In this series, I hope to explore with you some of the most important questions we'll ever ask. No matter what beliefs or lack of beliefs you currently hold, I invite you to join me in these series of posts for a share of all SBD earned to be split between all active participants throughout the series.
Is there more to life than this?
This series is designed for anyone who have wondered about any of the following:
- Is there a God?
- What is the purpose of life?
- Why is there so much suffering in the world?
- Is there more to life than this?
If you've ever wanted to ask these deeper questions of life in a non-judgemental environment, and receive intellectual, evidence-based answers to life's tough questions, then I invite you to follow me in this series of posts.
How to participate and receive a share of all SBDs earned from this series of posts
To receive a share of all the liquid rewards from this series of posts, you will need to watch the video each week, and comment with the following:
- Something that stood out for you from the video (such as a question or observation), and
- respond to the discussion question
- Engage with other group participants.
Please watch the video from Week 1 below
This week's question is: If you could ask God any question and you knew you would receive an answer, what would you ask?
If you would like to participate in this online Alpha Course, please:
- let me know you would like to participate,
- briefly introduce yourself,
- comment on this week's video, and
- answer the above question.
Rewards from the posts will be shared at the end of the Course among those who participate each week.
If you are already a Christian, I ask that you kindly leave this opportunity to those who are still seeking. But you are welcome to respectfully engage in the conversations, and share your stories and experiences.
This is meant to be a respectful and open group, where all questions and views are welcome, and where we intend to explore these deeper questions of life without any fear of being judged. So please try your best to be respectful. Otherwise, you will be flagged and asked to leave.
The Alpha Course is held all over the world. If you enjoyed this video and would like to attend an Alpha Course in person, you can go here to find out more.
Alpha Course是一个我在英文区开始的系列。希望中文区的朋友们也能够来参加。
在这个系列中，我们将会一起探讨一些关于人生的大问题； 比如生命的意义是什么？
这系列收到的所有SBD将会与每个参与者一起分享。
Follow me @nextgen622 for the next installment in the Alpha Course series
Hello @nextgen622!
I would really love to participate as the subject is of real interest to me and I do have some big life questions that I am still looking for answers!
I am from Mauritius and i am 34 years old , married and have 1 daughter of 3 yrs old.
About the video, i was really surprised with the number of hours we are really living if we live up to 70 years...wow most of our time we are either sleeping, eating, travelling, watching tv and now on the net also...and only about 570000 hours left to live, now if we take out the time when we are still baby till we grow , that's really little time indeed!
The one question that I would ask god is this : In all the religious books, be it The Bible, The Torah or The Quran, whenever some tribes were making bad and going against god will, they were striked down by god. It is written that many civilization were exterminated with either some plague, or floods, fire etc...There were always some miracles happening. But where are these miracles nowadays? Why we no more see god coming to rescue all these people who are suffering in so many parts of the world? Did miracles only happened before and not anymore?
That would certainly be my question.
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Good question.
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It is a very good question and if you read the answers you will see I gave a very honest answer and the "person" who is hosting this entire thing didn't give ANY answer whatsoever except for "Yes keep up voting our posts and stay tuned" hahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
NEED I SAY MORE?
No the truth is self evident.
Blessings to all~*~
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I've just checked your answer mate, full of honesty as usual. You are right about the 'answers' , i am sure there is no one who will be able to give answers to all the questions that we have. They will all avoid and change subject.
Respect bro!
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I dont pretend to have all the answers. However I know how to question and research and critically think for my self. I don't live stuck in dogma and by the rules of teachers.
I have liberated advise if nothing else.
Thanks for the reply.
Blessings~*~
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Hi again mate, sorry I haven't been able to respond to your comment until now. And I'm unable to adequately address your question in a few words. I've had to rush through some answers and have missed many comments due to the volume of comments. It takes a long time to respond in some circumstances, and also taking care of two young children and work occupy a lot of the time. The below is mostly copied from my response to @quinneaker
I'm definitely not doing these posts for money. If it was for the votes and money, then there are a lot more topics that would be much easier to talk about.
With relation to the question of suffering, I didn't want to answer it now, because of the following reasons:
But since I'm here now, I'll briefly answer to the best I can, but it's not going to be satisfactory when suffering is involved. OK, so here goes:
One of the reasons there is so much suffering in the world, wars, child trafficking, rape etc. is that God gives people free will, and all these horrible things are usually a result of evil choices that people made.
You also made reference to tribes being wiped out because their evil had reached a certain point and they were going against God's ways. Yes, that was true in the past where in some situations the evil people did were piling up and out of control. Some people ask why does God wipe out and destroy all these tribes? And others that ask why are there so much suffering in the world? Regardless of whether God intervenes and punishes tribes when the evil gets out of hand, or allows them to go on with their free will choices, there are always going to be people who go on questioning and are unsatisfied, often due to their own experiences of the world.
Anyway, hope you will be able to stick with us throughout the series and continue to contribute great questions/observations to the discussion.
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I really understand who it's hard to reply to all the questions my friend! I'm really glad that you came back with such a clear answer, really appreciate your response!
You are right when you said that there will be always people questioning and those unsatisfied, but i really think this is a great thing too or else every one would be a 'yes man' and life would be dull!
I'm looking forward to follow the series my friend! And you can count on me for contributing on the discussions!
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Hi again mate. Sorry I missed your comment here. As you can see, I try to respond to questions as best as I can. It takes a long time in some circumstances, and also taking care of two young children and work occupy a lot of the time.
I'm definitely not doing these posts for money. If it was for the votes and money, then there are a lot more topics that would be much easier to talk about.
With relation to the question of suffering, I didn't want to answer it now, because of the following reasons:
But since I'm here now, I'll briefly answer @progressivechef to the best I can, but it's not going to be satisfactory when suffering is involved. OK, so here goes:
One of the reasons there is so much suffering in the world, wars, child trafficking, rape etc. is that God gives people free will, and all these horrible things are usually a result of evil choices that people made.
I'll answer more directly to @progressivechef's commenT separately.
Blessings
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Its ok, I am well aware of what its like to have many responsibilities. I have 3 blood children and 20 people living in my community of which I am basically a father for as well as business and other projects.
