Cato replied to the topic Salvation vs eternal punishment in the forum Truth or Tradition 15 years, 5 months ago
Quote (Stu @ July 02 2009,00:22)CatoPunishment in proportion to the crime? That's not god's way! I think actually your message, which while it matches the anti-Jesus brutality of 'an eye for an eye', is at odds with the homophobia and bigotry required by Saul of Tarsus. Your christianity is far too reasonable and humane for Heavennet. I s…[Read more]
Cato replied to the topic Salvation vs eternal punishment in the forum Truth or Tradition 15 years, 5 months ago
I am doing quite well thanks for the kind words WJ. I got bored as most of us, myself included, were just endlessly repeating our same points and arguments. Well as it has been almost a year I thought I'd come back and take a look. Good to see Stu and Nick are keeping things going. Thanks again.
Cato replied to the topic Salvation vs eternal punishment in the forum Truth or Tradition 15 years, 5 months ago
The universe (which I believe was created by divine will) does not reward or punish it operates on cause and effect. We are not due reward or punishment we simply reap the results of our actions and decisions. As evidence let’s look at Newton's Third Law of Motion which states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite rea…[Read more]
Cato replied to the topic The carnal mind in the forum Scriptural Teachings 16 years, 4 months ago
I believe our bodies are just clothes our spirits wear in order to interact with the physical world. I don't believe that our spirits are created at the same time as our bodies, but before, and then we are sent to this plane and take on flesh or incarnate, for the purposes of evolution, education, advancement, or in more advanced souls to teach…[Read more]
Cato replied to the topic The carnal mind in the forum Scriptural Teachings 16 years, 4 months ago
We all should be reminded that flesh is not evil, it is merely unruly. Flesh to keep itself intact has certain preprogrammed attributes such as need for food, aversion to pain, desire for survival and desire for sex to propagate itself. These may be linked to the more primitive areas of the brain, they help keep us alive. The whole problem is…[Read more]
Cato replied to the topic God said, man said in the forum Creation & Science 16 years, 4 months ago
Not necessarily, belief in a supreme creator is not dependent on Genesis or any of the OT for that matter. Also inspired does not equate with literal, Genesis in particular appears to be largely allegorical, when looked at in that light it doesn't engender these creation debates. It's like trying to compare abstract poetry to geology and biology…[Read more]
Cato replied to the topic God said, man said in the forum Creation & Science 16 years, 4 months ago
I think the whole title of this thread is wrong. We have in truth what man said God said versus what man said based on his observations of God's creation.
Cato replied to the topic Satan in the forum Scriptural Teachings 16 years, 4 months ago
97407,I agree with most of what you say, however I still think there indeed may be spirtual embodiments of evil, or demons, not withstanding. I myself years ago ran into a case of what I could contribute to none other then obsession by some outside entity, it mirrored in many ways multiple personality illness yet was replete with supernatural…[Read more]
Cato replied to the topic How is Jesus not God? in the forum Truth or Tradition 16 years, 4 months ago
Sultan,You attempt to limit God by implying that he is restricted to a particulat behavior based on human perceptions of morality. God is beyond such. Your two examples that God is limited because he cannot sin and must be holy do not make sense and here is why:Sin, by definition, is a transgression against God, God is therefore incapable of s…[Read more]
Cato replied to the topic Proof that universalism isn't true in the forum Truth or Tradition 16 years, 4 months ago
Gene,I do however view it is within the purview of the individual to hasten their spiritual evolution or slow it down. We are swimmers in God's current, we can move about within the limits of our skills fighting the current thus slowing the inevitable or swim with it hastening the end. It is not IMO, that we have no will of our own it is m…[Read more]
Cato replied to the topic Proof that universalism isn't true in the forum Truth or Tradition 16 years, 4 months ago
As far as universalism, there is no proof one way or another. I would tend to think that when the stakes are eternity for supposedly loved sentient creations that have a spirtual aspect to their existences beyond the corporeal, divine perfection would not accept any less then a 100% success rate. Note this does not imply this comes quickly or a…[Read more]
Cato replied to the topic Proof that universalism isn't true in the forum Truth or Tradition 16 years, 4 months ago
Quote (TimothyVI @ July 03 2008,22:57)Either way, man knows nothing but life.Tim,For some reason the old Blood Sweat & Tears tune popped into my head while reading your post.”Swear there ain't no heaven and I pray there ain't no hell,But I'll never know by living, only my dying will tell.Yes only my dying will tell. Yeah, only my dying will…[Read more]
Cato replied to the topic How is Jesus not God? in the forum Truth or Tradition 16 years, 4 months ago
Quote (Sultan @ July 01 2008,10:31)The problem is God is not limitless. God is limited. For instance God cannot lie( Titus 1:2), also God does not change (Mal. 3:6). To say God is limitless is out of line with what the scriptures reveal, and open the door for manifold confusion. God is limited by His own nature.What does the appellation “Almighty”…[Read more]
Cato replied to the topic Was the Earth really created in six 24 hour days? in the forum Scriptural Teachings 16 years, 4 months ago
Dear Mannequins,Don't you think the whole Genesis Creation story is allegorical? Do you really think the creation of the universe could be put down in a few verses to people with no knowledge of physics and science without resulting to oversimplification and symbolism?
Cato replied to the topic I came to Jesus through a Trinitarian! in the forum View Points 16 years, 5 months ago
I was raised Lutheran, I thought it was non-sense as a child and for the weak and foolish. I came to God as a teen through solitary contemplation. I do not feel Jesus is God, though for a time I viewed him as a possible avatar of God, later I saw him as an ascended master, an example of humanity achieving its potential. I have had encounters in…[Read more]
Cato replied to the topic I came to Jesus through a Trinitarian! in the forum Truth or Tradition 16 years, 5 months ago
I was raised Lutheran, I thought it was non-sense as a child and for the weak and foolish. I came to God as a teen through solitary contemplation. I do not feel Jesus is God, though for a time I viewed him as a possible avatar of God, later I saw him as an ascended master, an example of humanity achieving its potential. I have had encounters in…[Read more]
Cato replied to the topic The Value of the Sacrifice in the forum Truth or Tradition 16 years, 5 months ago
I copied this from a previous post I made in the General questions section.Premise: Most Christians do not believe in or are silent on pre-existence of human souls. Souls come about at conception or sometime after this, but before actual birth. Then during it's life it is given an opportunity to know and believe in Jesus Christ as son of God…[Read more]
Cato replied to the topic Tradition in the forum Truth or Tradition 16 years, 5 months ago
No pessimism intended. We should know what we venerate and why. Faith is to believe what we can not prove, superstition is to believe in something despite evidence to the contrary, they are at times very close. I think we should all be careful as many of us live on that border area and each thinks the other has crossed it. It is not my…[Read more]
Cato replied to the topic Free Will? in the forum Truth or Tradition 16 years, 5 months ago
Many on this thread seem to confuse will and power as one and the same. We may have will or the mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses or decides on a course of action but the power to accomplish our will is however limited. IMO the almighty grants greater power for us to exercise our will as we evolve and prove we can handle it. …[Read more]
Cato replied to the topic The Value of the Sacrifice in the forum Truth or Tradition 16 years, 5 months ago
So when we have a human birth we don't have a Spirit? I think not. Resurrection of what our old earthly body, made perfect or near so I suppose. I can't buy that as it is illogical and inequitable. Eternity then rests upon a finite lifetime filled with circumstances beyond our control that skews salvation toward some and not others. The div…[Read more]
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