oak

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Posts posted by oak

  2. Posted

    5 hours ago, idiot_stimpy said:

    What advice or tips would you give in order to help someone spot a fake master?

     

    Someone saying they're enlightened when they really are not?

     

    Is there anyway to actually tell?

     

    Adding to some wise words written above, to me it's evident that It's more a matter of attracting a true master to my life, still in a physical body or not than looking outside for one. That will require sicere and honest efforts, that's all. The holy man in this world are very well distributed, no need to go to India or China. The other important point to me is that you will attract and understant what you are ready to receive. Yours or my next door neighbours can be the most enlightened people in the world and you or I may not be at the level of perceiving it, but we the teachings we are ready for will definately come to us if that is what we sincerely and honestly want.

    • Like 4

  5. Posted

    2 hours ago, silent thunder said:

    18 years ago @ 6:54 my son drew his first breath, and looked in my eyes forever shifting my experience of reality.

     

    Such treasure that out of this spinning universe i should have the unimaginable fortune to be his Dad.

     

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    Congratulations mate! You must be so proud of him. Watching a son grow must be a great self-knowledge tool.

    I often have the previledge of working with 18 year olds in hospital settings and will be the first to say "18 year olds are amazing!"

    • Like 2

  10. Posted

    15 hours ago, SirPalomides said:

     

    I'll add something else here which is both obvious and yet not obvious... Christians, even Protestants who say they only follow the Bible, learn their Christianity from other Christians first. Before they read the Bible they are taught what to expect there. Often they are fed short snippets of text and told what they are supposed to mean. So as soon as they crack the book open they are already coming with preconceptions about what's important in this book, what it means, etc. The many passages that don't fit, that are obscure, that are just plain weird, are passed over in silence. Then the apologists can say, "The Bible obviously teaches x, y, z" because everyone around them has already been conditioned to read certain passages in terms of x,y,z. 

     

    If you handed the Bible to someone who knew nothing about Christianity and said, "Hey, what kind of religion do you deduce from this?" you're not going to get something that looks like any Christianity we know about. It certainly wouldn't resemble the post-Nicene orthodoxy that most Christian sects profess. They don't have the lens so they won't see what they're supposed to see according to Christians. 

     

    For western Christians, the person most important in forging this lens was Augustine. Just like most modern people have never read Copernicus or Newton yet are very much under their influence, western Christians imbibe Augustine even if they know nothing about him. Augustine was in many ways a fascinating and brilliant man but, for Latin Christians, he was pretty much the Church father, which meant that his speculations and idiosyncrasies proved far more influential than they might have been if there had been comparable figures to balance him out. And a lot of the worst tendencies of Latin Christianity can be traced to his influence. His thoughts on eternal damnation, predestination, persecution of heretics, etc. became synonymous with the doctrine of the church itself. I'm not saying he invented any of these things but he gave them a particularly grim and stark expression that hardened into dogma for later generations. 

     

    Great post. You describe accurately what is wrong with christianity. Thanks for it.

  11. Posted · Edited by oak

    9 hours ago, Nungali said:

     

     

    No and no. You both re-read my posts.

    All I did was to confront Bob with his ignorance towards the text that he quotes with such certainty. 

    Usually my posts are concise and to the point so I find it strange that such a smart individual like you may misunderstand them 🤔

    Anyway this could go on forever, which won't because I have better things to do with my time. What was written is written for anyone who wants to read it.

    Cheers.

  12. Posted · Edited by oak

    11 minutes ago, Nungali said:

     

    Yes but, if even a parrot could cite those references  it would still prove that the Bible talks about eternal damnation .... wouldn't  it ?

     

    So I wondering what your objection to  references about eternal damnation in the Bible  is about ?

     

    Do you really think they are not in there ?

     

    The discussion is about the concept of "hell". What "hell" is all about.

    Yes, the expression eternal damnation or punishment is in the bible...not denying that. Like anything needs interpretation.

  16. Posted · Edited by oak

    The NT cannot be understood without the OT. Pretty much everything that happens in the NT happened in the OT or was propheticized in it, you always need to go back for reference and have the correct understanding of the event. As an example when Jesus went to the desert for forty days to fast was symbolically mimicking the process that the Hebrews went through for 40 years in the desert.

    Also, Jesus was constantly quoting the OT.

    • Like 1
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  20. Posted

    2 minutes ago, old3bob said:

     

    wrong and nothing i said is false,  the Bible repeatedly remarks about enteral hell, for instance in Revelations, and in the O.T. God orders the wiping out of certain tribes/people...it has all been there in text for a very, very long time and no one needs to be a scholar to read it.

     

    Can you explain to me what's that concept "hell"?

  21. Posted

    59 minutes ago, old3bob said:

     

    umm, that sounds nice but Jesus also said I do nothing except by the Father, so sounds like two in one which is not one in one... Also Samuel and Saul were both Jews or Hebrews and not enemies' like those that the Jewish God ordered wiped out here and there in the O.T.

     

    In Hinduism there is no eternal hell as often stated in the Bible along with lots of other differences so trying to equate or rationalize them together is still trying to mix water and oil.

    1.You're replying without even having read my posts properly.

    2. Your lack of knowledge of the bible with statements like: "eternal hell as often stated in the bible" is evident.

    3. What's the point of defending ideas so vehemently if you never gave them proper thought and study?

     

  25. Posted

    10 hours ago, old3bob said:

     

    why do say most actions by Jesus were only symbolic?  As i see it most of his actions were down to the brass tacks and the nitty gritty,

    no wishy washy or half guessing it.  Granted there were a lot of metaphor type stories but I wouldn't equate such with just debatable symbolism.

     

    I have never said that most actions by Jesus were "only symbolic". I don't know how you interpret the word symbolic old3bob but to me symbolic isn't something inferior or less real. Take for example the time he kicked the sellers out of the temple... If you point the finger outside you'll think " he did the right thing chasing those sellers outside of the temple". If you notice the symbolism of the action and point the finger to yourself you'll think " I do understand that I am God's temple so I should clean it before Jesus does".