How to Serve the Word in Christianity

[Windwalker]

That is the doctrine of Grace, it is what is taught in the Bible.

That's how I see it. But the confusion began when you said, "That is the test that earns a Christian entry into heaven," which sounds like God's love is conditional upon something you do to earn it. If you mean, experience the benefits of Grace is condition upon one's own receptiveness to it, I would agree. But not if you mean in order for God to forgive you, you have to do something. That's not Grace at that point. That is earning it.

 

[DNB]

But is that not the actual definition of a Christian; that they accept Christ as saviour?

Humbly,
Hermit

Yes, but which comes first?

 

[DNB]

Then how could you possibly know that the Bible is Divinely inspired but the Gita is not? How do you know that "truth and salvation" supposedly cannot be found in any other religion?

And if "truth and salvation" is only found within Christianity, then what about all those people who lived more than 2000 years b.p.? What about all the others in today's world that couldn't even give us a simple explanation of Jesus and Christianity? Why would God ignore all of them?

Whichever religion makes the most sense, and that which corresponds to life on earth, is the one and only true religion.

It's not uncommon in Christian thinking to accept the fact there may be extenuating circumstances for some who do, and do not, follow the Law of God from their conscience and heart. For those who have never heard of God or Christ, God may apply a different rule of justice for such situations.
I will not be dogmatic about this, but the Bible does imply at times that this may be the case?

 

[Hermit Philosopher]

Yes, but which comes first?

I’m not sure I understand the question. I thought we were talking about people of Christian faith.

Humbly,
Hermit

 

[metis]

Whichever religion makes the most sense, and that which corresponds to life on earth, is the one and only true religion.

Why only the either/or dichotomy?

I will not be dogmatic about this, but the Bible does imply at times that this may be the case?

Not really.

However, we should always remember that all religious texts were written by people, often from memory decades later through oral traditions. Therefore, what we are reading in the scriptures are different peoples' take on what supposedly happened, and they don't always agree with each other. For just one example, no two Gospels agree on the details of the women's visitation to Jesus' tomb. However, it would be going too far to conclude because they are not in full agreement that the general event must not have happened.

 

[DNB]

I’m not sure I understand the question. I thought we were talking about people of Christian faith.

Humbly,
Hermit

one must save themselves first, before they can recognize the obligation and necessity to behave righteously - and then they are in a position to save others as they both are convicted of, and practice what they preach

 

[DNB]

Why only the either/or dichotomy?


Not really.

However, we should always remember that all religious texts were written by people, often from memory decades later through oral traditions. Therefore, what we are reading in the scriptures are different peoples' take on what supposedly happened, and they don't always agree with each other. For just one example, no two Gospels agree on the details of the women's visitation to Jesus' tomb. However, it would be going too far to conclude because they are not in full agreement that the general event must not have happened.

No two religions are alike, therefore both cannot be true. There is a God, or there is not. Man is need of salvation, or he is not. Jesus Christ is God's son, or he is not. Jesus is the saviour of the world, or he is not. There is a heaven and hell, or there is not.
Only one faith and wisdom can be true.

 

[metis]

No two religions are alike, therefore both cannot be true. There is a God, or there is not. Man is need of salvation, or he is not. Jesus Christ is God's son, or he is not. Jesus is the saviour of the world, or he is not. There is a heaven and hell, or there is not.
Only one faith and wisdom can be true.

You are making a fallacious assumption that only one religion can be "true" as if all that this supposed religion believes and teaches is always 100% correct. How is that even remotely logical?

And how is it that God supposedly ignored all other people in all other areas of the world more than 2000 years ago? Why would He ignore and not care anything about His own creations?

 

[Windwalker]

No two religions are alike, therefore both cannot be true.

But religions are in fact very much like each other in many regards. Just as no two humans are identical to each other, they do share more than a great degree of similarities that do make the relatively all the same. We speak about "human nature" all the time. We all deal with things like loss, fear, hope, faith, anger, health and disease, ideas, and so forth, that makes us all human together.

Same thing with religions. While no two religions are 100% clones of each other, like humans, they do all share the majority of things in common to consider them essentially the same.

There is a God, or there is not.

Not quite so simple there. First, you will find that all religions do in fact share a belief in some "higher power", in some form or other. There are no "atheist" religions per se. Even Buddhism which does not speak of "God" in the sense of a personal deity form, does speak of Emptiness, which is directly equivalent to the Christian theological understanding of "godhead", the Infinite essence of all reality that we call "God". Taoism speaks of the Tao. Same thing. Hinduism speaks of Brahman. Same thing.

Just because the same thing is referred to with different language, that does not make it something else. Some people call flavored carbonated beverages as "pop", some call it "soda". Different words, same concept.

Man is need of salvation, or he is not.

Again, all religions teach this in one form or another. Same basic general concept. Buddhist speak of ending suffering. Hindus speak of fleeing the world of illusion and finding the true Self. Christians speak of being saved from sin and uniting with God.

Jesus Christ is God's son, or he is not. Jesus is the saviour of the world, or he is not.

Even this concept of God incarnate is found in other religions as well. They can be understood as Avatars, God revealing himself through human form to other humans.

Even a Christian can recognize within their own Christian teachings from their own prophets and apostles, that God can and does reveal himself to others in the whole world, without the need for preachers on street corners. Many passages in the book of Romans explicitly details this. So one could in fact understand that as God manifesting himself to others in the same ways he manifest himself in Jesus.

Again, different words, or different names, for the same basic thing.

There is a heaven and hell, or there is not.

