I got to thinking. I may be going too fast in this series that I am posting at the moment.
In my philosphy class I took I was told to define teams. I guess it was section on metaphysics-- the philosphy covering things beyond the physical. Christian Doctrines seems to be in that camp.
So you must be asking-Why do I need to know doctrine? And just what is doctrine?
Good question. Doctrine is a branch of knowledge or a system of beliefs. As I use the term it means the system based on and drawn from God's special revelation as found in the Bible. As such I mean to be posting on the subjects of God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit. I will cover salvation and the reason for this need for salvation-Sin. In doing so I will also touch on Angels, Elect and Fallen.
Since there is a need for instruction I will handle the doctrine of the church, What it is, where it came from, why we need to gather together as a group. That will aslo call for a discussion on the offices and what I call departments of said church.
I will cover the Chrustian disciplines such as prayer, witnessing, useage of gifts.
Of course, some of our Christian Doctrines are limited because the Bible is not exhaustive. God has not revealed everything in detail. For example, what we know about creation is such. Because that is true man has tended to lean to the explanation of evolutionary theory. Or that God started the whole thing and then stepped back to watch.
Well, that is just some explantion. Hold on and keep reading.
Humans are not simple. They are complex. It is my belief that God has spoken. We need to listen. In For Your Information I will be helping you with tools to do just that. Feel free to add comments. Let's make this a dialogue.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Saturday, October 29, 2011
The Way You See It
Today let us step back and consider a subject that involves us all; you, me, the whole world. And that is the simple subject of world view. We all have one. It is the way we see things.
You pick this world view up from those around you and especially from your schooling. Yes, your education.
First of all your world view does effect the way you see other people. Is that other person just a chance accident? Or is he a special creature, a creation of a Superior Being.? Yes, I am talking about God, a Creator.
In school you may have been taught man evolved from a lower form to what he is today. There was no proof given. You accepted it because an adult told you that and they no doubt knew more than you.
Yes, I understand your view that creation is not proven either. If by proof you mean is it repeatable? Only if you can create something out of nothing. That is how God did it. Out of nothing. He spoke and it was.
Their view is not repeatable either. You don't see it because it is not feasible. And it takes more faith to hold to that view than to the view that man is a special creation.
Your world view will also affect how you treat people. If you see that other person as inferior to you than you will treat him poorly, because he has less worth than you. This is the basis of the civil rights issue. This is the basis of the feminine issue. They feel inferior to a man and therefore must try harder.
They don't realize that in the beginning God created them with no distinctions as to superior/inferior. All are seen from the viewpoint of God as equal.
I will let you chew on this for a while. I will get back to this issue as time goes on
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You pick this world view up from those around you and especially from your schooling. Yes, your education.
First of all your world view does effect the way you see other people. Is that other person just a chance accident? Or is he a special creature, a creation of a Superior Being.? Yes, I am talking about God, a Creator.
In school you may have been taught man evolved from a lower form to what he is today. There was no proof given. You accepted it because an adult told you that and they no doubt knew more than you.
Yes, I understand your view that creation is not proven either. If by proof you mean is it repeatable? Only if you can create something out of nothing. That is how God did it. Out of nothing. He spoke and it was.
Their view is not repeatable either. You don't see it because it is not feasible. And it takes more faith to hold to that view than to the view that man is a special creation.
Your world view will also affect how you treat people. If you see that other person as inferior to you than you will treat him poorly, because he has less worth than you. This is the basis of the civil rights issue. This is the basis of the feminine issue. They feel inferior to a man and therefore must try harder.
They don't realize that in the beginning God created them with no distinctions as to superior/inferior. All are seen from the viewpoint of God as equal.
I will let you chew on this for a while. I will get back to this issue as time goes on
Friend me. I mean, follow me and stay in the know. Don't forget to leave comments. Use the comment feature, please.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
The place of rest
It is a place of instruction. It is not a social organization, although it is a place where fellow seekers come to receive what they seek.
I am talking about the church. It is a place where people come to worship the Living God. They come to deepen their relationship to God.
Every believer should belong to a local church. Church membership does not save and is not a means of salvation. But it is a place where each member should have the freedom to discover and develop and use the gift that they have received when they became a Christian. The Word of God, the Scriptures, do say that each one of us is given a gift for the development of the body which is the church. We are, I believe, all needed. We can be seen as a body part No part is more important than another and each part is needed.
We go to church to pray, confess, hear the word of God as spoken through the leader or pastor of the congregation. Also to use our gift in the body, as I have said above. And by the way, there is no gift known as pew warmer.
Tell me your experience in a church group. Is there anyway I can be of help?
I am talking about the church. It is a place where people come to worship the Living God. They come to deepen their relationship to God.
Every believer should belong to a local church. Church membership does not save and is not a means of salvation. But it is a place where each member should have the freedom to discover and develop and use the gift that they have received when they became a Christian. The Word of God, the Scriptures, do say that each one of us is given a gift for the development of the body which is the church. We are, I believe, all needed. We can be seen as a body part No part is more important than another and each part is needed.
We go to church to pray, confess, hear the word of God as spoken through the leader or pastor of the congregation. Also to use our gift in the body, as I have said above. And by the way, there is no gift known as pew warmer.
Tell me your experience in a church group. Is there anyway I can be of help?
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Holy Spirit, God in the world
I decided to talk today about the third person in the Godhead. He is often overlooked because He could be viewed as the backup. He teaches, to those who study the Scriptures, what the Scriptures mean. For the world His job basicly is to convict of sin and unrighteousness. He works in conjunction with the Father to draw people to Jesus, the savior.
In the Jewish Scriptures He hovered and entered some men to enable them to write Scripture according to their personality. Therefore David can sound different from Moses. Moses can sound different from Jeremiah, and so on. But always overshadowing in such a way that He made sure what was recorded was what God wanted recorded.
He gives power to witness to Christians. He indwells them so as to make them tabernacles. He teaches the Christian what he needs to know. Hopefully the Christian has a Bible Study plan to be in the Word so that the Holy Spirit can inside the believer say, "pay attention to that".
Also He helps in memorization. As the believer hides the word in his heart the Holy Spirit is able to use it.. bringing it back to memory when needed. This is meditation.
The trinity is neat. All one in essence. All having a job to do. All needed.
Keep on searching my posts. Follow me and don't miss any.
In the Jewish Scriptures He hovered and entered some men to enable them to write Scripture according to their personality. Therefore David can sound different from Moses. Moses can sound different from Jeremiah, and so on. But always overshadowing in such a way that He made sure what was recorded was what God wanted recorded.
He gives power to witness to Christians. He indwells them so as to make them tabernacles. He teaches the Christian what he needs to know. Hopefully the Christian has a Bible Study plan to be in the Word so that the Holy Spirit can inside the believer say, "pay attention to that".
Also He helps in memorization. As the believer hides the word in his heart the Holy Spirit is able to use it.. bringing it back to memory when needed. This is meditation.
The trinity is neat. All one in essence. All having a job to do. All needed.
Keep on searching my posts. Follow me and don't miss any.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Prayer--God's Weapon
Before talking about other doctrines I feel I should discuss the one tool all Christians have and probably don't really understand. That is the tool of prayer.
God speaks to us through the Scriptures. It is His communication if we believe it or not. It really doesn't make any sense until we become a child of His through a relationship with Him. It was that way when I became a Christian back in '68. The book suddenly seemed alive and meaningful. Before that time, if I ever read it, especially in religion classes, it was just words.
When I became a Christian the Holy Spirit, the thrid person of the Godhead, came to dwell inside me. He no longer was outside me trying to convict me of sin and unrighteousness. I was getting enough of that from the Roman Catholic Church I used to belong to but by 1968 had given up on. There was no truth to be found in that group.
Anyway, I was saying, now the Holy Spirit was within me and teaching me what the Scriptures said. God used preachers of good Bible believing, Bible teaching Churches to firm me up.
But I now could talk to God and He would hear me and answer me. This is what prayer is. A communication between God and the believer.. There is a Father/child relationship set up. It takes time to learn. It is a process. You learn to pray by praying.
There are many books out there on prayer. Andrew Murray In The School Of Prayer is a good one. There are others. I am not doing this post to liist them.
But the best book on prayer and how to do it is the Scriptures. All the characters in the Scriptures prayed. You can learn by sitting in and listening to them pray
Friend me. I mean follow me and get all the important posting of this blog. .
God speaks to us through the Scriptures. It is His communication if we believe it or not. It really doesn't make any sense until we become a child of His through a relationship with Him. It was that way when I became a Christian back in '68. The book suddenly seemed alive and meaningful. Before that time, if I ever read it, especially in religion classes, it was just words.
When I became a Christian the Holy Spirit, the thrid person of the Godhead, came to dwell inside me. He no longer was outside me trying to convict me of sin and unrighteousness. I was getting enough of that from the Roman Catholic Church I used to belong to but by 1968 had given up on. There was no truth to be found in that group.
Anyway, I was saying, now the Holy Spirit was within me and teaching me what the Scriptures said. God used preachers of good Bible believing, Bible teaching Churches to firm me up.
But I now could talk to God and He would hear me and answer me. This is what prayer is. A communication between God and the believer.. There is a Father/child relationship set up. It takes time to learn. It is a process. You learn to pray by praying.
There are many books out there on prayer. Andrew Murray In The School Of Prayer is a good one. There are others. I am not doing this post to liist them.
But the best book on prayer and how to do it is the Scriptures. All the characters in the Scriptures prayed. You can learn by sitting in and listening to them pray
Friend me. I mean follow me and get all the important posting of this blog. .
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Sad but alas true
I have just been looking at the Biola website http://www.biola.edu/ and come across this sad, but alas, true statement. "Biblical literacy is plummeting. Churches are exchanging doctrine for slogans."
I find that sad because doctrine is the life blood of the church. That is why I have this blog and do postings on the subjects I do. I find doctrine to be very iimportant. If you have no doctrine to stand upon you are standing on air, or worst, vapor. You have no belief system. Or maybe you do. It just has not stood the test of time.
The doctrine I write about here is orthodox. It has been here from the start. When there are diviations from orthodoxy I speak out about it. That is why I did a small series on Cults earlier. It may not have been pleasant to read but it is fighting against error. It needed to be done.
And I may not post as systematically as you would like me to, but that is just the way it is.
