Osama Bin Laden killed

['Press Start']

That's why you have to sort the wheat from the chaff. They can't all be true.

I've posted this before, but J.R.R Tolkien made the point that if God is the creator of everything and therefore stories, including the story of salvation through Christ, and God made us in His image, then it would stand to reason that man would concoct similar stories through time.

As I say, the arguments for a Christian God are very persuasive. If you're sincerely interested in finding out what's what, you should check it out.

Your right mate, they cannot all be true so how about the one documented well before the Bible was written?

I have checked it out though Howiee, I believe there is some truth but not the whole truth, how best to hide it then to fracture it and hide it in many places. After all Islamic Sufi's, Indian Veddic texts, Norse history, Japanese Zen monks, Chinese Buddhism, Tibetan monks, Egyptian mystery schools, Esoteric schools of which Tolken had connections i.e. Knights of the rosy cross, Templars etc, Aztec's, Ancient African knowledge (Kush was a source), Greek mystery schools that gave us Pythagoras whom religion executed for trying to enlighten people, Irish and Scottish Celtics, Native America Indians, Occultism (magic is not evil, power is power and what you do with that power defines you) and South American tribes are all going to hell.

It's said that a man who believes in nothing will believe anything, that is true to a certain degree. Then again, a travelled mind is more learned then one that stays at home, and Christianity preaches you better stay at home or you will go to hell!!!

Your religion is part of a puzzle, that is my belief. We need it to a certain degree to fill in 'a part' of our long and clouded history. Maybe we can agree on one thing? ' The Kingdom of God lies within you!'

[Howiee]

Thing is, not all religions can be right and people that have faith tend to follow the religion that is prevalent in their immediate surroundings. I see Howiee's location is Belfast. If asked to guess his religion I'd say one of the Christian religions?

EDIT: That would be a guess!. I'd never presume to know someone's faith from forum posts!

That's correct. A lot of religions claim exclusivity and since they all contradict one another on the big issues, they can't all be right. I believe in Jesus because, under scrutiny, Christianity, I believe, is the one that holds up best (to cut a very long argument short). Granted, not always on the face of it, which is why research and critical thinking are really important.

Yes and no, FSW. I consider myself just a Christian (which is technically protestantism, although I'm not fond of the term), but I was raised in Catholicism. So, in response to your statement, I went against the religion that was prevalent in my formative years.

We should get back on topic now

[Charlie]

Your right mate, they cannot all be true so how about the one documented well before the Bible was written?

I have checked it out though Howiee, I believe there is some truth but not the whole truth, how best to hide it then to fracture it and hide it in many places. After all Islamic Sufi's, Indian Veddic texts, Norse history, Japanese Zen monks, Chinese Buddhism, Tibetan monks, Egyptian mystery schools, Esoteric schools of which Tolken had connections i.e. Knights of the rosy cross, Templars etc, Aztec's, Ancient African knowledge (Kush was a source), Greek mystery schools that gave us Pythagoras whom religion executed for trying to enlighten people, Irish and Scottish Celtics, Native America Indians, Occultism (magic is not evil, power is power and what you do with that power defines you) and South American tribes are all going to hell.

It's said that a man who believes in nothing will believe anything, that is true to a certain degree. Then again, a travelled mind is more learned then one that stays at home, and Christianity preaches you better stay at home or you will go to hell!!!

Your religion is part of a puzzle, that is my belief. We need it to a certain degree to fill in 'a part' of our long and clouded history. Maybe we can agree on one thing? ' The Kingdom of God lies within you!'

That was a fine post. The Kingdom of God, Babylon, Shangri-La, whatever you might call it according to your faith or belief, I believe, does indeed lie within us. Too bad that doesn't make it any easier to get to.

[Brad]

Profound stuff from Press Start!

I was raised Catholic but am an Atheist. Take a look at a map of world religions and you'll see that where you are born kind of dictates your religion (for a majority of people). Since not all religions agree on everything and they can't all be right then how do you work out which religions are right about which bits? I don't think you can so instead of rejecting every religion apart from one I just rejected them all. If I'm wrong and I I get judged then I'll just plead my case as I have here I guess "how was I supposed to know which one was right guv!?" lol.

[Charlie]

Rejecting them all is one option. Taking the best bits, or the bits that fit in with your experiences and intuition, is another option. As you say, I don't believe any one of them can be completely right, or true, but they all contain veins of wisdom.

