Religions, Controlled by man or god?

[ProfLogic]

If religious writings were not truly inspired by God and written only by man.....the mention of hell would be used to keep people in line morally.

Wasn't hell just a symbolism of a place where people who do not believe in the new religion? Sounds like a man to me.... join us or you will be punished.. I did see the Empire strikes back.........Darth Vader said in essence join him or be destroyed.... yes definitely a man...

I also see the fires of hell since in the desert ice was rarely seen. Have you been in the south pole... yes a man who only knew of their geographical location and also the technology they had during that time.

If its inpired by god how come it never mentioned silicone.........or this forum....

 

[Quiddity]

The local priest cares about religious moral order because it's what he believes in and has been educated to perform. Is that what you're getting at?

When I said it was bogus I was applying your statement of:
If religious writings were not truly inspired by God.......
In essense the priest knew it was not all true and was in on it all. Was only out to fulfill his needs. That's why I couldn't see how in the scenerio you noted, how a priest fulfills any need at all.

See what I mean now?

 

[Buttercup]

Wasn't hell just a symbolism of a place where people who do not believe in the new religion? Sounds like a man to me.... join us or you will be punished..

Being a Christian, and one who is not afraid to admit skepticism,.....I have wondered about hell my whole life. I do believe the message of the bible to be God inspired but have to admit I wonder how much of the authors' imagination and personal views influenced the writings.

The notion of HELL is one area where I struggle with constantly. I have considered starting a thread about the subject. But, it's probably been done a hundred times.

 

[ProfLogic]

If God does not exist humans still have value.

Yep.... you said it...

 

[Buttercup]

When I said it was bogus I was applying your statement of:
If religious writings were not truly inspired by God.......
In essense the priest knew it was not all true and was in on it all. Was only out to fulfill his needs. That's why I couldn't see how in the scenerio you noted, how a priest fulfills any need at all.

See what I mean now?

Yes, and I think I knew what you meant the first time. But, I still say that the priest doesn't look at the writings as bogus...he truly BELIEVES them. And therefore endorses the writings to others. An example....we don't believe Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and was given new revelations to be added to the bible, but he believed he was. And many believe his writings as a result.

 

[Mathematician]

This is a confusing question.

Are you asking if one true God controls all religion, or what?

I don't think Zeus approved of Christianity becoming so widespread.

 

[Quiddity]

Yes, and I think I knew what you meant the first time. But, I still say that the priest doesn't look at the writings as bogus...he truly BELIEVES them.

Neither do I, I was only entertaining your comment and rolling with it. Sometimes it helps to get the crux of the matter.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

Depends who you ask, don't it?

Gosh I hope not. Perhaps psychopaths/sociopaths are the only people who think that humans don't have any value.

It simply is insane to think that humans have value only if God exists. There is sufficient proof that we exist - but none for God - so placing value on something that we know to exist as relative only to something that we hope exists is not wise.

 

[ProfLogic]

Being a Christian, and one who is not afraid to admit skepticism,.....I have wondered about hell my whole life. I do believe the message of the bible to be God inspired but have to admit I wonder how much of the authors' imagination and personal views influenced the writings.

The notion of HELL is one area where I struggle with constantly. I have considered starting a thread about the subject. But, it's probably been done a hundred times.

I hope you find the answer. I did from personal experience, but can not share since you will find it yourself. All I know is that there is no god, no angels, no demons. They exists because we chose to. I examined myself and logically thought of where did I learn religion. If one day you will say, I do not need this, it will just fade away. This I say religion is controlled by men. Now the after life, there are no rewards only that our awareness will still exist differently than what we know now with the physical body.

 

[ProfLogic]

This is a confusing question.

Are you asking if one true God controls all religion, or what?

I don't think Zeus approved of Christianity becoming so widespread.

In religion who has more control man or God. If you believe that religion was created god through man then I would assume that you believe God has the control, but if you believe its man made then man has the control.

 

[Sunstone]

Being a Christian, and one who is not afraid to admit skepticism,.....I have wondered about hell my whole life. I do believe the message of the bible to be God inspired but have to admit I wonder how much of the authors' imagination and personal views influenced the writings.

The notion of HELL is one area where I struggle with constantly. I have considered starting a thread about the subject. But, it's probably been done a hundred times.

The notion that there are hells is wide spread and found in most, if not all, cultures. The specifics of what hells are vary considerably from culture to culture. For instance, to the ancient Aztecs, hells were places that one passed through after death on one's way to the heavens. To the ancient Greeks, Hades was not necessarily a place of punnishment, but it does seem to have been a place where the pleasures of living were largely unavailable. For instance, there are no Girls On Trampolines in Hades, and the shades (souls) there don't get to feast.

