Total posts: 8,050
Posted in:
-->
@ethang5
You are missing the point. I don't care about the squabble you guys are having. I am simply trying to untangle a knot.
Take it or leave it. It doesn't matter who is to blame or who is guilty. What matters is that the course is corrected. If that means overlooking offense, that is the right thing to do.
Created:
Posted in:
This topic
Has screwed everything up, everything!
Miscellaneous forum, topic "."
Created:
Anyone ever hear the story of the boy who cried wolf?
A boy was charged with watching the sheep to make sure that wolves wouldn't eat them. If he saw a wolf, he was supposed to yell, "Wolf! Wolf!", which would alert the adults for help.
Well for fun, mischief, boredom, or who knows what the boy decides to cry wolf when there is no wolf. The adults come, and seeing no wolf, they reprimand the boy.
Well, out of fun, mischief, boredom, spite, who knows what the boy decides to cry wolf again when there is no wolf. The adults come, and seeing no wolf, they reprimand the boy.
So every so often, the boy will cry wolf when there is no wolf, and eventually the boy is not taken seriously. One day an actual wolf comes, and when the boy cries, no one comes. Sheep were lost that day.
It might be the case that so much of what you say has been debunked in the mind of the other that they cease to take you seriously when you say something that is real.
And lets not kid ourselves, pointing out that the other side is dishonest doesn't magically undo the dishonesty of the side that is pointing.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ethang5
@3RU7AL
Back and forths like this make everyone involved look bad, whether they instigated it or not. The best thing to do is overlook an offense and not dwell on squabbles that do not advance the discussion. One might have started it, but it takes two to go back and forth going, "It was you!", "No, it was you!", "Nuh uh, you!"
Try instead maybe to describe what you think the other person is saying to the point that they are satisfied with your explanation. Simply working towards that will bring about good discussion that fleshes out the subject. More importantly, it brings people together in understanding.
Love covers a multitude of sins.
Created:
-->
@Deb-8-a-bull
If The Church is the body of Christ, and it is written in scripture of Christ...
"For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven."
Who is Jesus Christ?
What is the church?
The Holy Order of The One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church protects and guards this mystery of salvation for all times.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ethang5
@Harikrish
The religion of the caste system, because Hinduism isn't a single religion, it is a classification of religions. The word "Hinduism" itself was invented outside of India for the purpose of referimg to Indian religion in general.
Created:
-->
@zedvictor4
That is your assumption, that we replace one spiritual delusion with another.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@3RU7AL
I will concede that deism(that is, simple belief in the existence of God or gods) and atheism are not practically different if my assertion that atheists are simply in denial of the gods they worship is taken as true.
And it is an assertion I have been very consistent with.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ethang5
@3RU7AL
I think we can all agree that belief in the existence of God/gods is not the same as lack of belief in God/gods, and even the opposite of outright denial of the existence of God/gods.
Created:
Posted in:
People who mostly interact with others through text tend to show signs that could be interpreted as autism.
It is true, a great deal is lost in communication through text. Going from text to the real world is quite a leap too. Social cues, appropriate emotional affect, text, etc. These are like skills that get better with practice.
Created:
-->
@zedvictor4
If you were to put into practice what you claim is platitudes and cliches, it quite naturally, as I said,
"...cleanses the mind of delusion, grants deeper insight into reality, and makes one a more rational and less superstitious person."
And a great deal of what our faith is intended to do is treat spiritual delusion. The church is a hospital for spiritual delusion.
Created:
-->
@Reece101
Then you can interpret it.
Created:
-->
@Reece101
Purifying one's intentions, motivations, direction of will, and desire towards Absolute Truth naturally cleanses the mind of delusion, grants deeper insight into reality, and makes one a more rational and less superstitious person.
Created:
-->
@Reece101
Well, if I am correct in that you misunderstand the faith, your opinion cannot be an informed one.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@AGnosticAgnostic
Neither Satan nor God require belief. Satan is no opposite to God, they are not equals. If we were to say that Satan and God are opposites, we would be dualists. We Orthodox are not dualists. Satan is a creature of God. God is not a creature.
I am having trouble making sense of what you are saying because it seems to me that you clearly have beliefs, but at the same time you are speaking of belief in such a way as to almost imply that you do not have any.