Yes I totally agree. We have free will as do all beings.
So now the question is what do we do with that? Regardless of if anyone believes in god or not we still have fee will.
Yes suffering is real and maybe its just part of life, no one likes it yet there answers, there are solutions.
Again ideals would solve this. If we lived according to our ideals even if we had some suffering we would not waver in our ideals, we would find a solution, we would adapt, we would evolve.
Blessings~*~
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Hi, I had the same question for a long time until the pastor that I was going to see at his home church pointed out that neither the Bible nor God promises us a life of ease and non-suffering.
The Bible actually warns us that, as believers and followers of Christ/God, we would suffer and face tribulations...that our faith would be tested, just like Jesus' faith was tested when Satan wanted to tempt him into going against God and failed...all the suffering that we go through today is nothing in comparison to what Jesus went through to ensure that we could earn forgiveness by allowing Himself to be sacrificed to pay for our sins.
As for miracles...I have to say there are miracles around you every single day, you just have to look for them. The birth of a baby, the beauty in a sunset or sunrise, trees that are hundreds of years old and standing strong, us still being alive after all we've been through...these are all miracles...at least to me.
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Hello my friend, thanks so much for your great input! It's true that we are not promised a life of ease, we all have to work hard to be successful.
But I would still say that sufferings are sufferings, be it before or these days!
The daily miracles is one thing and has always been here, but i can't understand why god does not come to the rescue of those having so much sufferings from tyrants! Like the ones in Syria for example, simple citizens being killed, babies, young children, what did they do wrong!?
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I've asked myself, and a few pastors I know, those same questions and its a very difficult one to answer because so many people want to blame God. We all seem to forget that God isn't the one starving, assaulting, selling, etc... those children, its us human beings...they are choosing to do those things.
I'm not saying that there aren't days when I wonder how much suffering is enough? "When will God get fed up with it and begin the trials and tribulations, are we already in that stage or are they still to come?" and "When will the rapture happen?" are questions I've asked myself a lot.
God doesn't want us to just accept things as they are...He tells us to be like children and children question every single thing. He has a plan or schedule of events, or whatever you'd like to call it, but we don't know what it is.
The Bible gives us hints/clues as to what is coming and when but nobody knows the whole plan except God.
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Great comments @frostyamber! Thank you for your contribution to the discussion. Would love for you to join in the discussions in the second post here too.
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Hi, input here, God does still do miracles, have heard many such stories and experienced more than one myself (posted here see my blog if wish)) however God has an overall plan for humanity which currently consists of allowing mankind to experience the consequences off living life apart from Him, so the question can be answered once and for all.. so He lets the suffering occur, but the day will shortly come when the question has been fully answered and He will put a complete end to it, as all will willfully agree to live according to His life promoting ways, the abundance of peace knowing no end..
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You said:
This seems to be a result of God's first human disobeying his rules of not eating the forbidden fruit. Generations of people need to suffer because God failed to make an obedient human. Why is it that his first humans already were a failure? Then he had to wipe out entire cities because they were again failures. But the Bible says God is perfect. How can perfection create failure? It just doesn't make sense to me. Instead of KILLING his children, why not simply show them (teach them) as any good parent would do, right from wrong? Inspire them the same way he inspired the authors to write their stories! Would that not be a much BETTER way to control evil?
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Great questions @happyme. Thank you for joining and contributing to the discussion. I believe part of the answer to your question resides in knowing the heart of God for his creation. At the core of this is love. Each one of us desires to love and be loved. Without free will, it is impossible to have true love. So in order for us to truly choose on our own initiative to love or reject God, we need to have free will. When we have free will, we can choose to obey or disobey, love or reject.
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This is a good answer. However, it still seems to me that you have a choice to obey out of free will, or disobey and be punished. That is not really freedom. True freedom is to be respected either way.
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Thanks. I'm not sure if you have children, but this became more clear to me after having my first child three years ago. When it comes to loving my children, the concepts of love, trust and obedience are closely tied together. Especially when they are young, like now, they don't know what's good for themselves. My son wants to play with scissors, but I tell him it's bad for him, and if he doesn't trust me and disobeys, he will either receive the consequences of hurting himself through playing with the scissors, or receive my discipline because I love him and don't want to see him hurt. That's a bit like our relationship with God.
Freedom isn't just about doing whatever you want, because there are consequences to everything. When we disobey God's command to love one another, our relationships become fractured, or when we disobey the law, and choose to drink and drive, we might crash the car and hurt others.
I know if my son rejected me and disowned me as his father, I would be really hurt, and as a result he would miss out on the best I intend for him. This is sort of similar to when we choose to reject God.
Hope this makes sense, and look forward to continuing the discussion throughout the series. :)
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Thanks for the response. I understand what you are trying to convey, however, as a parent, I have learned that there is more than 1 way to achieve a desired outcome. For example, you gave the scenario of the scissors:
As a loving parent, we need to make sure we permit our children to experience life and learn at a rate that is appropriate to them. In the case of scissors, I don't see punishing a child for being curious as a smart alternative because that teaches them that they are stupid and not capable of making wise choices. We are now seeing the results of parents over-protecting their children. I suggest that a better alternative to punishment is diversion. Give your children scissors that are appropriate for their age instead. Or simply put the dangerous scissors away where the child can't reach it. Or supervise the use of the scissors. No need for punishment! Might is right is not smart parenting. It is a cop-out and an attempt at taking a short-cut that often creates other problems.
Let me make it perfectly clear that there is no one size fits all as far as a parenting guide goes. What works for one child may backfire for another, so that is why children don't come with an owner's manual. I am making generalizations above and want to be clear that each child has different needs and has to be treated as an individual. I was very fortunate that I rarely (that I can remember) had to resort to punishing my children. There was one time where I punished my daughter (and I resent having done that to this day because I'm sure if I tried harder I could have found a better solution). I can't think of any other instance where I punished either of my children, and guess what? They are both mature and healthy adults that have learned respect and compassion. They are not wild and crazy out-of control people.
