All Paths Lead to God

[AureateDawn]

http://www.tuirgin.com/orthodoxy/articles/why_be_a_christian.html

There is something like I am talking about. It is by the Orthodox Fr. Alexander Men.

 

[kamikat]

Do you know exactly what the Namaste is? It is a greeting to a false god. What exactly is a false god? That's right, a demon. At the begining of every dance practice we did, back when I was a Vishnu temple dancer, was the namaste, a series of movements, including a prostration, before a statue of Vishnu. It's not just a greeting to the spark of the Divine within. It's a form of worship to a false god.

 

[Jacob4707]

http://www.tuirgin.com/orthodoxy/articles/why_be_a_christian.html

There is something like I am talking about. It is by the Orthodox Fr. Alexander Men.

You really don't want to listen to anything we have to say, do you? You just want to keep on asking these questions or pointing out these things.

It might be too late for him. I am seriously fed up with his silliness and have begun to wonder if this is all not a game to him. Thus I feel the need from here on out to completely wash my hands of him and his silliness and let him tread whatever path he wishes to take. Maybe he just needs to learn the hard way.

Maybe.

 

[Orthosdoxa]

Justin, I have asked you this before, and you ignored me. Will you read "Christ the Eternal Tao"? If you PROMISE to read it, and not just throw it in a pile of crap in your room, I will send you a copy. I believe it will clear up your confusion here.

But if you don't think you'll read it, then tell me no. It is not a short book and will require a commitment from you to read it, digest it, and finish it. I don't have the time or the money to waste if you don't care enough to read it.

I actually don't have a problem with you learning about and experimenting with other beliefs, because when you come back to the Truth, it will be that much more meaningful, as you will have seen the emptiness that is there when you deny Christ. Beauty is never enough. BEAUTY IS NEVER ENOUGH.

BTW, the others are right when they said you haven't even scratched the surface in Orthodoxy. Not even close (and I understand this is not your fault, due to your age and situation in not being able to attend DL), so perhaps remember that before you just toss this in the wind for some philosophy that relies on pretty words.

 

[seashale76]

...

That really isn't the case at all. I can't think of a single thread I have made with such intention. This is a sincere question, because I know that Orthodoxy teaches that all religions have some Truth in it, and perhaps this is where she and I are getting mixed up in our understanding?

Justin, I do like you, but you're even trying the patience of prolific lurkers such as myself. Forgive me if I think that you sound disingenuous. I've read many of your recent posts and I think you know when you're going to get a reaction from people that falls in the negative attention range. You use your responses as a spring board to show your newfound (clearly superior...sarcasm intended) knowledge of other religions. I've been a teenage know-it-all too, heck, I've been an adult know-it-all and know that MO all too well. It is, at the core, defensive by necessity. It is an attempt to distract from the underlying issues you may have. Of course, I could be projecting entirely. I fear you may crash soon after this little knowledge high you've gained for yourself.

 

[Knowledge3]

Is this teaching applicable and compatible with Orthodoxy? I have talked to a fomer TAWer (still Orthodox) that says this. They say that even nuns they have talked to agree, etc.

Is this true?

In patristic Christianity, God the Father is understood to be God.

Jesus Christ is understood to be the Only-begotten.

Do you understand what this means?

 

[Knowledge3]

[. . .]

 

[Breaking Babylon]

You mean that antichrist-vomited belief that there are many paths to the same mountaintop? No. The path is straight and narrow, and there are few who find it, fewer who endure it. It's been trodden by the earliest Saints and preserved by the blood of the radiant and victorious Martyrs, it was paved by the Precious and Life-giving Cross and opened by the Passion of Christ.

Humming your chakras and chanting your goddesses and submitting to the demons and blasphemies of godless pagans and heretics won't get you there.

 

[disasm]

I don't agree with everything that he says, but he did get one thing right.

But in the case of someone without any religious awareness, then I would reply in the words of the Gospel—you remember what the disciples said to Nathaniel—‘Come and see’ ( John 1:46).

