Ever changed your mind?

[Saint Steven]

no .... i suggested no such thing

What then?

 

[honey badger]

What then?

what i wrote is in reference to the law of our mind ....

And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”

 

[Saint Steven]

what i wrote is in reference to the law of our mind ....

And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”

Once again suggesting that we should be mindless automatons. Unreasoning beasts.
Unless you meant something else. It may require more than 12 words to explain yourself.

Why was there a forbidden tree in the first place? Why was it placed in the very center of the garden where it could not be overlooked? Oh wait, it would require reasoning to sort that out. (thus crucifying Truth) Never mind.

 

[honey badger]

Once again suggesting that we should be mindless automatons. Unreasoning beasts.
Unless you meant something else. It may require more than 12 words to explain yourself.

Why was there a forbidden tree in the first place? Why was it placed in the very center of the garden where it could not be overlooked? Oh wait, it would require reasoning to sort that out. (thus crucifying Truth) Never mind.

do you want me to expand on what i have said so far, or are you just wanting to put your words in my mouth, so to speak ... it matters not to me either way

 

[Saint Steven]

do you want me to expand on what i have said so far, or are you just wanting to put your words in my mouth, so to speak ... it matters not to me either way

Unless you expand on what you have said so far, we are left to our own conclusions about what you said. You have been a bit cryptic so far. If you have something to say, I'd like to hear it. So far you have led me to believe that you are promoting a relationship with God devoid of cognitive development. But you seem to bristle at that conclusion. Claiming you suggested no such thing. (when you actually did suggest such a thing)

 

[honey badger]

Unless you expand on what you have said so far, we are left to our own conclusions about what you said. You have been a bit cryptic so far. If you have something to say, I'd like to hear it. So far you have led me to believe that you are promoting a relationship with God devoid of cognitive development. But you seem to bristle at that conclusion. Claiming you suggested no such thing. (when you actually did suggest such a thing)

Jesus kept Gods commandment and therefor did not eat of his own reasoning by way of two fruits of a tree which according to your theory (not mine) made him a mindless automaton, which as we know could not be further from the truth

“Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does.

I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

I do not speak on My own. Instead, it is the Father dwelling in Me, performing His works.

there is a lot more to this than you are presently seeing ...

 

[Saint Steven]

Jesus kept Gods commandment and therefor did not eat of his own reasoning by way of two fruits of a tree which according to your theory (not mine) made him a mindless automaton, which as we know could not be further from the truth

“Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does.

I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

I do not speak on My own. Instead, it is the Father dwelling in Me, performing His works.

there is a lot more to this than you are presently seeing ...

You refuse to admit it, but you are describing Jesus as an unreasoning beast. I don't think that was the case at all. You don't win arguments without cognitive abilities. Are you really claiming that Jesus had no knowledge of good and evil?

 

[Saint Steven]

there is a lot more to this than you are presently seeing ...

Claiming superior knowledge?

 

[honey badger]

You refuse to admit it, but you are describing Jesus as an unreasoning beast. I don't think that was the case at all. You don't win arguments without cognitive abilities. Are you really claiming that Jesus had no knowledge of good and evil?

not at all ... i am saying he did not reason between them as in hang his perception upon them ...

 

[honey badger]

Claiming superior knowledge?

if you call that which is hid in plain sight superior then it is superior to you and not to me ...

 

[Saint Steven]

if you call that which is hid in plain sight superior then it is superior to you and not to me ...

If you had anything of value to share, you would have done so by now ...

 

[honey badger]

If you had anything of value to share, you would have done so by now ...

if you are unwilling to see, then you will not ....

 

[venksta]

What then?

what i wrote is in reference to the law of our mind ....

And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”

@honey badger has pointed out some insightful revelations here for me. I'd like to share if it is useful for anyone else.

When we "eat from the tree of life", we go to God first for any decisions/thinking. By doing so, God's light is shined on the situation, and only truth is shown. His way is perfect. A submissive heart to God, will find themselves feasting from this tree's fruit for all the days of their life.

