bmb144 Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 "There is more than one "God" in this world, more than one path and more than two places to spend eternity" This is what I believe, but I understand that the people here may not share this belief, so my "question" is why do you feel that your path/belief is a better or the best way? In Her light, Belinda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starets Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 No there isnt more than one God, no there isn't more than one path, and no there aren't more than two places to spend eternity. It is not a matter of feelings, but of divine revelation. Feelings are fickle and variable, and not to be trusted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 People who lacked understanding of how and why things worked, thought they could appease and control reality by assigned various dieties in charge of nature, and thru various mechanisms worshipped them. However several thousand years ago, One God -Yehweh, made a personal appearance on stage proclaiming Himself Lord of Creation and backing it up with deeds. He chose a people, the jews, and entered into history and spent a very long time pounding it into their heads that there was only ONE of Him and he needed to be obeyed. THe universe is not run by a committee, someone up there is definitely in charge. Have you read " Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis? If not I suggest you run, not walk to the library to check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bone _ Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 [quote name='In His Light' post='1330525' date='Jul 16 2007, 03:08 AM']"There is more than one "God" in this world, more than one path and more than two places to spend eternity" This is what I believe, but I understand that the people here may not share this belief, so my "question" is why do you feel that your path/belief is a better or the best way? In Her light, Belinda[/quote] Our path is better because the other path leads to, well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
123 Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 Belinda, I was once on this path thinking, not so much as there being more than one God, but that God merely projected himself differently all over the earth. Since God seperated people's language and understanding at the Tower of Babel I figured that God then had to change his image of understanding per culture and religion. This is a philosophy that will continue to haunt you until finally your faith in God (or gods) has run out. What darkness (or not knowing the truth.) tends to do is to confuse people until finally they have no faith in God, or themselves. I'm not saying this will happen to you, but it came dangerously close to happening to me. I study world religions and philosophy has a hobby ( I know, go ahead laugh.) and I asked the same question you did, exact same. And to tell you the honest truth, there really is no answer to that question. There is no religion(s) that is absolutly wrong, but rather has many Truths in them. Philosophers such as Buddha, Kant, Freud, Camus, and other existentialists and pyschoanalyticals whom seeked answers to questions, just like yours and mine, died never having them answered. However, Christ is seen as the ultimate philsopher. How? He told stories and had philsophical reasoning behind them, he had riddles and puzzles for his disciples just like Buddhist monks have zen koans. But he did something that no other philosopher did, died for his friends and for the world's errors and darkness. (John 3:16) Christ's presence and words can cut throught any confusion. And just like any philosopher you read you have to digest the words they recite or write, not just skim over them. Prayer and Reading Scripture can wash away any doubt that you have. Also, take c'mom's idea and read CS Lewis's book [i]Mere Christianty[/i] Ora' et Labora (Pray and Work) -GloriaIesusChristi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragamuffin Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 This is going to sound sort of simplistic and maybe even flippant. It's not my intent, but the simplicity of my answer may make it seem that way. Here's my bottom line: Jesus said that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. I believe Jesus. In doing so, "multiple paths to God" or "more than one God" options are logically excluded from the table. You either believe Him or you don't but both options are not simultaneously right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggyie Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 (edited) Most people would feel that their "way" is the best way because it is the true way. The human soul, at its root, thirsts to find and know the truth. This is the engine that has driven philosophers, theologians, artists, poets, and scientists over the ages, all over the world, and belonging to every creed. It is in our DNA. True religious relativism, pondered and contemplated, goes hard against the human grain. All faith traditions make truth claims, ie that this faith or that faith has the correct, true explanation for the universe and the human role in it. Since they all contradict each other on many different important points, they can not all be true. The Hindu way can not be true if the Muslim way is true, for example. They are mutually exclusive. That's why you can find plenty of serious students of comparative religion who are atheists rather than relativists. Either one way is the true way, or none of them are. I also agree that there are many paths to God I believe Pope Benedict XVI, in one of his books, states that "there are as many paths to God as there are people." We will probably be surprised at whom we see in Heaven; everyone will have his own history, his own story written in the Book of Life. But Jesus Christ also states that He is the Way, and that none come to the Father but through Him. Either He is a liar, and the Christian faith is worthless, or He is telling the truth, and all our different paths must eventually merge into the one Way, so that He can take us through the narrow gate. What I'm trying to say is that there must be a decision in the matter; it's hard logically (please forgive me, I'm a very logic-based person) to maintain the "all religious paths are equal" stance with integrity. EDIT: Just to be clear, by "integrity" I mean consistency, I didn't mean to use a loaded word like "integrity." Edited July 16, 2007 by Maggie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggyie Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 Most people would feel that their "way" is the best way because it is the true way. The human soul, at its root, thirsts to find and know the truth. This is the engine that has driven philosophers, theologians, artists, poets, and scientists over the ages, all over the world, and belonging to every creed. It is in our DNA. True religious relativism, pondered and contemplated, goes hard against the human grain. All faith traditions make truth claims, ie that this faith or that faith has the correct, true explanation for the universe and the human role in it. Since they all contradict each other on many different important points, they can not all be true. The Hindu way can not be true if the Muslim way is true, for example. They are mutually exclusive. That's why you can find plenty of serious students of comparative religion who are atheists rather than relativists. Either one way is the true way, or none of them are. I also agree that there are many paths to God I believe Pope Benedict XVI, in one of his books, states that "there are as many paths to God as there are people." We will probably be surprised at whom we see in Heaven; everyone will have his own history, his own story written in the Book of Life. But Jesus Christ also states that He is the Way, and that none come to the Father but through Him. Either He is a liar, and the Christian faith is worthless, or He is telling the truth, and all our different paths must eventually merge into the one Way, so that He can take us through the narrow gate. What I'm trying to say is that there must be a decision in the matter; it's hard logically (please forgive me, I'm a very logic-based person) to maintain the "all religious paths are equal" stance with integrity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 [quote name='In His Light' post='1330525' date='Jul 16 2007, 05:08 AM']"There is more than one "God" in this world, more than one path and more than two places to spend eternity" This is what I believe, but I understand that the people here may not share this belief, so my "question" is why do you feel that your path/belief is a better or the best way? In Her light, Belinda[/quote] Oh no, Belinda, you don't actually believe that, do you? I know that you are carrying a pretty heavy cross and Satan is attacking you in ways that are quite difficult for any of us to understand. But be assured that there is only one true God and He loves you very much. We all want what is best for you. Don't give up on faith. We certainly won't give up on love. God will get you through this. I will hold you in my prayers. Pax Christi, Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach_cube Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 Explain, how there can be more than one God. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carrdero Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 As I understand it, we are all gods. The only difference being that amount of moments that we existed, our location and our purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Philip Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 [quote name='In His Light' post='1330525' date='Jul 16 2007, 03:08 AM']"There is more than one "God" in this world, more than one path and more than two places to spend eternity" This is what I believe, but I understand that the people here may not share this belief, so my "question" is why do you feel that your path/belief is a better or the best way? In Her light, Belinda[/quote] Dear In His Light, Let me begin by saying that I admire your love for mankind and your aversion to judgmental hatred. Let me say that everyone can learn from such an attitude. Yet I must say that beyond these wonderful things, your philosophy leads to a very dark place. First of all, if there are many gods out there, then we run into a real problem when we try to define "right" and "wrong." When it is up to the individual to determine their own reality and spirituality, what is to prevent someone from saying that murder is right or that compassion is wrong? You could say that this is an unrealistic scenario. I am afraid it is not; I wish it were so. Look at history, and you will see people like Hitler and Stalin who encouraged murder and forced people to abandon compassion. You could agree with me that this is wrong, but on what grounds do you say so? Is it simply your personal spirituality that disagrees with Hitler? If so, why should Hitler give a hoot about that? Why is Hitler bound to what you, by your sentiments and egalitarian mindset, feel is right and wrong? In this situation we have mere men sharing their opinions. Whose opinion will prevail? The strongest: your philosophy leads to an absolute rule of the strong, not the virtuous. Only when there is One God who out of his nature defines right and wrong do we have grounds for defending the defenseless, for promoting justice and peace, and for calling goodness, truth, beauty, and love "good". If a Hitler arises, I can say more than, "I do not like Hitler; he does not make my tummy tingle in that oh-so-delightful way. Therefore, let us fight him so that our definition of right and wrong can be imposed. Even though this will only last until we are deposed and replaced by a yet newer version of right and wrong, I feel like I want to do this." I can say, "According to the Law of God Hitler is committing crimes against the dignity of human life and we have an obligation to denounce him and defeat him. I would rather stay at home and live comfortably, but I know that I must defeat this tyrant and establish the Law of God which is unchanging and unending. The Law which gives us freedom and brings true peace and love." Do you see the difference here? You have a set of moral principles which you have inherited from your age. I would call most of those principles good: compassion, respect for others, ideas of justice and fairness. You never question those principles and are almost unconscious of them. But do not let yourself think that these principles are universally accepted or guaranteed. Tomorrow we may have a new fad that encourages slavery and violence. It has happened before. I am sure in that time there will be people who say that there are many "wonderful" gods of war and slavery that anyone can worship and be considered equally valid. To that you can say nothing. In a nutshell, if we have the power to define our gods, we have the power to define right and wrong. If we all have the power to define right and wrong, then we have no grounds for saying that murder is wrong and that compassion is good. Those statements would be as arbitrary as saying "that glass is not half-empty, it is half-full." This leaves a gigantic problem unsolved and, to be frank, will "beaver dam our souls and end our species." I would agree with others who have posted here and I will echo their recommendation: Read C.S. Lewis' [i]Mere Christianity[/i]. In addition to the recommendation, I will offer to buy it for you if you promise to read it. I am serious: promise me you will read it, send a private message to my profile here, and I will buy you the book and have it sent to you. God bless you, Philip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach_cube Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 [quote name='carrdero' post='1331149' date='Jul 16 2007, 05:37 PM']As I understand it, we are all gods. The only difference being that amount of moments that we existed, our location and our purpose.[/quote] Hmm.... we're all gods? Are we all equal? If so I would rather be the god that can smack a 100 mph fastball 450+ ft with little to no difficulty. Or am I just as much of a god as the ball I would be smacking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carrdero Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 [quote name='peach_cube' post='1331193' date='Jul 16 2007, 06:02 PM']Hmm.... we're all gods? Are we all equal? If so I would rather be the god that can smack a 100 mph fastball 450+ ft with little to no difficulty. Or am I just as much of a god as the ball I would be smacking?[/quote] Equal meaning the same choices and potential? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 (edited) [quote name='carrdero' post='1331149' date='Jul 16 2007, 05:37 PM']As I understand it, we are all gods. The only difference being that amount of moments that we existed, our location and our purpose.[/quote] [mod]personal attack[/mod] Edited July 31, 2007 by Lil Red personal attack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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