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Not at all. As you may have noticed from my earlier posts, I draw a distinct line between Revelation and Theology. Revelation is what God has revealed to us through His Messengers. Theology is the construct that people build to try and make sense of that Revelation. So there is the...

The statement I quoted before comes from "The Promised Day Is Come", considered authoritative within the Baha'i Faith. It can be found here: The Promised Day Is Come | Bahá’í Reference Library. This is the paragraph I shared last time, accompanied by the paragraph that follows it within that...

I'm familiar with some portions of the Bible, but often I'm simply familiar with certain concepts, I search on google for the quote and reference it. If we were talking in person, I wouldn't be able to throw out verses as well as I do on the internet. I seek to become more familiar, but I see...

I can see that, parts have been very slow going and I'm thinking I might skim through Leviticus, it is DENSE! I'm familiar with most of Daniel and some of Isaiah, which I plan to read from front to back, but as you can probably tell, I do plan (and have already begun) to read more of the NT...

Similar recommendations have been made to me on this forum, one, for example, that I at least take breaks from the OT to read the NT as it's an easier (iirc) read. Why do you think it's best to read the New Testament first? I'm enjoying Exodus, although I am definitely appreciating what I've...

Point taken and heeded! It's challenging to sift through everything and know what is true and what is false, I try to look at these commentaries critically but from a position of good faith. This issue is what got me thinking about the four Gospels which lead to my original post in the first...

Thank you for the reference! I just read John 3:1-15, I've heard some of these passages quoted before, but never read it in its entirety. The Bible I use was owned by my Great Grandmother, and she marked in pencil verses 14 and 15, they must have been particularly special to her. "And as...

Could you give an example of a passage that you felt was particularly layered with meaning in John's style?

My mistake, I misread "they are more likely to listen to a Christian" as "they are more likely to be a Christian". Sincere apologies. I am not, strictly speaking, a Christian, although I am a believer in the divinity of Jesus and the Gospels. However, in my experience, Christians are more...

Do you have statistics that inform this belief? If not, where do you think your assumption comes from? Are you talking about regional violence or global? I have been unable to find statistics suggesting that Christians are more likely to commit acts of violence than members of other belief...

As I continue my exploration of the Bible (slowly but surely, I'm technically still in Exodus but I've been skipping ahead), I've been reading and comparing the four canonical Evangels, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. These four books appear to be something of an anomaly in my...

My intention was not to say that I have no idea what will happen. My answer is essentially that I don't think we'll look like anything in the way we consider it in this life. Sorry if my post was confusing!

Our bodies die in this world and are buried in the ground. I like to believe that spiritual recognition will not require physical sight, since we will have left our physical eyes behind. I think the same phenomenon that allows a soul to recognize the truth of Christ and the Gospel will allow...

Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, "Art thou the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered him, "Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?" Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered...

In this universe, we understand things by their distinction from other things. We know good by its distinction from evil. I don't know why this is the way the universe is arranged, but it is. God, the author of the universe, made it so; therefore because of His creation, evil, the absence of...

This is an excellent point! I'm a fan of Rodwell's translation, which states in Surah 5:47: "But how shall they make thee their judge, since they possess already the Law, in which are the behests of God, and have not obeyed it? After this, they will turn their backs; but such are not...

I like to employ the mirror analogy to explain this: Christ is like the mirror and God is like the Sun. If someone were to point to the mirror and say, "here is the Sun," they would be correct. And if they were to say, "here is the mirror," they would also be correct.

Is it not true that intention plays a role in Kamma? "Intention, I tell you, is kamma. Intending, one does kamma by way of body, speech, & intellect." (From the Nibbedhika Sutta) To my understanding, the farmer who waters his field may look on his crops and call it "good" but to me (someone...

Interesting. Light and dark, then, or suffering and enlightenment perhaps? I'm thinking of the balance of Karma, but I could be misunderstanding. Could you speak a bit more to that theme? To me, a conscious negative choice that brings about suffering is an evil choice, and an intentionally...

It seems that if you replace "God" with "the Universe", there are a great many similarities between Christianity and Buddhism. The balance of good and evil, working towards the end of suffering, detachment from a world that pulls at your desires with endless dissatisfaction, are all common...