However, when we "eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil". This is when we reason with out God and His truth. This is when we decide for ourselves what is good and what is evil. We have decided we are "gods". A life with out God's truth, is a life in the darkness. Decision making is like russian roulette.

In both scenarios, we have free will to choose. However, one leads to eternal life, the other to death. In the end, these are the two outcomes our reasonings/choices lead to.

So, like the short story above, my question is have you ever changed your mind on the subject of faith, morals and worldview to go in an unexpected new direction?

Yes, over the past year I have. I would describe an event, like the scales that fell off Paul's eye, occurred for me. After living for many years in faith, but blinded by other men's perspectives, God finally showed me His creation through the eyes He gave me. It has been one of the best gifts I have been blessed to receive. Seeing things from His kingdom, is a definite eye opener.

 

[Cormack]

When we "eat from the tree of life", we go to God first for any decisions/thinking.

Thanks for getting involved, @venksta. The main problem is that to “go to God first” (how you’ve written) isn’t the same as writing “our own reasoning is where Truth is crucified ...“ You’re putting lipstick on a pig here.

Our own reasoning can be either true or false without reference to God, He’s designed us as capable of reasoning to various truths with or without reference to Him.

If an atheist avoids driving drunk because he’s conscious that his driving skills are impaired, he’s right, it’s true that his driving skills are badly impaired, none of that is false, none of that is crucifying truth, and none of that is having God first in his thoughts. He’s benefitting from the good sense God has created in him, but that’s not the same as going to God first.

Using phrases like “eat from the tree of life” is doubly unhelpful since we all know the tree of life hasn’t been eaten from by mankind (Genesis 3:22-24.)

Why not write what you mean instead of recruiting Biblical terms for your own private ideas?

Yes, over the past year I have. I would describe an event, like the scales that fell off Paul's eye, occurred for me. After living for many years in faith, but blinded by other men's perspectives, God finally showed me His creation through the eyes He gave me. It has been one of the best gifts I have been blessed to receive. Seeing things from

“Changing your mind” means holding 1 opinion, and then later changing that opinion to something new, a new and different opinion from the first opinion.

What you’ve described is a private experience, not how you’ve changed your mind (unless you’re using “changed my mind” in a strange private way.) If you’d like to explain the man made perspectives that you were in bondage to, that would be very interesting.

 

[Cormack]

Decision making is like russian roulette.

Deciding that decision making is like Russian roulette is a decision you’ve made. The gun only goes off in your face when you try to reason that reasoning is bad, that’s the loaded chamber.

Christians don’t make decisions arbitrarily, they make decisions based upon principles. Like principles you’ll find in Gods word. If a person thinks that choices are like a random game of death, that only tells me that their choices are not informed by principles.

 

[Saint Steven]

Deciding that decision making is like Russian roulette is a decision you’ve made. The gun only goes off in your face when you try to reason that reasoning is bad, that’s the loaded chamber.

Christians don’t make decisions arbitrarily, they make decisions based upon principles. Like principles you’ll find in Gods word. If a person thinks that choices are like a random game of death, that only tells me that their choices are not informed by principles.

I agree.
It requires reasoning to "think about such things."

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

 

[Cormack]

I agree.
It requires reasoning to "think about such things."

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Couldn’t agree more. The church needs men and women with principles, not mystics ego tripping off their own misuse of Bible words. Who knows, Steven, this might be the moment where people actually change their mind on something

 

[venksta]

Thanks for getting involved, @venksta
Why not write what you mean instead of recruiting Biblical terms for your own private ideas?

My apologies. I obviously did a poor job of trying to express what I wanted to share. However, none of it are private ideas, but truth God has shown to me, in our lives, and how decisions and choices we make effect each other. God has allowed me to see this, and one of the ways has, is just by allowing me to be a quiet and observant person, and willing to listen to all about their lives, with God, and those with out God. I'll reply back at a later time, once I have better words to use to share about this.

“Changing your mind” means holding 1 opinion, and then later changing that opinion to something new, a new and different opinion from the first opinion.