Read on. More doctrine is coming. Follow me and get all the postings. Comment and let's talk.
The doctrine I write about here is orthodox. It has been here from the start. When there are diviations from orthodoxy I speak out about it. That is why I did a small series on Cults earlier. It may not have been pleasant to read but it is fighting against error. It needed to be done.
And I may not post as systematically as you would like me to, but that is just the way it is.
Read on. More doctrine is coming. Follow me and get all the postings. Comment and let's talk.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
The Invisible God Explained
"God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth"
Yet God has also chosen to reveal Himself.
A couple of posts ago I did an imaginary dialogue between the Godhead where the second person of the Godhead said that He would become flesh and dwell among us.
The Holy Spirit overshadowed a virgin in a small town in Israel. Hr name was Mary. He placed within her a seed that would develop normally into a fetus and into a new born. And this new born would have the name of Jesus. He would live a normal childhood. He would learn his father's trade, a carpenter. At the age of thirty he would be baptized by John. The heavens would open and the Spirit like a dove would come down and rest upon Him. A voice from heaven would aknowledge Him as the Messiah. He would be tempted in the desert by Satan. He would gather disciples, twelve of them would be his Apostles. One of them would be his betrayer (He knew from the start which one it would be) He would do all the things that the Messiah was to do. Heal the sick, raise the dead, proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, to name a few. He would go to the cross and die for the sins of mankind. He would raise from the grave on the third day. He would ascend to the Father in heaven to present His blood to God and pour it on the altar in heaven.
Yes, I am talking about Jesus, the Messiah.
"He is the image of thre invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or prinicipalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him".--Colossains 1:15-16 NKJV)
I shall talk about thrones, dominions, powers and principalities in a later post.
Follow me. Firm yourself up. Comment.I do read and answer.
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| Book used for Doctrinal subjects |
A couple of posts ago I did an imaginary dialogue between the Godhead where the second person of the Godhead said that He would become flesh and dwell among us.
The Holy Spirit overshadowed a virgin in a small town in Israel. Hr name was Mary. He placed within her a seed that would develop normally into a fetus and into a new born. And this new born would have the name of Jesus. He would live a normal childhood. He would learn his father's trade, a carpenter. At the age of thirty he would be baptized by John. The heavens would open and the Spirit like a dove would come down and rest upon Him. A voice from heaven would aknowledge Him as the Messiah. He would be tempted in the desert by Satan. He would gather disciples, twelve of them would be his Apostles. One of them would be his betrayer (He knew from the start which one it would be) He would do all the things that the Messiah was to do. Heal the sick, raise the dead, proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, to name a few. He would go to the cross and die for the sins of mankind. He would raise from the grave on the third day. He would ascend to the Father in heaven to present His blood to God and pour it on the altar in heaven.
Yes, I am talking about Jesus, the Messiah.
"He is the image of thre invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or prinicipalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him".--Colossains 1:15-16 NKJV)
I shall talk about thrones, dominions, powers and principalities in a later post.
Follow me. Firm yourself up. Comment.I do read and answer.
Friday, October 21, 2011
What do I Call You?
This is very important. Just what do we call God?
"Hey, You"
"Great power in the sky."
"Dude"
I would sincerely hope none of the above. God may just shorten your life if you dissed Him.
God has many names. They all are names that refer to His attributes. He is greater than anything you can imagine. And remember, He is 'Qanna" or jealous. I guess that name means He is not going to share us with any other.
Let me give you a few names of God as I have surfed the web.and started to collect them. You can do that yourself if you wish.
El Shaddai- Lord God Almighty
El Elyon- The Most High God
Adonai- Lord, Master
Yahweh- Lord, Jehovah
El Olam- Everlasting God
Jehovah-Jireh- Lord our Provider
Jehovah-Nissi- Lord our Banner
Jehovah-Shalom- Lord our Peace
Jehovah Tsid-Kenu- Lord our Righteousness
Jehovah-Shammah- Lord Omnipresent
Jehovah-Shabaoth- Lord our Provider
Jehovah-Raah- Lord our Shepherd
Jehovah-Rapha- Lord our Healer
As I said, just a few. God has many names. These listed should be enough to show His majesty.
God is incomprehensible and unknowable. Yet through His names we can get some feeling for Him. Jehovah states that He is Eternal. But He has revealed Himself through special revelation. And in these last days He has revealed Himself through HIs Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is an awesome God.
Fellowhip me. Be a member of this blog. Follow me so you can have all the great posting to come. And if possible, use some of the ads that are seen in the sidebar.
"Hey, You"
"Great power in the sky."
"Dude"
I would sincerely hope none of the above. God may just shorten your life if you dissed Him.
God has many names. They all are names that refer to His attributes. He is greater than anything you can imagine. And remember, He is 'Qanna" or jealous. I guess that name means He is not going to share us with any other.
Let me give you a few names of God as I have surfed the web.and started to collect them. You can do that yourself if you wish.
El Shaddai- Lord God Almighty
El Elyon- The Most High God
Adonai- Lord, Master
Yahweh- Lord, Jehovah
El Olam- Everlasting God
Jehovah-Jireh- Lord our Provider
Jehovah-Nissi- Lord our Banner
Jehovah-Shalom- Lord our Peace
Jehovah Tsid-Kenu- Lord our Righteousness
Jehovah-Shammah- Lord Omnipresent
Jehovah-Shabaoth- Lord our Provider
Jehovah-Raah- Lord our Shepherd
Jehovah-Rapha- Lord our Healer
As I said, just a few. God has many names. These listed should be enough to show His majesty.
God is incomprehensible and unknowable. Yet through His names we can get some feeling for Him. Jehovah states that He is Eternal. But He has revealed Himself through special revelation. And in these last days He has revealed Himself through HIs Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is an awesome God.
Fellowhip me. Be a member of this blog. Follow me so you can have all the great posting to come. And if possible, use some of the ads that are seen in the sidebar.
Memorize to Recall
If a person wants you to know him he will do everything in his power to communicate with you.
God wants to have you on the same page as Him. He wants to be able to be involved in your life. Memorization of Scripture is a good way to do this. God speaks through the Bible. He is not silent.God can be known. He has caused to be written all He wishes you to know.
If you were to receive a letter from someone you really care about, you would memorize portions so you could quote it to all who will listen. After you get into a relationship with God you will want to have portions of what He has said hidden in your heart.
Psalm 119: 11 states, "Your word I have hide in my heart, that I might not sin against God."
Psalm 119 also says "Your word is a lamp onto my feet and a light onto my path."
A person easily can take a portion of the Scripture and learn it. "Be anxious for nothing, but by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:6,7.
Okay. That last passage is a bit longer. But if you only remember"Be anxious for nothing." you can remember it at times when you start to feel anxious.
A way to memorize. Select the passge. Read it through a few times. Five times may be a start. Then without looking try to repeat it word for word.It is important you do it word for word. Also try to stay with the same translation of the Scripture. I first started with the King James. I now use the New American Standard. The New International is good. Just stick to one translation.
Repeat the verse by memory five times. Check for accuracy. Rest up for a while. Repeat until you have it word for word without looking. The reason for this is that most of the time you won't have the Bible with you when you want to quote it to someone.
Be sure to get the address as part of your Scripture verse when you memorize. This will help you remember where it is located.
From time to time I will be repeating myself when it comes to topics. Just want you to know now. The best idea for you is to fellowship me so you don't miss a word of this important blog.
And feel free to comment. I love reading comments. I do respond.
God wants to have you on the same page as Him. He wants to be able to be involved in your life. Memorization of Scripture is a good way to do this. God speaks through the Bible. He is not silent.God can be known. He has caused to be written all He wishes you to know.
If you were to receive a letter from someone you really care about, you would memorize portions so you could quote it to all who will listen. After you get into a relationship with God you will want to have portions of what He has said hidden in your heart.
Psalm 119: 11 states, "Your word I have hide in my heart, that I might not sin against God."
Psalm 119 also says "Your word is a lamp onto my feet and a light onto my path."
A person easily can take a portion of the Scripture and learn it. "Be anxious for nothing, but by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:6,7.
Okay. That last passage is a bit longer. But if you only remember"Be anxious for nothing." you can remember it at times when you start to feel anxious.
A way to memorize. Select the passge. Read it through a few times. Five times may be a start. Then without looking try to repeat it word for word.It is important you do it word for word. Also try to stay with the same translation of the Scripture. I first started with the King James. I now use the New American Standard. The New International is good. Just stick to one translation.
Repeat the verse by memory five times. Check for accuracy. Rest up for a while. Repeat until you have it word for word without looking. The reason for this is that most of the time you won't have the Bible with you when you want to quote it to someone.
Be sure to get the address as part of your Scripture verse when you memorize. This will help you remember where it is located.
From time to time I will be repeating myself when it comes to topics. Just want you to know now. The best idea for you is to fellowship me so you don't miss a word of this important blog.
And feel free to comment. I love reading comments. I do respond.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Choice
So before the first verse in Genesis.." In the beginning God... " there was the Trinity. Yes, God was there in three persons and one essence. He was not lonely. He had Himself. That is hard to comprehend.. how a person all by Himself can be satisfied.
So God, and remember this is mainly speculative for me since there is no place in the Scriptures that this is found, made a choice. He decided He was going to share the Joy He had. He got together as the Trinity and made a choice. "I am going to make me a universe. I am going to make stars and moons and suns and 'things'. I am going to choose to make one planet inhabitable and place a whole Eco-system there. And I chose to make animals and plants, and fish, and rivers, and man. I chose to make man in my image-- I am going to give him an intellect. I am going to give him a choice. I am going to give him love. I am going to give him a wife. "
Each person of Trinity had a say. The Son said, "I will create all things by the Word of my mouth. I will speak it into existence."
The Father said "I will place man in the garden and give him the choice of obeying me or not. In order to prove this out I will put a tree in the middle of the garden and forbid him to eat of the fruit of that tree. The obedience will be in his not eating. But I will allow him the choice to eat and diosobey, thus losing fellowship with me.
The Son said, "Yes, then I will offer myself as the way back to fellowship.. to a relationship with us that they had in the garden. I will allow myself to become flesh and be born and live among them and die on the cross, shedding my blood. I will rise on the third day from the grave to prove all I said in the Scriptures was true."