This dichotomy between belief and knowledge I simply do not accept. They are not mutually exclusive, they are refering to different aspects to something that is similar.
I can't help but be reminded of a historical issue in the church. There was some confusion long ago in the early days of the church over the Greek concepts of "hypostasis", "ousa", and "physis", which do not always translate well but are integral concepts in terms of Christian theology, particularly in the issue of Christology. This confusion is said by some to have been behind one of the earliest schisms of the church, in which a segment did not accept the councel of Chalcedon.
Even in English these terms don't translate well!
As we are a faith of revelation, our practices are intended to bring about that true experiential knowledge or epignosis. Without belief, why even bother? And so the door is shut.
One of the major differences between Orthodox Christian theology and the heterodox Christian theology of Western Europe is that western heterodox theology is very rationalistic while Orthodox theology is very experiential. Ours is a revealed faith, not one that was come to through reason. And being that it is a faith that is revealed, it isn't taught to a person, but it is revealed to a person. In western heterodoxy, a theologian is someone who reads a lot of books and has head "knowledge" or maybe belief as you say. We Orthodox understand a theologian as someone who through theoria has real experiential knowledge.
We Orthodox understand Christianity as apodictic truth, that is, capable of being demonstrated. This is in contrast with Christianity being something that is established through dialectics.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@AGnosticAgnostic
To accept that you have knowledge, wouldn't you first have to believe you are capable of knowledge?
For example, knowing not to believe ones self to be something one is not, is a kind of knowledge absent belief.
This is part of what knowledge of good and evil implies. A fruit of the knowledge of good and evil is to see that truth is good and falsehood is evil. If you know not to embrace delusion, you are able to tell this is wrong.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@AGnosticAgnostic
It takes a believer to believe anything, right?
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@AGnosticAgnostic
So you know that belief is evil?
You really believe that?
Created:
-->
@Reece101
You made a far-flung claim that I disagree with
What claim?
Created:
-->
@Reece101
What do you say is not the case?
Created:
-->
@Reece101
I don't believe you know otherwise.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@HistoryBuff
^See above^
And maybe this is a bit of a tangent, so I will at least reiterate my main issue with socialism. Socialists tend to be very anti-religious, and socialist governments are responsible for killing more Christians in the last century than the last 2000 years combined.
That is a pretty big issue, but besides that, I have spent enough time with the people who organize the socialists here in America to recognize that this is a group that believes the end justifies the means. They don't believe in playing fairly. In fact, a lot of them sincerely believe that the only way to bring about socialism is to play unfairly, because the system itself is what is unfair, and that is what is being fought against. I can not condone this.
I have other issues too, but since you do not see socialism as a means to communism(which even on paper seems ridiculous to me, as state enforced anarchy doesn't make any sense), I don't think I know what you think socialism is.
Created:
Posted in:
Based on your answers, i'm guessing you think that a religious authority should tell you what is moral or immoral. I would strongly disagree with that
You don't really understand how we see morality. It really isn't about simply obeying some arbitrary list of the dos and don'ts agreed on by the church. In fact, we are actually not very legalistic. Of course, if you don't get the spirit of the faith, or what is really about, it stands to reason that the outward practice of what we consider morality would appear arbitrary to you. After all, it seems that you already have a somewhat arbitrary understanding of morality that is more culture based. Morality is very different to us.
Many would argue that you are the schismatic. You are certainly a much smaller group than the Catholics.
We would say that ours is The Catholic Church. In fact, the official name of the church is The Orthodox Catholic Church. I know you are speaking of Roman Catholicism.
Historically Orthodox lands have been in nearly a constant state of persecution, which puts kind of a hamper of missionary work. Western European countries also have access to the sea, if you hadn't noticed.
But it was the Roman patriarch that defied the councils of the church, but besides that you tell me what just even on a superficial surface level makes sense... that 4 patriarchs or "popes" of the church rebelled against the one, or that the one rebelled against the church?
Never has the church ever accepted that there was a supreme earthly head of the church. In fact, historically speaking Rome only had jurisdictional authority in Western Europe, mainly in Italy where afterwords that authority was extended further. Rome has been seperated from the church for over a thousand years, and protestants didn't rebel against Rome until nearly 500 years after that.
