Search results

Yes. That's what I said. Three PERSONS. The creed goes "I believe in the Holy Ghost, WHO proceeds from the Father and the Son, WHO with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, WHO spoke by the prophets..." This is standard Christian doctrine. Blame those fourth cenmtury dudes if...

I love that reply. I assume this is a reference to the standard doctrine "God in three persons". Three persons, one God. It's a paradox, it is an impossibility. I think ours is the only religion that enshrines a total impossibility at the heart of its understanding. I like that. It's an...

13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" 14They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." Matthew 16. Phew! Is it me or is it getting a little HOT...

[/LEFT] I apologise if I unwittingly offended you James. What I mean by culture is just what everyone has, that is, the customs and way of life that are usual where you live. Do you think that in the West, women would be more likely to be raped if they did not wear the veil? I doubt it. The same...

Jesus said "I am the Way". That implies an unfolding, travelling, gradual experience of the Kingdom. That is what makes it so good. If you had it all wouldn't you immediately want more?

I hope I didn't cause offence in saying that. I have to admit that I even pray to Jesus, but in the knowledge that this is to make it easier for me, because there's no way I could ever visualise God. I wonder though, if he is not God, as you say, then is he any different to your uncle Bert...

I was thinking about that verse recently Terrence. "I am the Way the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by me." I Think it could be understood thus: "I embody the way, the truth and the life. No-one may approach God except by the Way, the Truth, and the Life." There is a...

There was a great post a while ago in which all of Jesus's references to the Kingdom of God were listed according to whether they referred to some time in the future or to the present. Most of them, on careful reading, referred to the present. My personal opinion is that the commonly held...

I think we have to have the faith to be aware without using our senses. Our senses can only take us so far. If we say to ourselves "seeing is believing" then that will blind us to what may not to known in this way. It is interesting that prophesies have often come to people in dreams, when...

I'll second that, Snoopy. I too have that album. I also recommend Googling Reshad Feild, formerly Richard Field of the sixties pop group The Springfields, and especially his first book the Final Barrier. This gives a very readable and fascinating account of his introduction to Sufism. VC

James, with great respect I think it is a culture thing. You probably need to adopt the cultural tags of the community you worship with. But according to my (limited) understanding, Muslim women are expected to dress modestly, and to use their discretion as to how to implement that requirement...

An interesting point, BB. In our culture people with masks tend to up to no good. This could go a long way towards understanding our misgivings about the veil. But women used to be veiled in our culture too. I wouldn't want this thread to be hijacked by the free speech debate, which has been...

I remember seeing an anthropologist on the TV a few months ago, in the remoter parts of Papua New Guinea. He was asked by a tribal leader to take off his clothes because they made him feel uncomfortable. I wonder if Jack Straw would feel OK about going nude to put his host at ease. I had...

I have definitely experienced precognition over short periods. When I am involved in some tedious task alone my mind fills with noise - fragments of music and speech; often some of these stick in my memory and I hear them soon afterwards on the radio or in conversation. However I would not...

What an epic. There's no way I can follow that. Dondi, I love those passages of Isaiah that affirm the importance of how we live out God's love rather than depending on shows or ceremonies. That is why I find it all the harder to understand the sacrifice motif at the centre of orthodox...

I see this very often Dondi, that theologians work out a sentence that sounds impressive but actually means nothing. If sacrifices were as you say just to make us feel better about being bad, then Christ is doing us no favours by ending them. And how can we be righteous and not righteous at the...

I like the way you put that BJ. That makes more sense to me than anything I've heard before. The sacrifice means nothing to God but if it shows us how much he loves us then it works. I'm glad it works for many people, but it offends me. It just makes me sad. But what do I know? As for animal...

I hate to be a stickler but this is coming back to a question of what is different about Christians. But my contention is that Jesus did not primarily intend to start a new religion. He wanted to reform the practice of Judaism but he also knew that the main thrust of what he was teaching went...

Just a typical spurious comment from me: Why do we need to define what a Christian is anyway? Are we trying to prove something to God or to ourselves? We are never happy until we can define something, pin it down, draw a line round the corpse. God isn't like that. Jesus said (my translation)...

I've just caught up with this thread. Extraordinary! This is the same metaphor that I have used myself BUT to show almost the opposite. The point is: if you asked a fish, it would have absolutely no idea what water was. Leaving aside the floor of the ocean, water is all around the fish since...