen as inseparable to the beliefs that originally led to the rituals taking place. People then believe that they must perform these ritual actions if they are to be a true believer in the doctrine.

It's fairly easy to understand how an organised religion can occur in the way Christianity has,it's simply the scale upon which it occurred that makes it so hard to understand.

Also;

'And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.' - Matthew 16:18

Matthew 16:13-20

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He questioned His disciples: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Then He admonished the disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ.

I know some people will criticize the creation account in Genesis because it shows that God created light before he actually created days. But the account matches up perfectly with the Big Bang timeline, with light from the inflation and then a dark period before stars first appeared.

We are not limited to saying that every story in the bible is either literal history or poetic fictions. They could instead be nonliteral accounts of actual historical events. Think about how a parent might explain to his child that babies "come from a seed daddies give to mommys that grow inside the mommys tummy." That's a true explanation, but it shouldn't be taken literally since it was accommodated for a childs level of understanding. Likewise, the stories in Genesis are true but consist of nonliteral language that comes down (or condescends) to the level of understanding found in the audience that first heard these stories.

>shows that God created light before he actually created days
That's an inane claim. He didn't "create days". Time already was, "in the *beginning*".

I agree with the rest of your post, btw.

I slightly misstated. Instead of "days" I should have said "sun." The idea is how could there be light before the sun was created? It's a very old criticism that goes back to Celsus and Origen.

..
>The idea is how could there be light before the sun was created?
That's even more inane. I don't care how old the idea is, it showcases the kind of primitive thinking most "critics" of Genesis frequently exhibit. Also reminds me of the """inconsistency""" of two separate accounts for the creation of Man.
The concept of God we're discussing is a being who created time, space and matter - all three of which our understanding of existence is largely contained within - of nothing but his own will.
"And God said, Let there be light" is the creation of the very concept of light. The creation of heavenly bodies that emit it is irrelevant.

Don't the Greeks have the same problem? If I recall correctly, Hyperion (the sun) is son of Gaea and Ouranos but before that Day, as well as luminous Aether, had existed for some time. How was Aether luminous? Or am I mixing things up? I should brush up on my Greek mythology.

He was Roman so he was assigned to Tartarus. Hell is mostly for Catholics.

in Lucas gospel there is story about Lazarus, leper who died before gate of rich man, and rich man also died. Then rich man says to Lazarus soomething like that "Wet your finger in river and wet my tongue because i suffer in eternal flame."

Only God knows.

Why it is written that satan possesed Judas, if it was all in plan that he will betray him and Jesus will die. So it came from God? Why from satan?

Satan came from God and is an instrument of God's justice.

Quality post

I want to believe in God. I did as a kid. But then I became cynical and arrogant, thinking that there was nothing after death, no meaning in spirituality and that I was my own god. Basically, I want to recover that faith.

coward weakling

>hell

I would imagine someone who has chosen too look away from Spirit, to identify with meat, to spend his entire life encased in Ego, and on the treadmill of Object acquisition is going to have a bad time after Death regardless. The process by which his essence is stripped of these things, for any subsequent purpose or destination, must be gruesome. Ideally, for someone who has denounced this world, it would be no more painful than, say, being undressed. But for the "life-affirming" I would imagine it is like being sawed in half lengthwise on every level. The most basal fiber of their being is bound to this world, and must be cut loose. I trust most of you know how pain stretches time. Of all measures of time from all vantage points, the longest by far is reserved for this process. So much so that it could easily qualify as a temporal infinity in Hell. Doubly so when you consider it is the experience of pain itself, not the qualia of burning or the feeling of abandonment, but the highest Platonic Form of Pain. I would also imagine that somewhere along the line the Spirit would begin to separate from the husk of worldly delusions enough that one's perception of one's self would split in half, the former finally coming to one's attention and, through its eyes, the latter is finally realized as evil as its being hollowed out. So true awareness of one's sin and true atonement occur in the agony.

I believe this is a sound model of Hell. No Spirit teleports to the Gates, no Spirit is abandoned, everyone goes through a purgatorial process directly proportional to their transgressions, that Meister Eckhart quote puts it perfectly.

Should God actually require a proper ATEMPORAL eternity in Hell where both one's worldly husk and Divine Spirit suffer forever...well, I think this is akin to "God" revealing the Eschatological blueprint where all the misery, worldly or otherwise, is integral and intentional - this is the work of the Deus Deceptor, Demiurge, or Satan. In any case, damning it and its offer of "Heaven", if there is any, is our Moral obligation.

I like you.

so who did you read to pilfer this style, my plunderphonic friend? and how long did you study them?

I want help. Reprimand me if you want, but I need help.

In case this is a serious question:

Though I have read a number of assorted texts on the matter, I believe true realization, as in more than just an internally consistent abstract model, comes from within. If you want these things to be more than just information you accumulate, like geography, you have to knock on a bigger door.

Read The Master and Margarita

What are you looking for a way to trick yourself into believing? That's stupid because even if you were to succeed it wouldn't last long. Are you familiar with the axiom "you can't reason a person out of a position they didn't reason themselves into?" Well it works the opposite way too. If you use stupid reasons to hold a position it'll only take stupid reasons to abandon it. To have a real genuine belief in God you need to build a solid foundation based on reason or else its meaningless. Start by putting in the work and examine the classical arguments for theism.

There's the whole metaphor and destroying and rebuilding the temple.

Read the Old Law and New Law chapter of Aquinas

Judas let Satan possess him, just as Eve allowed herself to be deceived by the Serpent.

His ways are inscrutable, but it's still easy enough to see how our free will is compatible with His foreknowledge.

youtube.com/watch?v=qTmdj9Bcqno

By the way, Cloud of Unknowing audiobook is on youtube. Get it before it's reported.

>public domain
Why would it get reported?

I wasn't looking for an easy way to believe if that's what you think. If it needs years or I believe until I'm on my deathbed, so be it. I just want help. Thank you.

His wife is a good person isn't it ? And men can be save by their women according to Paul, so not in hell.