So speaking from real-life personal experience, I can tell you that human beings have the capacity to learn without being punished. Yes, there are some who's minds are not functioning the same as the average and those will require special handling, but generally, children want to please their parents because they want to earn their love. To be fair, parents must also earn the love of their children. It is not a right. God, as well, has no right to demand love. It just doesn't work that way; love is not something that can be forced! EVERYONE must earn love and respect.
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That's very good parenting advice. I agree diversion techniques is the best way to go. I hardly ever punish my son either. When I discipline, it's usually not allowing him to play with a favorite toy or something similar. You sound like a great parent. That's a good point in the example of scissors. However, in my opinion, in any kind of environment, whether in the home, school, workplace or society, rules and laws, having appropriate boundaries are always necessary.
I totally agree with you that love is not a right and needs to be earned. God never demands love or forces anyone to love him. That's why he gives that free will, and much of the suffering in this world are direct consequences of us choosing not to follow God's ways. God also allows us to reject him, but we miss out on the best he intends for us.
Final point I would like to make is that God has already earned our love by creating amazing beauty in the world and universe, and the ultimate love is that he was willing to come into his own creation to die in our place. That's what I believe anyway, and we can discuss more if you have questions/doubts on the evidence around the crucifiction of Jesus and historicity around Jesus' life etc. But we'll get around to it in future videos.
Thanks again for this discussion. It's been very interesting to hear your views, and I look forward to further discussions. :)
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I don't believe free will beings exercising such would constitute a failure.. God wanted other brings who would love Him out of their free will, otherwise it's not real love at all but the programmations of a robot..
What you call killing is not really such, He is simply exchanging their physical bodies with their eternal Spirit ones, exchanging one location for another.. as all knowing He knows who have chosen Him these are ushered into their eternal home with Him those who haven't into an eternity apart from Him. Time and manner of death Is not really relevant, this life is simply about that decision, no one leaves this Earth without that decision being set in them.
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This answer makes it even more confusing! Are you saying that murder is not really a crime because we are simply releasing a trapped spirit from their bodies?
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No, that the creator of all has the right to judge lives, the ordered killings in the Bible were against thoroughly wicked societies whose paths were sealed.. and again "killing" is simply an exchanging of bodies and locations, nobody really dies.
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Right, so if I determine someone is lost and is totally evil, I can justify killing them? After all, I am helping God sort things out. This is why we have so many religious wars!
There are things written in the Bible that should never have been put there. Human minds are not able to discern the truth from those writings and it was a mistake to include them.
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The Bible is clear we shall not kill, that right to judge a life is reserved solely for the Creator. Religious wars are products of other faiths, one who kills in the name of God does not follow the teachings of the Bible.
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Hi @wilx. I have just posted my first reply to this post and look forward to joining in the discussion. Having read your comments to @progressivechef about Gods overall plan I need to ask you how you know this to be so? How can you have any idea as to what a god is thinking? Have you been told this by god or by another believer? I must tell you I'm an athesist and therefore have no belief in a God Plan of any religion. I would be interested to hear your views.
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If there is a God who loves His creation than it would make sense that He would communicate with them, christians believe He has revealed Himself, His ways and plans in the book we call the Bible.. it is a lot to discuss as to why we believe there is a creator and why christians are the ones who have it right but a good place to start is the Resurrection, Christianity stands or falls on it, a good resource discussing the evidence for it's validity is the book The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel.
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Thank you for the reply @wilx. It seems to me that the Christian God you are describing is the same one who advocates ethnic cleansing, infanticide and commits mass murder in the Bible. Why would anyone want to use a creature like that as a role model? As for the Resurrection - there is no evidence for it apart from the Bible. This is a very unstable foundation to build a faith upon.
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Just will add for now awaiting the rest of the series is that most historians believe Jesus existed, thus the question of the cruxifiction and Resurrection come into play.. the book I mentioned covers all these bases.
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I would question your statement that most historians believe Jesus existed - all the evidence for the Jesus of the bible is based on heresay. There is no physical evidence of him actually ever being a real person. The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel - There are counter arguments in the book The Case Against The Case for Christ by Robert M. Price (here)
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These rebuttals to Strobel's book are usually biased with the main argument usually being Strobel's experts are christians so can't b trusted. Never mind that they are christians because of the evidence.. haven't seen much legitimacy in most of their arguments in the attempts against the evidence presented, best to examine it all with an objective a mind as possible and draw own conclusion.
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Welcome @maninayton! Thank you for joining and contributing to the discussion. That's a great question. Please join us through the rest of the series, and hopefully some of your questions will be answered.
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Hello @nextgen622 and thank you for the welcome. I look forward to some stimulating conversations with you and others.
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The quote about The day will shortly come is an interesting one. I've heard it from my parents, my parents have heard it from their parents, and my grand parents have heard it from their parents and it goes on and on!
Now my daughter hears it from me...
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Hi @progressivechef! Welcome! Thank you for joining.
WoW, Mauritius, such a beautiful place to be living, and dream holiday destination for many.
You are exactly the same age as me. I also turned 34 in June this year. I have a son who's also 3 years old and also a daughter who's 3 months old.
That's a great question. Please join us through the rest of the series and hopefully some of your questions will be answered. Once again, thank you for your contribution. Really glad to have you here. :)
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Hello @nextgen622, i'm so glad to read from you! hahah quite a lot of similarities between us!
I'm so happy that you put up such a great post where we are all discussing as everyone has different point of view!
Thanks so much!
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You're welcome mate. I'm really glad you could join and contribute your point of view to the discussion. Look forward to chatting and discussing further when you have more time. Take care. :)
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Hi @progressivechef I've just put up episode two of the series. Hope you could join us again over there.
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Oh yes I've seen it but not yet gone through it my friend. I will check it out shortly for sure.
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The reason is because all the "holy texts" are only stories. They are propaganda. They are DESIGNED and actively USED to control the masses.
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I would further add that everywhere where there is religion practice going on, there is always fights going on, hatred on each other, never can we see peace.
And in places where there is humanity reigning, it's only peace and people live so happily together without judging anyone.
Too many stories being made to fool the masses.
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Exactly!
I have lived without religion for my whole life and respect nature and life it self FAR more than all the religious people I know.
