Quote (Nick Hassan @ June 30 2008,11:32)Hi, Tradition seeks to rule over scriptural truth.It robs men of faith and substitutes “knowledge”Question, how much of so called scriptural truth is someone else's tradition written down and told to the next generation this is the “truth”?  How much of another faith's pagan practices are in fact your own…[Read more]

Baptism is a spiritual process, the water is symbolic, such symbols help the earthly mind, especially the unconscious, deal with the higher realities but are not in themselves necessary.

As many have believed that mankind exists at many levels simultaneously the first death is the end of the physical body, the second death is the death of the casual or astral body.  With the each death we get closer to the true seat of our individuality and not the temporary seat of the ego we mistakenly view as our entire selves.

Quote (Not3in1 @ June 28 2008,05:20)I get'cha.  But here's the thing Cato, we only have the Bible.  Do we?  Do you suppose the only inspired writings from the Almighty came from the ancient Jews?  There are no holy works from the east, or our own gentile ancestors?  God stopped sending messages after Paul?  Perhaps, or just as well he inspi…[Read more]

If with God, anything is possible (which I won't argue with) then the only parameter that counts is then whether or not it is God's doing.  You then base your beliefs on what the Bible said, assuming that it is an accurate rendition of truth.  Thus I reiterate my previous post; if you believe the Bible God's word then I guess you would take God o…[Read more]

Quote (Nick Hassan @ June 27 2008,10:24)Hi cato, Vessels. Serpents, men and even donkeysSo if the serpent was a mere vessel why should it be cursed? If Satan is mentioned freely in other versus why not Gen 3?Perhaps you are reading a connection into the passage that is not there.  If you view the serpent of Eden as Satan then the whole story is…[Read more]

Yes with God, but does possible mean true or even probable?  Where do we separate myth from truth?  Legends of floods abound over the world but evidence is lacking for what the Bible describes.  Perhaps it was a localized occurence that appeared to those at the time like a world wide event.  Why do we believe the account of Noah and scoff at Atl…[Read more]

Quote (gollamudi @ June 27 2008,02:12)Agreed but what about this verse in Rev 12:99 “The huge dragon, the ancient serpent,  who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it”. Don't you think the Sepent of Eden and Serpent or Dragon of Revelation one and the same…[Read more]

Quote (Jodi @ June 27 2008,07:56)[Irene, I am well aware of the evil that I see growing rapidly in the United States. Moral Christians values are on a major decline. Children have no respect for their parents, materialism is the dominating force in America, and I cannot over emphasize the Massive problem and obsession our culture has with sex.…[Read more]

Some thoughts about Jesus and sacrifice:If Jesus evolved faster then the rest of us and no longer needed to take on flesh, I think it would be a sacrifice to take on the mantle of flesh not out of karma or obligation or need to evolve, but to simply help out his slower developing brethren. As for as death on the cross, even knowing his earthly…[Read more]

Virgin birth possible?  Of course, yet it seems unlikely and not needed for any purpose he lived for, also considering the Roman proclivity of declaring various notables of coming from Zeus or Apollo or whomever it seems a little too convienent.  As far as Adam I view the whole Adam and Eve story as allegorical; I don't think Adam is the b…[Read more]

To be honest I don't know who Jesus' biological father was, in all probability it was Joseph.  I don't need a virgin birth story to believe that the spirit of God dwelled within him.  If I had God's spirit in direct contact with me I might view this as more important then my biological father.  If Jesus was anything else then fully human like th…[Read more]

Jodi makes some good points and while I believe that there are spiritual embodiments of evil, ie. demons, Satan himself as the king of evil so to speak is inconclusive.  One can make the case that it is a title and not an entity. Other evil beings such as Belial, Moloch, and Beelzebub are also named  but it is clear they mean some kind of entity r…[Read more]

Quote (Jodi @ June 26 2008,08:40)Quote (Nick Hassan @ June 25 2008,12:21)Hi Jodi, Should we expurgate from scripture what our scientific minds cannot see and accept?Would that not threaten the integrity of scripture and our faith in it? Demons never were angels-that is not written anywhere.Hi Nick,God inflicts man. God brings evil curses and evil…[Read more]

While I agree that most often people, especially in the past, mistook mental illness for demonic possession, how do you explain Mathew 8 as scripture without saying the authors were mistaken or exagerated?  If it were a mere case of mental illness why the bit about the pigs?  I myself find the Bible sometimes dubious and often allegorical, but s…[Read more]

Would perfection and divine love create a system designed to condemn the greater number of humanity past and present?  What kind of engineer creates a system with the failure rate that evidently is inherent in humanity, if we take the typical view of salvation as taught by Christianity.  These failures then are then sentenced to at best oblivion o…[Read more]

God being supreme and perfect has no need to sacrifice and no one to sacrifice to other then himself, so the whole idea of God sacrificing anything seems questionable at best.  Jesus however being a man even one in whom God's spirit may have dwelled is another matter.  As an example of what humanity should and one day may be, he had to blaze the p…[Read more]

Well if we look at the Qabbalah and many related mystical sources there are 4 planes of being:Atziluth the realm of causesBriah the realm of ideasYetzirah the realm of formationAssiah the realm of effectMan evidently exists at all levels simultaneously, what we refer as angels exist on the upper two and animals only the lower two at least that's…[Read more]

Quote (theodorej @ June 24 2008,07:20)Quote (Cato @ June 24 2008,06:04)No not particularly, I think it was an embellishment to the truth designed to impress the Romans who were often told such tales.  Now that being said it in no way detracts from Jesus or his message.  I like the previously expressed view of Jesus as human, but the best and the w…[Read more]

No not particularly, I think it was an embellishment to the truth designed to impress the Romans who were often told such tales.  Now that being said it in no way detracts from Jesus or his message.  I like the previously expressed view of Jesus as human, but the best and the wisest of us, the most spritually advanced choosen and guided by God f…[Read more]