The Orthodox Catholic Church is the very church founded by Jesus with an unbroken succession of bishops leading back to the apostles, and it is the historical One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Since the schism, Rome has only further deviated from Orthodoxy. Protestantism, though a reaction against the corrupt and schismatic church of Rome, never found its way back to the church. Orthodoxy was very isolated from the west at that time as The Ottoman Empire. Protestant/Evangelical Christianity is not unified, and just about every theological error that was sorted through in the early church will find itself represented in protestant/evangelical land.
That all said, we are taught to love everyone, even those who believe different or persecute us. We don't believe in persecuting heretics or excercising any secular authority for that matter, and as such we don't believe in crusades or "holy wars". We believe very strongly that the church must maintain its distinctness from secular authorities.
I have faith that my computer will work. I have faith that my wife loves me. That doesn't mean that those are religions. Scientists believe in a best practice of their profession, like all professionals should. It is not a religion. You are watering down the definition of religion so much that almost anything could be a religion. If you do that then word loses all meaning.
The definition I used comes from the Merriam-webster collegiate dictionary, a very well respected academic dictionary. I did not make it up. I believe it is accurate.
Does the word lose its meaning? Not at all, but you are still using the word incorrectly. I wouldn't say you believing your wife loves you or that your computer will work is faith. Faith is not the same thing as belief. Faith requires action, else it is dead faith and not faith at all.
A lot of this confusion about faith simply meaning intellectual assent come from arguments in the west after it had been broken away from Orthodoxy. Martin Luther in particular added much to this confusion due to his "Justification by faith" theology, which really just meant belief the way he used it. Protestantism as a result sometimes borders on antinomianism or lawlessness as a result, and protestant scholasticism is what gave birth to modern secularism.
The Orthodox Church has never had this debate because we are not a church with amnesia. We teach the same gospel that was taught since the beginning by the apostles. That faith is a walk.
And pointing out how the word "faith" has been corrupted to mean something that confuses what we teach, there are many more examples of concepts that have been altered over time to make what we teach unintelligible.
If I told you what it was all about, you probably wouldn't believe me because it likely contradicts every understanding you have of the subject.
Created:
-->
@Reece101
I'm afraid that comes from a misunderstanding of what the faith is. It is a false dichotomy to put us at odds with science because our discipline makes more effective scientists, and the church has a therepeutic method that weeds out delusion better than what passes for mental health care these days.
Created:
Posted in:
Lots of things change. The nature of humans and their morality does not. What things we consider moral and immoral have always changed over time.
I can at least agree that people have somewhat of a common experience throughout the ages. I don't likely understand morality the way you do.
That's like saying I am white so i know white history better than you. It is ridiculous. Just because you belong to a group does not mean you know the history of that group. It also often means that your interpretation of the history of that group is biased and inaccurate.
Well, church history is a great deal more important to us. Protestants don't care about church history at all, and Roman Catholics tend to focus on their history after the schism, because they are certainly on the wrong end of that issue.
But besides that, I read an awful lot, and I am familiar enough with church history. You on the other hand do not even know the church, as you identify schismatics with it. If you take them as being representative of the church when they don't even belong to the church, then you are pretty much saying self declaration is proof of identity.
There you are wrong. a good scientist has faith in themselves and their practices. They do not have faith in an outside force.
A good scientist is faithful to the scientific method. Is someone who claims to be a scientist who disregsrds the scientific method even a scientist? Of course they aren't.
Created:
Posted in:
Nah, put religion at the bottom. It is by far the most humbled forum as it is. Who actually holds the subject matter with reverence? No, it is a big joke to everyone, and is it any surprise that people post there as a joke?
Polemics are boring, and very rarely does it serve any other purpose than to make oneself feel satisfied. Unfortunately, you get a lot of that.
It is what it is.
It is the most important subject though, because it has more to do with how you live your life rather than say, whatever vain imagining you think sounds convincing in the case of philosophy or how other people live their lives as in the case of politics.
Created:
-->
@Reece101
Where does that lead you?
Created:
-->
@Reece101
Then you are not talking about my God. I call The Ultimate Reality God.
