MysticSang'ha said:
Based on what? What knowledge can be measured as "sufficient?"
Again, Romans 1-2 would really help to see the Christian perspective on this...if you want to go into specific verses we can.
For only one lifetime that can't be determined by any of us?
A lifetime is more than enough.
And, you forget that not all people are as lucky as you to have been introduced to the loving and attractive side of Christianity. Evil exists in every religion, and it has unfortunately been the face of Christianity for some - why would you or God judge those souls who have only that kind of knowledge of it?
God judges all souls based on what they do know, as I already said. He never judges unjustly.
If you think an innocent person dying in the place of another guilty person is "completely irrelevant" in the context of Christianity, you've missed basically the entire point of the Bible and the Christian faith.
Although, if you really do want to go there, there mere sentence of putting me on death row in the first place is void of compassion.
Actually in one sense I agree with you; it's not compassionate, it's just. Freeing you from that sentence even when you don't deserve to be freed (which the Christian God also does) is compassion.
I helped to create my children, although I don't feel they "owe" me anything. I expect them to respect my teachings,
So then they do owe you something: respect. Now multiply that respect infinitely in order to get a glimpse of what humans owe God.
and when they are grown, they have their own lives to live.
Sure, the Christian God allows you to do whatever you want. That doesn't mean there aren't consequences down the road for doing things that are wrong.
Ever read Khalil Gebran's The Prophet? I like the analogy of seeing our relationship to our children as a bow and arrow. When the arrow has been shot, it is not ours anymore.
Fortunately, the God I believe in does not just fling me in some desired direction and cross His fingers in the hope that I get where He desires me to go. My God is sovereign.
I do not see my children as possessions, and therefore a Creator God that does IS jealous and petty.
So because God is not like
you, He must be wrong. You don't see anything slightly off with that perspective?
There are plenty of ways to use self-defense without taking another life. Or do you not know any of the approaches for martial arts methods such as akido?
Sadly self-defense is not quite as simplistic as that in all times. Not everyone knows akido, and guns have been invented.
I think you just contradicted yourself with the "unity" of belief and the "doctrinal disunity" between Catholics and Protestants.
No, I didn't. Protestants are not in perfect union with the Church, and the Church itself is in fact unified.
Or...........there is such as thing as the law of karma. There is no such need for a machine to measure "niceness" as there is no such need for a machine for gravity. It's funny how the law of karma can be understood in usual everyday life, but in death it seem that somehow karma and reason is just tossed out the window.
Although sadly, even in everyday life karma does not always work out. I remember one of the Old Testament prophets who talked about the injustice of the fact that evil people always seem to prosper. Good people get trampled and evil people succeed, all the time. It's life, it happens every day. However, that's somewhat of a rabbit trail to our actual discussion. In order to merit heaven, which is a perfect place in the presence of a perfect God, we must ourselves be perfect. If we have ever done wrong in our lives, we are guilty. We can't go back and re-do our mistakes. Our sins are on our record and there's nothing we can do about them. Again, that's what makes grace so fascinating and amazing. God chooses to erase that sin from our record even when we ourselves can't.
Are you aware that there are plenty of people on this Earth who feel like they are in "heaven" and all the blissful emotions that go with it? They have their money, their security, their health, their strong marriage, their beautiful children, their house. And there are those that already are going through "hell?" The anger, the hatred, the feelings of vengeance, being clouded by rage.
Of course it is typical for people to feel like they are the apex of the human emotional and experiential range. It's been common for me to meet people who have felt like no one has ever felt like they do at that moment, either negatively or positively. We often feel as though no one has ever gone through the experiences we have gone through. It's a self-centered and ignorant approach to reality, but then, that's human nature for you.
..........we recognize that heaven and hell are the result of states of mind, not "places" that are waiting for us outside of our control because of our theological beliefs.
That's your opinion and I respect that.
One could argue from your point of view that if no one truly deserves heaven, which is an eternal destination, then one surely does not deserve hell, which also is an eternal destination............by your definition. One falls short, perhaps, of perfection, but then one also falls short of pure evil, no?
Incorrect. If you are made perfect, you go to heaven. If you are anything less than perfect, you cannot enter heaven, and therefore in the Christian context you go to Hell. For the record I think there's Scriptural reason to believe that there are levels of Hell, and not everyone receives the same punishment in Hell.
BTW, I encourage you to read up on the lives of some of our tradition's lamas...........Padmasambhava has been said in many stories to have led a perfectly moral life in one complete human incarnation. Perfection IS possible. It is our birthright. It's called enlightenment.
When you achieve it, let me know.
