Who Is Your God?

[goodnews]

Oh, No, you two are at it again.....

However, Arius, you stated that Muhammed had very little contact with Christians and Jews...that is not correct...he was a trader and regularly went to Jerusalem...and was obviously steeped in the at least the basic precepts of both of these religions...

and on a more practical level..was obviously concerned with how to bring the Bedouin tribes of the Saudi Penisula together...how to organize them...

Now, I don't believe he just sat down and "Cooked up" singlehandedly Islam...however, through years and years of his travels...he probably absorbed many of the basic precepts of christianity and judaism as his own...and then combined them with a nationalist bent ..which produced Islam...and he may have even transcribed these basic precepts over a few years to various trusted members of his entourage and saw that they had power and influence among many of the bedoin communities.,..so eventaully he collated them into one book...Voila..the Koran was born...

[villageitiot]

wow you all lnow a lot more history etc than me.

All I was trying to get at is I need to be focused on God and doing the next right thing.

I don't need to be focused on anger, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, prideful or slothful things.

Have great day.

[Arius]

Originally Posted by villageitiot

wow you all lnow a lot more history etc than me.

All I was trying to get at is I need to be focused on God and doing the next right thing.

I don't need to be focused on anger, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, prideful or slothful things.

Have great day.

LOL...you did ask the question.

You are right, but you need to understand that those "evils" are manifestations of the same energy that you seek. You just need to understand that they are there, not get all worked up when you face them, and just allow things to flow according to plan.

It's key to let things you can't control just to "unfold" as they were meant to. You will find peace, even if you find pain along the way.

[Pineygirl]

There can be no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt." - Niccolo Machiavelli

[Arius]

Originally Posted by Pineygirl

There can be no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt." - Niccolo Machiavelli

The same may someday be true of a country who is truly enlightened. Who is to say?

[goodnews]

Hey Piney,

Notice how he said the "rites of Religion" and did not say the belief in God..or even the blessings of God...you may think they are interchangeable but they are not...and I have got news for you...

No society...ever...held the rites of religion in contempt.....

and is he talking about the society as a whole..or the ruling government of that society

Even revolutions that have overthrown completely all vestiges of religion...are usually very temporary and gradually accept the fact that some forms of religion will continue to exist

[Pineygirl]

The source didn't say if it came from "The Price" or "Titus Livius," so I don't know the context. (Machiavelli was not considered relevant when I went to college --HAHAHAHA). Guess it's time for another read....

[Pineygirl]

Meant "The Prince."

[villageitiot]

I prefer to see common ground,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham...eptions_of_God

Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Bahá'í Faith see God as a being who created the world and who rules over the universe. God is usually held to have the properties of holiness (separate from sin and incorruptible), justice (fair, right, and true in all His judgments), sovereignty (unthwartable in His will), omnipotence (all-powerful), omniscience (all-knowing), omni-benevolence (all-loving), omnipresence (present everywhere at the same time), and immortality (eternal and everlasting). He is also believed to be transcendent, meaning that He is outside space and outside time, and therefore eternal and unable to be changed by earthly forces or anything else within His creation.

Jews, Christians, Muslims and Bahá'ís often conceive of God as a personal God, with a will and personality. However, many rationalist philosophers felt that one should not view God as personal, and that such personal descriptions of God are only meant as metaphors, as it was widely viewed that God's transcendence meant that He could not act in the lives of ordinary people.

[Pineygirl]

Of course the rationalist thinkers would believe that descriptions of God as acting in the lives of people are just metaphors. If God doesn't act in individual lives, it lets us all off the hook, so to speak. And if we don't have to be accountable, what's the point of having a god in the first place?

Accept it or not, the fact remains that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all believe in a god who is personal, relational, an initiator, and yet transcendent. In that sense, they all got it right.

But once you're confronted with a god who loves you and wants a real relationship with you rather than some formulaic ritual one, well, then, you have to consider His desires and maybe even put them ahead of your own. And we just don't want to do that, do we?

So we redefine what's right there in front of us to make it appear as if we can control it. Then we wonder why we are not as happy as we could be, and we search for another religion that will give us even more "control" or the appearance thereof.

But it's all wishful thinking, because logically, if there is indeed a god, then we ain't the ones in control.