And the Holy Spirit said, "I will be among the people and convict them of sin and be drawing them to the solution of how to once again have a relationship with Us. I will overshadow some and cause them to record our communication to them in a book that will become Holy Scripture.. I will overshadow a virgin named Mary, and place a seed within her that will give You, Jesus, a body. I will be with You through Your earthly existence."
Become a follower of this blog. Interesting postings have been coming and there are more on the way. Let me know who is out there and what I can do for you.
So God, and remember this is mainly speculative for me since there is no place in the Scriptures that this is found, made a choice. He decided He was going to share the Joy He had. He got together as the Trinity and made a choice. "I am going to make me a universe. I am going to make stars and moons and suns and 'things'. I am going to choose to make one planet inhabitable and place a whole Eco-system there. And I chose to make animals and plants, and fish, and rivers, and man. I chose to make man in my image-- I am going to give him an intellect. I am going to give him a choice. I am going to give him love. I am going to give him a wife. "The Father said "I will place man in the garden and give him the choice of obeying me or not. In order to prove this out I will put a tree in the middle of the garden and forbid him to eat of the fruit of that tree. The obedience will be in his not eating. But I will allow him the choice to eat and diosobey, thus losing fellowship with me.
The Son said, "Yes, then I will offer myself as the way back to fellowship.. to a relationship with us that they had in the garden. I will allow myself to become flesh and be born and live among them and die on the cross, shedding my blood. I will rise on the third day from the grave to prove all I said in the Scriptures was true."
And the Holy Spirit said, "I will be among the people and convict them of sin and be drawing them to the solution of how to once again have a relationship with Us. I will overshadow some and cause them to record our communication to them in a book that will become Holy Scripture.. I will overshadow a virgin named Mary, and place a seed within her that will give You, Jesus, a body. I will be with You through Your earthly existence."
Become a follower of this blog. Interesting postings have been coming and there are more on the way. Let me know who is out there and what I can do for you.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Man, God's Creation
Let us move from the Bible, which is the basis for all I am going to post in this series ( as it is for all I post) to the supreme creation of God. I am of course talking about man.
First off, man is not a thing nor is he a product of an evolutionary burp. As recorded for us in the Bible, Man is the pinnacle of God's creative work.
For five days God was setting the earth up for hhabitation. He created the sun and the stars and the moon . He set aside day and night to mark the passage of time. He caused vegetation to grow. He created fish and fowl and four legged beasts. And on the sixth day, according to the report, God created animals and man.
Once again, let me say, man is not a animal. For which animal did God look at and breath into its nostrils the breath of life? That is, to what animal did he give His image to?
And what is this image? This Likeness? It is creativity. It is the ability to think. It is the ability to communicate. And so much more.
Into this garden God had created He placed Adam and Eve. Was that their real names? Maybe not. Adam means man. Eve is mother of all living. The point is, they came fresh from the creative hand of God.
These two enjoyed fellowship with God, spoken of as walking and talking with God in the cool of the evening. During the day they would take care of the garden. Work was a pleasure. God had given to them the deed of co-ownership with Him of the earth.
They had fellowship with Him face to face.
God didn't want them to obey Him just because He had created them. He wanted them to choose to obey Him. So He set up a quiz, sort of. They could eat the fruit of all the trees in the garden. They were not to eat of the fruit of the one tree in the middle of the garden. This was a quiz or test. Will they obey or will they decide not to obey? This was a direct command of God.
One day, I don't know how long after creation, Adam and his wife were out taking care of he garden and they were walking around. They passed by the tree in the middle of the garden.
They run into one of the animals. The Bible calls him a serpent. Maybe not an four footed animal. A reptile. This reptile was being used by a fallen angel, the chief of the fallen angels, named Satan.
This indweltt reptile spoke to Eve. Adam was close by. But Satan spoke to Eve.She must have been an easy touch. Satan had no doubt been observing the couple and knew where the wickest link was. Adam had direct communication with God. Adam would then transmit what God said to the woman. This may have been the first instance of family devotions.
Eve gave in. "Has God said...? And she took and ate. And then must have turned to Adam who by now had turned his attention back to his wife. She gave him the fruit. He ate also fully knowing where it had come from.
So they disobeyed. God had to throw them out of the garden and they lost fellowship with Him. No longer could they walk and talk with Him. They now had to come through a sacrifice God had shown them this when He killed an animal and clothed them. "Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin." They had to transmit this truth to their offspring.
But God also promised them a redeemer who was to come and shed His blood.
God had said that in the day they ate of the fruit of that tree in the middle of the garden they would die. They ate, but physically they didn't die.Not that day. But they were separated from God. This is the first death. The second death comes to those who don't come to Him by the way He provided .. those who live a life separated from Him and who physically die. And that isn't always happening to the very old. A person can die at any time. God holds the years of your life in His hand. My brother was only twenty one when a snippers bullet in Vietnam cut off his life. You never know the time of your death.
"There is a time for everything under the sun. A time to be born and a time to die..."
First off, man is not a thing nor is he a product of an evolutionary burp. As recorded for us in the Bible, Man is the pinnacle of God's creative work.
For five days God was setting the earth up for hhabitation. He created the sun and the stars and the moon . He set aside day and night to mark the passage of time. He caused vegetation to grow. He created fish and fowl and four legged beasts. And on the sixth day, according to the report, God created animals and man.
Once again, let me say, man is not a animal. For which animal did God look at and breath into its nostrils the breath of life? That is, to what animal did he give His image to?
And what is this image? This Likeness? It is creativity. It is the ability to think. It is the ability to communicate. And so much more.
Into this garden God had created He placed Adam and Eve. Was that their real names? Maybe not. Adam means man. Eve is mother of all living. The point is, they came fresh from the creative hand of God.
These two enjoyed fellowship with God, spoken of as walking and talking with God in the cool of the evening. During the day they would take care of the garden. Work was a pleasure. God had given to them the deed of co-ownership with Him of the earth.
They had fellowship with Him face to face.
God didn't want them to obey Him just because He had created them. He wanted them to choose to obey Him. So He set up a quiz, sort of. They could eat the fruit of all the trees in the garden. They were not to eat of the fruit of the one tree in the middle of the garden. This was a quiz or test. Will they obey or will they decide not to obey? This was a direct command of God.
One day, I don't know how long after creation, Adam and his wife were out taking care of he garden and they were walking around. They passed by the tree in the middle of the garden.
They run into one of the animals. The Bible calls him a serpent. Maybe not an four footed animal. A reptile. This reptile was being used by a fallen angel, the chief of the fallen angels, named Satan.
This indweltt reptile spoke to Eve. Adam was close by. But Satan spoke to Eve.She must have been an easy touch. Satan had no doubt been observing the couple and knew where the wickest link was. Adam had direct communication with God. Adam would then transmit what God said to the woman. This may have been the first instance of family devotions.
Eve gave in. "Has God said...? And she took and ate. And then must have turned to Adam who by now had turned his attention back to his wife. She gave him the fruit. He ate also fully knowing where it had come from.
So they disobeyed. God had to throw them out of the garden and they lost fellowship with Him. No longer could they walk and talk with Him. They now had to come through a sacrifice God had shown them this when He killed an animal and clothed them. "Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin." They had to transmit this truth to their offspring.
But God also promised them a redeemer who was to come and shed His blood.
God had said that in the day they ate of the fruit of that tree in the middle of the garden they would die. They ate, but physically they didn't die.Not that day. But they were separated from God. This is the first death. The second death comes to those who don't come to Him by the way He provided .. those who live a life separated from Him and who physically die. And that isn't always happening to the very old. A person can die at any time. God holds the years of your life in His hand. My brother was only twenty one when a snippers bullet in Vietnam cut off his life. You never know the time of your death.
"There is a time for everything under the sun. A time to be born and a time to die..."
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Further Look At Bible
Today is Sunday. Time to be in church. I find it quite admusing that God has a way of emphasizing what I have been doing doing the week. He seems to put on the heart of my Pastor to preach on an area that is current in my experience. In this case, it is the Bible.
To be more specific it was on memorization of scripture. That was the next step in this doctrine series I am starting. Just what can we do with the Bible to aid Christian growth? I am an advocate of memorization. that is hiding the word in our heart that we might not sin against God, "How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to thy Word. Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against God." Psalm 119:9,11
Pastor Joe this morning gave some steps troward meditation. http://www.achurchthatstudies.org/.
Let me share them with you.
First is to realize God's truth. Looking at the passage you are studying ask what did this mean to the original readers? Then once you have researched this using aids, ask yourself, so, what does this mean for today... what does it mean to me?
Second is to Retain God's Truth. You do this by memorization. Maybe just a few words of the verse... The goal should be to memorize complete verses. This will help bring to your memory scripture. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everthing by prayer and supplication, make your requests know unto God." Phil 4:6.
Even if you remember " Be anxious for nothing" in times of stress, you are ahead of the game.
Third is to reflect on God's Truth. This is a meditation step. Not the meditation of the Eastern philophy. This meditationj is the thinking of what it is you are saying. Chew on it and then drop it into your heart.
Forth is to respond to God's Truth. This is allowing what you memorize to change your life's values. Yes, there should be change.
Stay with me. Be a follower and get all this series. May God bless you as you do so.
To be more specific it was on memorization of scripture. That was the next step in this doctrine series I am starting. Just what can we do with the Bible to aid Christian growth? I am an advocate of memorization. that is hiding the word in our heart that we might not sin against God, "How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to thy Word. Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against God." Psalm 119:9,11
Pastor Joe this morning gave some steps troward meditation. http://www.achurchthatstudies.org/.
Let me share them with you.
First is to realize God's truth. Looking at the passage you are studying ask what did this mean to the original readers? Then once you have researched this using aids, ask yourself, so, what does this mean for today... what does it mean to me?
Second is to Retain God's Truth. You do this by memorization. Maybe just a few words of the verse... The goal should be to memorize complete verses. This will help bring to your memory scripture. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everthing by prayer and supplication, make your requests know unto God." Phil 4:6.
Even if you remember " Be anxious for nothing" in times of stress, you are ahead of the game.
Third is to reflect on God's Truth. This is a meditation step. Not the meditation of the Eastern philophy. This meditationj is the thinking of what it is you are saying. Chew on it and then drop it into your heart.
Forth is to respond to God's Truth. This is allowing what you memorize to change your life's values. Yes, there should be change.
Stay with me. Be a follower and get all this series. May God bless you as you do so.
