What is the meaning of Life?

[Feldon]

Dear Feldon. Here is what I love to think, who is there of you who believes different? God is the great I AM, He always was and He always will be.
God made us in His image, we are capable of great Love. God lived with Adam and Eve, ( our proto-types) in the Garden of Eden, and as far as we know, quite happily, UNTIL Temptation, in the guise of the Serpent appeared. God always knew that would happen, and Adam and Eve were told by God: " If you eat of the Tree of knowledge, you will have to die."
We all know what happened then, Adam and Eve succumbed, and that was the end of living in the Garden of Eden.
We know what happened in the Old Testament, how Evil and Sinning became the norm of daily living. Instead of becoming loving/ caring, Mankind became
degenerate. Until Jesus God/Son came as our Saviour, and showed us God as God really is: our Heavenly Father who wants us back again. Jesus told us what God really wants from us: selfless Love, freely given and NO conditions
tagged on. Matthew 5: 48: tells us clearly: " Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect." That is what God wants from us, and although it is possible, we will need much help and guidance.
The Bible tells us to " Repent," and " To Be Born Again." That will be our next step, and after Jesus has died for us, and we are free to live for God again,
we know now, what God wants from us. Our Risen Saviour will once again come to our rescue. The meaning of Life? To become as God wants us to be,
Loving God and all who will be with us. I say this with love, Feldon.
Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ. P.S. I would gladly read about other answers to: What is the meaning of Life?

Thanks so much for the very nice note, Emmy!

One of the really hard things to come to grips with is, if God's love is part of the Meaning of Life, then why do bad things happen to good people? Why would a loving God do that? I think it's because (I didn't make this idea up, but I believe it is true) Heaven is here for a reason, and the earth is here for a reason. If both their reasons were the same, then one of them would be redundant. And God is NEVER redundant!!!

So our mission on earth, what we are here to do, see, experience & feel, must be something specific to life on earth..... right??? And life on earth is many things, but it is never ever perfect. Or free of pain. Or choices. Or consequences.

I think this is very deliberate!

 

[Feldon]

While you're correct about people, I'm afraid there are elements of Christianity itself, actual unaltered teachings, that I find to be bad ideas.

Original sin is one - it's obscene to hold offspring responsible for misdeeds of their parents. The original sin itself is one that I don't find particularly egregious, in light of the punishment for it. Speaking of punishment - I find an eternal punishment for any amount of human action, however vile, to be infinitely more vile - notions of Hell and eternal torment are ideas I find distasteful. These are punishments inflicted on people who don't abuse or corrupt or kill, but who simply have the 'wrong' faith, or no faith at all - but someone willing to make God/Jesus their Lord and Master are left off the hook. There's an area between 'get off scott free' and 'be set on fire for all time' that I think would be worth exploring, but apparently God doesn't.

Jesus' line of 'I am the way, truth, light, etc.' implying that everyone who doesn't follow him is living the wrong way and will be punished for it. Not to mention its condemnation of people and practices that have been confirmed in our time to be utterly without harm.

These aren't some misinterpreted ideas that followers misuse as excuses to be rotten to others, they're some of the foundational teachings of the religion, allegedly the word of God. They're awful sentiments, and I would say as much to God himself if he parted the skies and espoused them directly.



Joe definitely sounds more like a christian than Israel does. I googled this book, and apparently its part one of a trilogy - I imagine they don't give away who's who in the first one.

Seems like it'd be a little too obvious to have the guy who's uplifting and inspiring and calls people to make themselves be better people turn out to be the devil, but that'd be in line with a lot of the sentiment of 'don't think you're anything more than horrible worthless sinners unless you're bowing and scraping and begging forgiveness from God' that a lot of the religion has.

I understand what you are saying. IMHO, "Original Sin" doesn't do a real good job at describing what it was really about, because the phrase makes it sound like, oops!, your ancient grandparents sinned and YOU must suffer! But really, I think "Original Sin" was about choices. One "choice" was blind allegiance to God, living in perfect paradise, but doing so without free will & knowledge. The other "choice" was gaining free will & knowledge, along with the God given freedom to make your OWN decisions.... but also gaining the harms that go along with it.

You know what I wonder, Golden Yak? If Adam & Eve were happier AFTER they sinned. When I was little, I used to think how terrible it would've been to get kicked out of Eden. I mean, could you imaging getting kicked out of Paradise because of a stupid mistake you made?! That's terrible!

But Adam & Eve gained something too. They definitely gained self-awareness, but I think they gained more than that....

I really think they were happier AFTER they sinned than before. Clearly Eve wasn't totally happy in Eden, because otherwise she never would've been tempted by the snake. Something MUST have been lacking. Imagine how proud Adam & Even probably felt when they planted their own Garden for the very first time.... or when they struggled & persevered together....

