Some of my favorite books, which can all be read at Internet Sacred Text Archive Home (can't stress enough how useful this site is for any religious scholar!).
The Cloud Upon the Sanctuary, by Karl Eckartshausen
The Secret Teachings of All Ages, by Manley P. Hall (a must read)
The Goal of...
I remember pretty well in 8th grade being taught about the history of religion in TN public school and the social studies teacher said that Hammurabi invented monotheism. I remember it well because it was the first time that I had been introduced to the concept of there being different Gods...
Everybody seems to be arguing how Jesus can be the son of God and yet still be God, but not be God. It is not a matter of family lineage as much as is it is symbolic language. I'm sure everyone can agree that the Bible contains a lot of symbolism. It requires a bit of imagination, but let's...
You make a good point Windwalker. My doubts are what led me to the place I am today, and it seems like I could say that for the both of us, although I never thought about it in those terms. @ BlueTack I hope you're taking notes, cause this is blowing my mind a little bit.
I have to agree with the theosophists and believe that all religion began as a divine idea within the mind, but once that idea was given form (through religious ceremony and symbol) it was degraded, as humanity itself is degraded and cannot give birth to anything wholly pure. All religion is...
Let us say that God were water. You can take water from it's source (the vast ocean, limitless) and put it in a jar (water taking the form of its container). Is the water (or spirit, in this case) in the jar not the same as the water that it was brought from? Then to drink of that water would in...
It is insightful in the sense that it can and may instill perspectives, new ways of thinking and understanding, into your mind that otherwise may not have been there before. Even if one may not agree with what's been said, to understand the thought process (and the author explains his thought...
Just stumbled upon this thread... it's kinda creepin me out a little bit. "Evil" and "disharmony" are the same to me. Like, the fact that a blade of grass can grow side by side with another blade of grass, sharing the same soil, the same sunlight, the same water, that is harmony. But should a...
The Goal of Life by Hiram Butler (available for free at internet sacred text archive) may give you a fresh perspective to think about your question. However, if you don't feel like reading through and getting what you want out of it, I'll tell you my view on it (which is not exactly with nor...
I do not want to over-generalize. To be honest, I hardly know anything about most of the stuff that you mentioned, but decided to give my perspective regardless. I guess you know what they say about when you assume, right? Anyway, I hope you found my post insightful in some way. All I was saying...
If the commonly expressed views of most Christians don't satisfy you (which is exactly how I feel, very strongly), then try reading about some other traditions. They can and may give you a fresh perspective to bring into your studying of the bible. If it be the will of Yahveh that you should...
It is not weak to say "I believe!" if you truly believe. What makes you weak is to say that you believe, even when you know deep down that you do not, for the sake of acceptance. On the same note, it is weak to say "I do not believe," even if a small part of you does believe, just to gain...
I do not believe that bad people go to hell and good people go to heaven. Rather, I believe that bad people create their own hell in this life through egotism or hatred or ignorance, what have you. And the ones who carry that spirit of love, through wisdom and a desire to understand (that spirit...
A favorite resource site of mine is Internet Sacred Text Archive. Type those four words into your browser and let your mind expand. It is very well organized and easy to navigate, all subjects are classified by subject matter, includes everything from short articles and essays up to entire books...
There is, for lack of a better way of putting it, a "step by step" process to finding connection to the divine spirit. It is manifest in many forms, but remains the same in spirit. That spirit is a spirit of love and wisdom (loaded words, I know), and therefore, I see nothing wrong with thinking...
If Adam is symbolic of the masculine (logical, reasoning mind) and Eve is the feminine (emotional mind), than we may say "At one point in time, the masculine and feminine both ruled equally in the mind, but after the fall (mind wants to serve itself), the masculine ruled over the feminine. thus...
A friend of mine said a funny thing a while back that you may like or dislike, being atheist. It was something along the lines of "Being atheist and saying all religion is wrong is like saying all music is bad because you haven't found any good bands." Good luck on your quest to understand.