There have been threads on the subject of hell, but I don't recall any threads on the subject of the various hells imagined by people in different cultures. The conceptions of hells vary widely.

 

[ProfLogic]

I vote for women. They're in control of everything.

Do you know of a religion that is controlled by women? I am not sure about the druids I think they are majority female but I am not certain. A lot of women control men directly and in directly, so your statement holds truth.

 

[ProfLogic]

The notion that there are hells is wide spread and found in most, if not all, cultures. The specifics of what hells are vary considerably from culture to culture. For instance, to the ancient Aztecs, hells were places that one passed through after death on one's way to the heavens. To the ancient Greeks, Hades was not necessarily a place of punnishment, but it does seem to have been a place where the pleasures of living were largely unavailable. For instance, there are no Girls On Trampolines in Hades, and the shades (souls) there don't get to feast.

There have been threads on the subject of hell, but I don't recall any threads on the subject of the various hells imagined by people in different cultures. The conceptions of hells vary widely.

We should probably start a new thread on hell. By the way is anyone familiar on where the word came from - origin and period.

 

[d.]

How does the concept of hell suit anyones needs?

not only is it good to have handy as a 'whip' (where heaven/paradise acts as a 'carrot') as have already been mentioned, hell also fills the need of an absolute morality. in real life, the 'good guys' doesn't always win, and the 'bad guys' doesn't always fall down an elevator shaft and explode in the last scene.

so if you've been wronged, and the one who wronged you has not only gotten away with it but is in fact leading a richer, happier life than you, hell is a good way for you to have the proverbial 'last word'.

an extreme example, sure, to illustrate the principle.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

Do you know of a religion that is controlled by women? I am not sure about the druids I think they are majority female but I am not certain. A lot of women control men directly and in directly, so your statement holds truth.

Perhaps all of them.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

not only is it good to have handy as a 'whip' (where heaven/paradise acts as a 'carrot') as have already been mentioned, hell also fills the need of an absolute morality. in real life, the 'good guys' doesn't always win, and the 'bad guys' doesn't always fall down an elevator shaft and explode in the last scene.

so if you've been wronged, and the one who wronged you has not only gotten away with it but is in fact leading a richer, happier life than you, hell is a good way for you to have the proverbial 'last word'.

an extreme example, sure, to illustrate the principle.

Perhaps Jack Baur's role in this divine comedy ....

 

[d.]

We should probably start a new thread on hell. By the way is anyone familiar on where the word came from - origin and period.

it's from the norse 'hel' - the godess of death who lived in helgard, or sometimes the place was also called 'hel'. the biblical 'hell' is actually called gehenna in the old texts. apparently 'gehenna' was some kind of place where they burned garbage outside jerusalem, correct me if i'm wrong.

'hel' was incidentally a very cold place, which was more in line with how the people living in a land of very long winters would imagine an unpleasant eternity.

 

[Sunstone]

Who do you think controls religion, man or god? People say some scriptures which are the basis of some religion, were inspired by god. Who do you think is in control?

One part of me wishes to dismiss the question with a "Who cares?" A scripture is either useful or it isn't. What difference if it comes from a diety or a human?

Another part of me simply wishes to note that the claim scriptures are from deity is sure to impress the impressionable with the notion they might be true. But that begs the question of whether deity would lie to us? How do we know deity would not lie to us? After all, Hindus typically believe that one deity (or aspect of an all encompassing deity) is Maya (sp?), Goddess of illusion. If one wants to believe scriptures are true, that's fine. But I believe that some scriptures, such as much of the Bible, are not subject to being proven true, and must be taken on faith as true by those who wish to do so.

As for who controls religion, who doesn't? Even the most adamant adherent of scripture interprets scripture according to his or her understanding. In that interpretive function, there is some measure of control.

 

[Quiddity]

Gosh I hope not. Perhaps psychopaths/sociopaths are the only people who think that humans don't have any value.

It simply is insane to think that humans have value only if God exists. There is sufficient proof that we exist - but none for God - so placing value on something that we know to exist as relative only to something that we hope exists is not wise.

I suppose as a generality I would agree. But I don't necessarily think that the world is split between psychopaths/sociopaths and everybody else. I think everybody is molded into their own psychological state that influences who and what they attach meaning too. Someone I know for example made a statement that we should just bomb Iran and get it over with. Another person made a statement that they couldn't give a hoot if a 6 month old fetus was aborted because they haven't attached anything to the unborn infant. Would you consider both these persons psychopaths/sociopaths?

 

[Quiddity]

not only is it good to have handy as a 'whip' (where heaven/paradise acts as a 'carrot') as have already been mentioned, hell also fills the need of an absolute morality. in real life, the 'good guys' doesn't always win, and the 'bad guys' doesn't always fall down an elevator shaft and explode in the last scene.

Yeah, they make great movies though....