the biblical texts

Society Religion & Philosophy
1

Gentlemen -
I am sorry, but I have not yet read ALL your comments on Christian faith and on the “correct” edition of the Bible. But I would like to add one or two points.

  1. In contrast to the Holy Quran the Bible has a history of nearly 2.000 years. The oldest sources seem to be from 1800 B.C., and the last one is the Revelation (100 A.C). So one cannot definitely compare the two holy books.

  2. There is NO right denomination. Christianity has developed from its very beginning and is still continuing this process. But ALL groups - if they are truly Christian - have in common:

  • the belief in ONE God whose word became flesh in Jesus Christ;
  • the belief in the resurrection of this Jesus who died for our sins;
  • the baptizm
  • the sacraments

And since human beings are different, also the Christian ways to God are different; BUT all men and women, whatever faith they may have, are and remain God’s children.

2

In contrast to the Bible, the Quran remains free from any sort of alterations or corruptions…
any two copies of the Quran, whether a 1000 yrs old or newly printed, r the same…
hence we know it is GENUINE…

- the belief in ONE God whose word became flesh in Jesus Christ;
and how do u justify the ONE God belief when u say “the three r one and the one is three”…
and how do u claim one god when we all know that the child inherits all properties of the father…
isnt Jesus then equal to God???

- the belief in the resurrection of this Jesus who died for our sins
the return of Jesus is stated by Quran and the Hadith as well but he wud return not as a prophet but as a Muslim, a follower of Muhammad(pbuh)…
why wud anyone die for others’ sins

http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/confused.gif

is this fair?? is this right??
what sort of law allows killing someone for sins committed by others

http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/confused.gif

and what wud Jesus’ death mean to others’ sins…
did they stop sinning???

all men and women r children of God
then whats the difference between us (me and u) and Jesus???
why is he ranked so high and we just normal humans???

“Our Lord! forgive us our sins and anything we may have done that transgressed our duty; establish our feet firmly and help us against those that resist faith.” Quran(3:147)

3

Hello - and God's blessing!

It's difficult to answer ALL your questions.
But I'll try some at least.

The Christian faith knows the "mystery" - cf: St Paul's 1st epistle to the Corin-thians, chapter 13, v 12. God cannot be known or understood completely. So we have the only chance to BELIEVE.
Jesus THE Christ had and still has godly and human nature. That means that he is God and man, or as I said before: "The WORD of God made flesh". And in this he is our brother, but also of divine nature. "God gave himself to mankind in form of another human being: Jesus.

The "dying for our sins" is - like many other statements in the Bible - a symbolic, a metaphorical expression. It means that this man Jesus who died on the cross was con-vinced that he could bring men back to God,
if they they shared his belief in his task and duty. He "gave his life" for his brothers and sisters, dying for his conviction.
And if I personally accept this sacrifice in my every day life I can follow him, accept-ing him as my personal guide and saviour.

After his death - again as a symbolic or metaphorical action - he was resurrected by God. This means that now he is with the Father in heaven, but also continuously present among us: Matthew 28

Please forgive if I don't explain the "Tri-nity"-problem at the moment. That is something I am still working at because I do indeed have some problems myself.

I do hope we can continue this discussion.

Regards and best wishes! Peter B

4

the Christian Trinity comprises the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This fits in extremely well with the
Traita-vada philosophy in its strictest form, which relates to the true
nature of Reality.

Of course, you will be aware of the view of the Advaita-vada and
Dvaita-vada philosophies on this matter - simply put, Advaitists say that
this Reality is fundamentally One, whilst Dvaitists maintain that there
are two separate entities - God and matter. Similarly, the Traitists
(most notable the Arya Samajists) argue that there are actually three
separate entities making up this Reality - God, the soul and matter.

5

so are all christians in reality Hindus?

on the matter of three things making reality... isnt matter composed of four things as well then?? Earth, Wind, Water, an Fire

that part was disproven.

all matter is energy, Einstein proved that.

[This message has been edited by blackzero (edited February 17, 2002).]

6

No - we are definitely no Hindus.

BUT: If you compare the history of all extant religious groups and beliefs throughout the last three or four thousand years, you will find a lot of parallels.

Religion developed according to the development of mankind. Our ancestors looked for God in trees, stars, on mountains, in the fire.

And when men started to develop their knowledge of themselves and of their surroundings, their imagination of God also grew bigger - and in the end we will SEE.

P. B.

7

[quote]
Originally posted by rvikz:
*the Christian Trinity comprises the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This fits in extremely well with the
Traita-vada philosophy in its strictest form, which relates to the true
nature of Reality.

Of course, you will be aware of the view of the Advaita-vada and Dvaita-vada philosophies on this matter - simply put, Advaitists say that this Reality is fundamentally One, whilst Dvaitists maintain that there are two separate entities - God and matter. Similarly, the Traitists
(most notable the Arya Samajists) argue that there are actually three separate entities making up this Reality - God, the soul and matter.*
[/quote]

What exactly is this Reality called God?

The believers all accept in principle the existence of a Supreme Being; but how they approach Him is based on their capacity both spiritual & intellectual.

The basic premise here is that God reveals himself differently within different religious traditions. Typically an individual will affirm the God who is revealed within his religion, but will reject God as He appears in other religions. All of us are guilty of this!

There is "No One God" only the "One-ness" of God just like there is only the "Unity" of God or The Light/Spirit.

Allah or God or Light is Omnipresent but is unfathomable so, the best description of this Reality is:
"It is the inter-dependence and inter-connectedness of all Existence or the One-ness or the Unity of the Light/Spirit that surrounds us, is in us, is in the apostles & the Chosen, is in the heavens & the earth and eventually must all return back to Reality or become One with Allah."

Will appreciate your feeedbacks.

8

Hello - LOGICAL!

Could you pleeeease tell me where this quotation has been taken from.I think it's absolutely correct.

Peter

9

[quote]
Originally posted by GermanTeacher:
*Hello - LOGICAL!

Could you pleeeease tell me where this quotation has been taken from.I think it's absolutely correct.

Peter*
[/quote]

Thank you peter!Did you mean the following:

Allah or God or Light is Omnipresent but is unfathomable so, the best description of this Reality is:
"It is the inter-dependence and inter-connectedness of all Existence or the One-ness or the Unity of the Light/Spirit that surrounds us, is in us, is in the apostles & the Chosen, is in the heavens & the earth and eventually must all return back to Reality or become One with Allah."

Actually, this is how the ismailis & sufis explain the Reality or Allah. The Orthodox muslims do not agree with them.

Here's some more:

The infinite God is the self of God, and all that have been manifested with name and form is the outward aspect of God. When we take all the existing forms and names and put them together, they become one form. In other words, all names are the name, and all forms are the form of God, but as God is one, His form also is one; and that is the sum total of all names and forms; there is no thing or being which is not the Being of God. In order to teach this, the wise have said God is everything and in every being.

As Jelal-ud-Din Rumi says,
‘The Beloved(God) is all in all. The lover(worshipper of God) only veils Him. The Beloved is all that lives. The lover is a dead thing.’

In other words, this dual aspect of love, which is expressed as lover and beloved, is in fact one. And one will die and One alone will live. The one that will die is the imperfect self, which covers perfection. The One that will live is the perfect Self.

"The highest Truth is that I ALONE AM." (Surah 20:9)
"Everywhere you look, there is the Face of Allah." (Surah 2:115)

[This message has been edited by logical (edited February 19, 2002).]

10

Thank you, Logical.

That sounds great - it's not very far away from the Gospel according to St. John.

Thank youz very much indeed.

Peter