Religious education needed, please.

[Monksailor]

Why yes, a completely unbiased site. I could cherry pick all day, but then I would feel obligated to make a pie with the rain coming soon, it is over the lake but should be hitting land real soon according to the radar.

Taqiyya, is that like lying so you don’t have to take gay wedding pictures?

No, it's like lying so you can slaughter and cut off heads and blow people up.

 

[juvenissun]

Hinduism, the worshipper seeks to placate the god(s) through worship and offerings.

This idea is also very normal and human. People treat a human king or a human authority in a same way.

 

[~Anastasia~]

Yes, I think I am very strong in Christian theology. That is why.

Wonderful!

In that case you might get good direction depending on your reason?

If you wish to be able to talk to folks of other kinds of beliefs, it might be helpful to know which beliefs you will more commonly encounter? I admit I was rather put on the spot by three Muslims who recently asked me to explain all of Christianity along with several of the questions relating to God Himself which were difficult to relate to their understanding, and I admit if I had better understood certain aspects of their theology I would have been better prepared.

If you are just curious and want stories, I know where you can find pretty wild ones, depending on if you want theology or experience (but not really sure I'd recommend the theology because it masquerades itself as quasi-Christianity).

Or if your interest is academic, I'd expect a more controlled inquiry.

You rather surprised me with your request. Though my recommendation stands if you aren't well-versed in patristics as well.

God be with you.

 

[~Anastasia~]

Thank you very much. This one is special. And I do not quite understand the justification behind it.

Do anything to promote Islam. But do not do that to people within Islam. I think it may have logic contradiction in this concept. One action could be good or bad, depends on if it is used to promote Islam. If so, is there an absolute value of Islam, or the Allah? In particular, the concept of sin is totally confused in Islam.

I am not sure, but I think your question points more to the fact that Muslims are considered a certain "class" of people, deserving of particular treatment, while non-Muslims represent a different set of people, subject to different rights.

 

[juvenissun]

In my current path I am realising that loving and accepting yourself is in fact the same thing as God loving you. God loves us all regardless, we just have to realise it. Most don't.

Has god, has no god, you are god. Normally you should choose one among them. However, it seems you embrace all of them.

Is that a special concept in the PureLand?

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Taqiyya - Saying something that isn't true as it relates to the Muslim identity.

No, it's like lying so you can slaughter and cut off heads and blow people up.

Really. Wow!

I would be real scared to meet up with some of those hombres.

Well, my salt shaker is out with all the insightful information you have provided about Islam. I should get some more, I don’t know if I will get at Meijer or the GFS Market place. If I do Meijer I can run over to the mall and get sushi for dinner but GFS has salt shakers in eight packs and Lee’s fried Chicken across the street. First world problems I know.

 

[juvenissun]

Or if your interest is academic, I'd expect a more controlled inquiry.

You rather surprised me with your request. Though my recommendation stands if you aren't well-versed in patristics as well.

I am exploring comparative theology.
So far, I haven't seen any challenging theological idea yet. Christianity is still the best.

 

[juvenissun]

I am not sure, but I think your question points more to the fact that Muslims are considered a certain "class" of people, deserving of particular treatment, while non-Muslims represent a different set of people, subject to different rights.

I don't think so. The idea you just said is extremely old in human history, even it is still valid today. I am not interested in human idea. I am looking for special idea in various theology.

 

[TheOldWays]

Has god, has no god, you are god. Normally you should choose one among them. However, it seems you embrace all of them.

I don't really ponder it too much.

Is that a special concept in the PureLand?

I'm not a Buddhist but I don't think Pureland Buddhist worry too much about the idea of God, as to them a Buddha is the highest form.

 

[juvenissun]

Taken collectively these verses (and several others at the web page) are interpreted to mean that there are circumstances when a Muslim may be "compelled" to deceive others for a greater purpose.

Thanks.

So, you are repeating an idea: actions like lying, killing etc. are not necessarily sinful in Islam. (no further explanation is needed. stop right here)

Is that right?

If yes, this is interesting, even I can argue strongly against it. Also, I think it is very humanistic and is not a surprising idea revealed by Allah. In humanism (no god), some people would strongly insist: do anything to get things done. The end justify the means.

 

[cloudyday2]

I am exploring comparative theology.
So far, I haven't seen any challenging theological idea yet. Christianity is still the best.

I would only become a Christian if I thought it was true and that it mattered whether I was a Christian or not. The theology of Christianity relative to other religions is its weakest area. Even St. Paul admitted that the theology of Christianity is foolishness by normal standards.

