From what you described in your post, it sounded like only three of the imams were denied access, and they were "controversial" which is a nice way of saying that they teach and preach idiologies that are potentially dangerous. Sounds like a good precautionary measure. The difficult part of...
Kirran, I purposely left off my own views of God. I simply discussed the concept of God as a term and in definitive terms. I also did not include many aspects of God that could have been brought in. I simply looked at the ....for lack of a better term coming to mind..."job...
I would start with your definition of "God" so that we can truly have a meaningful conversation. There are many examples of deities that you listed that wouldn't fit the bill of "God", regardless of what faith you come from. There are a few prerequisites for being "God". 1) God must be the...
You're very welcome, and I appreciate the complement. Hard-headedness gets nowhere....I just try to remind myself of that....hopefully before I speak :-)
Athosxc , nice story , but it doesn`t fit not even little satanism `s theory about hell and heaven . In the first place no satanist in this world believes that he will lose . Now you see , people don`t know much about satanism , but they talk a lot . You are trying to find a scapegoat , what...
Personally, I don't see the optimism of SH as very realistic. Since optimism and realism can very well go hand-in-hand, I find SH rather depressing when I think about it. I'll admit, I like to start with a systemic approach, and break it down from there, but I don't think that totally corrupts...
Which I believe was the point of many of Jesus' parables. Funny, 2000 years later and the lesson is still the same....we've come so far and gotten no further. And we think things have changed so much. Hmmm...
Back to the thread here....wow, I really enjoy running the rabbit trails though. If we're talking about the intrinsic value of human life, then I'm a humanist. If we're talking about the belief that humans are the highest forms of anything in the universe, I'm not a humanist. If we're all...
Whoa people, we're getting into the realms of proof here. May I remind everyone that "Faith is the substance of things of hoped for, the evidence of things unseen". Even a born-again, bible-believing Christian such as myself cannot prove or disprove the existence of God. If we could, we...
Feathers in hair,
Christians definitely believe in absolutes, not relativism. The way God created and established the world was 100% good. Rather than have a bunch of robots or puppets (choose your own analogy) to serve Him, He created man with the ability to choose. Either God and His way...
Master Vigil, no I will give you that. The wind and rain haven't changed....well, the rain is a little more acidic over many parts of the world where pollution has done its thing, but rain is still drops of water. However, from a scholarly standpoint, the bible hasn't changed, and doesn't...
AE, point taken. Ceremonial, aka ritualistic law carried out by the Rabbis. Not rabbinical law. Thanks for the differentiation. Back to the thread, the differences of law within the OT are what spark the controversy of keeping parts of the law, and throwing other parts aside.
Lostinthisworld,
Linus is correct. Much of the OT finds fulfillment in the person and life of Jesus Christ. Many of the prophecies deal with him specifically, or are mentioned in the NT from a "hindsight" viewpoint. Since the Christian life is modeled on the life of Christ, most...
Both Cordoba and TranceAm hint (intentionally or non) at what I would believe the truth to be: That the earth does have a creator, and that the universe is therefore not-eternal. The concept that Christians hold to is that the creator (God) created the universe "ex-nihilo" (I think I spelled...
Feathersinhair - I would have to say that sometimes the best way to discuss an individual religion is to pair it alongside another individual religion to see how the two stack up against each other. Comparison doesn't hurt a discussion, nor necessitate debate. I say lets compare.
Sage, I would like to welcome you as well, I'm rather new myself. Also, to ask you what turned you off the most about your father's christian beliefs?? = Athosxc