What you’ve described is a private experience, not how you’ve changed your mind (unless you’re using “changed my mind” in a strange private way.) If you’d like to explain the man made perspectives that you were in bondage to, that would be very interesting.

I was born to a "muslim" father (not a big believer), and a christian mother. My father allowed my mother to keep her faith and not be converted, but due to fear of his muslim family, he didn't allow her to attend church, and expected myself and my sister to be "muslims", to keep up the appearance. At a young age, my mother desired I be taught the bible. We had a family friend, who happened to be a Jehovah's Witness. My mother, not knowing better at the time, asked if he could teach me the bible in secret, when he would visit us during weekdays. I'm sure you are all aware that the JW's belief in Jesus, is that he is not the Son of God, but the archangel Michael. So most of my youth and teens, Jesus wasn't important to me, because that is what I was shown. My father finally allowed us to attend church, at the age of 12. Thats when I started to slowly change my mind on Jesus. But it would take a longer time to fully understand who Christ is for me. But that is an early example of different people's perspectives in my life, putting the truth of Christ in bondage. Also being a fearful child, did not help with thinking about asking questions. I just went with what I was told, by people I believed in.

 

[honey badger]

My apologies. I obviously did a poor job of trying to express what I wanted to share. However, none of it are private ideas, but truth God has shown to me, in our lives, and how decisions and choices we make effect each other. God has allowed me to see this, and one of the ways has, is just by allowing me to be a quiet and observant person, and willing to listen to all about their lives, with God, and those with out God. I'll reply back at a later time, once I have better words to use to share about this.



I was born to a "muslim" father (not a big believer), and a christian mother. My father allowed my mother to keep her faith and not be converted, but due to fear of his muslim family, he didn't allow her to attend church, and expected myself and my sister to be "muslims", to keep up the appearance. At a young age, my mother desired I be taught the bible. We had a family friend, who happened to be a Jehovah's Witness. My mother, not knowing better at the time, asked if he could teach me the bible in secret, when he would visit us during weekdays. I'm sure you are all aware that the JW's belief in Jesus, is that he is not the Son of God, but the archangel Michael. So most of my youth and teens, Jesus wasn't important to me, because that is what I was shown. My father finally allowed us to attend church, at the age of 12. Thats when I started to slowly change my mind on Jesus. But it would take a longer time to fully understand who Christ is for me. But that is an early example of different people's perspectives in my life, putting the truth of Christ in bondage. Also being a fearful child, did not help with thinking about asking questions. I just went with what I was told, by people I believed in.

the whole of scripture is a narrative about a change of mind .... understanding the serpent which leads us out also leads us back in, which is to say we come to the end of our own reasoning by our own reasoning or we come to the knowledge of who we are by the knowledge of who we are not ...

 

[ISteveB]

Recently I read a book titled All you want to know about Hell, it explained 3 famous historic perspectives on the nature, duration and purpose of hellfire.

The three viewpoints were that the fires of hell torment (traditional hell,) the fires consume (annihilationism,) and lastly that the fires refine (universalism.)

Long story short (although the author argued well in favour of each and every perspective) I ended up changing my mind on the topic of hell.

Growing up in a non Christian household I’ve made spiritual changes before, but those changes were always in the general direction of a widely agreed upon Christian orthodoxy.

Changing my mind in the past and accepting the deity of Christ, salvation by grace or the inerrancy of the Bible were big decisions to me personally, but in the grand scheme of things those choices are still rubber stamped by billions of people worldwide (unlike holding to what feels like a novel perspective on hell.)

So, like the short story above, my question is have you ever changed your mind on the subject of faith, morals and worldview to go in an unexpected new direction?

I'm thinking that we are in a constant state of change in our thinking regarding biblical matters.

One I would hope that would result in our being changed from glory to glory, becoming increasingly more like Jesus each day.
2 Corinthians 3:18

So, to provide a more concise answer...

Yes... literally.... daily.

Metanoia, the Greek word for repent, literally means change your mind.