The Christian Church was spawned by the dying, over-extended Roman Empire/Paganism and Emperor Constantine seized his opportunity.//There are too many doctrinal differences between Judaism and Christianity to wed them though Chritianity used Judaism/O.T. to establish a legitimacy/patriarchy.
On Sep 7, 4:14 am, Pat <[email protected]> wrote: > On 5 Sep, 05:38, Adam <[email protected]> wrote: > > > There are some things that have worried and perplexed church-going > > people for centuries. > > For example. > > Why does God remain silent? > > He doesn't. He speaks whenever you hear a voice. > > >Why are prayers ineffective? > > They aren't. But, sometimes, the answer is no. > > >Why does He > > not interfere in men’s affairs? > > He does. constantly. Men's affairs are not men's affairs, they're > God's affairs. > > >Why does He not prevent evil? > > Evil is perceived by men given limited knowledge. God, seeing all > with omniscience, knows better than to think of anything as evil. > > >Why does > > He not punish evil doers? > > Here or elsewhere? Have a quick peek into Hell and tell me if you > still feel that way. > > >How does predestination work? > > Through the mechanism of space-time. > > >Are people > > saved by faith or works? > > Neither. Salvation is not required. Understanding IS. > > > I am going to try to answer all these question in this article. > > I will attempt to explain the reason for our existence as revealed by > > the Bible. > > I will also try to reveal the mind and purpose of God from the same > > source and explain His two plans of salvation. > > The Bible records that both Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit > > and they eventually died. > > The fruit contained drugs which had several effects on them both. > > Their knowledge was increased because their eyes were opened and they > > realised that they were naked. They became mortal and they became > > selfish. So the fruit contained a mind-altering drug, a slow acting > > poison that made them mortal and it changed their DNA structure to > > produce the “selfish gene” (a description invented by atheist Richard > > Dawkins). This selfish gene and the mortality would be passed on to > > all their offspring right up to the present time. > > I would say that the fruit was the concept of choice. Once humans > believed they had free will, they were doomed to act as if they were > gods. Rather, they should accept that the only will IS God's and that > we perform God's will. > > > These changes were not a punishment imposed upon the pair by God. They > > were the natural consequences of eating a drugged substance. God did > > punish them by imposing pain in childbirth upon Eve and hard > > unfruitful labour upon Adam. The punishments were designed to show > > them that their actions had caused pain to God and had made His work > > unfruitful. > > Mortality was also given out as a punishment, BTW. > > > God’s purpose in creating mankind was to produce a race of people > > willingly obedient to His word. He would then give eternal life to > > this race of people and dwell with them on the earth. > > Well said. Too bad we have no faith in that anymore. > > > This purpose has been delayed because of the sin of the original pair > > in the Garden of Eden. > > No, the delay is because of humanity's lack of faith IN God. For > example, the Jews were commanded to build an ark and and ephod and a > breastplate, etc. Since these were lost, no one has bothered to > replace them. This is a GROSS oversight and is what is causing the > delay of ther Messianic period. > > > Sin may be defined as “the failure to love God and neighbour”. > > Insofar as both of those are as a result of human vanity, yes. > > >The > > proof that we love God is if we obey His commands and if we obey those > > commands (which deal with the fair treatment of other people) then we > > love our neighbour. The two go together. Ignorance of God is also sin > > because we can’t love or obey what we don’t know. > > Ignorance is not, of necessity, sin. However, once one has been > exposed to the concept, then (continued) ignorance becomes willing and > a form of vanity where one places themselves before God. > > > The selfishness which is a part of every one of us is what theologians > > have called “original sin”. Some seem to think that we all bear the > > guilt of Adam’s sin. This is rubbish. We are not guilty of Adam’s sin > > but we do indeed suffer the results of it. > > Adam's sin was to feel that he had a choice, i.e., that he could > actually defy God and 'choose' to act in any particular way. I assure > you that most humans are VERY guilty of that. > > >The inherent selfishness in > > our bodies is “sinful human flesh” and it alienates us from God. We > > are all, then, classified as “sinners” by God and are doomed to die. > > In fact it is necessary for all of us to die to destroy the selfish > > gene within us all. This selfish gene is what is known as ‘the devil’ > > in scriptural terms. So Christ destroyed the devil within himself by > > his death. > > If that were true, then there would be no temptation after Jesus' > death. As that is NOT the case, Jesus' death did NOT perform