bmoynihan said:
I believe that it was an illusion created by my mind, having said that I cannot see how that is 'blasphemy of the holy spirit' if it was to exsist.
I do not believe in Creation so I do not need to give anybody credit for it.
I really doubt it ever would, for me there are far too many holes in it.
1) Why does suffering occur if there is a god? (This is not the same as free will, you can have free will and still be protected from suffering)?
2) Why did god make us 'sinners' in the first place? If he is all knowing then when he created us he would have known about having to send jesus, why bother with such a pantomime?
3) Christians often defy the basic teachings and thus I have difficulty relating to them. The main point that annoys me is how judgemental Christians are on issues like Homosexuality. Why must Christians have a negative oppinion of such things if God alown is the judge? Even saying that only Christians get to heaven is judging!
4) The Bible was written by men hundreds of years after the event yet you base your religion on it. If there was a God why couldn't you just ask him for answers instead of looking towards a book written by men?
5) If there is a God what happened before him? Who made him? In all eternity why did he suddenly decide to make us? All sounds far too a primative concept for me.
Having said that I respect Christians for the good work that they do and for generally trying to be good and kind to others, hopefully this path may get them closer to enlightenment than by being a non believer in anything and by following a selfish path.
With Metta
1. God can't claim to allow free will if His prevention of someone's suffering interferes with my actions just because my actions might (deliberately or accidentally) result in someone's suffering.
2. Why bother watching a favorite movie if you know how it's going to end? God didn't make us sinners, we did that all by ourselves.
3.
See the first part of my signature. We can judge the righteousness of actions but all too often we overstep our bounds and judge the people committing those actions without considering that sin begins in the heart and looking at what's in our own hearts. Being Orthodox, I believe that God is the judge and that
everyone will be judged based on how they responded to God in the way He revealed Himself to them. Christians have the nasty habit of focusing too much on justice rather than mercy.
4. Being Orthodox, my Faith is based on Holy Tradition handed down from Christ to the Apostles and from the Apostles to us. The Bible is a big part of that Tradition but was never intended to be the sole source of revelation knowledge. We believe that the Word of God is a person, not a book.
5. There was no "before God" because He exists outside of time. He created time, therefore He can't be bound within it or by it. God didn't sit around for 10,000,000,000,000,000 years alone, then decide one day to create the universe. Before He created the universe, there was no such thing as time. In fact, there was nothing
but God. I know it's a difficult concept to get your mind around but then how can we fully comprehend God when He is so far "above" and beyond us?
It truely is a pity that we Christians focus so much on selfish pursuits rather than sharing the Love that is so perfect. If you want to be really blessed, read about the lives of the Saints. St. Seraphim of Sarov is one of my favorites.
http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/seraphim_e.htm
God's blessings to you.
Forgive me,
Brad