Friday, October 14, 2011
The Plumb Line
I am sure you will want to follow this new series I am starting up. I am planning to look at some doctrinal basics. I will be sharing my story with you as I do so. I just don't see how a person can talk about doctrine and not share some of his story.
As I have said, I started out life as a baptized Roman Catholic. I had no choice in the matter. I was born into a Catholic family, my father being the Roman Catholic and my mother having to sign a piece of paper stating that I was going to be raised as a Roman Catholic.
First off, the 66 books are God's communication. Francis Schafffer has said that God is not silent. It is supernatural in origin. God, the Holy Spirit, moved on the people He used to write it, and made sure that what they wrote had no error. God breathed out the Scripture. Holy Men of God wrote down what they heard. True. He wants to communicate. He communicated through people who wrote it down and preserved
It is the instruction book on life and how to have a personal and everlasting relationship with the Creator God.
As a book it has endured for thousands of years. Yet as you read it it seems so up to date. It can be applied to things today. It doesn't seem dated. Archeology has found proof for many cities mentioned in the Bible that people in the past have said didn't exist. New discoveries are proving facts that were under dispute years ago. The prophecies of the Bible came true. Well, there are still some that need to be fulfilled. But all the prophicies pertaining to the coming Messiah, the first time, as the suffering servant, came true. And the Jewish people are still here. The Bible said they would be.
The Bible also convicts people of sin and shows the way of pardon. It is not through belonging to the right church or being baptized as a baby. That viewpoint is held by the Roman Catholic church: Not the Bible.
Arthur Pink summerized in his book The Divine Inspirartion of The Bible : "The Bible is the book to live by and the book to die by. Therefore read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, practice it to be holy."
I will be looking at Bible reading in another post.
Please feel free to follow. Feel free to comment. Put your name down as a follower and hang on. You are in for a ride.
As I have said, I started out life as a baptized Roman Catholic. I had no choice in the matter. I was born into a Catholic family, my father being the Roman Catholic and my mother having to sign a piece of paper stating that I was going to be raised as a Roman Catholic.
Upon baptism, a sprinkling as a baby, I was washed away of my guilt I had inherited from Adam. God thus was free to pour out grace to me.From that moment I was on my own to keep myself sinless, my soul scrubbed from the stain I still carried , and if I sinned, which all do and will, I had the Catholic Church to fall back on. They would give me an education and the way to obtain this grace.
But that is not found in the Bible.
So the first doctrine I want to look at is the Bible. What is it? Is it trustworthy and how can we know? What makes it different than other books?First off, the 66 books are God's communication. Francis Schafffer has said that God is not silent. It is supernatural in origin. God, the Holy Spirit, moved on the people He used to write it, and made sure that what they wrote had no error. God breathed out the Scripture. Holy Men of God wrote down what they heard. True. He wants to communicate. He communicated through people who wrote it down and preserved
It is the instruction book on life and how to have a personal and everlasting relationship with the Creator God.
As a book it has endured for thousands of years. Yet as you read it it seems so up to date. It can be applied to things today. It doesn't seem dated. Archeology has found proof for many cities mentioned in the Bible that people in the past have said didn't exist. New discoveries are proving facts that were under dispute years ago. The prophecies of the Bible came true. Well, there are still some that need to be fulfilled. But all the prophicies pertaining to the coming Messiah, the first time, as the suffering servant, came true. And the Jewish people are still here. The Bible said they would be.
The Bible also convicts people of sin and shows the way of pardon. It is not through belonging to the right church or being baptized as a baby. That viewpoint is held by the Roman Catholic church: Not the Bible.
Arthur Pink summerized in his book The Divine Inspirartion of The Bible : "The Bible is the book to live by and the book to die by. Therefore read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, practice it to be holy."
I will be looking at Bible reading in another post.
Please feel free to follow. Feel free to comment. Put your name down as a follower and hang on. You are in for a ride.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Answers For The New Age
Before I start this post let me ask you this. Are you following me? I mean, have you clicked follow located in the side bar?. That is the only way you can get a fullness of my postings.
So if you are following you have the question, Yah, I know you are trying to say it is pervasive, this New Age philosophy. And since that is so, just how do I answer them?
Let me give you some ideas. Since there are many different answers given when you ask them what they teach... remember, it accepts all religions as being one.-- you need to realize some answers to their belief.
When you ask about the Trinity they may tell you "He is not one individual, but an energy gestalt" In other words, God is not a Trinity but an impersonal energy field who is a sum of its parts.
This is a Hindu concept. Both Christianity and Judaism hold this answer in abomination. We both see God as a personal, benevolent, and loving Deity who is immanent within His creation but not part of. it.He is transcendent. Both halves of the book validate this. "Hear O Israel:, The Lord our God, the Lord is one."
Jesus Christ to the New Age was just an avitar. To the Christian He is "The Living God, who is the savior of all men,especially of those who believe." I Timothy 4:10."Even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles." John 10:38
As to the doctrine of man they see man born into this world both good and divine in his nature. Salvation thus depends upon his looking inward at his spiritual nature and recognizing he is a god.
As you are aware, the Bible sees man differently. He is a sinner who has transgressed the law of God . There is nothing divine inside him. He needs a savior. "I have not come," said Jesus, "to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." Matthew 9:13.
"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
When it comes to a doctrine of Judgement, Heaven and Hell, the New Age has a doctrine of reincarnation. No judgement because you are coming back.
There is a judgement spoken of in the Bible. There will come a day when all will appear before the throne of God and rewarded or condemned for what they have done.
The New Age has Karma and that seems to be the closest they come to Hell.
They are cute when they deal with evil. They say, " It is important to see that Lucifer, as I am using the term, described an angel, a being, a great mighty planetary conciousness. It does not describe the popular thought form of satan who leads man down the path of sin and wrongdoing...Man is his own satan just as man is his own salvation." David Spangler. Satan thus becomes the "other dark side of the Force".
Stay with me. It is getting interesting (if it hasn't before. All this is interesting) Follow me and keep informed. Post comments. I will read and respond. Sometimes in a new posting.
So if you are following you have the question, Yah, I know you are trying to say it is pervasive, this New Age philosophy. And since that is so, just how do I answer them?
Let me give you some ideas. Since there are many different answers given when you ask them what they teach... remember, it accepts all religions as being one.-- you need to realize some answers to their belief.
When you ask about the Trinity they may tell you "He is not one individual, but an energy gestalt" In other words, God is not a Trinity but an impersonal energy field who is a sum of its parts.
This is a Hindu concept. Both Christianity and Judaism hold this answer in abomination. We both see God as a personal, benevolent, and loving Deity who is immanent within His creation but not part of. it.He is transcendent. Both halves of the book validate this. "Hear O Israel:, The Lord our God, the Lord is one."
Jesus Christ to the New Age was just an avitar. To the Christian He is "The Living God, who is the savior of all men,especially of those who believe." I Timothy 4:10."Even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles." John 10:38
As to the doctrine of man they see man born into this world both good and divine in his nature. Salvation thus depends upon his looking inward at his spiritual nature and recognizing he is a god.
As you are aware, the Bible sees man differently. He is a sinner who has transgressed the law of God . There is nothing divine inside him. He needs a savior. "I have not come," said Jesus, "to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." Matthew 9:13.
"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
When it comes to a doctrine of Judgement, Heaven and Hell, the New Age has a doctrine of reincarnation. No judgement because you are coming back.
There is a judgement spoken of in the Bible. There will come a day when all will appear before the throne of God and rewarded or condemned for what they have done.
The New Age has Karma and that seems to be the closest they come to Hell.
They are cute when they deal with evil. They say, " It is important to see that Lucifer, as I am using the term, described an angel, a being, a great mighty planetary conciousness. It does not describe the popular thought form of satan who leads man down the path of sin and wrongdoing...Man is his own satan just as man is his own salvation." David Spangler. Satan thus becomes the "other dark side of the Force".
Stay with me. It is getting interesting (if it hasn't before. All this is interesting) Follow me and keep informed. Post comments. I will read and respond. Sometimes in a new posting.
Failure Secular Humanism
Secular humanism has had its day. As a movement it came out of a religious humanism of the Renaissance. Religious because it came with a basic appreciation of humanity Secular because it slowly eroded progressively to attention on the glory of humanity. The humanist started to exclude God. The humanist shifted from theism to atheism in his worldview. Human reason and scientific innovation became the final authority for life and thought.
It brought about a loss of purpose ultimately for the universe. With man no longer seen as made in the image of a Creator God he became seen as a product of chance evolutionary forces. There was no more an absolute standard for morality. Thus morality became a whim of humanity--a philosophy of relativism.
Still we feel a need for transcendent meaning, purpose and value because we are created in the image of God.
The humanist can not give us that compelling world view we seek for.
But let us not forget that Christianity contained the seeds of its own destruction and a such can be directly blamed for the development of secular humanism. As developed, Christianity pushed God into the distance. They formed a click and didn't do as Jesus had told them, "Go into all the world and make disciples"
Man forgot God entirely and found themselves left to their own devices. They substituted nature as a testing ground for technological devices..Man became dehumanized and the environment became polluted. Man no longer saw God's mandate to be stewards of the earth. Instead they substituted a view that earth was the mother of life.
Still America had religious freedom. But no firm foot hold any more in the Bible. America needed a spiritual foundation. So they looked to the Eastern philosophies for that foundation. They allowed in Hindu scriptures and Buddist teachings.
Note: America was founded on Judaic-Christian values. They had a belief in a God who ruled over the affairs of men. And they favored relgious freedom.
What we see in the New Age world view is a long line of pantheistic traditions. We also see that the origin of modern humanism in the Renaissance and Enlightenment is closely related to pantheism, occultism and animism. The spiritaul emphasis was switched from God's glory to humanity's.-- Panteistic humanists who affirmed the immanence of God but denied the distinction between the creator and creation.
We move on. Be a follower of this blog. Stay with me and we will go places.
It brought about a loss of purpose ultimately for the universe. With man no longer seen as made in the image of a Creator God he became seen as a product of chance evolutionary forces. There was no more an absolute standard for morality. Thus morality became a whim of humanity--a philosophy of relativism.
Still we feel a need for transcendent meaning, purpose and value because we are created in the image of God.
The humanist can not give us that compelling world view we seek for.