I founded, built and run the most sustainable organization in the entire USA and I did that not because of some dogma but because of true reverence for life it self and a true desire to help people.
I don't need to waste my time trying to convert people to my beliefs.
Just shows you who others are in comparison....
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I would really LOVE to be a part of this.
I am very inspired by the basis of this....To explore, discuss the infinite depth of the universe and life it self.
Yet the post specifically says this is designed to convert people to christianity of which just discredits everything you said in this post.
What is being portrayed here is classic denial and hypocrisy. Trying to pretend to be holy and benevolent while actually being judgmental and ignorant.
I would love for you to provide a response that actually addresses this. If so I would be happy to be a part of it and be grateful for it also.
Now the ball is in your court.
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You said Trying to pretend to be holy and benevolent while actually being judgmental and ignorant.
Don't you think this statement sums up your comment here? Everyone commenting on this thread has been very respectful so far, until you came along calling me judgmental and ignorant. There are people here who hold an Atheist worldview, some who are agnostic, and some who are Christians. We are all presenting our perspectives in a respectful way, and everyone is welcomed to share their views.
It's pretty obvious that I believe Jesus and the Bible hold the answers to those questions I raised in the post. I'm not pretending otherwise. I'm just communicating what I believe about the world and the universe through these videos, because personally I encountered the transformational power through Jesus in my own life when I was half way through university.
You don't need to agree, and you are very welcome to share your perspective here, but if you can't be tolerant of people who hold a Christian worldview, or those who hold different views to yourself, then Unfortunately this series may not be for you
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I am very tolerant. There are literally MILLIONS of christians all over the world waging war against humanity in the name of their "god"
Did you know that the most prevalent child sex trafficking and child sexual rape in the world is christian based?
Did you know that there have been more wars waged in the name of christianity than any thing else in history?
So yes again, lets discuss the actual facts and truth. I am all for love, all for peace. I am all for people coming together with different beliefs.
I obviously have a different belief than you and I am SHARING it. So now what? Lets get into it. I am not scared. I have nothing to hide. I am here for the greater good, not to try and manipulate people.
Yes lets talk about the truth.
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Well, for starters, the attitude of your last two comments haven’t been tolerant at all. You’ve called me judgmental and ignorant*, without apologising for your own judgmental attitude. I look forward to your contribution to the discussion throughout the series if you can do so in a more respectful way.
To reply to your comment about wars waged in the name of Christianity and child trafficking and sexual rape, obviously this is horrible, disgusting, and inexcusable! But just because these people and religious organisations call themselves Christians, it doesn’t mean at all that what they are doing aligns to Christians’ beliefs and values. Jesus’ teachings and example is at the core of Christianity, and my faith rests on what he has done and taught. People and groups throughout history have used the name of Jesus and the façade of Christianity to mask their own agendas and evil acts, but that doesn’t mean what they did represents what Jesus intended for us.
In the same way, if I said I’m a member of your group, the Garden of Eden, and started going around doing evil things, does that mean you or the values of your group are evil? The fact that the Garden of Eden is only a small group of people reduces the likelihood of this happening, but there are more than a billion people in the world who call themselves Christians, or one form of it. Out of a billion people, obviously there are going to be many of them who are insincere. In addition, many powerful religious organizations such as the Catholic Church have wondered away from what Jesus’ intended for the church because they have politics and self-agenda all mixed into the system already, and I too disapprove of many of their practices.
Finally, I just want to say that you have only pointed out one side of the story. It’s true that these evil acts done in the name of Christianity are inexcusable, just as many mass murders have been done in the name of Atheism by Mao and Stalin etc. are inexcusable. But at the same time, a huge number of the world’s hospitals, universities, schools, orphanages and charities and been established by Christians and Christian organizations too.
I welcome your contribution to this discussion.
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I agree with your response for the most part and appreciate it.
I am only testing and challenging you and for the most part I feel you have "passed". You have kept your cool pretty well.
Though I am not judging nor do I need to apologize for stating facts. I am sure you don't like the points I bring up as almost no one does. That however does not mean I am judging. I am simply observing and communicating. I believe you have the right to believe or say whatever you want regardless of if I agree. So yes I am actually being very tolerant.
What I would like to contribute to this discussion is the difference of living by labels vs ideals.
I see you have investigated a little bit about me and who I am as you reference "The Garden of Eden" however I have not ever nor will I ever go around trying to convert people to The Garden of Eden.
I live by ideals not labels. I hope to inspire people to live in love, peace, respect, honesty, responsibility and also hopefully sustainability.
I don't need anyone to call them self an Edenite or a follower of Quinn or any such thing.
The reason why Christianity is such a destructive reality is not because of the ideals. The ideals are actually what is great about it. Yet the ideals get lost in all the labeling, acting, converting of Christianity.
If people actually cared about the ideals instead of the label then people wouldn't refer to the self as christians. They would simply be beings living by ideals.
The labels separate us not bring us together as you can so obviously see from our conversation already.
If your post would have been lets focus on and inspire love I doubt you would get ANY backlash yet when you say lets convert people to christians you are going to get LOTS of backlash.
Focus on the ideals let go of the labels.
Blessings~*~
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Thanks for taking the time to contribute to the discussion.
Just wanted to make clear that my reference to your judgmental attitude wasn’t in relation to your points about the evil done throughout history in the name of Christianity, which you have every right to point out and condemn. Rather it was on the assertion you made in your first comment labelling me as ”Trying to pretend to be holy and benevolent while actually being judgmental and ignorant”.
Now, on to the point you raised about labels VS ideals, which is a good point that I mostly agree with.
I agree that labels can cause divisions and ideals is what we should live by. Christianity as a label is something I’m actually quite uncomfortable with, because there are so many assumptions associated with it in western culture. But you need to understand that labels aren’t always initiated by people on the inside, but often by people on the outside. This was exactly what happened with Christianity. The term Christians, or little Christs were given by those on the outside as a derogatory term for them. The early Christians referred to themselves as ’followers of the way’ which I like better. It’s difficult to avoid labels, because people like to group and label people, especially those they aren’t familiar with. Just as you can’t stop people referring to those who are part of the Garden of Eden as Edenites or whatever they want to refer to you guys as.