It’s something we have to see and feel, something that we must experience. Mathematics cannot prove the beauty of Beethoven’s ninth symphony or of a great painting—say Rublev’s ‘Trinity’.2 You have first to hear it, see it, make an inward visit to it—and we have to seek Christ out and try to meet him. Without this encounter no system of proofs will ever convince us, the system will remain merely something schematic and lifeless. We believe in Christ not because someone told us to but because those words invite each one of us to ‘come and find out’.

Faith comes from hearing the word, said the apostle Paul. Remember what happened to the Samaritans when the woman came to them and said, ‘Here is a man who told me all that I ever did.’ They were astonished, but when they went themselves and heard Jesus themselves they concluded: ‘Now we understand for ourselves, not because “you told us so”, but from our own personal experience’ ( John 4:42).

 

[Friul]

You mean that antichrist-vomited belief that there are many paths to the same mountaintop? No. The path is straight and narrow, and there are few who find it, fewer who endure it. It's been trodden by the earliest Saints and preserved by the blood of the radiant and victorious Martyrs, it was paved by the Precious and Life-giving Cross and opened by the Passion of Christ.

Humming your chakras and chanting your goddesses and submitting to the demons and blasphemies of godless pagans and heretics won't get you there.

Well said!

 

[buzuxi02]

All paths may lead to Christ but not to God.

Christ is the mediator between God and man. Jesus said you search the scripture for in them you think you have life, but they are which speak of me. I truly believe Jesus meant all scriptures. The apostles demonstrated from the OT that Christ fulfilled the prophecies but i believe such prophecies are in every major scripture.

This is why, i do not find anything appealing about islam. There devotion to monotheism for me is a waste. It is better for one to be a hindu and see how Kalki fits the description of Christ than a muslim who believes Christ is a prophet and not a major one at that.

It is better for one to be a buddhist and pray the buddhist prayer of 'Come Lord Maitreya' and see this is the same person spoken of in REV 22.17,20. Than promote a false monotheism without the messiah.

It is better for a follower of Taoism to read Chapter 6.17 of the Tao Te Ching where it says:
"The gateway of the mysterious female is called the root of heaven and earth".
And eventually be lead to the conclusion that the Theotokos thru her virgin birth was the ladder which allowed the Logos to descend from Heaven to Earth.The root of jesse.

Christianity is the path which leads to the Triune God, all others may attempt to lead to the messiah (of not only the jews but also of the gentiles).

 

[Breaking Babylon]

Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” So Paul departed from among them.

-- Acts 17:22-34 (New King James Version)

 

[Silentchapel]

Justin, you may find Buddhism interesting now, but no reason to shove it up our faces. Namaste and Blessed be may be cool to you, but they're not cool with us. We never asked you to greet us with some Christian or specifically Orthodox greeting, but you should remember that this is after all an Orthodox board for Orthodox Christians who come here to socialize. We've given you some leeway since we've known you for a long time, but you should think twice before starting a new thread. You know that all Christianity teaches that only Christ leads to God (now, different Churches/denominations do differ on what Church/denomination does that) - but the point is that it seems you started a thread more for the sake of discussion than to ask an honest questions.
And all of you - chill. After all Justin's 16. He's got issues and we should help him with those as Christ commanded. At his age I practiced sorcery, and I'm sure that there will be some who have at one point in their lives (especially during puberty) flirted with occult or pagan or essentially anything else that has nothing to do with Christianity (I wouldn't be surprised if teens in Japan and China get all interested in Christainity until they get more mature ).
So just a suggestion Justin - think twice before you make a thread. There is a host of reliable online sources where you can check, not 'former TAW members' with whom 'some nuns agree.'

 

[nikolayalexandroff]

Don't forget the Buddhist Hot dog... Ask the guy to make you one, with everything!

Buddhist path leads precisely to nowhere. To be, or not to be - that is the question. If you chose Buddhism, your choice is: NOT TO BE. And if you chose Orthodox Christianity, your choice to be god by grace.

 

[AJB4]

And all of you - chill. After all Justin's 16. He's got issues and we should help him with those as Christ commanded.

Agreed. (and no, I'm not JustinHesychast).

