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Hi Avi, first let me say that by no means do I consider myself an authority on these matters. I have only been studying the history of the bible for a couple years. Some of the books I have read are ones that question the traditional interpretation of that history, such as the one I quoted from...

We need education systems that encourage the independent thought you recommend rather than schools that mold good workers who do what they're told on the job and numb their brains off the job.

A book called, "The Triumph of Elohim," edited by Diana Vikander Edelman (1996), speculates on how and when monotheism emerged out of the pantheon which ancient Jews would have been familiar with. The editor's own words can serve as an introduction to this post. I found this interesting and...

Prayer is to spiritual health what exercise is to physical health. Prayer is spiritual gardening: weeding and cultivating. Prayer is a spiritual relationship. Another way to look at it is to think of the universe as all mind, as the Diamond Sutra says. If all is mind, each of our minds are...

Many believe that having several people praying for the same goals has great power. Does it matter if different people praying for the same goals think of the god they are praying to differently? For anyone interested in uniting in prayer in this way, what should we pray for? Is there any...

What relationship do you see between free will and the covenant? Perhaps our only freedom is our choice to turn to G!d or to turn away, that is, to accept the covenant or deny it. But once we have bound ourselves to G!d we are given the freedom to participate in the divine will through prayer.

Isaiah in the old, Acts in the new. Ecclaesiastes and Job are two of my other favorites. That's four (I cheated).

As for spirit, it's really just a word like other words. If part of what you experience seems to align with what the word 'spirit' seems to denote, then you seem to understand it. 'Logos' is another word with a long history closely related to the way people use 'spirit'. Heraclitus, the...

Thanks for all the helpful comments. Part of why I started this thread was because surely one of the main purposes of spiritual communities is to share insights on how to deal with troubles. The OED simply defines the verb cope, "deal effectively with something difficult." Surely we all have...

Rather than worrying about how I measure up to God's omnipotence, I think of God as the one who creates the illusion of my passing experiences --that is, every passing moment of reality I experience is a performance God is putting on just for me. The amazingly omnipotent accomplishment is to...

Often I have felt that in some situations I have no control over my fate, as if something were pulling me through events as they happen. At other times I feel totally free to go in any way. At times that freedom has felt maddening, times when it felt as though the whole remainder of my life is...

This thread invites perspectives on coping with any of life's troubles. How do you get through each passing day? What words have helped you through your lowest hours? Some words that have helped me recently come from "Upbuilding discourses in various spirits", by Soren Kierkegaard.

Today I have a section from Isaiah 50 to look at. Besides highlighting the antecedent of turn the other cheek, there are a few points I want to make about this passage. What is the purpose of seeking wisdom? Here it is suggested that "speaking words in season to him that is weary" is the...

Why has the "Second Isaiah as a point of interfaith unity" thread been moved to a forum I can't post on?

This afternoon on cbc radio someone said that the Dali Lama suggests to Westerners that they explore their own roots rather than cutting themselves off from their heritage and becoming Buddhists. My attitude towards the world of scriptures is similar to this. I imagine these cultural roots more...

Thank you Jamarz and wil for your encouragement. And Juantoo3, I'll try to articulate what interests me in Isaiah 40-55. A personal example, perhaps, will be clarifying. Two years ago at this time I was taking care of my dying mother. It was at this time that I felt the need to learn about the...

I apologize for the Jesus freak line. Thomas I'm not going to reply to your personal attacks. I'm trying to understand spiritual reality as I experience it. The bible fascinates me. I'm trying to make sense of it. Your comments make me want to abandon spiritual life entirely and take the...

I've going through a bit of suffering myself and have found consolation from studying these verses, I suppose partially simply because it is what I have felt led towards in my times of tribulation. I can't really sum up what I find powerful or hopeful at the moment, though I will give it some...

Sorry, it is a confusing name that has been given to the prophet who wrote Isaiah 40-55. Scholars call the anonymous prophet who wrote these chapters of the book of Isaiah either Second Isaiah or Deutero-Isaiah. Chapters 1-33 are usually attributed to the prophet who was a priest in Jerusalem...

Re: Prove that the Bible is full of contradictions-- I doublIn "The origine dare you! In "The origins of the bible, rethinking canon history" John W Miller gives a great deal of attention to the schisms between the Levite priests and Zadokite priests. The picture he arrives at is of the...