And for all of that, you never got to know the PERSON behind Christianity. That is why you fail. You think Christianity is a history, something to be studied. Christianity is a relationship with God and a choice to live that love.
Please point to the place where I said that. It is impossible to make a study of Christianity the religion and not put a study of the person "Jesus The Anointed One" (because that's what "christ" means, Interesting to note David was also anointed by a prophet of god, I wonder if they called him Christ David in those days... shall have to look into it). I have read the gospels which spell out his life and he seems to be a truly admirable man. However I do not see him as anything other than a man worthy of respect. He certainly said he was the Son of Man often enough, and said that we were all children of god. I don't once recall him ever referring to himself as Incarnate God. Hell, come to that I don't once ever recall God itself ever referring to itself as god. Gods explaination of itself when asked "Are you adonai(lord)?" was "I shall be as I shall be", a very open ended statement if ever there was one.
In summation I respect Jesus as a moral, principled pacifist, in the same way that I respect Guatma, or Mohandas.
Depends on what "it" you are referring to. If it is the history of Christianity then there is a lot to be studied. A large amount of it can be very disturbing. People do terrible things in the name of God, things God never intended and will not condone. On the other hand, if it refers to the Christian lifestyle then you need to have a relationship with Christ and the life you live will reflect the love shared in that relationship. However, you need know nothing of Christian history to be Christian. The converse holds true as well. You can know everything there is to know about Christian history and not be a Christian.
I'm unsure what, specifically, Granite is referring to, however I refer to the mythologies and the histories, and the law of the Jews. Because That's what Jesus was, a Rabbi of Judaism. If you look at Matthew 5:17-20, he says fairly straight forward that the jewish law is still in place, and the only places where he refutes a single line of it was when he said that you may work on the sabbath and still retain its holiness, and where he stopped people from stoning a woman to death for the crime of adultery. In the latter example he didn't refute the law, but rebuked the people who were going to kill her by asking them if they had sin in their past or life.
The history of the people who claim to follow christianity really doesn't matter. What matters is the dogma set in place before Jesus, and ratified by him.
I didn't find Christ, God found me and placed me in His sons hands.
So God physically picked you up, took you up to heaven (where most scholars believe jesus is), and placed you in gods hands? Metaphors are all very well, but if you're attempting to describe a metaphor, it's best to use solid statements instead of obscuring the issue further.
The history of the Christian church is not important to Christian doctrine. It is frequently full of gross violations of Christian doctrines. The Inquisition leaps to mind. The Bible contains the doctrines that are important to those who love and follow Jesus. When we begin to substitute traditions of history for solid doctrine we get is serious trouble seriously fast.
Oh, I agree completely with you in this instance. Perhaps however you need to make a much more indepth study of the religion you claim to follow however if you want to follow christs law instead of what modern priests teach.
Your concept of the afterlife comes from a work of fiction?
See, this is a classic example of taking a persons words and meaning completely out of context. In that post I was refuting the idea of the classic Fire and Brimstone hell that seemed to be preaching. The Fire and Brimstone hell is very much a zoroastrian belief that was reinstated by a poem by Dante. Sheol is the christian/Jewish hell, and it's a limbo where the soul is purified out of the presense of God in order to enter its presense. I can well imagine that according to Jews the idea of being out of the heaven and love of god would have a timeless and torturous feel to it.
You're right. You would have gotten along well with Hubbard. :think:
Yup. But not because of your understanding of the two of us.
Do you appy that attitude to other areas of life? For example, the rules you follow when driving a car... Do you base that on fiction, as well? For me, red is a passionate color, while green reminds me of nature, so it is soothing... So, when I see red, I want to go, and when I see green, I want to stop and relax.
This attitude works great in life, don't you think? Maybe I'll apply this principle to how I handle my taxes, too!
Ohh, hey, look you go right ahead with that. Maybe you'll see where you're wrong, perhaps in prison, or the afterlife you believe in you'll learn the difference between metaphor and reality.
Granite is an igneous rock that is extremely hard to break down. However even if it is then intense heat can melt it down and reforge it into the rock it once was.
Graphite is brittle and easy to crush between the fingers and as a powder can be used to speed you on your way. Graphite doesn't reform as easily as granite.
I think I can see where you get your names from
