World religions versus Christianity

FireDragon76

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Ironically, you can even find the Taoist notion of wu wei (non-doing) in the East, which is almost certainly less "works" than the most stringent Lutheran sola fide.

Yes, wu wei is the opposite of a "what must I do" mentality?
 
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FireDragon76

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Heck, personally, I'm at the point where I
feel more comfortable honoring/venerating
(not really 'worshiping') someone who I
*know* exists but who has since leveled-
up to the higher realms than I am a
concept of a deity that may or may not
even actually exist.

This is a relatively recent thing for me. It
just suddenly dawned on me that, in the
process of being completely overtaken in
love with one of God's creations, whose
existence could be proven, it's actually
less presumptuous of me to uphold that
person in reverence than it is some
haphazardly thrown-together ideal of
divinity that has only myth, legend, and
musty old texts for its foundation at this
point. But this (lower?) form of
adoration/love is producing in me the
same fruits that are said to come from
being indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Go figure.
Something's at work, here, that I just
haven't figured out yet.

That's a really good point. So much of Christianity rests on what amounts to conjecture about God by reading a text with various theological viewpoints across vast stretches of time and several cultures.

Vs. simply recognizing wisdom where it is found, and honoring that? I know which one seems more of a crapshot to me, and it's not "paganism".
 
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FireDragon76

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Christians cannot even agree on what to believe other than some abstract philosophical points about God and Jesus that are incoherent to modern humanity, and stories about Jesus that are open to a myriad of interpretations.

That's why I said it's more of a crapshot than Christians assume.
 
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ByAnyOtherName

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To me, this is the relationship between Christianity and the followers of other Faiths and beliefs:

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
John 13:34-35

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
1 Peter 3:15

And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
Luke 10:27

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
John 3:17

Jesus asks us to love our neighbors, regardless of their faith, and not to condemn them, but to let them know where our hope comes from. That, to me, is a very important 'Do'.
 
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Jane_the_Bane

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It's a common enough claim, but is it an accurate assessment?
I'd say no, both regarding Christianity and other religions. Even as an oversimplification, it cannot really do justice to the wide range of different religious traditions, nor to the Christian tradition itself.

Among the Abrahamics, Christianity *is* a bit of an "odd one out": on the one hand, it disposes of the ritualistic legalism that characterises its largest siblings, Judaism and Islam. But on the other hand, it cranks up the importance of the Law to a level not seen anywhere else, introducing a dual afterlife where everyone who does not appeal to Jesus as a substitute will be tormented for even the most minuscule of transgressions.

Taken to the extremes this meme suggests, this would render Christianity a morally bankrupt religion for miscreants who do not even need to try to be good - they just need to know the loophole, and thus escape the punishment that every last one of them supposedly deserves.

But not every religion teaches that we need to earn salvation from the wrath of an angry god in some fashion. Buddhism, for example, is not concerned with appeasing deities or earning rewards - quite the contrary.
 
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Arthra

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For me it's not so much "Christianity verses other religions".... All the religions have a spiritual Divine origin and today there are inter-faith venues where people are sharing their beliefs in various ways... Locally we've had an Inter-faith Council for the past thirty years or so and we pray together and share aspects of our faith with each other. You can check out the Parliament of World Religions that's had regular meetings since 1893 at the Chicago World's Fair:

Parliament of the World's Religions - Wikipedia

A few years ago we had World Religion Day meetings at the University in my town and the Department of Religion at the University encouraged it.

My wife had a childrens' class that visited churches, temples, synagogues, mosques, mandir to educate them about the world religions. I used to take my own children to various places of worship to learn more and appreciate the various faiths.
 
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Christian Apologist

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For me it's not so much "Christianity verses other religions".... All the religions have a spiritual Divine origin and today there are inter-faith venues where people are sharing their beliefs in various ways... Locally we've had an Inter-faith Council for the past thirty years or so and we pray together and share aspects of our faith with each other. You can check out the Parliament of World Religions that's had regular meetings since 1893 at the Chicago World's Fair:

Parliament of the World's Religions - Wikipedia

A few years ago we had World Religion Day meetings at the University in my town and the Department of Religion at the University encouraged it.

My wife had a childrens' class that visited churches, temples, synagogues, mosques, mandir to educate them about the world religions. I used to take my own children to various places of worship to learn more and appreciate the various faiths.

Religious Pluralism is wrong, there is only ONE WAY to the Father and it is thru the True Jesus

The Truth about Mormonism: Mormons follow a different Christ than traditional Christians
 
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awitch

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I always wonder about people who join a conversation just to scream "MY RELIGION IS THE ONLY RIGHT ONE!" I wouldn't want to subscribe to a religion that drives its followers to do that. Such a turn off.
 
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Arthra

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There's a scripture that comes to mind...

"For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me."

- Gospel of John Chapter 5 and verse 46

I believe all the Messengers of God have a common Source.
 
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TheOldWays

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I always wonder about people who join a conversation just to scream "MY RELIGION IS THE ONLY RIGHT ONE!" I wouldn't want to subscribe to a religion that drives its followers to do that. Such a turn off.

Oddly he also linked in an article about Mormons. So random.
 
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dlamberth

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I always wonder about people who join a conversation just to scream "MY RELIGION IS THE ONLY RIGHT ONE!" I wouldn't want to subscribe to a religion that drives its followers to do that. Such a turn off.
I couldn't agree with you more. As a Lover of God and as I look around I see God just as alive and vibrant with in the various spiritual trajectories as in any other of them. How can I deny the reality that I actually see and experience in life that God is a Universal experience across the Human spectrum. I don't know how to deny any of that nor do I want to be a part of that denial.
 
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Rajni

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Religious Pluralism is wrong, there is only ONE WAY to the Father and it is thru the True Jesus
One road, multiple lanes.
One Light, multiple colors.

upload_2019-11-12_13-7-26.png


(Oh but Orange is the One True Color™, amirite? :D)



-
 
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dlamberth

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Rajni

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Quoting ancient texts doesn't make something
true. Besides, I'd rather not let such do my
thinking for me, especially passages that could
very easily lead one into thinking that some
humans are inferior because they're not
considered God's. That's a highly dangerous
mentality to have.


-
 
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Jane_the_Bane

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Religious Pluralism is wrong, there is only ONE WAY to the Father and it is thru the True Jesus

The Truth about Mormonism: Mormons follow a different Christ than traditional Christians
And yet, as a Republican, and - I suppose - Trump supporter, you propagate a political ideology that is directly opposed to EVERYTHING Jesus taught. I can only assume that Jesus was thinking of people like you when he talked about the people who cry "Lord, Lord" in Matt 7:21

What fruit do you bear? You do not feed the hungry, do not heal the sick (unless they bankrupt themselves just trying to stay alive), to not house the homeless, do not take in the refugee, do not visit the imprisoned. Instead, you most likely worship a thrice-divorced, "[bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] grabbing", racist, nepotist billionaire heir, con man and compulsory liar who took money from a veterans' charity for himself, cheated contractors out of their contractual pay, and banned Christmas decorations in 100 Central Park South to get rid of poor elderly tenants (just to mention a few glorious highlights).
What did Jesus have to say about rich men again? Something about camels and needle's eyes?
 
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