Created:
Posted in:
But nothing has changed. It is the same as it always was. so your previous point about society falling apart is wrong.
Societies come and go, rise and fall. It is no strange thing. It is strange to say that nothing has changed when even now we live in times of great change.
You might know the doctrine better, but apparently you know very little of the history
I am an Orthodox Christian, which means there is a pretty good chance I know church history better than anyone you have ever met.
That would make many things a religion. Nationalism, democracy, political parties, conservatism, liberalism etc. If you want to tell me you adhere to multiple religions then I would just see that as odd. But i'm pretty sure your faith has some nasty things to say about false idols. So you probably would limit it to only things you want to believe should be seen as a religion.
Sure, these things can be religions if they are heald to with ardor and faith. It would really have to be a way of life. At least, that is how we understand faith, that it is not mere intellectual assent but a living out. An experience.
For example, a good scientist is adhering to the scientific method with ardor and faith. It is not simply believing that adherence to the scientific method will lead to accurate conclusions but the putting it into practice. Someone who simply believes what scientists write about their findings is not a scientist.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@HistoryBuff
This sentiment could describe literally any point in human history. You think Henry the 8th didn't put lust before reality? Or the Popes who had multiple children. The list can go on and on forever. Governments have always been corrupt. People have always been lustful. Nothing has changed.
Yes, and idolatry, which is what I am talking about, is just as wrong now as it was then.
what 2nd rate spy novel did you get that idea from?
I just put with that post an interview with a real former KGB agent who defected. You might find confirmation there.
do you actually believe that? Do you know many wars Christians have fought to force their religion onto others? They have killed 10's if not 100's of millions of people to force their version of Christianity on others. The history of Christianity is soaked in blood.
Yes, I am quite certain I know my own faith better than you.
You can be comforted to know that The Church is not intended to be a secular state.
Socialism is not a religion.
Merriam-Webster contains a definition of "religion" that reads...
"a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith."
Given that definition, socialism could certainly be classified as a religion.
Created:
Posted in:
This is just patently untrue. Enforcing the law is only a small part of what the government does
I agree that government does more than enforce law. However, it is no strange thing that when the governed become ungovernable, and nothing can get done, even what seems urgent, political violence can even gain popular support.
This kind of argument always makes me laugh because it shows people really don't understand human nature or our history. Humans have always had lust, they have always had passion. The idea that having sex is somehow new or unusual is ridiculous. It has never lead to the collapse of society before, and it won't now. Humans have not become less moral. We have just modernized what is moral and immoral.
Lust and passion covers a great deal more ground than the sexual variety. The point is that people place the objects of their lust and passion before reality, and when you have a population that has given itself over to willful defiance of reality, it is natural that both society and the government it chooses to represent it will be corrupt.
What are you even talking about? America completely rejected socialism because of irrational fear spread by the cold war. Now that we are a generation or 2 past the cold war young people don't have the irrational fears that older generations do. There is no KGB plot, people have simply moved past your prejudices.
Are you actually defending the Soviet Union?
It really isn't an irrational fear. I am not talking about fairy tales, most of the type of work the KGB did involved planting ideas that would grow and cause multi-generational change in the country. Yes, the work that the KGB was a remarkable success, even KGB defectors in the 1980s seemed to think so..
This is a very informative interview thst is worth watching. A good chunk of it has to do with who the one being interviewed is, but after that is established the really interesting stuff begins, and you'd have to be completely blind if you can't see what he is talking about after hearing.
You do know that democratic socialism and communism are not remotely alike, right? No one is advocating for a totalitarian government. This is a ridiculous fear driven by your cold war prejudices.
Socialism is the transitory state on the way to communism in marxist ideology.
Of course you don't want a totalitarian government. Who does? But I am not simply talking blind prejudice. The Soviet Union created more martyrs of the faith in its short existence than all of history combined. It was a genocide several times more deadly than even the holocaust. Would you tell a Jew that they are operating under ridiculous fear and prejudice for being distrustful of Nazis?
I don't think there is anything ridiculous about this at all, especially when even to this day the Chinese government oppresses my people.