I agree ideals and values are important, but more so relationships and examples of those ideals. If you can consistently role-model and live out the ideals you mentioned, then I agree you are doing a good job. But the problem is that you like anyone else are imperfect and you are blind to many of your own flaws, and won’t be able to always live out these ideals. So what I believe and have experienced is that only Jesus who is God and perfect is able to be the perfect role-model by what he said and did. And Christianity or whatever you want to refer to it as, is all about helping people to come into a relationship with the resurrected Jesus, because he is the perfect example and only he can empower us to really live out these ideals. I never try to convert nor do I have the power to convert anyone or have any incentive to convert. I’m only communicating what I believe and trying to introduce people to Jesus, just as I would if I met someone else as awesome as Jesus, because I have experience how Jesus has transformed me into a better person.
Bless you too mate.
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I appreciate your civil rebuttals. It is a sign of intelligence and good character.
I am glad you acknowledge how important ideals are but I still feel that instead of talking about christianity or jesus it is a lot more practical this day in age to focus on the ideals. Anyone who has not met Jesus is going to be skeptical at a minimum and is not relevant to their lifes.
It is easy to share the ideals and examples of Jesus without having to be all cultish. I get judged as being a cult leader quite regularly. That is fine. I am happy to provide them an outlet and to forgive them for their mistakes.
In truth Christianity is infinitely more cultish than The Garden of Eden is.
I chose the name Garden of Eden not because it is Christian but because it embodies the ideals of a "perfect" world.
I know that I am NOT perfect and have not once claimed it to be so. In fact I quite regularly say so on radio shows, interviews as well as in private conversations. Yet because I am aware of and committed to IDEALS, every time I waver from them I have the ideals to remind me and bring me back.
This is the benefit that Christianity and Jesus can have for people. I am well aware of that. However the labeling and quite frankly the average christian has actually lost the ideals and is cought up in an idea of just calling one self a christian being superior. It is also making people susceptible to trusting the church or pastors just because they are ORDAINED and BACKED by the CHURCH. Then behind the scenes they are raping children and being treated as holly....
ON the other hand you also have people who automatically judge christians and associate them with all the ignorant and lost ones.
So in both circumstances it is not helpful.
This is why focusing on ideals is far more helpful to the success of actually inspiring a more loving and responsible world.
∞§∞Eternal Blessings∞§∞
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That's great points you make. I will try to focus more on ideals in the future.
It must be difficult for you wanting to initiate change and being labeled or judged by some as a cult leader.
Yes I'm aware and saddened by the fact that many Christians just call themselves Christians and act more supperior without following the example or holding to the teachings of Jesus. So I guess this series is also an opportunity to help us discuss what really following Jesus and his ideals is all about.
Thanks again for your contribution to the discussion. And I welcome further dialogue with you
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I would be happy to participate in this series, but can you tell us HOW MANY episodes or weeks are in the series? This discussion has been on-going for hundreds of years, so it could be several hundred MORE before you decide to share the rewards at the END of the series.
You wanted us to share something about ourselves:
As you can see from my question above, I don't take anything for granted and I'm not afraid to ask the difficult questions. I have given this topic a lot of my time and have come to my own conclusions, however, I'm always open to discussion and further logical input.
My comment on this week's video is about the fellow who said he read the bible and discovered that there is plenty of proof about God and Jesus.
I tend to think along the lines of @maninayton, who said that he could quote from any fictional work and claim it was a fact. As a matter of fact, I've been thinking about creating my own article about something I read not too long ago in one of the pamphlets handed out by the Jehovah's Witnesses. Instead I can discuss it here.
The pamphlet asks the question, "Is the Bible really from God?" Inside, it explains how God inspired various authors to write the stories that are included in the bible and uses that as one of the proofs that the bible really came from God. Also, the Christians believe that the heavens and Earth, and everything on Earth were created by God and influenced by God. So if one is to believe that, then why even ask the question in the first place? Of course the Bible is inspired by God! And so is Grimm's Faerie Tales, The Harry Potter series, and anything else that was written by inspiration. Just because something is inspired by God does not make it true!
Lastly, you require that we ask God a question:
God, why do you allow people to abuse your name for personal gain for such a long time? You created the entire Universe in 7 days. Surely, you can see the wrong and do something about it, can't you?
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Thanks again @happyme for joining. I think there around 10-12 videos in this series. I hope to do around 2-3 per week.
In one of the next 2-3 videos, your question relating to the reliability/validity of the Bible will come up, and we can discuss further. But I'll just quickly mention a couple of things that helped me to trust in the reliability of the Bible; fulfilled prophercies, credibility/reliability of the Bible from archeological discoveries and among historians, even non-Christian historians.
Look forward to dialoguing more throughout the series.
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Thanks for the information @nextgen622, this should be a very interesting discussion.
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Ok, @nextgen622 I will lay all my cards on the table straight away. After 58 years of life, I have become a total atheist. I was brought up in the Christian faith as a child but after looking closely at that religion and others I made the decision that they hold absolutely nothing for me. However, I would welcome the opportunity to participate in a conversation on the topics you mentioned above.
As to this weeks video. It makes a number of 'quotes' from a figure called Jesus, for whom little, if any evidence exists, as if they are facts. I could quote from any fictional work and claim it was a fact. It doesn't make it so.
Now presuming there is a God, one question (and I have more) I would ask is this:-
"Why are you such a cruel and jealous god?"
Now, providing I don't burst into flames or something, I look forward to discussions with yourself and others who participate in this series.
Many thanks to yourself for posting this. It should prove very interesting.
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Thanks again @maninayton for joining and being so honest. I look forward to discussing more about the questions you raised and the observations you made. The next few videos in the series will address some of your questions, so hope to continue the discussion throughout future posts.
I appreciate your questions, because they are some questions I had before looking into the historicity of Jesus and studying the Bible myself.
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I look forward to our future discussions.
