• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Search results

  1. Aussiescribbler

    Demystifying Jesus

    My method is unorthodox. This is how I see it. The norm is for people to be alienated, that is dishonest and crooked, in their thinking. There may be truths we can't face which we have to think around and prejudices we can't let go of which we need to carefully buttress. This takes a lot of time...
  2. Aussiescribbler

    Demystifying Jesus

    There is no doubt that Muhammad existed. Our primary evidence concerning his life is the Quran, Hadith and Sirah. These documents emphatically state that he was the last prophet of Allah. Do we have only two choices here, to believe that Muhammad received instruction from the angel Gabriel and...
  3. Aussiescribbler

    Demystifying Jesus

    Can we be said to have the ability to chose that which we wish to choose if we didn't chose who we are? That's the point I was trying to make. We can make choices which we may or may not be able to act upon, but the person who is making those choices is the product of forces outside their...
  4. Aussiescribbler

    Demystifying Jesus

    I understand and I really don't want to keep you away from more productive debates. I'll try to be brief and avoid situations where we are attempting to use incompatible methods. It may be more useful to see why I approach things the way I do rather than just have evidence that I do. A theory...
  5. Aussiescribbler

    Demystifying Jesus

    At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Matthew 11:25 Jesus didn't seem to think that the wise and learned had any great advantage when it came to seeing the...
  6. Aussiescribbler

    Demystifying Jesus

    I can explain my reasoning, but it probably doesn't fall within your concept of acceptable reasoning. Since I don't believe in the supernatural, if Satan is going to mean something to me it is going to be as a symbol for something. Since I believe that idealism is the root of all evil because it...
  7. Aussiescribbler

    Demystifying Jesus

    The problem is that we are having two seperate arguments. It's probably my fault for poorly wording my original post. I said : "Assuming that Jesus was a real man, is it possible to give a real world interpretation to his life and philosophy?" By "real world interpretation" I meant an...
  8. Aussiescribbler

    Demystifying Jesus

    I'm not sure I said anything about anyone taking away another's will to power. What I'm talking about is purely voluntary. If someone wants to be free they can be, but if they would rather remain unhappy and unfulfilled that's their choice. The way I see things happening is two-fold. Some find...
  9. Aussiescribbler

    Demystifying Jesus

    I'll try to describe my own experience with some framework as to how I understand what was happening. We have a conscious character structure or ego which consists of our habitual ways of thinking about ourselves, of explaining ourselves to ourselves. It gives us our sense of who we are and is...
  10. Aussiescribbler

    Demystifying Jesus

    I suppose we just look at things differently. I don't see the Bible as a scientific text which can give us insight into genetics and life-expectancy. It is true that our psychological state has a major impact on our physical health, so worrying about being sinful could certainly shorten...
  11. Aussiescribbler

    Demystifying Jesus

    How do you reconcile this with evolution? How did animals with eternal life evolve from animals which didn't have eternal life? If this damage was inherited you make it sound like some kind of genetic damage. Emotional damage can be passed on via nurturing, but inherited physical damage would...
  12. Aussiescribbler

    Demystifying Jesus

    Yes, emotions are physical. They are experiences of the flesh. But there are immaterial relationships between people which allow for the communication of emotions. If I see an old friend on the street and feel happy, the fact that I feel happy is not just a direct physical response, like a dog...
  13. Aussiescribbler

    Demystifying Jesus

    I'm coming to this matter from a different perspective. For me the existence of the supernatural is not on the table. I suppose if I had an experience of something supernatural myself then I might change my mind, but I'm not going to change my mind on the basis of a written account. You can...
  14. Aussiescribbler

    Demystifying Jesus

    I love G.K. Chesterton, and he does have a point here. But it isn't an "either/or" situation. I never met anyone in the mental hospital who thought they were a God. I met someone who thought he was Jesus. He collected Christmas cards claiming they were birthday cards for himself. And I thought...
  15. Aussiescribbler

    Demystifying Jesus

    If he didn't exist then he is a delusion shared by at least 2.4 billion people. That may be true. I'm not the one to argue against that. I leave arguments for the historical existence of Jesus to others. But even if we could prove he didn't exist we would not have demystified him, because we...
  16. Aussiescribbler

    Demystifying Jesus

    We can see, for example, that there have been those who have used Jesus' name to preach hate rather than love. There have also been those who have used Jesus' name to fill their own pockets. So you are saying that you have some kind of habit of behaviour which you cannot break, but if you...
  17. Aussiescribbler

    Demystifying Jesus

    This raises an interesting question. What do we mean by "spiritual" and what do we mean by "earthly"? To me spirituality is about the realm of emotional relationships. If I read a beautiful poem, it may move me to tears. For me, that is a spiritual experience, which doesn't require belief in...
  18. Aussiescribbler

    Demystifying Jesus

    Aussiescribbler is a user name I have used for many years at various different forums. If you do a Google search you will probably find me popping up in lots of places. I also have published erotica ebooks under that pseudonym. The meaning is that I live in Australia and am an amateur writer...
  19. Aussiescribbler

    Demystifying Jesus

    If you are asking why I started this thread about Jesus rather than any other historic religious figure it is because the words attributed to him have proven inspirational to me in my quest to better understand myself and human behaviour generally. I think it very likely that Buddha or Lao-Tse...
  20. Aussiescribbler

    Demystifying Jesus

    Thanks. It does seem there is a good deal of agreement between your sense of Jesus' message and my own. Letting go of selfishness and opening up to love is what I see as the essence. It may be that I've over-emphasised the idea of "sin" because it fits so well with my own belief that a sense of...
Top