So, I don't know how you can claim that Christian theology is "the best". As a philosophy, Christianity is not competitive with other religions IMO.

 

[dlamberth]

I am exploring comparative theology.
So far, I haven't seen any challenging theological idea yet. Christianity is still the best.

In time past, I also went through a comparative exploration of religion. It wasn't theology that I was looking at though. What I was looking for is how God is actually made a reality in the lives of the believers. I felt that the level of intimacy with God in a believers everyday life and what they did with that intimacy gave me a more accurate and clearer picture of that religion than does any amount of theological study. And I still feel that way.

 

[~Anastasia~]

I don't think so. The idea you just said is extremely old in human history, even it is still valid today. I am not interested in human idea. I am looking for special idea in various theology.

I didn't say it was unique; I meant that it was the probable reason for the moral stance described.

If you're wanting something in a religion, that doesn't exist in any human thought ... well I don't know what to tell you. Most thoughts have occurred to people somewhere somehow. "There is nothing new under the sun" And whether they have or haven't doesn't really amount to much, if God makes people aware of various truths in diverse ways.

Most everything I've run across shares elements with another kind of belief system.

Good luck in your search.

 

[~Anastasia~]

I am exploring comparative theology.
So far, I haven't seen any challenging theological idea yet. Christianity is still the best.

Ok.

I would only become a Christian if I thought it was true and that it mattered whether I was a Christian or not. The theology of Christianity relative to other religions is its weakest area. Even St. Paul admitted that the theology of Christianity is foolishness by normal standards.

So, I don't know how you can claim that Christian theology is "the best". As a philosophy, Christianity is not competitive with other religions IMO.

I'm afraid I have to agree with our friend @cloudyday2 here.



Fortunately, I found Christianity true early on. And I suppose given what all it encompasses, that is enough for me.

 

[Gregory Thompson]

What even is "the new age religion"?

I guess it doesn't matter . it's just a general study area for people who don't have a religion and are being tired of being told what to believe by their religion. At best it's a discussion, at worst it's a psionic brawl.

 

[juvenissun]

So, I don't know how you can claim that Christian theology is "the best".

It is something YOU can not figure out. So it is at least better than what you know.

 

[juvenissun]

And I still feel that way.

I am not looking for feelings. I am looking for theological logic.
Your god is love only. That is good, but it is normal and is not good enough in logic.

 

[juvenissun]

If you're wanting something in a religion, that doesn't exist in any human thought ... well I don't know what to tell you.

Exactly. We are human and we know what human can figure out.
That is why I ask the question in the OP. God is higher than human. Any idea beyond human could only be found in religion. God will tell His believers something they could never know. What would be those in Islam? in Buddhism?

Allah said: do anything and everything to preach Islam. That is interesting. But why would Allah want to teach that? What is human in the eyes of Allah?

 

[juvenissun]

I guess it doesn't matter . it's just a general study area for people who don't have a religion and are being tired of being told what to believe by their religion. At best it's a discussion, at worst it's a psionic brawl.

To me, the New Age said nothing new. It is just put all the others together. And I think it is the worst kind. It is a composition made by a lazy student who is only copying around.

 

[~Anastasia~]

Exactly. We are human and we know what human can figure out.
That is why I ask the question in the OP. God is higher than human. Any idea beyond human could only be found in religion. God will tell His believers something they could never know. What would be those in Islam? in Buddhism?

Allah said: do anything and everything to preach Islam. That is interesting. But why would Allah want to teach that? What is human in the eyes of Allah?

How will you tell the difference? I've seen some very good stories, some very clever beliefs. How can you tell if they are from the mind of man, or man expressing something given to him by his God?

Just curious. I've never heard of anyone evaluating theologies that way. And I'm supposing it wouldn't make a convincing point to an unbeliever.

In a sense, Christianity is the opposite. Often unbelievers will attack the reliability of Scripture, charging that there are contradictions within it. I know that it's the fashion of some modern denominations to claim Scripture is perfectly inerrant, but that is not the standard the early Christians were concerned with. If you check, it's actually easy to find discrepancies, such as the exact timeline of some events of the last week of Christ's life. The thing is - these early Christians weren't stupid. There were brilliant minds among them. If they WERE trying to foist off a fakery in the New Testament, it stands much more easily to reason that they would "fix" such mistakes. But they let it all stand as written, including differences in accounts between different writers (which if you're familiar with typical police eyewitness reports, is what we would really expect). They were confident enough of the truth of the message itself so that they didn't undertake corrections.

But anyway, I hope you find whatever it is that you need.