But let us not forget that Christianity contained the seeds of its own destruction and a such can be directly blamed for the development of secular humanism. As developed, Christianity pushed God into the distance. They formed a click and didn't do as Jesus had told them, "Go into all the world and make disciples"
Man forgot God entirely and found themselves left to their own devices. They substituted nature as a testing ground for technological devices..Man became dehumanized and the environment became polluted. Man no longer saw God's mandate to be stewards of the earth. Instead they substituted a view that earth was the mother of life.
Still America had religious freedom. But no firm foot hold any more in the Bible. America needed a spiritual foundation. So they looked to the Eastern philosophies for that foundation. They allowed in Hindu scriptures and Buddist teachings.
Note: America was founded on Judaic-Christian values. They had a belief in a God who ruled over the affairs of men. And they favored relgious freedom.
What we see in the New Age world view is a long line of pantheistic traditions. We also see that the origin of modern humanism in the Renaissance and Enlightenment is closely related to pantheism, occultism and animism. The spiritaul emphasis was switched from God's glory to humanity's.-- Panteistic humanists who affirmed the immanence of God but denied the distinction between the creator and creation.
We move on. Be a follower of this blog. Stay with me and we will go places.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
An Age By Any Other Name
Now we shift from belief systems to what I consider very very dangeous. It is dangeous because we are accepting it and I would bet you that it is not a big deal to you. Your child comes home and says, "I have a new friend. He guides me in all I do."
This is not like that friend your child had that he imagined when a child, his playmate.. Or maybe it is.
What I am going to be looking at has its roots way way back. In fact it goes so far back that it can be found in the Garden Of Eden. "You shall be God." hissed the tempter to our mother, Eve.
It has its roots in the occult. That word occult comes from a Latin word for secret and mysterious things. For all practical purposes, what we know as a New Age Cult movement can be equated with the transplatation of Hindu philosophy.
They have a Christ. "The world has had enough of hunger, injustice, and war. There is an answer to our call for help, a world leader for all humanity."
They will say you are the Christ.
Since God is all and all is God, all things are perfect and you are perfect.
They leave no room for sin. There is no room for a saviour from sin since you have none.
Astrology is accepted as a way to get correct information.
It is in our state houses. In our White House.In our schools.
It is a threat to Judaism. It is a threat to Christianity. It is monistic pantheism. All is one and all is God. Man is divine .
We have all said it.."If it works, use it--if it feels good, do it."
Stay tuned and keep commenting. You will want to follow this blog. So click in and become a follower.
This is not like that friend your child had that he imagined when a child, his playmate.. Or maybe it is.
What I am going to be looking at has its roots way way back. In fact it goes so far back that it can be found in the Garden Of Eden. "You shall be God." hissed the tempter to our mother, Eve.
It has its roots in the occult. That word occult comes from a Latin word for secret and mysterious things. For all practical purposes, what we know as a New Age Cult movement can be equated with the transplatation of Hindu philosophy.
They have a Christ. "The world has had enough of hunger, injustice, and war. There is an answer to our call for help, a world leader for all humanity."
They will say you are the Christ.
Since God is all and all is God, all things are perfect and you are perfect.
They leave no room for sin. There is no room for a saviour from sin since you have none.
Astrology is accepted as a way to get correct information.
It is in our state houses. In our White House.In our schools.
It is a threat to Judaism. It is a threat to Christianity. It is monistic pantheism. All is one and all is God. Man is divine .
We have all said it.."If it works, use it--if it feels good, do it."
Stay tuned and keep commenting. You will want to follow this blog. So click in and become a follower.
Golden Plates- Golden Error
All it took was one lad in 1823 who had a vision of an angel called Moroni as the lad prayed beside his bed. The story goes that the angel told this lad where to find something called golden plates which, according to the story, contained the 'fulness of the everlasting gospel.'
God had waited all these years to reveal His message to mankind and He needed a lad to show up and discover it.
It was the Book Of Mormon. Okay. But is it the word of God?
"Thou fool, that still say: a Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible.. and because I have spoken one word ye need not suppose I cannot speak another...Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words, neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written." II Nephi 29:6,9,10
Not only the Book of Mormon but .The Pearl Of Great Price. were added along with Doctrine and Covenants. added to their sacred books.
Orthodoxy has only one book of God- The Bible.
As for the teachings:
Hang on. We are on a ride.
God had waited all these years to reveal His message to mankind and He needed a lad to show up and discover it.
It was the Book Of Mormon. Okay. But is it the word of God?
"Thou fool, that still say: a Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible.. and because I have spoken one word ye need not suppose I cannot speak another...Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words, neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written." II Nephi 29:6,9,10
Not only the Book of Mormon but .The Pearl Of Great Price. were added along with Doctrine and Covenants. added to their sacred books.
Orthodoxy has only one book of God- The Bible.
As for the teachings:
- Polytheism
- God was once a man
- Adam was the angel Michael come to earth.
- Polygamy is right
- Jesus had three wives
- Jesus was produced by actual sexual relations between a resurrected Adam-god and Mary.
- Man works his way to heaven
- Heaven is on three levels.
- Only Mormons get to the third heaven (Celestrial) where God is.
- Second heaven (Terrestrial) is for Christians who did not accept the Mormon message
- First level, which is called telestial, is for the heathen people who reject the Gospel (Mormon Gospel)
- Salvation is by faith plus works
- The dead can be baptized in proxy
- The family unit will endue unto the eternal ages, and that those in heaven will produce spiritual children. ( who will be born to Mormons who will be asked to produce many children thus freeing them to live on earth.)
- Celestrial marriage is a ritual that takes place in a Mormon temple and seals the person for eternity.
- Adams sin was necessary in order to provide parentage for the spirit children
- Man can achieve godhood.
Hang on. We are on a ride.
It is Just An Error Of the Mind
"Only God or principle exists and everything else is an illusion."
"There is no matter; material things such as a person's body are not real"
Recently I read a book that explains what it is like to grow up a child in a house where your mother and father have embraced the religious system known as Christian Science. It is not Christian and it is not Science.
The book review is found in my book blog http://drsbookplace.blogspot.com/ and it is a book called motherfathergod. It was posted around Sept 26.
Don't get sick. They don't have medical doctors. Just a Science Practitioner (sic) who will come and pray over you. Healing, for them, is found in right thoughts.
The belief system is easy to list.
There is also a claim made that the Bible is the only authority. But it is not. You need her book, mentioned above, as the textbook because she believed that God was also the author of her book. You will need her book because the Bible is in error in places, so she teaches and followers of this cult believe. Her book being inspired and far superior to the Bible.
Let us hear more.
"Man is not matter; he is not made up of brain, blood, bones, and other material elements. ...man is made in the image and likeness of God. Matter is not that likeness...Man is spiritual and perfect...He is..the reflection of God."
Enough already.
She and her group don't see man as sinful since his birth, since to them, birth and death are but illusions. God can not be sick and neither can be man. It doesn't exist.
In their system Jesus was not a real man, but only a spirit.Or at best, a teacher.
So what about God? To them He is an impersonal Principle not a Person.
Am I helping you with my postings? Comment and keep a conversation going. Also become a follower of this blog. And hang on. This blog is going places.
"There is no matter; material things such as a person's body are not real"
Recently I read a book that explains what it is like to grow up a child in a house where your mother and father have embraced the religious system known as Christian Science. It is not Christian and it is not Science.
The book review is found in my book blog http://drsbookplace.blogspot.com/ and it is a book called motherfathergod. It was posted around Sept 26.
Don't get sick. They don't have medical doctors. Just a Science Practitioner (sic) who will come and pray over you. Healing, for them, is found in right thoughts.
The belief system is easy to list.
- God is all in all
- God is good. Good is mind.
- God, Spirit, being all.nothing is matter
- Life, God,omnipotent good, deny death, evil sin, disease. Disease, sin, death, deny good, omnipotent God, Life.
There is also a claim made that the Bible is the only authority. But it is not. You need her book, mentioned above, as the textbook because she believed that God was also the author of her book. You will need her book because the Bible is in error in places, so she teaches and followers of this cult believe. Her book being inspired and far superior to the Bible.
Let us hear more.
"Man is not matter; he is not made up of brain, blood, bones, and other material elements. ...man is made in the image and likeness of God. Matter is not that likeness...Man is spiritual and perfect...He is..the reflection of God."
Enough already.
She and her group don't see man as sinful since his birth, since to them, birth and death are but illusions. God can not be sick and neither can be man. It doesn't exist.
In their system Jesus was not a real man, but only a spirit.Or at best, a teacher.
So what about God? To them He is an impersonal Principle not a Person.
Am I helping you with my postings? Comment and keep a conversation going. Also become a follower of this blog. And hang on. This blog is going places.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Flat Denial-Nothing New
King Solomon penned a book in our Bible that is very useful in looking at things from the viewpoint of a Humanist. "There is nothing new under the sun." he wrote in Ecclesiastes. There is no new cult that can be invented, no new heresy.
Earlier in another post I defined what a cult is and in another I defined the signs that you could be in one. I will not redefine. If you desire to read my earlier posts (Which I hope you do. I hope you are going up and down this blog and rereading portions.) feel free to do so.
Some where in the eighteenth century a group got fed up with the radical Calvinism of the New England Congregational Churches. Calvin was a strong influence and his influence could be found in the Congregational, Presbyterian, and other Protestant groups. But it started in the sixteenth to seventeenth century in Poland and England.
We know them today as Unitarians. Back then they were known as Monarchians. They held then and still do that there is no such thing as the Trinity. No Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Instead they held and still do that God is one and that He cannot manifest Himself in three persons.
One group holds that Jesus wasn't exactly God nor mere man. A group that follows Ralph Waldo Emerson believe that all in nature, evan man, is part of a great overloard.
Those who hold to these views but are not our unitarians are known as our liberals.
They hold to a belief system.
As I have said, be careful. This is not Orthodox.
Comment and keep the conversation going. I will try to help as much as I can. I feel like a watchman on the walls crying out for those to hear. He who has ears to hear, let him hear..
Earlier in another post I defined what a cult is and in another I defined the signs that you could be in one. I will not redefine. If you desire to read my earlier posts (Which I hope you do. I hope you are going up and down this blog and rereading portions.) feel free to do so.
