All Abrahamic Faiths: Orthodoxy vs Orthopraxy

[Katzpur]

Good question! There is one set of correct beliefs imo. There are at least three sets of correct conduct.

When I first read this, I thought, "What on earth is that supposed to mean?"

How do I conduct myself while alone? How do I conduct myself with God while praying? How do I conduct myself with other people?*

And then you followed up with this, which was brilliant! I'd never really given that much thought before, and I really, really like it.

 

[Katzpur]

I am not sure you can have the latter without the former.

For, who defines what currect conduct is?

Ciao

- viole

Well, what I was thinking when I started this thread -- and this perhaps pertains to Christians more than to Jews, Muslims and Baha'is -- is that with the multitude of various Christian denominations in the world today, the difference in their doctrines is vast. Most of them believe in the Trinity, but I've heard practically as many different explanations of the Trinity as there are Christians. Mormons don't believe in the Trinity, at least not as defined in the Nicean and Athanasian Creeds. We do, however believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. We just understand their relationship to each other differently than most Christians do. Now I've been told that a person absolutely must believe in the traditional view of the Trinity if he is going to be "saved." I've had the same people who've told me that flat out ignore what Jesus said in Matthew 25 (concerning feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, etc.). One evangelical Lutheran I've talked to went so far as to tell me that because I believe that because I believe these things are important to God, I am rejecting the "Christian" doctrine of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, and will therefore be damned! So I am apparently going to be damned for doing exactly what Jesus said we are to do, because our works are supposedly just "filthy rags" to Him. It seems I must believe in the Trinity (which I don't), I must believe in Sola Scriptura (which I don't), I must believe in salvation by grace alone (which I don't), I must believe that the Bible is inerrant (which I don't) and I must believe that once I have been "saved," I cannot lose my salvation (which I don't), God is thoroughly disgusted with me. No matter how I live my life, I am destined to be His eternal firewood.

Now the crazy thing is, I don't think this individual has to share in all of my beliefs in order to be "saved," or in order to please God. But I do believe he needs to live his life with integrity, living by what he genuinely believes God expects of Him. Mormons are very prone to use the phrase "I know." It makes me crazy. How can Mormons "know" Mormonism contains absolute truth when Catholics "know" Catholicism contains absolute truth, and Muslims "know" Islam contains absolute truth and Jews "know" Judaism contains absolute truth? It's like people think God is requiring us to score 100% on a 500-question exam, and if we do, He's going to be pleased with us and is going to give us this wonderful reward (no matter how we treated our fellow human beings), but if we only scored 65% or 80% correct (again, no matter what kind of life we lived), we're toast.

As to who defines what "correct conduct" is, I'd have to say that I see it as an individual choice. Another example from my position as a Mormon... Mormons believe that intimacy between two people of the same sex is sinful. We believe that is what God has said. Because I believe this, but probably even more because I'm a straight woman , I wouldn't have sexual relations with another woman. So, I define "correct conduct" for myself as only having sex with my husband and having waited until we were married. But that doesn't mean I'm going to condemn someone else for feeling differently. Not everybody believes the same things about God as I do, and many people don't believe in God at all. As I see it, I am to live my life in accordance to what I personally believe God wants. It's none of my business if someone else wants to live his life differently. If a person is gay and genuinely doesn't believe that gay sex is wrong in God's eyes, I believe God will judge him less harshly than He would judge me for condemning that person (since not judging others is also an important tenet of my religion). In other words, I see my beliefs as important, but only insofar as they guide my behavior.

And now I've rambled enough.