Is christianity, or religion in general, a belief of convinience?

I'm not so sure that the issue is really one of religion specifically or one of submission to authority?It is far easier to simply submit to authority than to try to work to develop opinions based on your own analysis of evidence. If you can have your belief system neatly boxed and handed to you, and know that you no longer have to question anything because what is in the box is all there is, there is no new knowledge to gain or old knowledge to overturn, it can be very comforting and easy for many folk.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

No, not yet another hydroplate thread? This message has been edited by jar, 07-14-2004 11:52 PM

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

MikeYou have to admit that those are all pretty weak reasons to believe in the Bible.Claim One: Its honesty. Take a look at the Iliad and you see the same treatment of the protagonists.Claim Two: Using the Dead Sea Scrolls to show Preservation. The Dead Sea Scrolls also included many books that were NOT included in the modern Bible.Claim Three: That it claims it is accurate? Come on. Circular reasoning and speaking from authority.Claim Four: The first Miracle it mentions is from Exodus. And there is no evidence to even support that Exodus ever happened and there IS evidence that if it did happen it did not happen when the Bible says or in the manner described.Claim Five: Unity. There is a whole thread right now of the apocrypha and heresies.Claim Six: Historical and Geographic Accuracy. Sorry, but the Bible has been shown time and time again to be wrong on both counts. See the discussion on Jerico and Ai.Claim Seven: Endorsement by Christ. That may be of value to Christians but it certainly is not a reason for non-christians.Claim Eight: Prophetic Accuracy. So far no one has been able to show independant corroboration of a single prophesy fulfilled.Claim Nine: It's survival. Well, so has the Tales of Gilgamish and they preceeded the Bible by a long, long margin.Claim Ten: Power to Change Lives. Again, this is simply circular reasoning. There will be people that say their lives were changed by reading Ayn Rand or Catcher in the Rye.The Bible is, IMHO, a most significant book. But when folk try to use such weak arguements to support it they simply cheapen everything.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Not really.It is only a very narrow, very limited interpretation of christianity that precludes GOD from appearing to others in any form or fashion. There is nothing I know of in the Christian Dogma that precludes the Christian God from being the same God as that of the Hindu or any other religion.In addition, even Christianity accepts the existence of several forms or appearances of God and there are many parts of the Bible that even seem to acknowledge the reality of other Gods.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Exodus 20:2
I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.Exodus 20:7
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain;Leviticus 19:34
But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.Leviticus 25:17
Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God:for I am the LORD your God.Shall I continue?Notice that in all of these it specifically says "Your God" or "Thy God", not The GOd and not even God.Even Paul identified the Christian God by pointing to the chapel dedicated to "The Unknown God" in, IIRC, Romans.Quit trying to tell God what to do.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Of course he did. That was the whole point of Jesus.God is not limited to Christians, or Jews, or Muslims.If God exists, then he is certainly capable of appearing in whatever form is needed to speak to individuals. If that means he reaches them as Raven, or Vishnu, or Odin, or Turtle Sister or any other form, then he can certainly do so.Second, the fact that he wanted to be Israels God does not preclude the validity of any other God.Exodus 20:3
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.Deuteronomy 5:7
Thou shalt have none other gods before me.Again, the quotes above do not deny the existence of other Gods but simply say that his people should not worsip them or place them in a higher position.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

He didn't. Finish the sentence. He said: Thou shalt have no other Gods before me. These are directions to the Hebrews. Again, show where those statement preclude other Gods?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

No problem sir. And I don't think we are all that far apart.The things that you added are directions to the Hebrews. But that does not preclude God from speaking to other people as well.If you look in the thread on Non-Christian Moral Systems what you find is that most moral systems have developed the same basic philosophy. Whether you are looking at Christianity, Confuscius' sayings, Buddhism, the works of Mencius or most other systems, you find the same underlying features. There is no reason that all of these cannot be insired by God.In fact, it is very hard to imagine a GOD that would create a world where the vast majority of the inhabitants are doomed. It's far easier to imagine a GOD that wants to communicate and is smart enough to adopt the style of communication used by his audience.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

If GOD is capable of speaking to people in a method that suits their learning style (and I don't think that is an unreasonable assumption), then is it not also reasonable to assume that he spoke to some through the Buddha?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Sorry but to a great extent, and without some pretty strong qualifiers, that's nonsense and simply not true.Christianity deals with Whys, with Morals. If you limit TRUTH to the field of Morals, to Why, then to some extent, you are correct.But there is nothing in the Christian Faith that says that Christians have any secret knowledge when it comes to science, to history, to art or wisdom. To imply otherwise is a sign of abdicating the very capabilities that God gave you. When it comes to Morals and Faith, then Christian belief may well be a standard. But when it comes to the world, to life around us, to evolution, to geology, to astronomy, to medicine, to mathmatics, to engineering to biology, the standard is how closely the hypothesis matches the evidence.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

and While this may be going offtopic, IMHO it is so important that it deserves to continue.As I have said in other posts, I happen to agree with you completely.A couple points I think might be worthwhile to consider.First, Christ did not establish a seperate church or faith. He was a Jew, a devout Jew. He lived his life as a Jew and his Mission was one of reform and redirection within Mankind and extended beyond just Jews. He also stressed, through his teachings, an inclusiveness that reached beyond religious bounds and across political, cultural and age issues.About 300 years after Christ, what constitutes someone who would be a member of a sect called Christians was finally defined. Those conditions are laid down in the Nicene Creed. To be a member of the sub-group Christian, one must sunscribe to the conditions laid down in the Nicene Creed. They are the statement of the "I believes" and set out the specific membership requirements.But that is all they do. They define group membership. They have nothing specifivcally to do with anything other than conditions to be a memebr of the Sacred Body of Christians. They are exclusive to tthat organization but do not preclude others from being "Followers of Christ".This idea is expanded in Matthew in both the positive and negative versions. and These two passsages as well as others. such as open the concept of salvation beyond just Christians and includes many who would not fall into the sub-group Christian.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Phatboy asks: That question has already been answered. The Dalai Lama recognizes the unique character of God within all beings.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Is Jesus God?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion