This train of though started back on 11/28/10, and has been added to at various times since then, and will continue to be added to, subtracted from, and modified as time progresses. These thoughts are stream of consciousness drives, and fall in no particular order.
I believe that God is not a He or a She or even an It. God IS. God is the ultimate IS-NESS.
I believe that we have to quantify God in order for our minds to understand and relate to "Him." (My use of the word "Him" is for convenience sake, and not a statement of the gender of the man or of the Infinite.)
I believe in the Angels and Archangels as creations of God. Sparks of the infinite, willed into existence for a specific purpose.
I believe that the universe came into being through the First Postulate (First Thought, First Word).
I believe that God gave us Christ through Jesus to teach us the way of peace, brotherhood, forgiveness and unity.
I believe that "salvation" comes not only from accepting Jesus's death for our sins, but in truly understanding Christ's resurrection, and the teachings that came before and after.
I believe that Hell (the act, not the place) is created by the sinner as punishment for their own shortcomings.
I believe in Heaven (The Ultimate state if Isness) as the ultimate goal of the Spirit of Man.
I believe that The Bible, a compilation of stories, histories, mythologies, and inspired works; inspired by God, but written my man, and authorized by man; is meant to serve as a handbook for living a better life.
I believe that other "inspired works," that were systematically removed from the canon of scripture and ultimately (mostly) destroyed, are worthy of historical, academic, and spiritual consideration.
I believe that God helps those who help themselves. I believe that we have been shown the way, but it is up to us to act upon it.
I do not believe that God or Christ would have us surrender our strength, our free-will, or our sense of personal responsibility.
I believe that "Evil" was created in the universe long before The Fall.
I believe that "The Devil" as we have come to call it, is the antithesis of the Holy Spirit.
I believe that man does not necessarily need "The Devil" to do evil. Some men are capable of committing atrocities that would make even "The Devil" blush.
I believe that God created Man in His own image, and Man, being the gentleman that he is, returned the favor.
To be continued.... always...
I read an interesting piece the other day, which proposed that "the devil" as an individual being does not exist, and that God is the source of both good and ill in our lives. The passage went on to say that the God of the Old Testament was still the God of the New Testament, and that the name "Satan" and title "devil" were mis-translations from the original Hebrew and Greek respectively.
ReplyDeleteThe article concluded that, with no devil to blame, we should thank God for the good stuff in our lives, and thank God for the bad stuff - since the "bad" stuff was (by their reasoning) either to build our character or to mete out some ol' fashioned retribution.
Now, while I'm not sure I buy the whole "mete out retribution" thing, the concept of today's God is the God of the old testament kinda felt more "apt" than blaming some dude with red skin, little horns, and a pitchfork.
Any thoughts?
I believe that this thing that we call The Devil is the antithesis of the Christ Consciousness, or the Holy Spirit as it were. Hell is a reflection of Heaven, Evil of Good, Sin of Righteousness. Thus "The Devil" is a reflection of The Christ. When one stops anthropomorphizing these things, they start to come together. One leads you to salvation, or reintegration of into the Is-ness, and one keeps you trapped in the material plane.
ReplyDeleteAs for the God of the Old Testament being the same as the God of the New Testament, I am still struggling with reconciling that one. Hell is not a place of fire and ice and eternal physical torment (unless you want it to be.) Hell is eternal separation from God. Being barred from the Presence.