Again, all religions pretty much have this general concept as well. Heaven is pointing to unity with God; hell is pointing to separation from God. All religions are at their heart about restoring that Unity, from our lived experiences of separation from God.

Only one faith and wisdom can be true.

Which is shared by all religions, spoken about in different ways in different languages.

 

[DNB]

You are making a fallacious assumption that only one religion can be "true" as if all that this supposed religion believes and teaches is always 100% correct. How is that even remotely logical?

And how is it that God supposedly ignored all other people in all other areas of the world more than 2000 years ago? Why would He ignore and not care anything about His own creations?

The Gospel has gone out throughout all the world. Like I said, but without dogmatism, the Bible does reference the notion that some will be judged according to what they have been exposed to.
'...some, by nature, follow the law by their conscience...'.
'...those who choose to live by the law, will be judged by the law. And, those who do not, will be judged accordingly...'

 

[DNB]

But religions are in fact very much like each other in many regards. Just as no two humans are identical to each other, they do share more than a great degree of similarities that do make the relatively all the same. We speak about "human nature" all the time. We all deal with things like loss, fear, hope, faith, anger, health and disease, ideas, and so forth, that makes us all human together.

Same thing with religions. While no two religions are 100% clones of each other, like humans, they do all share the majority of things in common to consider them essentially the same.

Not quite so simple there. First, you will find that all religions do in fact share a belief in some "higher power", in some form or other. There are no "atheist" religions per se. Even Buddhism which does not speak of "God" in the sense of a personal deity form, does speak of Emptiness, which is directly equivalent to the Christian theological understanding of "godhead", the Infinite essence of all reality that we call "God". Taoism speaks of the Tao. Same thing. Hinduism speaks of Brahman. Same thing.

Just because the same thing is referred to with different language, that does not make it something else. Some people call flavored carbonated beverages as "pop", some call it "soda". Different words, same concept.

Again, all religions teach this in one form or another. Same basic general concept. Buddhist speak of ending suffering. Hindus speak of fleeing the world of illusion and finding the true Self. Christians speak of being saved from sin and uniting with God.


Even this concept of God incarnate is found in other religions as well. They can be understood as Avatars, God revealing himself through human form to other humans.

Even a Christian can recognize within their own Christian teachings from their own prophets and apostles, that God can and does reveal himself to others in the whole world, without the need for preachers on street corners. Many passages in the book of Romans explicitly details this. So one could in fact understand that as God manifesting himself to others in the same ways he manifest himself in Jesus.

Again, different words, or different names, for the same basic thing.

Again, all religions pretty much have this general concept as well. Heaven is pointing to unity with God; hell is pointing to separation from God. All religions are at their heart about restoring that Unity, from our lived experiences of separation from God.

Which is shared by all religions, spoken about in different ways in different languages.

God has ordained Jesus Christ before the beginning of time to be the one and only saviour of all mankind, and after being raised from the dead, to be seated at the Father's right-hand side for eternity as ruler of all things created by God.
Equally important ands non-compromising, Jesus Christ is NOT God - there is only one divine Being in the entire universe and that is God, who we call the Father.

Now, try and tell me how similar Islam, Buddhism or Zoroastrianism is to Christianity. God chose one man, and one man only to be the redeemer of mankind, and this man was born around 6-5 bc, from the tribe of Judah, who are from the people of Israel, the chosen ones of God.
Does that sound like Hinduism or Sikhism to you?

 

[Windwalker]

God has ordained Jesus Christ before the beginning of time to be the one and only saviour of all mankind, and after being raised from the dead, to be seated at the Father's right-hand side for eternity as ruler of all things created by God.

This is how Christianity expresses the same basic idea that is expressed in other religions as well. The theme of death and resurrection is common to religions; putting off the old man, dying to the flesh, and rising to the new or the spiritual life. The Christian just identifies this principle in Jesus. Other religions call "Jesus" by another name. Think soda versus pop to talk about the self-same carbonated beverage.

Equally important ands non-compromising, Jesus Christ is NOT God - there is only one divine Being in the entire universe and that is God, who we call the Father.

Well we see here that you are not talking about Christianity versus the other world religions. You are talking your specific brand or sect of Christian faith being the only correct one and everyone else but your group is wrong, and per throw of the dice you happen to be one of the supremely lucky few who just happened upon the right group to get taken up into heaven in the last days.

So obviously you would have zero interest in others possibly having any of the Light that comes from God, because that would diminish your specialness to you that sets you apart and above everyone else who doesn't believe like you do. Now to me, as someone who used to be part of such a group as who thought themselves as the only correct faith on the planet earth, I've come to understand from a spiritual perspective just how narcissistic that really was. Love is greater than religion.

Now, try and tell me how similar Islam, Buddhism or Zoroastrianism is to Christianity.

I already listed several comparisions in the previous post. I note that you just breezed past those without a mention. Why are you asking me for more, when you haven't looked at the ones I already offered?

God chose one man, and one man only to be the redeemer of mankind, and this man was born around 6-5 bc, from the tribe of Judah, who are from the people of Israel, the chosen ones of God.
Does that sound like Hinduism or Sikhism to you?

Sure, in so many words. Ever hear of Krishna?

"I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts."​

​

Bhagavad Gita 10:8​

 

[metis]

The Gospel has gone out throughout all the world. Like I said, but without dogmatism, the Bible does reference the notion that some will be judged according to what they have been exposed to.
'...some, by nature, follow the law by their conscience...'.
'...those who choose to live by the law, will be judged by the law. And, those who do not, will be judged accordingly...'

You ignored the point of why God supposedly would not care about anyone prior to Jesus.