Some where in the eighteenth century a group got fed up with the radical Calvinism of the New England Congregational Churches. Calvin was a strong influence and his influence could be found in the Congregational, Presbyterian, and other Protestant groups. But it started in the sixteenth to seventeenth century in Poland and England.
We know them today as Unitarians. Back then they were known as Monarchians. They held then and still do that there is no such thing as the Trinity. No Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Instead they held and still do that God is one and that He cannot manifest Himself in three persons.
One group holds that Jesus wasn't exactly God nor mere man. A group that follows Ralph Waldo Emerson believe that all in nature, evan man, is part of a great overloard.
Those who hold to these views but are not our unitarians are known as our liberals.
They hold to a belief system.
- The Bible is not the word of God. Some parts of it may contain the Word of God but are mixed with superstition.
- They also deny the Christian doctrines that are derived from the Bible
- God is seen as a force, an overloard, a prime mover.
- Jesus was a teacher. Merely an exceptional man like Moses and Budda.
- They have a changing theology.
- Man should be his own savior
- Man is not a sinner. He is just imperfect and all he needs is a "redemption of character."
As I have said, be careful. This is not Orthodox.
Comment and keep the conversation going. I will try to help as much as I can. I feel like a watchman on the walls crying out for those to hear. He who has ears to hear, let him hear..
Response to Comments
Hello. I am doing a posting in response to a wise, well thought out, and intellegent response a reader gave to a posting of mine "Cult Characteristics"
He took my points in the order they were posted. I feel he asked good questions.
To my first point he felt that Christians could be a cult also. Let me respond by restating the definition I am using for a cult. It is any group that says it is Christian and is not. A group that diviates from Orthodoxy. Orthodoxy is found in the Scripture.
He wanted to start a side issue on Messiahship. He seemed to camp on Messiahship.He wanted to know where in what he called Jewish scriptures the idea of a messiah dieing for sins shows up. Let me say I am still pondering that.
As for my second point he seemed to zero in on Christians and their belief that the Messiah is 100% man and 100% God. Isaiah 9:6-7 -"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders. (So far. Man. Human.) And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace (100% God) There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace. On the throne of David and over his kingdom. to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this."
On to the third about good works. That one I won't bother with. It is getting off the subject of cult charactertistics and are Christians cultic.
In the forth point he refers to the Christian Bible as being full of misquotes. he refers to a Jewish Bible. The point I want to make is that the Bible is Jewish. All the way from Genesis to Revelation. Jews wrote it. They preserved it. Christians owe the Jews for giving us a manuscript that is accurate and fairly free of errors that harm basic doctrines.
I am amused to see that he uses the twenty second letter in the Greek Alphabet -Chi (x)- to keep from spelling out the word Christ. USe the name Jehovah if you are afraid of the Greek term meaning Messiah.
He took my points in the order they were posted. I feel he asked good questions.
To my first point he felt that Christians could be a cult also. Let me respond by restating the definition I am using for a cult. It is any group that says it is Christian and is not. A group that diviates from Orthodoxy. Orthodoxy is found in the Scripture.
He wanted to start a side issue on Messiahship. He seemed to camp on Messiahship.He wanted to know where in what he called Jewish scriptures the idea of a messiah dieing for sins shows up. Let me say I am still pondering that.
As for my second point he seemed to zero in on Christians and their belief that the Messiah is 100% man and 100% God. Isaiah 9:6-7 -"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders. (So far. Man. Human.) And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace (100% God) There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace. On the throne of David and over his kingdom. to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this."
On to the third about good works. That one I won't bother with. It is getting off the subject of cult charactertistics and are Christians cultic.
In the forth point he refers to the Christian Bible as being full of misquotes. he refers to a Jewish Bible. The point I want to make is that the Bible is Jewish. All the way from Genesis to Revelation. Jews wrote it. They preserved it. Christians owe the Jews for giving us a manuscript that is accurate and fairly free of errors that harm basic doctrines.
I am amused to see that he uses the twenty second letter in the Greek Alphabet -Chi (x)- to keep from spelling out the word Christ. USe the name Jehovah if you are afraid of the Greek term meaning Messiah.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Look at Basics
As I was thinking about it I came to realize that in my posts I may be confusing most people. Therefore I decided to back up and take another look at the basics before continuing with the deviations and outright false belief systems.
First let me say that it is not so important that you be educated beyond your intelligence. Anyone of average intelligence and education can understand the basics. But if a person is going to be placed in the Church in a position of authority, it is imperative that he be educated and trained. When a person is called to ministry in a church he is called to train.- to get prepared. And then it is up to each church group to decide where to place the person during preparation.
I am aware of one church group that was so hungry for a young adult outreach that the vision committee went out and got a high school grad. The high school grad went and got his college degree on-line. I have nothing against Internet education. In fact, for some who need to work to support themself, the Internet education is a fine way to go.
This church then took this person, who has great leadership skills, and gave him the young adult group to build up. They gave him a teaching position in the evening service and renamed him the pastor. All this while he was still seeking a college education.
Presently this person has a position in the church. A large following. He is the main preacher. And he is signed up to attend seminary in 2012.
So I am not against education. And it doesn't need to be education in the area of ministy. It can be education in any field.
Now to get back to the basics.
There are a few areas in which the Bible is foundational. when it comes to our knowledge of God. The Scriptures are to be regarded as the authoritative word of truth on all matters of basic doctrine. These areas are:
Thanks for staying with this series. It is important to have the awareness you are finding, I hope, through these postings. Please comment and let me know what I can do for you.
First let me say that it is not so important that you be educated beyond your intelligence. Anyone of average intelligence and education can understand the basics. But if a person is going to be placed in the Church in a position of authority, it is imperative that he be educated and trained. When a person is called to ministry in a church he is called to train.- to get prepared. And then it is up to each church group to decide where to place the person during preparation.
This church then took this person, who has great leadership skills, and gave him the young adult group to build up. They gave him a teaching position in the evening service and renamed him the pastor. All this while he was still seeking a college education.
Presently this person has a position in the church. A large following. He is the main preacher. And he is signed up to attend seminary in 2012.
So I am not against education. And it doesn't need to be education in the area of ministy. It can be education in any field.
Now to get back to the basics.
There are a few areas in which the Bible is foundational. when it comes to our knowledge of God. The Scriptures are to be regarded as the authoritative word of truth on all matters of basic doctrine. These areas are:
- Who God is. We must believe because the scriptures say so.We should believe there is only one lawgiver and judge. We must believe that there is no other God besides God; a righteous God and savior. "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever" Isaiah 40:8
- Creation.: "In the beginnng God created the heavens and the earth"-Genesis 1:1
- Salvation:. "Turn to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other." Isaiah 45:22
- Morals: "Consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, pasion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry." Colossians 3:5
- Worship:"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth." John 4:23
Thanks for staying with this series. It is important to have the awareness you are finding, I hope, through these postings. Please comment and let me know what I can do for you.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Major Doctrines
Again we spend some time with the Jehovah Witnesses. I don't think I gave you a fair enough look at their doctrines concerning the areas that I consider important. These areas are :What is their take on the Scriptures? How does a man attain salvation?: Who is Jesus?, What is their view of the Godhead? What is their take on what happens when a person dies?
First we see their take on Scriptures. It is this. A study of the Bible alone is not enough to teach one God's will. You need their help. "The religion that is approved by God must agree in all details with the Bible..," they say. Yet it must be seen through the preconceived ideas of the interpretations the church gives. Especailly in their books such as The Truth That Leads To Eternal Life.
Secondly, we look at what rhey say about salvation. They see it as by works instead of grace alone.
Thirdly, we look at what they say about Jesus. He is a created being. His resuurection was only a spirit resurrection. "The justice of God would not permit Jesus, as a ransom, be more than a perfect man; and certainly not the Supreme God Almighty in the flesh"
Fourthly, What do they see of the godhead? Jehovah is one God and He created Jesus. "What then , do the facts show us as to the "Trinity"? Neither the word nor the idea is in God's word, The Bible. The doctrine did not originate with God"
As to what happens when a person dies., there is no eternal punishment for the unsaved as man ceases to exist spiritually at death.
Am I helping you? Let me know if there is anything I can do for you,or subject I can include. And may God bless you all.
First we see their take on Scriptures. It is this. A study of the Bible alone is not enough to teach one God's will. You need their help. "The religion that is approved by God must agree in all details with the Bible..," they say. Yet it must be seen through the preconceived ideas of the interpretations the church gives. Especailly in their books such as The Truth That Leads To Eternal Life.
Secondly, we look at what rhey say about salvation. They see it as by works instead of grace alone.
Thirdly, we look at what they say about Jesus. He is a created being. His resuurection was only a spirit resurrection. "The justice of God would not permit Jesus, as a ransom, be more than a perfect man; and certainly not the Supreme God Almighty in the flesh"
Fourthly, What do they see of the godhead? Jehovah is one God and He created Jesus. "What then , do the facts show us as to the "Trinity"? Neither the word nor the idea is in God's word, The Bible. The doctrine did not originate with God"
As to what happens when a person dies., there is no eternal punishment for the unsaved as man ceases to exist spiritually at death.
Am I helping you? Let me know if there is anything I can do for you,or subject I can include. And may God bless you all.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Knocking on Doors- JW
You have decided to sleep in. You had a long night last night.
There is a knock at your door. You shout out, "Wait a minute."
You open your door. Two people stand there. They have a magazine grasped for lfe in their hand.
"Yes?"
"Would you like the message of truth?", one says.
"Do you know Jehovah?" asks the other.
They look harmless. Strange, yes. They are doing door to door evangelism.
Nothing wrong with that. Evanglism. Door to door.
Except they don't know God and they are not in any way, shape, or form sharing truth.
They are Jehovah Witnesses and they are working for their salvation.
The Bible says, "Not by works of righteousness, but according to His mercy He saved us."
They neither know Him nor mercy.
They are there becaue they have to be. Their parent organization located in Brooklyn, New York has trained them. They believe that they owe allegence only to Jehovah and not any government. They won't take part in elections or politics, They frown on blood transfussions as being the blood of an animal and forbidden by the Old Testamnt law. They don't observe holidays such as Christmas and Easter. Even birthdays are forbidden.
But worst of all, they deny the Trinity. Jesus, to them, is a created being. His resurrection was only in the spirit, not a physical one. The Holy Spirit is not God. Man at death ceases to be. They have no eternal punishemnt for the unsaved. And as I mentioned, salvation is by good works and not by grace.