Socialism is what is best for everyone, regardless of religion or ethnicity. To people who are used to religion dominating politics and society I can see why they might see this as intolerance because you like the idea of your religion being forced onto people. To people who don't want their lives dominated by a religious group, this is freedom.
The Church is actually very against forcing religion on people as we see free will as part of what it means to be made in the image of God. This belief, which by the way secures human dignity in a way that communism can never, makes coercion very taboo in the church. We are fairly diverse politically too. The Church has taught for thousands of years now that abortion is evil, and we still stand by that. Child sacrifice has no place in a civilized society.
Socialism IS a religion, and it is a religion that can not coexist with the church, because the church is hierarchical, and socialism/communism very much has to do with tearing down of all forms of hierarchy.
Communism/socialism is an atheistic religion. A modern recapitulation of the type of state worship you would find in ancient Egypt, Babylon, The Roman Empire, etc. It is nothing new.
So though you aren't aware of it, a communist government is actually more close to the type of theocracy that you likely would be against than what I would ever suggest as a government.
One thing the so called "communist" countries all have in common is that they tend to call themselves socialist. They also tend to call themselves republics or democracies.
Though you do not believe me, and yes, I do understand, it is ok... socialism is attractive precisely because of how it is marketed. It sounds nice! It manages a double wammy of simultaneously appealing to both people's sense of compassion and their sense of greed. It really is a big scam though. It doesn't work. It also doesn't allow for people like me to exist.
Created:
-->
@RationalMadman
I get the impression that the tao te ching teaches that it is good to abide in The Way.
There are actually many forms of deism, as it simply means belief in a God, a god, gods, etc. It came to have this more modern meaning in more recent times when some took it to say they believe in God's existence, but they don't identify with a particular religion or tradition.
Deism and taoism are different in that deism doesn't necessarily imply anything other than belief in deity or deities, where I would say that taoism speaks of The Tao in particular.
Created:
-->
@RationalMadman
I think it depends on what you mean by taoism.
I think it also depends on what you mean by deism.
Deism is literally just the Latin equivalent of the Greek "Theism".
I don't know much about Taoism. I have read the Tao te Ching several times in many different translations. Tao means "The Way", and sure enough it is described much in the same terms that we would describe God, who we also call "The Way". In fact, before Christians went by that name, we simply said we followed The Way.
I like the tao te ching.
But to bring it home, yes, if you take Deism as being a belief in the existence of God, I would say that the tao te ching certainly is describing God when it speaks of The Tao.
Created:
Posted in:
Wicked people need a totalitarian government to put the fear of God in them.
Good people don't need a lot of government.
The problem is not a governmental one so much as a moral one. The people have given over to every kind lust, passion, and debasement. If left unchecked and there isn't society wide revulsion that reverses course, this trend leads to the dissolution of every type of order that maintains a healthy society.
The problem is governmental though because who has to run things in this environment? When softer methods do not work, extreme measures are taken. Often with the consent of enough of the governed, who unknowingly pass condemnation onto themselves.
We are now several generations deep into a KGB plot that started a long time ago. That is why many young Americans embrace socialism. It is how they are educated, both in formal education settings and in the culture they consume.
Whhat does it mean to me? I unfortunately can't help but think of the thousands of bishops, priests, and monastics that were killed and tortured under soviet domination. I can't help but think of the the 20-50 million martyrs who were mercilessly cut down like a disease. I can't help but think of even people I know who were locked up to be tortured and forgotten.
I can't help but believe socialism is very intolerant towards the church.
Created:
-->
@Reece101
There is an ultimate reality, and you don’t know it. None of us do.
"The perfect mind is the one that through genuine faith knows in supreme ignorance the supremely unknowable, and gazing on the universe of his handiwork has received from God comprehensive knowledge of His providence and judgement in it, as far as allowable to men." ~Saint Maximus the confessor.
We know that The Ultimate Reality exists, as you can even say. So we have the existence of God as common ground at least.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@3RU7AL
I am making no claim regarding opinion, only what I know to be true. Namely that...
That nothing exists apart from The Truth. That The Truth is eternal and unchanging, that before the world or worlds there was The Truth, and that The Truth is God.
The God of Truth is with us, incarnate in the world.
