My understanding of world religion, a christian perspective.

[Jean Valjean]

Many of my former teachers within evangelical Christian church usually made the claim, "it is this or you go to hell". Paul has warned us for divisions in the body of Christ. Jesus has forbidden sectarianism. Sectarianism in the bible is defined by Jesus as followers that forbid people not walking with them to be followers. Once I read a book called "concise guide for todays religions" that was an orthodox Christian schoolbook. In the book the author warned us for other religions, secular ideologies and the emerge of satanism. At first this was the only doctrine I could refer to. Today I must say that I have sided with other schoolars and alike, having a better understanding of modern religion. With modern religion I adress the world religions my generation was taught in school. I have thrown out all media and held myself strained from my former teachers. Evangelical Christianity gives the impression that Jesus isn't taught else then in the western world. This is according to me a unenlightened way. I gonna tell you something I didn't know until I lived my life in solitude. There are many Jesus loving muslims, including jihaddist, many Jesus loving buddists, many Jesus loving hindus, shintos. The worst sword set in christian church is shown on TV. Christians in america accuse the pope of being the antichrist because of the television show giving the impression that the pope behead christians if they do not abdictate. They don't.

This is muslim communion with a muhajidin singing with his choir

I am tired of TV, i am tired of Media. Even though Jesus came to set a sword, to rise children against parants and partants against children. I think we all need to open up our eyes.

The war on terror is lost. Make peace not war.

 

[Kemosloby]

Trouble is all those who say they love Jesus don't believe he is the "Son of God". And that's like calling Jesus and all the Apostles liars. Do they love liars so much?

1 John 5:5
Who then overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

 

[Jean Valjean]

The war on terror is lost.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Many of my former teachers within evangelical Christian church usually made the claim, "it is this or you go to hell". Paul has warned us for divisions in the body of Christ. Jesus has forbidden sectarianism. Sectarianism in the bible is defined by Jesus as followers that forbid people not walking with them to be followers. Once I read a book called "concise guide for todays religions" that was an orthodox Christian schoolbook. In the book the author warned us for other religions, secular ideologies and the emerge of satanism. At first this was the only doctrine I could refer to. Today I must say that I have sided with other schoolars and alike, having a better understanding of modern religion. With modern religion I adress the world religions my generation was taught in school. I have thrown out all media and held myself strained from my former teachers. Evangelical Christianity gives the impression that Jesus isn't taught else then in the western world. This is according to me a unenlightened way. I gonna tell you something I didn't know until I lived my life in solitude. There are many Jesus loving muslims, including jihaddist, many Jesus loving buddists, many Jesus loving hindus, shintos. The worst sword set in christian church is shown on TV. Christians in america accuse the pope of being the antichrist because of the television show giving the impression that the pope behead christians if they do not abdictate. They don't.

Peace is very important. There are problems caused by the English translation of the Bible plus attitudes. For example some people will say that if you don't say Jesus is the Son of God that you cannot be Jesus disciple, but I do not think that is the case. It comes down mostly to a misquoting of a passage in one book called the first letter of John. (I John, not the gospel of John). 1 John 6:22 "(NIV) Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son." It is frequently taken out of the letter in which it is written and without any background or without applying any understanding of the environment its written in, and then it is used as an excuse to shun people. Personally I think that the real reason this happens is that enthusiastic leaders like to have control of their meetings, and so they look for little gotchas that allow them to force people to say things in particular ways. This is not I think how Jesus wants people to behave considering all that he says about not judging and about confessing our own imperfection.

 

[Jean Valjean]

I must quote my jewish teacher. Darkness is a codeword for ignorance.

 

[Jean Valjean]

So you hold a liepen in the background... that doesn't work, God is love. peace!

 

[Logos11]

"Darkness is a codeword for ignorance" Your Jewish teacher must have been an interesting individual. But I think as human beings we often experience an instinctual urge to desire peace, and try to break down any barriers to suggest methods and mechanisms to accomplish this peace. We often question what is existent in the world and its present situation, and are cheerful to discover twinkling slivers of unity and love that we see. I detect this from your suggestion of jihadists and "Jesus loving" Muslims etc. And it is not wrong to question these things, after all, the apostle Paul does point out that "The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not" So we understand that this world system is flawed and filled with darkness. But everything in the universe is governed by laws and there is an approach to all things, even peace. If it is a hot day, and I attempt to feel cool, should I douse myself in a bathub of liquid nitrogen? Should I attach and air-conditioning unit to myself? No. Although it may seem like a good attempt to accomplish my goal, the logical and comprehensive approach would be to enter into a cooler room, or take a cold bath. You see, it's the natural laws of the world, it's a way and an attitude. Proverbs 14:12 says "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof, are the ways of death" Jeremiah 10:23 says,"It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." But Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life" The Bible is the way. It is not a matter of Sectarianism, or atleast not in your manner of application, but a matter of light and darkness not being able to commune with each other. "What communion hath light with darkness?" And as you so gracefully stated, darkness is ignorance and light is truth, so how can a man claim to have truth and another claim to have truth and saying something else and both walk together? Now there needs not to be hate nor war, but "Can two walk together accept they be agreed?" How can I call red green and you call blue green and we agree? So, although the intention of many evil minds is to keep the world severed between religions, the individuals who have true light have not such intentions, and do not threaten nor treat others who do not share the same faith in a brutal manner. But there is only one way, one truth and one life and that is Jesus Christ; that is the Bible in its entirety. For as it was written in times of old by the prophet Isaiah, "For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:" And us, as insufficient men must think and act according to the divine canon of the scripture, and follow the one true living God and his way thereof, not hating nor battering others, but acknowledging what is true and what is false, and turning neither to the right hand nor left.

 

[Jeremiah Ames]

I don't understand all you said, for instance, the sword set in Christian church on TV.
But my bottom line is: Jesus = peace, love, kindness.

Don't know if this disagrees with what you are saying.
But the historical record shows that many, many people have been killed by the Catholic Church over the centuries.
I'm not sure about your jihadist comment, but I believe the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful people.

 

[corynski]

If you really want to open up your mind, you might want to take a larger perspective. Permit yourself to contemplate the thousands of years of human evolution, and the thousands of gods and goddesses humans have created. Staggers the mind to think of it ...... For Christians time begins when God created the world and it's inhabitants, but for students of reality there have existed thousands of years of human evolution, and thousands of spirits and gods and goddesses which men have created. For example, Jordan's 'Encyclopedia of the Gods' lists Baal, the Canaanite god whose worship began about 2000 BC. "Baal may have originated in pre-agricultural times as god of storms and rain. He is the son of Dagon and in turn is the father of seven storm gods, the Baalim of the Vetus Testamentum, and seven midwife goddesses, the Aasuratum. He is considered to have been worshipped from at least the nineteenth century BC. Later he became a vegetation god concerned with fertility of the land. Baal is said to have gained his kingship in primeval times, wrested, with the help of weapons made by divine craftsmen, from the powers of chaos in the form of the sea and the river tyrannies, or more specifically the god Yamm." p.36 Yes, the larger perspective is called reality, where anthropologists in particular are slowly piecing together what really happened back then. But reality is awkward because it puts all religion in question. Religion is not based on reality.
I think it's time to go beyond creating gods and worshipping them, especially since that kind of system produces so much hatred and violence. Each culture creates their own gods for similar reasons, all centered about maintaining the strength and integrity of the group, which for thousands of years was a small hunting and gathering group. It's all documented in anthropology books, which seem to be anathema to religious people as well as to school systems. Religions are governments, and you notice how they determine just what children are taught from birth. It's time to opt for reality.....