Grace and Karma

cj44

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Sep 18, 2013
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I can see the astute minds have jumped headlong into the cesspool of foolishness. Words no longer have meaning. It isn’t enough to say the definition of belief is an acceptance that a statement is true or something exists. Some imagine belief to be imprisoned by such a definition. Are we expected to tolerate and listen to the devil himself? Rather, what devil is this? Surely he has hit his head and is greatly impaired. Let us adjust our glasses and blow our noses. Perhaps then our heads would be lighter and our brains more clear.
 

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
44,850
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Nakusp, BC
It is time to speak your truth.
Create your community,
Be good to each other.
Do not look outside yourself for a leader.


There is a river flowing now very fast,
It is so great and swift.
That there are those who will be afraid,
They will try to hold onto the shore.
They will feel they are being pulled apart,
And will suffer greatly.


Understand that the river knows its' destination,
The elders say we must let go of the shore.
Push off into the middle of the river,
Keep our eyes open and our heads above water.
-- Hopi Elders, Oraibi, Arizona

The Great Unification is the fulfillment of worldwide prophecies handed down throughout the ages and will come about from a spiritual force, not a political or religious one!

http://www.sun-nation.org/sun-sovereign-united-nations.html
 
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cj44

Electoral Member
Sep 18, 2013
740
0
16
It is time to speak your truth.
Create your community,
Be good to each other.
Do not look outside yourself for a leader.


There is a river flowing now very fast,
It is so great and swift.
That there are those who will be afraid,
They will try to hold onto the shore.
They will feel they are being pulled apart,
And will suffer greatly.


Understand that the river knows its' destination,
The elders say we must let go of the shore.
Push off into the middle of the river,
Keep our eyes open and our heads above water.
-- Hopi Elders, Oraibi, Arizona

The Great Unification is the fulfillment of worldwide prophecies handed down throughout the ages and will come about from a spiritual force, not a political or religious one!

http://www.sun-nation.org/sun-sovereign-united-nations.html
Ahh...I see Cliffy has blown his nose. Now we have something more than tripe to banter. This is very good Cliffy, very good indeed. I don't agree with a whit of it, but that is of no matter. Rather, we have here a clearly stated belief in which to opine. DUDE....what I can I say to that? (I'm chewing my nails, adjusting my glasses and blowing my nose in hopes of finding an adequate response. :) )

Jesus' teachings often do not want to be heard. People have and will continue to sidestep reason, history, and simple fact to create another Jesus. I do not speak of the manufactured Jesus' that often are spoken about on these forums. I speak of the One of scripture. Though the weight of all Scripture comes down to: Who do you say that I (Jesus) am? - I will offer only a couple of verse. Christianity is in opposition to the BELEIFS of unitarian/universalist thought - and here clarification may be needed to determine the differences within these schools of thought.

“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

Also John 14 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well."

Jesus certainly was not concerned with tickling our ears. Methinks he was more interested in Truth than flattery.
 

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
44,850
193
63
Nakusp, BC
Ahh...I see Cliffy has blown his nose. Now we have something more than tripe to banter. This is very good Cliffy, very good indeed. I don't agree with a whit of it, but that is of no matter. Rather, we have here a clearly stated belief in which to opine. DUDE....what I can I say to that? (I'm chewing my nails, adjusting my glasses and blowing my nose in hopes of finding an adequate response. :) )

Jesus' teachings often do not want to be heard. People have and will continue to sidestep reason, history, and simple fact to create another Jesus. I do not speak of the manufactured Jesus' that often are spoken about on these forums. I speak of the One of scripture. Though the weight of all Scripture comes down to: Who do you say that I (Jesus) am? - I will offer only a couple of verse. Christianity is in opposition to the BELEIFS of unitarian/universalist thought - and here clarification may be needed to determine the differences within these schools of thought.

Jesus certainly was not concerned with tickling our ears. Methinks he was more interested in Truth than flattery.
Sorry, but that is all irrelevant mumblings to me. I trust the wisdom of the Hopi elders more than an ancient book that was plagiarized from more ancient books and mistranslated by susequent authors to suit their own political agendas.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhpYEvZ-Oz4
 
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gerryh

Time Out
Nov 21, 2004
25,756
295
83
Also John 14 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well."

Jesus certainly was not concerned with tickling our ears. Methinks he was more interested in Truth than flattery.


In other words, the billions of people that aren't "Christians" will never "know" their Father. I call bullshyte and see the hand of man in that writing rather than the hand of God. Exclusionism has always been mankinds thing.
 

darkbeaver

the universe is electric
Jan 26, 2006
41,035
201
63
RR1 Distopia 666 Discordia
It is easier to deny than to accept the words of Christ.

You've been denying the ancient words of Christ since you came here and I have little doubt your faith will keep you in denial of those very same words you purport to hear.

Early theology presented the general cast and outline of the great cosmic plan of creation, in the reflected light of which mortal mind could frame the more or less definite graph of the structure of this life on earth. The profound philosophy, then, that rested on this stratum of basic knowledge brought the offices of the enlightened intelligence to the aid of the outer and less reliable pragmatic criteria in the ego’s effort to direct the evolution of the organism. Philosophical understanding thus in large measure could be made to obviate the toilsome methodology of trial and error, and both conserve available force and save valuable time and much suffering. One of the deep principles of the Buddha’s system was that "right knowledge" must come to save the individual from pitiable suffering arising from ignorance. If, as he averred, it is a fundamental truth that ignorance is the cause of sorrow, then knowledge is its antidote. And all the great religions of antiquity make this assertion. Says Hermes: "The vice of a soul is ignorance; the virtue of a soul is knowledge." The Book of Proverbs in the Bible enjoins at length the prime necessity of getting wisdom, understanding, knowledge. Its preciousness is set above "all the things that thou canst desire." It is glorified as an ornament of grace and a crown of life unto its possessor. In this document it is not placed second to Love or Christly Charity. By an invincible dialectic Plato and Socrates work out in dialogue after dialogue the proposition that one cannot be good until one knows what the good thing is, and even what it is good for. According to Rhys Davids in his Hibbert Lectures of 1881 on The Origin and Growth of Religions: Buddhism (p. 208), "it is not by chance that the foundation of the higher life, the gate to the heaven that is to be reached on earth, is placed, not in emotion, not in feeling, but in knowledge, in the victory over delusions.


It can be stated as a matter beyond controversy that the vital concern of ancient religion was with the god lodged within the human psyche. If man missed contact with deity there, he missed it utterly


The deity that needs exaltation is that which is struggling within the breasts of the sons of earth. Theological dogmatism fails utterly to see the ultimate Pyrrhic nature of its victory. Jesus’ enthronement is the disinheritance of common man. Taught to look outside ourselves for the source of power and grace, we ignore the real presence within us that pleads for closer recognition. The historical Jesus blocks the way to the spiritual Christ in the chamber of the heart.


The vegetable buries its seeds in the soil of the kingdom beneath it, the mineral. The animal’s life is embodied in a corpus built up of vegetable material taken in each day as food. The human is rooted in an animal body. And now comes the pivotal fact in theology. The lowest ranks of gods, in their position just above humanity, must, by the Law of Incubation, send down their seeds, plant (incarnate) them
98​
in the bodies of humans, and win their next cyclical generation of divine life in that ground!

LOSTLIGHT A B KHUN
 

L Gilbert

Winterized
Nov 30, 2006
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Thanks, LG. What can you tell us about the context (biblical, historical, cultural, spiritual, geographical, etc.) of this verse?

“You shall have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3 NIV)
The book was likely written in ancient Hebrew, and was the covenant between the folks (that left slavery in Egypt)with their god, Yahweh, who promised them Canaan in return for their loyalty. At least that's the way the story goes as far as Moses was concerned.

It seems to be a bit of a redundant law as Yahweh was already their god, and the "only true god" at that. Either way, it still sounds as if this god feared others would steal his slaves away from it. And as I said, an all-powerful, all-wise, all-seeing god should need not fear anything, especially a buncha phony gods and their icons.

I am well aware that the usual argument for this is the bit about free will, however if you've ever researched genetics and the clinical psychology of the brain, you should have come to the conclusion that there really is no such thing as free will. We are slaves to our brains' and DNA's dictates.

Jesus' teachings often do not want to be heard. People have and will continue to sidestep reason, history, and simple fact to create another Jesus. I do not speak of the manufactured Jesus' that often are spoken about on these forums. I speak of the One of scripture. Though the weight of all Scripture comes down to: Who do you say that I (Jesus) am? - I will offer only a couple of verse. Christianity is in opposition to the BELEIFS of unitarian/universalist thought - and here clarification may be needed to determine the differences within these schools of thought.
Someone a while back said that Jesus wasn't to be accepted by reason and fact (or something along those lines), though, because that's where faith steps in. To me, that is a kind of excuse for people to stick their imagination in where their logic and reason fail. At that point, one can say absolutely anything they wish and consider it the truth and even fact (even to the point of ignoring the definition of fact).
 

darkbeaver

the universe is electric
Jan 26, 2006
41,035
201
63
RR1 Distopia 666 Discordia
The book was likely written in ancient Hebrew, and was the covenant between the folks (that left slavery in Egypt)with their god, Yahweh, who promised them Canaan in return for their loyalty. At least that's the way the story goes as far as Moses was concerned.

It seems to be a bit of a redundant law as Yahweh was already their god, and the "only true god" at that. Either way, it still sounds as if this god feared others would steal his slaves away from it. And as I said, an all-powerful, all-wise, all-seeing god should need not fear anything, especially a buncha phony gods and their icons.

I am well aware that the usual argument for this is the bit about free will, however if you've ever researched genetics and the clinical psychology of the brain, you should have come to the conclusion that there really is no such thing as free will. We are slaves to our brains' and DNA's dictates.

Leaving slavery in Egypt means leaving the prison of the mortal body. There was no earthbound country Egypt.

Beavs, You're giving me a lot of jazz this evening.


You're avoiding the question.

This is a reference to the god’s burial in matter, where life was a process of gestation for a new birth in spirit. The mortal man has not yet resurrected, not yet come forth from mother nature’s womb! The spirit entombed is like Joseph in "Egypt" and Daniel in "Babylon" before they rose from out their "prisons" to become the rulers of the kingdom. We are still to have our birth out of matter into spirit. Our incarnation is our birth into body; our resurrection is to be our second birth, this time out of body.
 

Motar

Council Member
Jun 18, 2013
2,472
39
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The book was likely written in ancient Hebrew, and was the covenant between the folks (that left slavery in Egypt)with their god, Yahweh, who promised them Canaan in return for their loyalty. At least that's the way the story goes as far as Moses was concerned.

Thanks for the context, LG.

“You shall have no other gods before (besides) me." (Exodus 20:3 NIV)

The recipients of this law (Hebrews) were recently liberated from Egypt and headed to Canaan. Both of these cultures were polytheistic. The proscription seems appropriate to me.
 

Motar

Council Member
Jun 18, 2013
2,472
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IMO, karma = what goes around comes around so if someone's a nasty piece of work, people are likely to return it to him/her. Grace to me is being coordinated enough not to trip over your own feet.

LG, I find grace involves appreciating the context of others by walking a mile in others' shoes. The incarnation of Christ is the most prominent biblical example of this.
 

L Gilbert

Winterized
Nov 30, 2006
23,738
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50 acres in Kootenays BC
the-brights.net
LG, I find grace involves appreciating the context of others by walking a mile in others' shoes.
That's close enough to what I said. :D
The incarnation of Christ is the most prominent biblical example of this.
Pretty tough to walk a mile in a deity's shoes when there is probably no such thing. So appreciating the context of that would be at least as hard. lol
 

Motar

Council Member
Jun 18, 2013
2,472
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48
As well as clearly implying that there ARE other gods, and that's not the only reference to them.

Polytheism prevailed in Hebrew history until the reign of King David, Dex, when atheism made an appearance (Psalms 14:1; 53:1 NIV).

That's close enough to what I said. :D Pretty tough to walk a mile in a deity's shoes when there is probably no such thing. So appreciating the context of that would be at least as hard. lol

Glad to be finding some common ground with you, LG : )

Please understand that the incarnation of Christ represents God's grace - Deity walking a mile in human shoes.
 

cj44

Electoral Member
Sep 18, 2013
740
0
16
You've been denying the ancient words of Christ since you came here and I have little doubt your faith will keep you in denial of those very same words you purport to hear.

Early theology presented the general cast and outline of the great cosmic plan of creation, in the reflected light of which mortal mind could frame the more or less definite graph of the structure of this life on earth. The profound philosophy, then, that rested on this stratum of basic knowledge brought the offices of the enlightened intelligence to the aid of the outer and less reliable pragmatic criteria in the ego’s effort to direct the evolution of the organism. Philosophical understanding thus in large measure could be made to obviate the toilsome methodology of trial and error, and both conserve available force and save valuable time and much suffering. One of the deep principles of the Buddha’s system was that "right knowledge" must come to save the individual from pitiable suffering arising from ignorance. If, as he averred, it is a fundamental truth that ignorance is the cause of sorrow, then knowledge is its antidote. And all the great religions of antiquity make this assertion. Says Hermes: "The vice of a soul is ignorance; the virtue of a soul is knowledge." The Book of Proverbs in the Bible enjoins at length the prime necessity of getting wisdom, understanding, knowledge. Its preciousness is set above "all the things that thou canst desire." It is glorified as an ornament of grace and a crown of life unto its possessor. In this document it is not placed second to Love or Christly Charity. By an invincible dialectic Plato and Socrates work out in dialogue after dialogue the proposition that one cannot be good until one knows what the good thing is, and even what it is good for. According to Rhys Davids in his Hibbert Lectures of 1881 on The Origin and Growth of Religions: Buddhism (p. 208), "it is not by chance that the foundation of the higher life, the gate to the heaven that is to be reached on earth, is placed, not in emotion, not in feeling, but in knowledge, in the victory over delusions.


It can be stated as a matter beyond controversy that the vital concern of ancient religion was with the god lodged within the human psyche. If man missed contact with deity there, he missed it utterly


The deity that needs exaltation is that which is struggling within the breasts of the sons of earth. Theological dogmatism fails utterly to see the ultimate Pyrrhic nature of its victory. Jesus’ enthronement is the disinheritance of common man. Taught to look outside ourselves for the source of power and grace, we ignore the real presence within us that pleads for closer recognition. The historical Jesus blocks the way to the spiritual Christ in the chamber of the heart.


The vegetable buries its seeds in the soil of the kingdom beneath it, the mineral. The animal’s life is embodied in a corpus built up of vegetable material taken in each day as food. The human is rooted in an animal body. And now comes the pivotal fact in theology. The lowest ranks of gods, in their position just above humanity, must, by the Law of Incubation, send down their seeds, plant (incarnate) them
98​
in the bodies of humans, and win their next cyclical generation of divine life in that ground!

LOSTLIGHT A B KHUN
Beavs - I hold to the opinion that God is very capable of keeping and defending his Word throughout the ages. Scripture is truth. I understand that many on this forum deny that the Bible is the Word of God. I know you and others cite other texts, different authors etc. Of course, if the Word of God is not considered an evidence and even the Apostle Paul is cursed among you, we shall never agree. Nevermind Spurgeon, Luther Augustine, Tozer and the like. I suppose they too were in gross error. Good Grief! Certainly the devil is known for deception and false doctrine. But, often times what is suggested here on this forum has gone beyond deceit. It is pure madness. Oddly, many do not to wish to let go of our Scriptural Jesus. You toss him into the mix. For what, a saftey net? Express your opinions, share your theology, but don't imagine that the Son of God taught what you teach here.

Gilbert: You said:
Someone a while back said that Jesus wasn't to be accepted by reason and fact (or something along those lines), though, because that's where faith steps in. To me, that is a kind of excuse for people to stick their imagination in where their logic and reason fail. At that point, one can say absolutely anything they wish and consider it the truth and even fact (even to the point of ignoring the definition of fact).

Gilbert: That is why God keeps and guards his WORD. If we do not have the WORD, then anything goes. And from the looks of this forum, everything has gone.
 

gerryh

Time Out
Nov 21, 2004
25,756
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Beavs - I hold to the opinion that God is very capable of keeping and defending his Word throughout the ages. Scripture is truth. I understand that many on this forum deny that the Bible is the Word of God. I know you and others cite other texts, different authors etc. Of course, if the Word of God is not considered an evidence and even the Apostle Paul is cursed among you, we shall never agree. Nevermind Spurgeon, Luther Augustine, Tozer and the like. I suppose they too were in gross error. Good Grief! Certainly the devil is known for deception and false doctrine. But, often times what is suggested here on this forum has gone beyond deceit. It is pure madness. Oddly, many do not to wish to let go of our Scriptural Jesus. You toss him into the mix. For what, a saftey net? Express your opinions, share your theology, but don't imagine that the Son of God taught what you teach here.

Gilbert: You said:
Someone a while back said that Jesus wasn't to be accepted by reason and fact (or something along those lines), though, because that's where faith steps in. To me, that is a kind of excuse for people to stick their imagination in where their logic and reason fail. At that point, one can say absolutely anything they wish and consider it the truth and even fact (even to the point of ignoring the definition of fact).

Gilbert: That is why God keeps and guards his WORD. If we do not have the WORD, then anything goes. And from the looks of this forum, everything has gone.


IMO, you're a heretic, as is motar and the other moron that believes he/she has the end times all figured out. influenced by satan, led by satan, and following satans path. Good luck with that.
 

cj44

Electoral Member
Sep 18, 2013
740
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16
In other words, the billions of people that aren't "Christians" will never "know" their Father. I call bullshyte and see the hand of man in that writing rather than the hand of God. Exclusionism has always been mankinds thing.
gerry: YES. I thought you said you were a Christian? Do you not know the teachings of your Lord? Perhaps, you have not even read the Bible. God has offered his Grace, why have people not graciously welcomed and accepted the free gift?

In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin.

Gerry: For starters, there is no such thing as luck. Tell me, why do you call yourself a Christian when you oppose so many of Christ's teachings?
 

gerryh

Time Out
Nov 21, 2004
25,756
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gerry: YES. I thought you said you were a Christian? Do you not know the teachings of your Lord? Perhaps, you have not even read the Bible. God has offered his Grace, why have people not graciously welcomed and accepted the free gift?

In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin.

Gerry: For starters, there is no such thing as luck. Tell me, why do you call yourself a Christian when you oppose so many of Christ's teachings?


I have now stated where I think you sit...


get thee behind me satan.