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Hi @maninayton,
It is very interesting what you are thinking, as I was thinking exactly the same (until a while ago)
I had similar question to yours
I found my answer in the map of consciousness, made by Dr. David Hawkins. I wrote a bit about my experience with God in my posts, Part 1 and Part 2.
They are old so I am not asking for votes. Just suggesting them to you if you wish to read another point of view :)
I stopped writing about the subject because I didn't find much enthusiasm (also I am still new) but I intend to write about it eventually.
Also, I shared my beliefs about "God" in a nutshell somewhere below. If you wish to read them as well.
Finally, I will be happy to hear your opinion and comments (as well as others of course). I like discussing such subject because it makes me think more and try to understand things from a different and more abstract perspective.
Many thanks for the discussion to you and to @nextgen622 :)
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Hello again @theleapingkoala. Sorry for the delay in replying to your comment. I have read the two posts you mentioned and I applaud your bravery for rejecting the kind of religion you were raised in. I am conscious of the types of sacrifices you must have gone through to have done so. I have heard that teaching religion to children is a form of child abuse and I tend to agree. It is brainwashing of the most insidious kind.
I'm not so sure of the validity of the Map of Consciousness you mention in your second post. I must admit to never having heard of it before but having done a little research on the subject it seems to be a very subjective methodology where people are asked to rate how they feel which in itself is full of pitfalls. I am very suspicious of any approach to mapping the human consciousness which tries to place a value on how people feel and their spirituality (what ever that may be!).
May I ask you a personal question? Why do you feel the need to have a god of any kind at all? Why do you need some kind of overseer to enable you to live your life? For me, the majesty and mystery of the world and the universe and my awareness of my very, very small place in it are enough.
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Dear @maninayton, Many thanks for your answer, for reading my posts and engagement in the discussion some more.
If you want to understand how the map of consciousness was found, I suggest you read the books written by David Hawkins himself. He is a psychiatrist MD who did a PhD. I believe they teach this to psychologist as I know the psychologist that I have been seeing knows about it. However, I see that you write about mental health, so you may be in a related field of psychology and know more than I do about what you study.
However this is not to convince you of its validity or anything. Speaking from my experience, this map made a lot of sense to me and was the most important stepping stone in reaching my current state of happier living and peacefulness.
As for your questions
In my personal life, beside the abuse of religious brainwashing, I lived a very tough life for a long time. There was a lot of psychological and physical abuse, to name few. I am happy to answer your personal question as I started writing my personal story, if you are interested to read it for more understanding of where I come from. You can find it here, Part 1 and Part 2
But the answer to your questions in a nutshell is, my need to have a "God" of any kind is not because I want an overseer that enables me to live my life, but because I need to be set free to live my life while knowing that I am loved for who I am and protected because I am loved and worth this love (Things I have never felt back at home, neither I felt it when I came to Canada). Such unconditional love is hard (if not impossible) to obtain from another human being.
I have been living alone for the past 10 years in Canada, fighting my own demons from within. Having true freedom from the guilt and fear, the number 1 enemies to a woman that was raised on strict religious rules yet living (and wanting to blend) in a society where all these rules do not exist, is extremely difficult. Not only that, the existing rules to belong to this society are the opposite of what she has been taught.
Love, peace and trust is what I want to believe in "God" for.
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Hello again. I read your posts and although I have (luckily) no experience of the kinds of things you must have gone through, my admiration for your bravery in breaking free has increased tremendously. I will attempt to do some reading of Dr Hawkins's publications as you suggest but I'm pleased that he has helped you find happiness and peace.
Although you say your god gives you unconditional love I would question that. Do you not feel that you are being watched and judged all the time by this god? Isn't your god still ruling your life to some extent? Are you really 'free'? Lots of questions I know and I'm sorry if I'm pushing you but I find it fascinating to talk to someone with your background and experiences.
On a personal note. I'm not a health professional of any kind. My writing on mental health stems from my having a son with autism and how it has affected him and my family. I have also suffered from mental health issues myself so it is a subject with great meaning for me.
I have followed you to keep up with your story. Until next time - take care of yourself.
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Dear @maninayton, Many thanks for your kind words of support and encouragement and thank you for the follow and upvote.
I am very happy to discuss this topic with you as well. It only make me grow more by having different perspectives and understanding, so please don't feel any hesitation to ask anything in your mind. I will answer you to the best of my ability. However, I would like to say that some answers will become clearer as I write my personal story and how I reached where I am now and why.
As for your questions:
The answer is, I used to feel that way but not any more now. My God is not ruling my life anymore but is guiding me when I ask for his guidance. I may not be completely free from all the old BS I was taught for a long time (the fears, the anxiety and the lack of trust comes back from time to time) but I am getting better to deal with them and neutralize my negative feelings, as long as I am feeling the love and support of my "God"
It is hard to explain it in words I guess. But I hope as you get to know my story, it may give you an insight of what I think or feel now. Actually, that was the number 1 reason I decided to write my personal story. To convey a message about my "God" that I can't convey otherwise.
Thanks again for engaging me in the discussion and for your support :)
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I love your question to god my friend! So much cruelty , killings, destroying his own supposed creations, why all that? God is supposed to create but why destroy afterwards? Crazy indeed!
About jealousy, in the Torah I've found many places where god said that he is indeed jealous!
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Thanks for the comment @progressivechef. If a person exhibited the kind of behaviour that the god of the bible did they would be locked up for life!
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Awesome thing you are doing with this! Will keep it in my prayers :)
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HI, I'm Mike! I enjoyed watching this video and hearing everyone's answers.
I would ask God why he allows so much suffering like children who have nothing and are abandoned.
I am a Christian but I believe there is more than what is in The Bible. Things like the the Forbidden City in China, the Great Pyramids and the Flower Of Life symbol that has been found all around the world.
The mortar that was used for the Great Pyramids was made with material that has not been found on our planet so where did it come from and how did it get here?
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Hi, I'm listening to the video now and want to answer one of your questions.
What is the purpose of life?
I believe the purpose of life is to help each other. It can be in many different ways, maybe help someone grow or learn. Help when someone is down and out. Whatever kind of help it is, I think that is our purpose.