[Howiee]

That was a fine post. The Kingdom of God, Babylon, Shangri-La, whatever you might call it according to your faith or belief, I believe, does indeed lie within us. Too bad that doesn't make it any easier to get to.

I don't agree. I can't even eat a burrito without accidentally snorting a jalepeno pepper into the centre of my head. I sincerely hope the Kingdom of God doesn't lie in me.

[Brad]

I guess, some stories from religious texts may have shaped who I am but no more than my own experiences or stories of friends' and family's experiences have. I just try to be nice to people really.

[Neon Ignition]

I've always found it interesting how prevalent afterlife is in most religions, it offers so many avenues for control of others. If I was a believer of a God I don't think I could slot myself into any of the existing religions. They're too contradictory and corrupt. It's interesting how religion can govern lives in some instances too. As far as being more likely to believe in anything if you don't believe in God, to a non-believer that sentence is gold

We all know Sean Bean is God anyway

[Neon Ignition]

Also, Athiests can't lose. Either God is a kind, forgiving being and accepts everyone into his kingdom regardless of life and faith theeby denying the existence of hell or he passes eternal judgement on souls based on a flicker of time thereby revealing himself to be unworthy of praise. That or there is no afterlife, lol

[Charlie]

I don't agree. I can't even eat a burrito without accidentally snorting a jalepeno pepper into the centre of my head. I sincerely hope the Kingdom of God doesn't lie in me.

Joking aside, where do you believe the Kingdom of God to lie? If God created us in his own image then God, in my definition of that statement, is within us. And that to find faith we don't look outwards or into books, but rather inwards, and somewhere in us, lingering in that space between our thoughts is God or Tao or the Supreme Reality or whatever people might call it.

But then I suppose Christians believe in Heaven and Heaven is the true Kingdom of God? And that leads me to another question - where do you believe heaven lies? Do you think it lies in an unseen dimension somewhere, or within this dimension somewhere out of sight?

['Press Start']

Luke 17:20-21 “Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

Native American legend:-
The Creator gathers all the animals and says: “I want to hide something from humans until they are ready for it ”
“Give it to me. I’ll fly it to the moon,”
says the eagle. “No, one day soon they will go there and find it.”
“How about the bottom of the ocean?”
asks the salmon. “No, they will find it there too.”
“I will bury it in the great plains,”
says the buffalo. “They will soon dig and find it there.”
“Put it inside them,”
says the wise grandmother mole. “Done,”
says the Creator. “It is the last place they will look.

[Charlie]

I knew it!

[egparadigm]

Are you saying that Obama ground Osama Bin Laden into a thousand pieces and then dissolved the bits in the US water supply, thus putting a little bit of Al Qaeda inside every American? Devious!

[Prototype]

I knew it!

Clear your PM space.

[Howiee]

Joking aside, where do you believe the Kingdom of God to lie? If God created us in his own image then God, in my definition of that statement, is within us. And that to find faith we don't look outwards or into books, but rather inwards, and somewhere in us, lingering in that space between our thoughts is God or Tao or the Supreme Reality or whatever people might call it.

But then I suppose Christians believe in Heaven and Heaven is the true Kingdom of God? And that leads me to another question - where do you believe heaven lies? Do you think it lies in an unseen dimension somewhere, or within this dimension somewhere out of sight?

Good question. I believe the Kingdom of God lies within the hearts of those who believe - not within the pharisees, in other words. That's what that scripture in Luke means.

I wrongly assumed that Press Start To Begin was referring to some form of Oneness Buddhist worldview when he mentioned the Kingdom of God being within. He was quoting biblical scripture and I missed it. The irony hasn't been lost, don't worry.

Regarding heaven, all I can do is tell you what the bible says as, obviously, I haven't been there. The bible refers to three heavens; the first heaven refers to the atmospheric area of the fowl (Hosea 2:18) and clouds (Dan 7:13). The second heaven is probably the area of the stars and planets according to Gen 1:14-18. It is probably, though not for certain, the abode of all supernatural angelic beings. The third heaven is the abode of the triune God. Its location is unrevealed.

I understand that this might sound like the ramblings of a madman but, again, all I can do is encourage you to impartially read up on these things yourself. After all, if I told you some years ago that the Wii was going to win this gen, you'd have said I was mad then too.