 Wanted to wish peace of mind to all of you. All our struggles, fears, happiness, everything... is part of something bigger and smaller all at once. Namaste. |
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Hidden PlacesLife outside of the mainstream |
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Hidden PlacesLife outside of the mainstream |
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ah ... The Void.
magnificent, eh?!
ever expanding. ever loving.
as ram says, the void is one vast nothing materially, yet all things potentially.
out of the void, came point zero aka god.
When I look at the mind-boggling hugeness of our universe, it only makes me wonder at the greatness of God.
God isnt a he or a she
Arrogance of man takes claim for that fallacy.
Whatever GOD is, you're right, it is great.
"a simple judgment of my character is how I treat a person who can do absolutely nothing for me." -Stephen Howard
"The most thoroughly wasted of all days is one in which you haven't laughed" -Julian Howard
I'll let you take that one up with God yourself. As I believe that the Bible is the Word of God, I will go with the gender given Him therein. ;-)
when you read and cite from the Bible which version do you typically use?
ESV - English Standard Version. I also have the King James, New King James, Geneva, and one of the literal translation of the Bible available for reference (in addition to a Hebrew and Greek concordance, of course). I prefer to the use the ESV, though, as it is easy to read while staying very accurate to the original meaning of the passage.
The most advanced life form ever
wouldn't be a single sex. Especially one that could create a universe.
"a simple judgment of my character is how I treat a person who can do absolutely nothing for me." -Stephen Howard
"The most thoroughly wasted of all days is one in which you haven't laughed" -Julian Howard
that would be correct.
on the planes of existence ... from our perspective ... duality stops after visible light. there is no duality ultraviolet light and beyond.
I know you are trying to go to bed, but would not all of these versions be written by men who could never be God themselves? How could the Bible be the word of God and not just the interpretation of the word of God unless through possession God took over the body and mind of the writers? Would that not be possession? Which would lead me to the question of what is the difference between demonic possession and divine possession? Would that not just be a matter of reference?
I do not know all of the inner workings of how exactly the Bible was written -- how God translated His message through the writers and onto a written page. I do know that their own unique writing styles and perspectives remain in the books that we have. Each author has a very distinctive flavor, vocabulary, and communication style. There are also portions that may very well have been written directly by God or written much like one would a dictation (I am thinking about the Ten Commandments or the words spoken in the visions).
I will admit the possibility of error in the Bible, and yet I find that despite the wide variety of authors with different educations, backgrounds, and periods of history, the Bible yields a very consistent message concerning the holiness and greatness of God, the sinfulness and rebellion of man, the sacrifice of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, as an atonement for our sin, and forgiveness and grace of God throughout the pages of scripture. Further, the accuracy of the Old Testament prophecies, particularly in regard to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are astoundingly accurate.
From my own experience in the faith, God uses different methods at different times to communicate. Sometimes it is a spoken word. Sometimes it is a nudge or impulse to do something. Sometimes it comes in the form of a dream. I don't know exactly how God saw the writing of His Word accomplished, but the end result is a book that resonates strongly with truth, has stood the test of time and scrutiny, and has remained amazingly well preserved and accurate despite numerous attempts to wipe it out.
and sometimes it is plagues, mass death, fires, and destruction of the "sinners". What if he who you call God is but the guy who rose to the top through the randomness of history who was nothing more than one of many Gods that the Earth has seen over it's multi-billion year history. That right there is a contentious point. How old is the Earth? The Bible claims it is much younger than science has shown and tells you that everything contained within it is the word of God and is the end all, be all of truth. Have you ever thought about the fact that it might not be? Is that where "faith" comes into play?
beautiful reasoning.
"What if he who you call God is but the guy who rose to the top through the randomness of history who was nothing more than one of many Gods that the Earth has seen over it's multi-billion year history."
Yes, I have thought about that a lot, and in some ways, the jury is still out for me. I am inclined to believe that, in fact, the earth is not as old as we are being led to believe. One thing I look at is the oceans. At the rate that the salinity is increasing in the oceans, our world cannot be older than around 70,000 years. The laws of entropy also speak against a long life of the universe. There are interesting little tidbits that have come out recently such as the speed of light actually showing signs of slowing down. This is a huge topic in which we could start a whole new and endless thread, but suffice it to say that I read scientific articles and consider the possibility that my interpretation of the Bible could be wrong or even the Bible itself. But I have found enough problems with the evolutionary theory that my faith remains strong in my understanding of the Biblical account.
As for the judgments of God, can we truly say that they are not deserved? After all, would we not like to see justice done on the perpetrators of the crimes against the people of our nation? Is there not a point at which we say that we have had enough? Considering the fact that we people have been blaspheming and maligning God, murdering each other, raping and pillaging, and much more for at least six thousand years and yet we remain on this earth alive and still kicking shows that God has more patience in us than we have in each other. I think it is difficult for us to judge God for His actions when we certainly do not know what all happened that might have justified His wrath. I know that I have enough corruption and sin in my own life to be more than worthy of punishment from God.
I will be honest, I don't even know how to respond to this...I am at a loss. I will say that I think it definitely takes a lot of "faith" to believe that the Earth is only 70,000 years old considering the inordinate amount of DNA connections between all the floras and the faunas and sub-species contained within.
Therefor I release you to your sleep cycle and will stop badgering you.
There are DNA connections and then there are dating issues. But, it is too late to get into a discussion on this right now anyway. My kids do a good enough job keeping me sleep deprived as it is. ;-)
Good night, stick.
Sometimes a little faith
Can go a long way. Lack of any faith bothers me.
"a simple judgment of my character is how I treat a person who can do absolutely nothing for me." -Stephen Howard
"The most thoroughly wasted of all days is one in which you haven't laughed" -Julian Howard
I have faith in myself. I would ask you if that counts for anything but I've already decided that it counts for everything.