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Welcome to the discussion Mike. Glad you could join the series. That's great advice. Helping others is definitely part of what we're here for and always very fulfilling when we are able to help someone.
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Thank you @nextgen622!
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Hi @mikej, I will be putting up Alpha episode 4 shortly. If you'd like to continue with the series, please come join us in the discussion in Alpha episode 3 within the next couple of days. Thanks :)
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I will join and follow the series just for the sake of my own education and maybe get answers for myself to defend my faith in the Triune God, God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit. I am also committing to pray earnestly for this series that God's purpose will be fulfilled.
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Welcome @hope777. Great to have you join, and feel free to contribute to any of the discussion. Thanks
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Thank you @nextgen622. Will do as far as my knowledge can take me. I haven't watched the videos yet, can only watch on my nigh-towl data after 12am. But will do.
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Hi my name is Martie and I am from South Africa. I am seperated from my husband of 30 years. We are not together anymore for the last 8 years. It was very difficult for me but God helps me everyday. I have 4 children all grown up now. I have been brought up in a Christian home but my parents never went to church. God was in our schools and between our friends. I never really understood it until much later. I still think I am still not there. I am still searching. I love your video. It brings clarity and let me think yes what is life about at all. Thank you and yes I would like to participate. And if I would ask God something it will be what can I do to have a bigger part in the community and world to be at service for God. That i could inspire others and help people and bring joy in someones life and so much more. I can't really even put it in words.
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Welcome to the course Martie! I'm glad you could join. When you have time, please have a look at the videos from the previous talks, and stay tuned for the next episode in the series. Would love to hear any questions or comments you may have too.
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who created the creator?
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Why does the creator require a creator?
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let me put it a different way.
where'd the creator come from?
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I know God always existing is a hurdle to many, God exists outside of space and time tho so would not be bound by beginning and endings.. as science also states all the time tho just because something can't be explained at the moment doesn't mean it won't be in the future..
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God exists outside of space
oh...I get it..
Matrix.
We're living in a video game.
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These dogmatic ideas of slavery have no answers for someone with real questions @everittdmickey
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Hi, sorry just got to your comment now. That's a very good question you raise and it's difficult for us to conceive of anything that has always existed.
Your question Where did the Creator come from? or Who created the Creator? is a very common question and assumes that there must be a point that the Creator didn't exist. Along the same lines, I can ask you how did the universe first come to be? Did it always exist?
Thanks for taking the time to contribute to this discussion.
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you can ask me...but I don't have an answer.
if one thing must have a creator then shouldn't EVERYTHING have one too?
Isn't that logical?
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Thanks for your honesty mate.
Yes, that is logical. If one thing has a creator, then everything should and does have a Creator. In fact the latest scientific discoveries support the fact that the universe had a beginning.
To the human logic, it is difficult to conceive of how someone/something has always existed, and that's something I've struggled with when I first explored Christianity and the Bible. But when you think about it, something that seems to defy logic and is difficult to grasp is actually good support for the truth of it's claims, because it makes it more likely that people didn't come up with the concepts through their own understanding. There are many other similar concepts in the Bible that seem to defy logic.
Thanks again for responding and your involvement in the discussion is much appreciated.
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Interesting question. I grew up Southern Baptist, never really sat well with me. Never the less, this question was answered to me through one of the Pastors in my my life at some point. I always thought about it before I had the answer given to me and thought in a human way that there must be a realm of these beings. Man's version of a god must be one of these beings and had to have had a mother and father etc. I mean, how else would he/she/ it come to be? The answer I received way back in the day was before man's version of a god there was nothing. Just the darkest darkness. Imagine on a very dark night with all the lights off in your house going into your closet and shutting the door. The darkness you see so dark that you can't see your hand in front of your face. That's what I was told there was. Out of this darkness man's version of a god created himself is what was told to me. ?. So here I am imagining, since we are created in his/her/its image this man like figure floating in a laying position in this vast never ending darkness all by his lonesome before he created anything but himself.........
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Thanks for contributing to the conversation. That's an interesting answer your pastor gave. Not sure where he/she got that from. It's certainly not what I believe, and certainly not what the Bible reveals about the nature of God. But thanks for joining in the discussion, and hope you will be able to join us throughout the rest of the series.
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Hello there and you are welcome. Yeah, interesting and different. I'm not sure how this person came up with god creating himself out of nothing either but they seemed to believe it. I do intend on joining in and will do my best to play along. This should be one of the more interesting series of posts I've come across for sure. Thanks for the invite.
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You're welcome. Look forward to your participation
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sounds
almost as likely as
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All are very interesting questions. Many thanks for those who asked, answered or discussed.
I am from a Muslim background. I stopped believing in Islam or the Muslim's God (or any God for that matter) sometime ago. Now I have my own version of God if you wish or spirituality which is more following the Taoism wisdom.
If you have read the Tao te Ching, the original philosopher explains God or the Tao (meaning the way) as something that can not be told or named because if it is, it will not be the real Tao. very philosophical but, personally, I find it interesting and inspiring.
In a nutshell, I personally believe that:
1- "God" is the absolute intelligent energy that forms this whole universe and whats in it. It existed before anything and it will exist after everything. It doesn't has a specific form or a specific location. It was not created because it was just there and it created this world with all the mysteries it contains.
2- This "God. a.k.a the universe or the force" gave absolute free will to humans, hence, it will not interfere in anything unless it is asked.
3- Whatever happens to humans from old times to now in the form of punishment was not the doing of this force (although made to be by humans in the old time and now in order to control the naive masses). Anything bad that happens in the world is the results of the collective negative energy of the majority of people, coming back to them. This is one of the laws of the universe. a.k.a Karma, what goes around comes around, every action has an opposite reaction similar in magnitude. Humans greed and need for power are responsible for the wars, the famine and the earth losing its natural balance, hence natural disasters.
4- I believe that hell and heaven are just a description of how we live on earth (peaceful and loving or not) and what we do (Good and helpful or not).
5- This energy is loving and wants the best for us, but since it gave us free will, it will not interfere to show us what is best, unless we ask for its help and guidance. Only then, we will get signs to lead us to the best path. These signs could be anything from other humans to intuition or gut feelings.
