Mormons

Anything that changes scripture in translation or teaches something fundimentally different from what the bible teaches (especially about persons in the Godhead like the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses do) is what one can describe as a cult. Knowing about their peer pressure tactics within their congregations makes it very hard for the person to actually turn their back on their church. That is what I would call a 'cult'

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Mike King,
What prevents Christianity from being a cult? Would it be fair if Hindu's called Christianity a cult, since Christianity is fundamentally different than their beliefs concerning Vishnu and Shiva?

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Christianity is very different from other religions as its not really about people seeking after God, but rather God seeking for people. Not knowing much at all about Vishnu or Shiva, but knowing something about the Hindu religion is that with the cycle of reincarnation and the weighing up of the positive and negative things in your life determining where one ends up is all about self effort to get to God. Chritianity is fundamentally different where you have God himself redeeming mankind.
I would call a cult a cult if it was a spin off from mainsream Christianity where what the bible teaches is twisted and its participants coersed.
Hinduism is not a cult, its simply a different religion. I personally believe Jesus was God's revelation of himself in human form taught 'I am the way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except by me'
That is an astoninshing statement!

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fundamentalist christians like to worship christ, who was made in the image of god. that's called idolatry, and is specifically against god's commandments.

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Whoa! Thats not quite right. That would be true is you are a Jehovah's witness, but as a Christian, worship of Christ is possible as he is part of the Godhead and in Revelations, ..Every knee will bow.. and Thomas worshiped Jesus after the resurrection and declared ..'my Lord and my God!'
You are right, there is only one God, but Jesus did declare himself to be God when he said in the gospel of John, '...before Abraham was, I AM..' (The I AM is refereing to God's name and why the Jews wanted to stone him to death, because they thought he was blaspheming)

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Sorry, but the Jews had a direct way to the Father long before Jesus was born. They still do.

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Hi Jar,
Not so! In Hebrew times, access to God was only granted to the high priest at the Temple. The ordinary people could not have direct access to God in the inner temple where God dwelt.
What Jesus did was to create a way for ordinary people to have direct access, and millions of Christians to this day enjoy that relationship with the Father.

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simply put, john is blasphemous. no man may claim to be god. jesus walks around full of himself and saying how he is god and people should follow and worship him, and this simply does not match with anything jesus said in any of the other gospels, including the apocryphal ones. i, and a few others i've talked to, do not believe john to be a factual portrayal of his words, but more of a propaganda pamphelet telling you about jesus.

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in the other gospels, jesus directs attention to the father, and calls himself "the son of man" not "the son of god" and NEVER "god." the second two were seen as blasphemy in his day, and the last certainly would have been. on top of that, jesus demonstrates clear separation from god. gethsemane is good evidence of this.

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jesus was not the sort to get around on technicalities. he came as an example, and running around saying you're god does not demonstrate the humble qualities he sought to teach. saying you're god is a sin, blasphemy. it's not ok, even you believe he is god. it's still a sin, and the jesus portrayed in john is a sinner and a hypocrite and a blasphemer, rightly punished by death.

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so i ignore john entirely.

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Hi Arachniphilia,
Taking the references that John wrote about Christ being God, please take your bible and look these references upMatt 22: 43-46. Jesus said he is the 'Son', not just of David, but from a source that made him David's lord eand that this had been so even when David uttered the words of Psalm 110Jsus the Messiah is decribed with divinity inthe old TestamentIsiah 7:14 and shall call his name Immanuel (God with us)
Isiah 9 : 6 He will be called wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God..Philemon 2:6 Jesus was.. in the form of God..Colossians 2 : 9 For in him , the fullness of diety dwells bodilyActs 20:28 'God having purchased the church with his own blood'Mark 14 : 62 Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?
62 I am, said Jesus. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.I AM to this answer is using God's name YHWHThis message has been edited by Mike_King, 07-22-2004 06:24 PM

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speaking god's name aloud, unless for teaching purposes his blasphemy. writting god's name, unless for teaching purposes, or in copying the torah, is blasphemy. do you think christ did either of these things?

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if he actually said "i am" which is doubtful at best, he said it in aramaic. god's "name" is hebrew for "that which exists," which often gets told as "i am." hebrew and aramaic are different languages. "i am" is used a number of times in the christian bible. how many imply god's name?

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jesus was answering a question. he said, at the very most, that he was the son of god.

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Jesus used the "I AM" statements quite often in John, and that was why the Jews wanted to stone him for Blasphemy. YHWH actually means 'The one who is'. Jesus was very intentional when he linked himself to Yahweh. Is that why you choose to disregard John because it does not suit your viewpoint?
Also your point about Adam and others being 'sons of god'. In one context you are right, but who will be at the right hand of the Mighty one?
Also in Isiah, just who was Isiah refering to then in in chapter 53?
Psalm 110,Matthew 22: 43-46 the bible is blatantly clear:41While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42"What do you think about the Christ[4] ? Whose son is he?"
"The son of David," they replied.
43He said to them, "How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him 'Lord'? For he says,
44" 'The Lord said to my Lord:
"Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet." '[5] 45If then David calls him 'Lord,' how can he be his son?" 46No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.You do seem to have a lot of knowledge about the bible, why the scepticism over it?

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never said christ wasn't divine. i said that he was separate from god, at least in his earthly incarnation, and that since he was made in the image of god, worship of him is idolatry. all worship/praise/etc should be directed at god ("the father") alone

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OK. back to the whole thing with monotheism. The 'Shema' in Deut 6: 4 -9 'Hear, O Israel: the lord our God is one Lord. Ask any Jewish scholar that this statement means that there is only one God. This is where the doctrine of the Trinity emerged from:one God
3 persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, each God
Father, Son and Holy Spirit each distinct