Burl

Welcome, Teotym.

 

The trick to reading Scripture is to remember that is was written for you but not to you.

 

One must adopt the context of the time in which it was written to understand it.

Psalm 37:1-9

 

 

37:1 Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of wrongdoers,

 

37:2 for they will soon fade like the grass, and wither like the green herb.

 

37:3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.

 

37:4 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

 

37:5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.

 

37:6 He will make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noonday.

 

37:7 Be still before the LORD, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices.

 

37:8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret--it leads only to evil.

 

37:9 For the wicked shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.

Sounds interesting. St. Francis was so cool Marvel made a comic book biography.

 

1 Timothy 6:6-19

 

 

6:6 Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment;

 

6:7 for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it;

 

6:8 but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.

 

6:9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

 

6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

 

6:11 But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.

 

6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

 

6:13 In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you

 

6:14 to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

 

6:15 which he will bring about at the right time--he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

 

6:16 It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

 

6:17 As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

 

6:18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share,

 

6:19 thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.

Laptop speakers? No wonder you are agnostic! You are already in hell! Airplay! Headphones! It's C21 and you are listening to mylar glued to aluminum!

 

I'm posting a song just for you and your tinny laptop speakers.

 

The Black Madonnas. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Madonna

 

d

Ah the Estonian paradox.

All Orthodox Christianity is closely tied to the translation of Scripture in their native language. Russian, Greek, Romanian Orthodox etc. all follow linguistic translations although they are labeled nationalistically.

 

Romansh, what is your impression of Pärt's beatitudes? Did you play this through your stereo and meditate upon it, or just sample through tinny electronic transducers?

A rare Pärt composition in English. Most of his work is Estonian masses. My personal favorite is his Te Deum.

 

How interbeing translates to a young adult:

 

https://aeon.co/videos/space-to-grow-on-being-young-anxious-and-american-in-a-zen-buddhist-family

 

Note how many of the TVH wonderful precepts of Buddhism are missing here. The father has wisdom, but it largely remains between his own two ears.

Wonderful Buddhist Precept #3:

 

"Aware of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct, I vow to cultivate responsibility and learn ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals, couples, families and society.

 

I am determined not to engage in sexual relations without love and a long-term committment.

 

. . . "

 

TNH clearly condemns selfish and lustful conduct, but also sees individual sexual misconduct as an attack on society.

Science explains the abstract concepts in a clear and precise manner that satisfies and relaxes my intellect so I can explore beyond its limits.

 

Quantum entanglement is a near parallel to interbeing, but as TNH says in romansh' link interbeing is only a poem. It may temporarily distract the intelligent or sensitive individual from alienation, but the means of appreciating the physical connection with others remains undefined.

Thank you, Joseph. That clears some things up. I'm more PC than I thought I was.

This first wonderful precept is directly applicable to Progressive Christianity. One of the criticisms of PC is that mainstream American Protestant Christianity has detatched meaning from ritual.

 

I think this a valid point, but where PC would have us discard ritual I think TNH recommends reinvigorating the semiotics by reconnecting intellectually to our symbolism.

This is a book study, and we need to stick to understanding exactly what TNH wrote without ladling on our own theologies.

 

We are not trying to define Buddhsm. Just to understand clearly TBH's descriptions of the wonderful precepts as written in this chapter.

"Bring me my arrows of desire . . . bring me my chariots of fire . . ."

 

Westar's Fall 2016 National Meeting‏

 

Largest Religious Study Event of the Year

Will Progressive Christianity have a presence there?

I don't read TNH that way at all, Soma. He talks about the importance of home altars, burning incense and of announcing family news to the ancestors. Rituals are critical when they have meaning.

 

He talks about the importance of roots, social integration and avoiding alienation in our youth. TNH is analytical and sees these separations as an essential part of Buddhism.

 

In general, I see TNH as cherishing every possible distinction. He slices every duality into halves; I think his take on duality is that it limits the appreciation of each unique experience. I don't read him as grinding life into an 'everything is one' meditational meatloaf.

 

I think the five wonderful precepts of Buddhism are intended to be considered individually.

Interesting site

 

Hi Sherrie!

 

A good non-denominational seminary will not fill you with doctrine. You will spend your time learning Greek and Hebrew, Christian History and in writing your own ideas about biblical texts.

 

There are lots of non-accredited seminaries, 'bible colleges' and denominational training schools which will channel you into doctrines and you will likely be buying non-transferable credits which cannot be put towards a degree. Stay away from those.

 

Psychology is generally useless unless you get a PhD. A wiser choice is to work towards a MSW and take divinity electives. That way you get the best of theology and psychology, plus an in-demand career.

If you take the opinion that Jesus was only 'one with God', then John 14:6 is exclusive to Jesus of Nazareth.

 

If you are of the opinion that Jesus was God, then the verse becomes "God is the way and the truth and the light".

 

Interesting, no?

Burl,

 

Your second point identifies the shortcomings of your first point. You say that nobody endures torture and death for a fable, but then call Islam a lie - however clearly many people are prepared to endure torture and death for their Islamic beliefs. Belief in something , no matter how committed one is to that belief, is no evidence whatsoever that their beliefs are correct.

 

Also, if you put yourself in the place of those authors who made the miracle claims, then you would realise there is nothing logically impossible about their claims (I don't think they were creating a false sect - I think they believed what they were saying about Jesus - it's just that they were wrong). You are talking about superstitious, desert-people who thought the earth was flat, that the sky was a dome whereby God opened up windows to pour through the rain, and where miracles were the order of the day!

Not really. Islam explicitly permits lying about belief in order to preserve life, which seems quite sensible. ISIS is a non-Islamic delusion but even the old style suicide bombers families were well paid.

 

Christianity at the time of the martyrs was a heretical sect of Judaism. Judaism was well respected by the Roman government. They were not superstitious desert people at all. They had a long history going back through Babylon and Egypt.

2K year old narratives do present challenges to belief. Two things to consider:

 

1) Many believed and willingly died to proclaim the truth of these narratives. What would it take for you to willingly sacrifice your own life? The blood of the martyrs is indisputable; they certainly believed in the miracles. No one endures torture and death for a fable.

 

2) If you wanted to create a false sect, would you base it upon acceptance of such logically impossible claims? Wouldn't your lie look more like Islam or Scientology?

The basic teachings of Jesus WERE Torah and the Prophets. He knew Scripture and paraphrased it constantly.

 

The exception was the parables, which were made so that followers would question rather than understand what they meant. They were explained only to the apostles.

I believe some of the miracles did occur, but one needs to look at each one individually and discuss them seperately from healings. Your question is too broad for a meaningful answer.

I like accurate reading. Most Christians do not know that most of what Jesus taught was paraphrased from the Torah and the Phophets. They don't know how much work it is to come up with a reasonably correct interpretation. My personal exegetical apparatus has almost 100 perspectives to consider.

 

Still, sometimes people do simply open a Gideon's bible and are compelled to seek God. Never fails to amaze me.