6- If we don't ask for help or we fail to live our life in peace and harmony, we will be given many chances to correct our wrong doings through multiple lives (hence, eternity of hell and heaven from a human point of view). But in actuality, time and eternity concepts do not exist for "God"
7- However, our souls that exist as humans XYZ at this time, will come back as humans EFG and forget the majority of XYZ's lives event, except the things that needs to be corrected, which will appear as recurrent challenges until the problem is solved and the loop gets broken.
8- The judgment day, is possibly the time that the person dies and becomes a soul or energy. They will be told what they did wrong before being sent back to correct their path.
9- The ultimate reason of creation is to discover ourselves that we are part of this loving energy and to love ourselves and each other as we are all part of one thing.
10- Hence, "God" will never tell humans, who are part of it to kill each other because they don't agree or they look different or all the B.S that is going on in all the religious book. It's all man-made.
There are so many things to discuss and discover. It is something we can never be sure of, neither we can prove or disprove. At the end, it is to each person's free will to believe or not.
Many thanks for this opportunity :)
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I believe you are on the correct path. I would also like to add that the Christian Bible states that Man was made in the image of God and that they are his children. (His? Why is every other creature that gives life labelled as female?) I propose that we are not only created by God, but as with everything else in the universe, a part of God itself.
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@happyme many thanks for the comment. I agree with you :)
I was in the bookstore checking several books and I came across an interesting explanation of why we generally refer to God as "him" not "her" and I liked this explanation a lot.
I am sorry I don't remember exactly which book it was. I could say it has been **"The God Code" by Gregg Braden"" but I am not 100% sure. I will have to go back to the bookstore and find that. But the explanation goes something like this (from my understanding)
In Taoism, I think similar philosophy exist.
However, Calling God as "him" or "her" doesn't deny the existence of the other part. After all, God is all and all is God.
Love and Peace :D
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That's a good explanation, but I somehow believe it has more to do with the fact that the Bible was written at a time when men were considered the head of the household and somehow superior to women. By giving God a male gender it gave God more authority.
Personally, I don't believe God has any gender at all because God does not conform to any living entity that reproduces its kind. God is not born and does not die. God is ubiquitous.
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I agree. That is another plausible explanation indeed.
I like what you said
Very beautiful :)
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You're saying the universe is 'steady state'?
Good enough for me.
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Steady state but not static of course :)
Many thanks for the reply and upvote :)
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by steady state I mean ....no beginning, no end...it is today as it was and will ever be.
only minor details (like the birth and death of galaxies and stellar megastructures...and everything within them) change...other than that the universe is pretty much the same.
perspective is important. What a few hundred billion years between friends?
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Afternoon @nextgen622, This is a great series, and I'm looking forward to following along as you go. I hope you don't mind if I respond to this, but I just wanted to offer some thoughts to consider for those who think that the universe created itself.
In an article from "Live Science," it states that the universe is always expanding. As the universe expands galaxies move further away. Even the moon that orbits our own earth is moving away at a rate of about 1.5 inches per year.
That being said, scientist are always asking, "what is beyond the universe?" We know only a small fraction about the earth, and the manner in which the earth was created, much less the universe Link to Live Science Article So the universe is ever changing. But God doesn't change.
The amazing precision of the sun's relative distance from the earth alone should raise the question that there is an intelligence that is far beyond ours who set these things in motion. If the sun were closer or further from the earth depending on the distance, the earth could have been uninhabitable. I personally believe that God set everything in its place and in motion. His word says that He set the lights in the sky, dividing the day from the night.
How many times have you thought, "A sandwich sounds good right now, I think I'll just wait until all of the elements of that sandwich come together and then I shall have a sandwich?" You can put all of the stuff needed to make that sandwich on a table, and it still isn't going to make itself. Sure, an earthquake can happen, and by chance, some of those ingredients could be mixed together, but it will be messy and not precise, and nothing like you hoped it would be. The universe is far more complex than a simple sandwich, and for the precise placement of the sun and the moon just in our solar system, I'd say that there has to be an intelligence behind it that is far, far greater than ours. Of course, I believe that God created it all.
Also, the universe can no more create itself, than a sandwich can make another sandwich. So logically, there must be something (or as I fully believe someone (God ),) behind all of creation.
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Absolutely yes (in my opinion) for
and I love this one
LOL LOL :D
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I follow a very similar belief system. I didn't know of Taoism but will look into it. Very pleasing to see someone on a similar plain and take the time to type it out. Gratitude and much appreciated.
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I am always happy to see like minded people and to spread the love and peace.
Many thanks for your reply and appreciation :D
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The question I have is what evidence is there for your beliefs, reincarnation?
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Thanks for joining and your contribution to the discussion @theleapingkoala. Look forward to you joining us throughout the rest of the series and look forward to further discussion's.
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Many Thanks @nextgen622. I look forward to further discussions as well :)
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:) Now that's an interesting pic and yes almost as likely as the pastor of my pasts answer. There is IMO a source. How man or any other intelligent life out there thinks of it is one thing or maybe another. The trick is not to think and just be.
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Many of the young people I've met have got the not think part down pat.
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Haha! I know what you mean and feel the same. My meaning was the mind is a prison of sorts and if one can clear it and be in the "Now" things become very different. It's not so easy to do but can be done.
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Hello @everittdmickey, i have always had this question running in my mind and till today, not any answer and to all those i've asked, they always avoid it and talk about something else!
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hahahahaha GREAT QUESTION!
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Awesome post, I really enjoyed it. I hope you appreciate the vote!
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Nope, the only one voting for you is you. You obviously only care about you and are hoping for votes in return.
The author of this post also doesn't care about you, just the dogma of the very TINY box they are living in.
This is propaganda at its best!
Blessings~*~
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I am already a Christian serving overseas, but I love your idea for sharing the faith via a public Bible study. Although I may disagree with some of the methodologies of Alpha, it is more than what most Christians are doing on here!
Thanks for sharing this post @nextgen622!
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Thanks for your encouragement. Bless you bro.
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very good post, super informative, thanks for sharing!
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Nice post bro.
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Thanks bro.
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great life and keep it up...!
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