They have a New World Translation of the Bible that they follow. It is bits and pieces with JW doctrine running through it. It is not a reliable translation, if such it can be called. (I wouldn't)
That is enough to chew on at the moment. I will be returning to this subject later.
There is a knock at your door. You shout out, "Wait a minute."
You open your door. Two people stand there. They have a magazine grasped for lfe in their hand.
"Yes?"
"Would you like the message of truth?", one says.
"Do you know Jehovah?" asks the other.
They look harmless. Strange, yes. They are doing door to door evangelism.
Nothing wrong with that. Evanglism. Door to door.
Except they don't know God and they are not in any way, shape, or form sharing truth.
They are Jehovah Witnesses and they are working for their salvation.
The Bible says, "Not by works of righteousness, but according to His mercy He saved us."
They neither know Him nor mercy.
They are there becaue they have to be. Their parent organization located in Brooklyn, New York has trained them. They believe that they owe allegence only to Jehovah and not any government. They won't take part in elections or politics, They frown on blood transfussions as being the blood of an animal and forbidden by the Old Testamnt law. They don't observe holidays such as Christmas and Easter. Even birthdays are forbidden.
But worst of all, they deny the Trinity. Jesus, to them, is a created being. His resurrection was only in the spirit, not a physical one. The Holy Spirit is not God. Man at death ceases to be. They have no eternal punishemnt for the unsaved. And as I mentioned, salvation is by good works and not by grace.
They have a New World Translation of the Bible that they follow. It is bits and pieces with JW doctrine running through it. It is not a reliable translation, if such it can be called. (I wouldn't)
That is enough to chew on at the moment. I will be returning to this subject later.
Reasons for Activity
It did not just happen over night. The deviations from orthodoxy came slowly. Well, not too slowly. The early church had to handle deviations and misapplications early.
Solomon, the wisest man in the world, had this to say, "There is nothing new under the sun"
The counterfeit truths are like water. They satisfy. But they don't hold solid when seen under the microscope of the Bible.The fake truths masked themself as orthodox but were not. When they start to say that Jesus was a creation of God, the first born of creation ,to them it meant He was created, not always existent. Or the false teaching that God is a force.
At the start the church was strong and held a common faith and a common hope. They were close knit together in all aspects of their lives.
The church of today has become a social club. Not all, but enough to allow error to creep in and even be accepted at truth. Today's church in America has turned into a security and entertainment center. In fact, look closely and you can see the five major faults within the church.
Humanism. That is what has crept into the church. Hinduism and the Eastern Belief system has rushed in to fill the void.
We need to, as Christians, get our World View from the Bible, God's Word. His only Word. He has communicated and put down in the Bible all He wants us to know. There will be no more communication. It is finished when the book of Revelation closed.
We need to protect ourselves against the attacks of the cults. That is one reason I am doing this series in this blog.
As we look at these cults we can see self-centered leaders. They do not submit to God's will. They tend to have big egos. The followers are insecure and need the ego driven leaders in order to make themselves feel worthwhile.
Their leaders give them their interpretation of what the Bible says. In reality they teach what their books say. Yes, they tend to have a book other than the Bible. Maybe in addition to but mostly in place of.
More. Much more in the future.
Am I helping you? Let me know how you are. Especially those oif you who are outside the United States.
Solomon, the wisest man in the world, had this to say, "There is nothing new under the sun"
The counterfeit truths are like water. They satisfy. But they don't hold solid when seen under the microscope of the Bible.The fake truths masked themself as orthodox but were not. When they start to say that Jesus was a creation of God, the first born of creation ,to them it meant He was created, not always existent. Or the false teaching that God is a force.
At the start the church was strong and held a common faith and a common hope. They were close knit together in all aspects of their lives.
The church of today has become a social club. Not all, but enough to allow error to creep in and even be accepted at truth. Today's church in America has turned into a security and entertainment center. In fact, look closely and you can see the five major faults within the church.
- A rise of liberalism
- An isolation from contemporary world issues
- A lack of sound Bible teaching
- A failure to promote a solidly Biblical world view
- A fundamental failure to meet people's spiritual, psychological, and social needs
Humanism. That is what has crept into the church. Hinduism and the Eastern Belief system has rushed in to fill the void.
We need to, as Christians, get our World View from the Bible, God's Word. His only Word. He has communicated and put down in the Bible all He wants us to know. There will be no more communication. It is finished when the book of Revelation closed.
We need to protect ourselves against the attacks of the cults. That is one reason I am doing this series in this blog.
As we look at these cults we can see self-centered leaders. They do not submit to God's will. They tend to have big egos. The followers are insecure and need the ego driven leaders in order to make themselves feel worthwhile.
Their leaders give them their interpretation of what the Bible says. In reality they teach what their books say. Yes, they tend to have a book other than the Bible. Maybe in addition to but mostly in place of.
More. Much more in the future.
Am I helping you? Let me know how you are. Especially those oif you who are outside the United States.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Cult Characteristics
You may ask me,"Dane, just what should I look for to see if I am in a cult or not?
That is easy to detail. ask yourself,
Let me know if I am helping you. Comment. Defend your belief system. Am I stepping on toes? Am I firming you up?
That is easy to detail. ask yourself,
- "Are they telling me that all Christian churches are wrong and that they are a special group to whom God alone has given truth?
- Do they attack the diety of Jesus Christ and lower Him to the level of a man, or even raise man to the level of Christ?
- Do they deny that man can be saved by faith in Christ? in other words, do they teach that man can make himself right with God by good works?
- Do they say that their leader, human leader, has new additions to the Bible or even new interpretations?
- Do they distort the Bible's teaching to suit their own particular belief about man,God,the Holy Spirit, heaven, hell, salvation or other vital doctrines?
Let me know if I am helping you. Comment. Defend your belief system. Am I stepping on toes? Am I firming you up?
Effort Makes One Enlightened
So now we look at another Eastern system.Since we in the United States are slowly forgetting our Christian roots we are allowing strange systems to creep in to fill the void.
Man is a religious creature. He is made up of three parts. He is a body. He is a Spirit. He is a soul. The body eats and is satisfied. The Spirit comunicates with the unknown. The soul is what gives him the urge to seek something out there.
Not all adherents to the Eastern mind set are Hindu. More to the mindset is the teaching of the Buddha. Unlike the Hindu the followers of the enlightened one or Buddha hold to the theory of a 'middle way'. that is a path between the complicated religion of the Hindu and the world of sensuality. They have a clear firm rule for the followers.
There are the Noble Truths:
In Tibet it appears as Demon Worship. In Japan it shows up as the new militant, nationalist cult of Soka Gokkai.
But the two main forms we should be aware of are Hinayana that holds that only a fortunate few make it to Nirvana, and Mayanana which is that all will make it, salvation is for all. There is a savior god. Hinayana said that man must save himself. But Mayanana sees Buddha as the savior
The problem is that its gods are beyond man's ability to reach.
On the other hand, Christianity gives us Jesus who will give us the strengh to live a righteous life. God can be reached because God first reached down to us.
Man is a religious creature. He is made up of three parts. He is a body. He is a Spirit. He is a soul. The body eats and is satisfied. The Spirit comunicates with the unknown. The soul is what gives him the urge to seek something out there.
Not all adherents to the Eastern mind set are Hindu. More to the mindset is the teaching of the Buddha. Unlike the Hindu the followers of the enlightened one or Buddha hold to the theory of a 'middle way'. that is a path between the complicated religion of the Hindu and the world of sensuality. They have a clear firm rule for the followers.
There are the Noble Truths:
- Suffering is universal. The very act of living is suffering But in each reincarnation (there it is again.) there is suffering. You will be looking for the Nirvana or release from the endless cycle of suffering.
- The cause of suffering is craving. The endless cycle occurs because we are attached to the world.
- The cure for suffering is to eliminate craving. Simple. No craving. No suffering
- Eliminate craving by following the Middle Way--the Noble Eightfold Path.By isolating the cause of the inability to escape the cage of birth, suffering, rebirth-- something called tanha --you can work out the solution.
- Right viewpoint
- Right aspiration
- Right speech
- Right behavior
- Right occupation
- Right effort
- Right mindfulness
- Right meditation
In Tibet it appears as Demon Worship. In Japan it shows up as the new militant, nationalist cult of Soka Gokkai.
But the two main forms we should be aware of are Hinayana that holds that only a fortunate few make it to Nirvana, and Mayanana which is that all will make it, salvation is for all. There is a savior god. Hinayana said that man must save himself. But Mayanana sees Buddha as the savior
The problem is that its gods are beyond man's ability to reach.
On the other hand, Christianity gives us Jesus who will give us the strengh to live a righteous life. God can be reached because God first reached down to us.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Change in Thought
Western thought began in the Greek culture many many years ago. A long time ago. It can be traced back to Socates, Plato, Aristole. They saw the universe as having a purpose and a plan for being.
Judaism and Christianity added to thier belief system the teaching of the Bible. There was an energetic and rational God behind it. A God who created the universe. There was a law giver. This was a basis for science because there were laws in nature. Man believed in the God of the Bible.
That was the Western view. Over in the East the view was different. Their view tended to be that all things that exist in the universe, including man, are of no importance and therefore are temporary.Only the realm that was outside the world exists. They saw that the only way to reach it is to deny the world around them.
Japan and China have made some scentific progress since they have adopted some Western thought
. But I am not looking at science here. In this blog and in this posting I wish to lok at Hinduism. It had its beginning in the Indus valley. The teachings can be found in their sacred writing, the Vedas They see these as "Revealed Wisdom".
. For them they can go back to about 2000 B.C. They have many gods who can cause death and disaster. In their sytem they have Brahmans or priests. They have become a high social class.
They see the Vedas as teaching that four classes of people came from the head, the arms, the thighs, and the feet of the creator god, Brama. The four classes then became the Brahman or priest, the Kshastriya or warrior and nobleman, and the Vaishya which is the peasant, and lastly the Shudra or slave.
There are four stages and four goals to be attained. But not for the girls. They are considered worthless.
The stages are initiation, and after initiation he is considered "Twice-Born" Now he has to go through four stages.
This makes man himself god.
The Bible that the Christian has says there is no second chance. "It is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgement." No reincarnation.
Stay with me. We are getting there. How are you? Any comments or questions?