Which "life" do you think was more rewarding?

Regarding the book The Second Coming: A Love Story, the back cover says that the next book in the trilogy is called Three Days Later: A Revenge Story. Since Christ arose on the third day, and one of the saviors (apparently) dies at the end of this book, I'm guessing that the one that died will be reborn "three days later".... but maybe it's a head-fake?

 

[Golden Yak]

I understand what you are saying. IMHO, "Original Sin" doesn't do a real good job at describing what it was really about, because the phrase makes it sound like, oops!, your ancient grandparents sinned and YOU must suffer! But really, I think "Original Sin" was about choices. One "choice" was blind allegiance to God, living in perfect paradise, but doing so without free will & knowledge. The other "choice" was gaining free will & knowledge, along with the God given freedom to make your OWN decisions.... but also gaining the harms that go along with it.

You know what I wonder, Golden Yak? If Adam & Eve were happier AFTER they sinned. When I was little, I used to think how terrible it would've been to get kicked out of Eden. I mean, could you imaging getting kicked out of Paradise because of a stupid mistake you made?! That's terrible!

But Adam & Eve gained something too. They definitely gained self-awareness, but I think they gained more than that....

I really think they were happier AFTER they sinned than before. Clearly Eve wasn't totally happy in Eden, because otherwise she never would've been tempted by the snake. Something MUST have been lacking. Imagine how proud Adam & Even probably felt when they planted their own Garden for the very first time.... or when they struggled & persevered together....

Which "life" do you think was more rewarding?

I certainly enjoy the story better as a metaphor for coming of age, leaving behind childish/animal comforts and assuming the responsibilities of knowing personhood, rather than as a literal historical account or cautionary tale to never disobey.

On the subject of the garden story and fiction featuring biblical figures, I'm reminded of a good line from an Eve character that's along the lines you posted about:

"I didn't succumb to temptation, I resisted it, okay? I wasn't stupid. I could've sat in comfort, but... I wanted us to stand. So I did what mothers are supposed to do, and dragged us into the real world. I still believe I was supposed to. And do I get thanked for it? Ha!"

 

[znr]

Ya think.

Thanks so much for the very nice note, Emmy!

One of the really hard things to come to grips with is, if God's love is part of the Meaning of Life, then why do bad things happen to good people? Why would a loving God do that? I think it's because (I didn't make this idea up, but I believe it is true) Heaven is here for a reason, and the earth is here for a reason. If both their reasons were the same, then one of them would be redundant. And God is NEVER redundant!!!

So our mission on earth, what we are here to do, see, experience & feel, must be something specific to life on earth..... right??? And life on earth is many things, but it is never ever perfect. Or free of pain. Or choices. Or consequences.

I think this is very deliberate!

 

[Feldon]

I certainly enjoy the story better as a metaphor for coming of age, leaving behind childish/animal comforts and assuming the responsibilities of knowing personhood, rather than as a literal historical account or cautionary tale to never disobey.

On the subject of the garden story and fiction featuring biblical figures, I'm reminded of a good line from an Eve character that's along the lines you posted about:

"I didn't succumb to temptation, I resisted it, okay? I wasn't stupid. I could've sat in comfort, but... I wanted us to stand. So I did what mothers are supposed to do, and dragged us into the real world. I still believe I was supposed to. And do I get thanked for it? Ha!"

What's so interesting about the Bible (to me) is that it works on multiple levels of literature. Some parts have historic value. Some parts have poetic value. But ALL parts have communicative value.

When Jesus calls Peter his rock, he's not calling him a literal rock! That's not blasphemous.

I think you need to look at the Bible in the context of, what is God trying to communicate to you? Because that's the purpose, God is trying to communicate to you something holy. Otherwise He wouldn't have needed to put in a book. And not all lessons are best communicated in historic prose. Jesus himself communicated in parables for a reason.

So.... with the story of Adam & Even and the Garden of Eden, I think God was trying to communicate something more profound than a talking snake, and it would be a mistake to read the story in such a limited way.

JMHO.

 

[jzyehoshua]

Solomon summed it up well:

Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

As for what those commandments are, Jesus summed them up:

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

 

[Deidre32]

To be of service to others. I've always thought that. I'm no longer religious/spiritual, but I still feel this way.

 

[True Scotsman]

Thought I'd toss a nice easy softball!

What is your theory on the Meaning of Life? (Assuming there is a meaning.)

Is there a spiritual aspect to it? Or is it all limited to our consciousness & sensory perceptions?

To whom?

and...

Consciousness is the spiritual aspect of life.