 

[ma2000]

We receive the Light of Christ in Holy Communion and are set ablaze. That Light has summoned us to the Feast of feasts, Holy Day of holy days, inviting all, even at the eleventh hour, to enter into the joy of our Lord. And now we are challenged with the work of the continuing Eucharist, the Eucharist outside the Orthodox Temple: "Let us call all who hate us, 'brother.' Let us forgive all in the joy of the Resurrection."

St. Anthony the Great summed up Orthodox monastic theology in the words: "I am my brother." By the light of the Resurrection, I reflect upon this truth: If I am my brother, I cannot condemn him, for I am as great a sinner as he. If I am my brother, I cannot let him go about in need. If I am my brother, hating him is hating myself. If I am my brother, his salvation is critical to my own. If am my brother, I will not rest until I share with him the joyful life in Christ. If I am my brother, I cannot bear his condemnation. If I am my brother, I must forgive all. If I am my brother, his injustices are mine. If I am my brother, I will pray for him when hope seems gone. If I am my brother, I will love him as I love myself.

 

[Jacob4707]

And all of you - chill. After all Justin's 16. He's got issues and we should help him with those as Christ commanded.

Agreed. (and no, I'm not JustinHesychast).

That's fine. We know that.* I think some of us are just trying to say that TAW is NOT the place for someone to act this way, whether they are 6, 16, or 66. Even 16-year-olds sometimes need to be told "No" or "Don't do that." Not necessarily "tough love," but not coddling, either.

* On the other hand, we don't necessarily know that. We know that JH has presented himself here as a troubled teen with sexual-identity issues and a dysfunctional mother with whom he has a dysfunctional relationship - and now a will-she-be-adopted?/won't-she-be-adopted? female child has apparently entered (or entered and exited?) the picture and/or the household. (But if JH's mother really is the way he has portrayed her to be, what adoption agency would let her adopt a child?) Maybe it's all true, maybe none of it is true. There is no way to know unless someone here has actually met and talked with JH. He could be bona fide, or he and his posts and things could be the fictional creation of an adult who just wants to play games. The same could be said about any of us. Only you and the TAW persons you've met or talked with offline know if you are authentic or not.

At this point, I think the scale has tipped to the side that for some of us JH is going to have to prove himself by doing some serious reading and stopping asking the silly and obnoxious questions and posting his puerile rants. He has cast increasing doubt on his credibility and seriousness and willingness to even pay attention to what people here write in response to his requests for comments or answers.

 

[Michael G]

You really don't want to listen to anything we have to say, do you? You just want to keep on asking these questions or pointing out these things.



Maybe.

Jacob,
I really do think this is all just a ploy on Justins behalf to get people to pay attention to him. I am seriously considering putting him on my ignore list.
Michael

 

[Silentchapel]

Jacob,
I really do think this is all just a ploy on Justins behalf to get people to pay attention to him. I am seriously considering putting him on my ignore list.
Michael

Well, considering all the problems Justin has, it is no wonder he has self-esteem problems. I've had those for a long, long time (still do, but to a far far lesser extent), so I see nothing especially malevolent in Justin's behaviour. And putting him on ignore lists will only make those worse. If people were putting me on ignore lists when I needed them, I would've never resolve my issues.

 

[Jacob4707]

Well, considering all the problems Justin has, it is no wonder he has self-esteem problems. I've had those for a long, long time (still do, but to a far far lesser extent), so I see nothing especially malevolent in Justin's behaviour. And putting him on ignore lists will only make those worse. If people were putting me on ignore lists when I needed them, I would've never resolve my issues.

You are making the assumption that Justin is as he has portrayed himself to be. That may be a correct assumption, or it may be a wrong assumption. You assume he is a troubled teen who has serious issues and needs our help. You may be right. Or, he may be just playing games with us. At this point, some of us don't know whether to believe him or not. Even the displayed bipolar behavior could be a ploy. There is great incongruity between the way he has portrayed his mother to be (violent rages, manic-depressive behavior, depression, etc.) and her apparent eligibility/acceptance to be an adoptive parent (and the kid suddenly gets switched - first it's going to be this child, then it's going to be this other child; no, wait, maybe the child is going to be returned; etc.). When the facts stop adding up, or add up funny, one might want to reconsider whether the facts are being presented. If one is dealing with an irrational person, rational conversation is not possible. And if one is being toyed with....