Actually Hinduism is a philkosophy not a theology.
Judaism and Christianity added to thier belief system the teaching of the Bible. There was an energetic and rational God behind it. A God who created the universe. There was a law giver. This was a basis for science because there were laws in nature. Man believed in the God of the Bible.
That was the Western view. Over in the East the view was different. Their view tended to be that all things that exist in the universe, including man, are of no importance and therefore are temporary.Only the realm that was outside the world exists. They saw that the only way to reach it is to deny the world around them.
Japan and China have made some scentific progress since they have adopted some Western thought
. But I am not looking at science here. In this blog and in this posting I wish to lok at Hinduism. It had its beginning in the Indus valley. The teachings can be found in their sacred writing, the Vedas They see these as "Revealed Wisdom".
. For them they can go back to about 2000 B.C. They have many gods who can cause death and disaster. In their sytem they have Brahmans or priests. They have become a high social class.
They see the Vedas as teaching that four classes of people came from the head, the arms, the thighs, and the feet of the creator god, Brama. The four classes then became the Brahman or priest, the Kshastriya or warrior and nobleman, and the Vaishya which is the peasant, and lastly the Shudra or slave.
There are four stages and four goals to be attained. But not for the girls. They are considered worthless.
The stages are initiation, and after initiation he is considered "Twice-Born" Now he has to go through four stages.
- Student
- Head of a house with wife and children
- A meditating hermit seeking enlightenment
- A homeless wanderer
- To become righteous and virtuous
- To have material goods
- To enjoy life through love, pleasure, and appreciation of beauty
- To have spiritual victory over life
This makes man himself god.
The Bible that the Christian has says there is no second chance. "It is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgement." No reincarnation.
Stay with me. We are getting there. How are you? Any comments or questions?
Actually Hinduism is a philkosophy not a theology.
Why I am Doing This
Dude. You may be thinking, just why is this guy spending so much time on subjects like cults and Bible study methods and not just blogging as in web logging? That is a very good question. As those of you who are following these posts since the beginning you know that I am setting this blog "For Your Information" up for the church group I am a member of.
I guess I feel that since I have had some training at Western Theological Seminary I am a frustrated theologian.
That may be true. I also don't want anyone to unknowingly be sucked into a false belief system.
I took a class on Contemporary Theology. The text book used was by a James Livingston, Modern Christian Thouight Since it had a copyright of 1971 it didn't cover today's Christian Thought. That is, the New Age was not covered. And a good amount of Cults never got into its pages. Looking back, the cults were not the main emphasis. It was more the development of Christian Thought from the Enlightenment to Vatican Two.
I found soon after I became a Christian in 1968 that I was given an interest in false religions. Basicly in the cults and in spiritual counterfits.
God got my attention when I was away at college in Taft, California. I was in a Four Sqaure Gospel fellowship at the moment. I noticed the tongue emphasis going on around me. I found myself analyzing what I saw and asking "Is this something Satan could influence and get a toe hold in?" I concluded yes, since he can appear as an angel of light.
Satan also is busy in movements that diviate from the Bible as the basis for belief.
That is why you will be reading for a while in this blog a series on cults. That is why you have had a series on Bible Study Methods. A person must learn to feed himself. A person should know how to test the spirits. And that is why I spend so much time systematically blogging.
Keep on reading. Yes. Please do so. Also comment. Let me know how this is being received.
I guess I feel that since I have had some training at Western Theological Seminary I am a frustrated theologian.
That may be true. I also don't want anyone to unknowingly be sucked into a false belief system.
I took a class on Contemporary Theology. The text book used was by a James Livingston, Modern Christian Thouight Since it had a copyright of 1971 it didn't cover today's Christian Thought. That is, the New Age was not covered. And a good amount of Cults never got into its pages. Looking back, the cults were not the main emphasis. It was more the development of Christian Thought from the Enlightenment to Vatican Two.
I found soon after I became a Christian in 1968 that I was given an interest in false religions. Basicly in the cults and in spiritual counterfits.
God got my attention when I was away at college in Taft, California. I was in a Four Sqaure Gospel fellowship at the moment. I noticed the tongue emphasis going on around me. I found myself analyzing what I saw and asking "Is this something Satan could influence and get a toe hold in?" I concluded yes, since he can appear as an angel of light.
Satan also is busy in movements that diviate from the Bible as the basis for belief.
That is why you will be reading for a while in this blog a series on cults. That is why you have had a series on Bible Study Methods. A person must learn to feed himself. A person should know how to test the spirits. And that is why I spend so much time systematically blogging.
Keep on reading. Yes. Please do so. Also comment. Let me know how this is being received.
Monday, October 3, 2011
One god- Allah
But the Jew isn't the only one who holds the belief in one god. This movement is based on the leadership and teaching of one man called Mohammed. Mohammed was trying to lead his followers out of a life of ideolatry. In doing so he proclaimed himself a prophet and designed his religion around rules and regulations. He placed man under a terrible burden of responsibility.
This is in contrast to Jesus who said "Come to me, all you who labor, and I will give you rest. ..My Yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28,30
The Islam belief systyem has five doctrines.
Please. Am I helping you? What would you like me to clarify? What are your needs? How can I help?
This is in contrast to Jesus who said "Come to me, all you who labor, and I will give you rest. ..My Yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28,30
The Islam belief systyem has five doctrines.
- There is one god and his name is Allah.
- The angel Gabriel appeared to Mohammed. There is an evil angel also called Shaitan as well as dijinns.
- Moslems have four sacred books- God inspired books they call them. The Torah of Moses ( the Pentateuch), the Zabur (Psalms of David), The Injil (gospel) of Jesus, and the final words of Allah to mankind, the Koran. This Koran is seen by them as superseding and overruling all that went before.
- They hold to twenty-eight prophets of Allah with Mohammed being the last and greatest prophet.
- On the last day when the dead are resurrected Allah will be their judge and send the people either to heaven or hell.. Heaven will be a place of sensual pleasure. On the other hand hell will be where everyone who opposes Allah and his prophet, Mohammed, will be.
- To become a Moslem you must publicly recite the Shahadah."There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is the prophet of Allah."
- You must pray five times a day knelling and bowing toward Mecca.
- You must give one-fortieth of your income in alms.
- You are required to fast on Ramadan which is on the ninth month of the Moslem luner year
- And you should not forget the pilgrimage to Meccca. This you can do once in your lifetime.
- There is another pillar which we here in the United States, since 9/11, are very aware of. That is the pillar of the Jihad.. It is a Holy War to defend Islam ( doesn't seem to be the case in the USA) or a reason to conquer other lands for Allah.
Please. Am I helping you? What would you like me to clarify? What are your needs? How can I help?
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Foundation
Before I go on in this study on Cults I feel I should let you in on a secret. Get close now. Christianity didn't spring up without a foundation.
Christianity never could have come if it wasn't for a man called Abraham. He was called out of his Ancestral home in Basra ( southern Iraq). He heard God's voice telling him to go to a land that He would show him. He went and lived the life of a nomad. He was quite old. He and his wife, Sarah had a child named Isaac. Abraham was a hundred at the time and Sarah was ninty.
As the story goes Isaac and Rebecca had two sons, Jacob and Esau. It was through Jacob that God worked. He had twelve sons. Through the line of Judah God worked and brought about a King named David. From David's line came Jesus. The Jew is also called a Hebrew. The name comes from "Eber", their traditional ancestor
Jewishness is not a religion. It is a nationality.They are looking for a Messiah. What they won't admit is that the Messiah has already come. According to the scriptures which thay had guarded and preserved , Jesus of Nazareth was the messiah they were looking for.
Let me place here a look at what Christian say and what the Orthodox Jew says.
When it comes to God- the Christian says our God is revealed as a trinity; Father, Son, And Holy Spirit., Not three Gods but one God - One essence.
The orthodox Jew would say "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God,The Lord is one." That comes from the Shema.
As for Sin the Christian says that in Adam man fall and is now born in sin.
The Jew would say, no. Man is born neither good nor bad. Man is born free with the capacity to choose between good and evil. Therefore each man is accountable for himself
As for Jesus, most Jews see Him as a good teacher of ethics. Since Jesus did not bring lasting peace nor did He deliver Israel from the oppression of Rome, He was not and could not be the Messiah.
.. But did you know the first people called Christian were a small group of Jews? Yes. Jews. We can call them completed Jews. The term "Christians" was a term used by people to try to mock the followers of The Way.."They were first called Christians at Antioch " That is recorded in the Book of Acts. Look it up
Until next time.
Please feel free to comment. I will read and respond.
Christianity never could have come if it wasn't for a man called Abraham. He was called out of his Ancestral home in Basra ( southern Iraq). He heard God's voice telling him to go to a land that He would show him. He went and lived the life of a nomad. He was quite old. He and his wife, Sarah had a child named Isaac. Abraham was a hundred at the time and Sarah was ninty.
As the story goes Isaac and Rebecca had two sons, Jacob and Esau. It was through Jacob that God worked. He had twelve sons. Through the line of Judah God worked and brought about a King named David. From David's line came Jesus. The Jew is also called a Hebrew. The name comes from "Eber", their traditional ancestor
Jewishness is not a religion. It is a nationality.They are looking for a Messiah. What they won't admit is that the Messiah has already come. According to the scriptures which thay had guarded and preserved , Jesus of Nazareth was the messiah they were looking for.
Let me place here a look at what Christian say and what the Orthodox Jew says.
When it comes to God- the Christian says our God is revealed as a trinity; Father, Son, And Holy Spirit., Not three Gods but one God - One essence.
The orthodox Jew would say "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God,The Lord is one." That comes from the Shema.
As for Sin the Christian says that in Adam man fall and is now born in sin.
The Jew would say, no. Man is born neither good nor bad. Man is born free with the capacity to choose between good and evil. Therefore each man is accountable for himself
As for Jesus, most Jews see Him as a good teacher of ethics. Since Jesus did not bring lasting peace nor did He deliver Israel from the oppression of Rome, He was not and could not be the Messiah.
.. But did you know the first people called Christian were a small group of Jews? Yes. Jews. We can call them completed Jews. The term "Christians" was a term used by people to try to mock the followers of The Way.."They were first called Christians at Antioch " That is recorded in the Book of Acts. Look it up
Until next time.
Please feel free to comment. I will read and respond.
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