That in entering the world, The Truth became death, for the nature of all temporal reality is that the present state requires the death of the prior state to exist. The nature of created things is that they are contingent realities that exist in relation to each other.
That it is the sacrifice of The Truth that allows all things to exist, for it is unreality that defines creation. Any reality other than God, The Ultimate Reality cannot be reality in its entirety. It would not ultimately be real, but instead a created thing.
Though The Incarnate Truth died in order to give life to the world before its foundation, the incarnate truth is still alive with us today, having risen up from the deepest death, filling all things and reconciling all of existence back to divinity.
What am I really saying?
We know the God we worship, and we know we have found the true faith. We worship The Undivided Trinity, for this is our salvation. It is not opinion, but a mystery hidden since the foundation of the world, and revealed to those to whom God has illuminated.
Created:
Posted in:
I don't believe that atheism and religion are mutually exclusive. Even the most extreme form of nihilism has a religiosity to it. You could certainly discern religion in the so called "scientific atheist" states such the Soviet Union.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Harikrish
Jesus Christ said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God."
The noble eightfold path is really a guideline for heart purification, and not dissimilar from historical Christian ascetic discipline.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Swagnarok
I would like to point out that Jesus was referencing a certain psalm when he said "my God, my God, why have you forsaken me".
If you read/hear the entire psalm, it becomes a lot clearer why Jesus felt the need to reference it.
[[To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.]]
"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.
I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.
Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.
Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.
For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
For the kingdom is the LORD'S: and he is the governor among the nations.
All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this."
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@3RU7AL
"The perfect mind is the one that through genuine faith knows in supreme ignorance the supremely unknowable, and gazing on the universe of his handiwork has received from God comprehensive knowledge of His providence and judgement in it, as far as allowable to men." ~Saint Maximus the confessor.
Created:
Posted in:
Studying the interaction between this forum and the moderation might shed light into the insanity of politics.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@zedvictor4
The Ology
Not just any field of study, THE field of study.
The Ism
We are talking about The IS. The Ultimate Reality.
Theology is not a "were" or something past to the orthodox. Doctrine cannot be understood unless it is prayed. A 4th century Egyptian monk named Evagrius of Pontus said,
"If you are a theologian, you will pray truly. And if you pray truly, you are a theologian."
And though this was said a very long time ago, it is just as true today as it was then, for the God we know is a God of the living.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Harikrish
Harikrish, even in a topic about what is supposed to be your faith, you still can't avoid bashing Christianity. Does anyone actually believe you are a biblical scholar? I don't think anybody here respects your self declarations.
Harikrish, if I don't believe you understand my faith, how do you expect to persuade me? Do you really think anyone else is going to find you convincing? I tell you, you only speak to those who will likely agree with anything anti-Christian.
But this topic is about Hinduism, not Christianity. I say that Hinduism is not actually a single religion but many different religions with a common heritage. Is that really so controversial? If I am in err, surely you being a Hindu could better explain and point out my misconception.
Created:
Down with the soviet!
Created:
Posted in:
A vote for anarchy is a vote for fire, and when fire takes office the office burns!
Mwuhahahaha!
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@AGnosticAgnostic
It is not necessary to believe in Satan to be deceived. You can be deceived without believing in Satan.
Knowledge of infinity requires a counterpart, because that is how creation works. In creation objects are created by relations. For the human mind to make sense of anything, it needs something else to compare it to. Knowledge, belief, or anything apprehended by the mind is creation.
That being the case, God is greater than knowledge, because God is not a contingent or relativistic reality, but the singular Ultimate Reality.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@AGnosticAgnostic
Belief is an object, hence it is idol worship. Faith is the binding agency. Jesus is an idol worshiped by idol worshipers.
You certainly have beliefs yourself. Are you an idol worshipper?
You do not really know the Jesus we know. You know a different Jesus.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@AGnosticAgnostic
believ(ing) to know good and evil, it is satanic.
If that was the case, the scriptures would not say to seek wisdom, and discernment would not be a gift of the spirit.
Created:
-->
@Deb-8-a-bull
I am 100% certain that reality as it truly is exists.
Doesn't sound so outrageous when it is worded like that, huh?
The Ultimate Reality is God.
Created: