[quote]Cortes wrote:
[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:
[quote]Cortes wrote:
[quote]Chushin wrote:
I don’t know; I’ve met lots of people who claim that God does communicate / has communicated with them. And I’m not talking about the schizophrenics I used to be a counselor for, either.
Maybe God only communicates with some people. I certainly am not one of them.
If my hypothesis is correct, though, it seems awfully damned reasonable that he’d not communicate with those of you who are so derisive towards others’ beliefs. Hell, I know I’D avoid you pretty much at all cost.
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Well, I agree and disagree with your conclusion and without adding my personal belief, I’ll simply state that if I have at any time had an open heart while seeking the truth, why do I not have the answer as to which religious doctrine, if any, is the truth? Christian? Jew? Muslim? Which one?
For what it’s worth, he has never communicated directly with me in any manner I could distinguish as different from any other natural experience. That said, I would never have the hubris to demand that he do so, nor the audacity to require he fit into the mold of my limited conception.
Do I believe he does still communicate, with me, you and even the bodyguard? You betcha.
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Well, we get into the realm of total subjectivity (or, if you prefer, since this is the internet, perfect objectivity, in which I am Absolutely correct and all others whose beliefs deviate one iota from my own are wrong), but:
The important thing is that you KEEP your heart open, and you do not demand answers, or adherence to a time frame, or even comprehension. It’s that latter word, I think, that gets most of us, as we are such egotists by nature (no personal attacks, sincerely, I am probably almost as egotistical as you are).
If you truly ask, he does answer. If you request with an honest, selfless heart, you will receive what you ask for. Thing is, most of us have so much trouble separating that kernel of truth from the chaff of our natural inclinations, desires, egotism, peer, familial and media influence and all of the other temptations, competitors and distractions we are bombarded with in our everyday lives.
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Well, this is a thoughtful answer but I disagree with your conclusion. I was baptized a Catholic. I used to attend church only with my grandparents. Frankly, I found the Catholic chuch, with its stained glass, saints and such to be spooky. Mom remarried a jew. Spent some early time in Saturday school where I learned the basics. We didn’t celebrate Christmas, we had the other thing, but we weren’t synagogue going Jews so to speak. Fast forward to my adulthood. There was even a period I considered myself “saved”. The point is not to give you my personal historical account, but to illustrate to you that I have been exposed to 3 major religions and I hold no bias or influence one way or the other. No one that influenced me was overtly religious.
I’ve always been an introspective deep thinker, even at a young age. I have no natural inclinations, desires, ego or any other influence when it comes to my personal search for truth. I fancy myself a philalethian at heart - a truth seeker, and I hold no attachment to the outcome of the discovery of a truth, especially about God. I seek the truth of everything, even something as trivial to you as the breeding of my prized bloodline of dogs.
I HAVE an open heart and it’s exactly why I cannot dismiss Islam at the expense of Christianity and so forth. I cannot abandon all intellectual reason when I examine the claims of various religions and I cannot blindly turn my eye to the common theme and outright plagiarism of and by modern religions from those of earlier civilizations, starting with such startling revelations that the “Christ” and resurrection, right down to the 3 days, is NOT an original story to Christianity! I’m not trying to raise a talking point for specific debate about the foregoing, but to only illustrate my point about common themes and apparent plagiarism.
And I cannot put my “faith” into the words written by any man. And thus my question - IF God ever communicated with man as claimed (national and personal revelation), why has he stopped? We do have dogmatic believers here and I have not heard one satisfactory answer although I would expect a self-serving scriptural quote to the effect that He will not return again until the end times or something to that effect.
My question is really simple, and has nothing to do with my alleged personal bias, if any. In fact, if anyone here could prove to me the truth of a religion, I’d happily accept it. But again, the claim is that at one time, God spoke with man, and then incarnated thru a man and performed miracles. And then God never spoke again, unless we want to include the claims of Muhammad - and we can consider that a valid claim too for arguments sake. Heck, we can even include the claims of Joseph Smith. But the point remains, at one time, God spoke with us directly…what happened?
I do agree with your comment about “kernel of truth” and as far as I’m concerned, all religions share a “kernel of truth” and those “kernels” are not the intellectual or divine property of any one religion and appear to have been with us since civilization. And perhaps therein is the true word of “God”. And perhaps he does speak to us directly if it is He that resides in that part of each of us that is intrinsically good.