that > destruction. Besides, who would Michael battle in Armageddon if Satan > were already destroyed? Small inconsistency there, Adam. > > > After the disobedience of the first human pair God could have > > destroyed them and started again with a new pair. But he did not > > destroy them. He allowed them to procreate and bring about the human > > race as we see it today together with all its imperfections. > > After the flood God gradually reduced the lifespan of all humans to a > > maximum of 120 years but He apparently did not want everybody to die > > solely from old age. So He introduced many and varied ways of bringing > > about their death. Old age, epidemics and accidents were just a few > > ways of accomplished this end. There are also earthquakes and volcanic > > eruption and tidal waves and stillbirths, etc. This great variety of > > ways to die ensures that no one knows just how or when he will lose > > his life. In the light of this it is wrong to say that God has given > > us life. It is more accurate to say that God has lent us life for a > > relatively short time to see if we can overcome our inherent > > selfishness and treat our neighbours fairly. > > A great insight there, Adam. We owe everything to God, our life, our > sense of self and all our environment. > > >God has thrown us in at > > the deep end to see which ones of us can rise above our nature. Even > > the most primitive people know the difference between right and wrong > > because we all have a conscience which will either justify or condemn > > us on the day of judgement. > > Right and wrong, like good and evil, are in the eyes of the beholder. > God doesn't see them. What He does see is selfishness, which is when > Man separates himself from God by claiming "I". > > > In the Old Testament the word ‘heaven’ generally means ‘the sky’ but > > in prophecy it often has a symbolic meaning. It means ‘the place where > > the seat of government is located’ and the ‘earth’ means ‘the common > > people’ or subjects of that government. Thus God, being the supreme > > ruler of the universe, dwells in heaven somewhere, and on earth the > > various kings and governments also inhabit their local ‘heaven’. > > God, being omnipresent, dwells everywhere. > > > In Paul’s day the seat of government was in Rome so when he wrote that > > the gospel had been ‘preached to every creature which is under > > heaven’, he did not mean that it had been preached in Japan or on the > > American continent, he meant that it had only been preached throughout > > the Roman Empire. > > Or, rather, that he was extending his version of the gospel to the > gentiles. > > > Almost one third of the Bible is devoted to prophecy but I am not > > going to delve into it in this article except to say that Christ has > > promised to return to this earth and set up a kingdom here with its > > headquarters in Jerusalem. To help with the government of this kingdom > > certain men and women have been chosen to rule with Christ. These > > people are called ‘saints’ and they were predestined to be called to > > this honour since before the foundation of the earth. This is the > > extent of predestination in the Bible. > > Nope. Predestination is extended throughout space-time. There is no > place you can go where it isn't. > > >After the call was answered, > > the saints had the free will to remain faithful to their calling or > > not as they chose. There is no predestination for sinners. > > Predestination is for all. It is the Law and the law is for all. > > >We all have > > freewill. > > No, you don't. you think you do, and that's something we've known, > now, for around 100 years. But people cling to it because it makes > them feel powerful (like mini gods). Rather, we are the agents OF God > and we'd better start acting like it. > > >The saints were each given the Holy Spirit which taught them > > all truth and given at least one supernatural gift. The Holy Spirit > > was passed on to saints by the laying on of hands by one of the > > apostles. The call began when Christ started teaching but then ceased > > with the death of the last apostle because there was no one left to > > pass on the Holy Spirit. The church quickly became corrupt as the > > apostles predicted and there has been no true church since. The whole > > world is now in the darkness of ignorance and will remain so until the > > return of Christ. > > The Christian church became corrupt because it was led by Paul, > who had never met Jesus. If the teachings of Jesus had been > untampered by Paul, you would have found Christianity yo be another > sect of Judaism, much like the Conservative/Masorti sect is now. > > > > > The saints who have remained faithful unto death will be resurrected > > immortal at the return of Christ and be rewarded with positions of > > authority in the kingdom according to their works. Those saints who > > have fallen away from the faith have had their names removed from the > > book of life, the Holy Spirit has been taken away from them and they > > will not be raised at the return of Christ. > > It is predicted that the prophet Elijah > > ... > > read more »- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
