Patricia Arnold! Is it me--or is it weird to be considered a heathen when you don't share beliefs portraying God as inhumane & demonic? #GodIsGood
Ra Divakar:The New Testament appears to have God as Love with Jesus Christ teaching about Love - the three Commandments of Love which many Christians, including me, think supercede the ten commandments! Love God, Our Father, with all of our hearts, Love you enemies, and Love your neighbor as YOURSELF! Thanks Patricia Arnold!
Patricia Arnold With you, Ra Divakar How we got from a God who is Love to One who makes brutal torture on a cross a requirement for forgiveness or threatens to brutally torture the rest of us throughout all eternity if we don't believe "He" did something so inhumane, sounds like the word of man, not God.
Ron Alexander Think it is the other way around Patricia Arnold - from a condemning God in the outdated Old Testament to a Loving
God in the New Testament, at least that is the way my heart sees it?
God in the New Testament, at least that is the way my heart sees it?
Patricia Arnold My heart sees God as absolute--unchanging. My heart sees man's perceptions of God changing. For me, the New Testament reveals man's receptiveness to the teachings of a rabbi who held the perception that God is Love.
Ra Divakar I agree with both of you, however your description is clearer Patricia Arnold or "felt" that perception of God may be more accurate to me?
Ron Alexander Interestingly, I read an article yesterday about the most popular minister, Joel Osteen, coming to Charleston. A local minister was complaining about him not preaching about Jesus's crucifixation - ''dying for our sins'' Patricia Arnold and Ra
Ra Divakar Yes, Osteen answered that "people hear enough about sins, and need to hear more about God's Lo
Patricia Arnold @Ron, there's been a lot of PR around that death; e.g. Jesus "died for our sins." The fact is that he was brutally tortured to death by Roman soldiers. His crime: sedition.
I'm with Osteen: We've heard too much preaching that has declared that God does things that Love would not do. From the pulpit, they tell us that:
1) God is so unfair that "He" blames all of humanity for Adam and Eve's alleged sin. (With that logic, everyone who has a criminal in their family, neighborhood, city or country should be sentenced to prison for the criminal's misdeeds.)
2) God is so satanic that "He" punishes human error by imposing an eternal punishment that far exceeds any crime or lifetime.
3) God is so unforgiving that "He" required "His" only innocent child to be sadistically tortured to death or else "He" wouldn't forgive the real culprits.
4) God is so diabolical that "He" now only saves "His" children from "His" heinous punishment if they believe that "He" cruelly tortured Jesus to death.
I'm with Osteen: We've heard too much preaching that has declared that God does things that Love would not do. From the pulpit, they tell us that:
1) God is so unfair that "He" blames all of humanity for Adam and Eve's alleged sin. (With that logic, everyone who has a criminal in their family, neighborhood, city or country should be sentenced to prison for the criminal's misdeeds.)
2) God is so satanic that "He" punishes human error by imposing an eternal punishment that far exceeds any crime or lifetime.
3) God is so unforgiving that "He" required "His" only innocent child to be sadistically tortured to death or else "He" wouldn't forgive the real culprits.
4) God is so diabolical that "He" now only saves "His" children from "His" heinous punishment if they believe that "He" cruelly tortured Jesus to death.
Patricia Arnold @Ida: I'm sure you agree that when we are in touch with our Divine Nature, we are more likely to mirror God's nature.
Ron Alexander Awesome dialogue, thanks Ra, Ida Ida Rose, and especially Patricia Arnold I am going to copy to MW wall.
Ra Divakar Yes, I agree - learned a lot about Unity Christianity, as today I was told even though Osteen's Father was a Southern Baptist, he studied with Unity Teachers.
Or simpler yet?
Or simpler yet?
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