Posts: 2296
From: Brooklyn, (and Norwich) NY, USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted May 20, 2002 12:56 AM         

---

I'm very much the "what if" type of person...what if this happened, what if that happened. My imagination is hyperactive

I don't personally believe that Jesus and Mary M. ran away to France and had kids and stuff, of course maybe I'll be proven wrong someday, one never knows!

Thanks for the information Pisces Moon, I'm interested in reading the book if I ever get a chance. I'm very interested in reading about Jesus the person, different people's ideas about who he was.

Reincarnation does make a lot of sense to me as well, Starchild.

I don't know what a conservative Christian would have to say about this thread, really. I've noticed a backlash in this world from time to time against Christianity (especially conservative) within the past ten years or so. I think a lot of people have been hurt by Christianity over the years. I've known many people who have been personally hurt by Christianity in this country, not by the beliefs themselves, but by other people with those beliefs who use them in a terrible way to hurt others.

Christianity, especially in relation to reincarnation brings up so many questions in my mind, I don't think I would have enough space to list them all.

So many people are getting to the point where they just want to know the "truth" about Christianity, especially those who were raised in the different denominations that Christianity has. A lot of people (including myself) who were raised Christian want to know things...what parts were taken out of the Bible...why...all of the secrets that are buried. Many would like answers, and it seems only a few have those answers, and don't want to share their knowledge with us, for whatever reasons.

I don't ever want to bash another religion or way of spirituality, because I don't personally have a problem with any religion, and those that believe deeply in their religion would be hurt by it. Being objective, I can see how Christianity can rub people the wrong way. Most other religions in this world seem to find a place in our modern society, while Christianity has a rigid type of structure to it that refuses to give and make any changes, unless put under a lot of stress and pressure.

I love everyone, whether they're Christian or not, practice a religion or not. In my opinion, Christianity is going through a bit of an upheaval right now. When the dust is settled, and the air cleared, I hope we're all able to understand each other a little more

And if there are any conservative Christians here, I mean you no harm. Just doing what I do best, thinking out loud!

IP: Logged

Posts: 131
From: I live in the cloud of dreams.
Registered: Apr 2002

posted May 20, 2002 04:25 PM         

---

It is a very confusing time right now, I really think the church needs to open up with the rest of the world. There really is a growing number of people like me, who don't like the traditions of the church (I'm a christian myself.)I really think that my generation (I'm 15) will force the church to change. I mean I truly believe in jesus but I have this undeniable urge to find out more then what the church says. I too want to find out many secrets still hidden and not shown. Anything that can bring me closer to the truth, is what I want.

IP: Logged

Posts: 924
From: The Milky Way
Registered: Apr 2002

posted May 20, 2002 05:25 PM         

---

Starchild~ May you never wander from that path and I sincerely hope you are right about your generation insisting the mist be lifted from the hidden *truths* in Christianity ...

I think the Truth is what all of us here are seeking - on one level or another. Where it gets interesting tho is when everyone's Truth can be different, but no less *their Truth*

------------------
. * + . + * . Caileah . * + . + * . The Knowflake formerly known as Princess

IP: Logged

Posts: 16464
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted May 21, 2002 06:39 AM         

---

I'm curious as to what Jesus would think of the 400 plus denominations who have formed in His name (with such varied beliefs and who cannot agree on the simplest of things, all despite having the same book as their Bible). And each one of them thinks their way is the only true way.

------------------
"It is never too late to become what you might have been." George Eliot

IP: Logged

Posts: 326
From: Canberra ACT Australia
Registered: Dec 2001

posted May 22, 2002 05:49 AM         

---

Being an Ascended Master, I'm sure his Mind is on more important things, like war, famine, environmental destruction, cruelty, hardship, sorrow, fear and everything else.

I don't think Master Avatars are petty enough to analyse different ways they are being worshipped.

Even in Bible days, he urged the disciples (who, being ordinary mortals, did worry about petty things) not to get upset at the many "non-qualified" Christians who went around healing, preaching and helping without ever knowing Christ at all, or being taught by him as the disciples were.

IP: Logged

Posts: 16464
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted May 22, 2002 08:24 AM         

---

True. But I think he'd get a good laugh over the WWJD bracelets.

------------------
"It is never too late to become what you might have been." George Eliot

IP: Logged

Posts: 326
From: Canberra ACT Australia
Registered: Dec 2001

posted May 22, 2002 08:30 AM         

---

Hell, yeah.

IP: Logged

Posts: 924
From: The Milky Way
Registered: Apr 2002

posted May 22, 2002 11:11 AM         

---

WWJD bracelets?

------------------
. * + . + * . Caileah . * + . + * . The Knowflake formerly known as Princess

IP: Logged

Posts: 72
From: stillwater,oklahoma-usa
Registered: May 2002

posted September 05, 2002 09:15 PM         

---

It's important to keep in mind when reading the WORD: almost everything in the Bible is an example of things that have happened, things that are happening or things that will happen. It is the examples in the Bible that allow us to anticipate what the future may bring.
Let's look at these verses starting with Matt 17:10-And his disciples asked him,saying, why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
The scribes that the disciples mention are the Kenites, also known as the Midianites. As you all may know-nite suffix means "people of" or "sons of"
Kenites comes from the hebrew word Qayin (spear)-which was the name of the first child, Cain
Kenites= sons of cain
A note on Cain
Cain was tainted with sin in Eve's womb when she was beguiled by the old serpant, satan.
Some even belive that satan suduced Eve and impregnated her with the seed of lineage that would "bruise the heel" of Christ.
Regardless, Cain was evil and he did in fact murder his brother Able. (despite what Sir Larry thinks)
After the murder he was banished from Eden and went east to the land of Nod. In Nod, Satan's minions-the other angels who fell with him-had been busy giving and taking in marrages with the sixth day people-Mating with humans resulting in giants and other mutant offspring (Gen 6:4)
So, the Kenites began as an odd race with more than a vein of evil in their lineage. Thoughout history they shadowed the tribes of Israel, subtly infiltrarating the courts of Israel's kings and over the years, setting themselves up to be the tradiional keepers of the written law- the scribes or lawyers. It was the scribes of the Synagogue(the Kenites) who with the Saddicees and the pharisees conspired to discredit and eventually kill Jesus.
Anyway back to Matthew
In Matt 17:10 -the disciples were referring to how the scribes were trying to discredit Jesus by telling everyone that he could not be Christ, because of what was written in Malachi 4:5-Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
The Kenites said that since Elijah had not come back, Jesus could not be Christ. HOwever what the scribes purposefully failed to mention is that Mal 4:5 addresses Christ's second coming-not the his first. The Messiah's first coming does not bring the "great and dreadful day of the Lord.
The Malachi 4:5 coming of Elijah is in referance to the appearance of two witnesses( Moses and Eliah) during the Tribulation,as written in Rev 11:3-13.
In Matt 17:11 -And Jesus answered the disciples and said unto them, Elias truly shall come first, and retore all things.
The scribes had evoked Elijah the prophet revered Name to condemn him,even though they paid no attention to Elijah's prophecies that foretold his coming-so-In Matt 17:12 Jesus uses only two sentences tp succinctly and simultaneously expose the Kenites: draw the parallel between Elijah and John the Baptist:and prophesy his own death.
He explains that if the scribes had known Elijah, they would have recognized his prophecies within the prophecies of John the Baptist, who taught in the style, spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17) and who also foretold Christ's coming.
The Kenites dismissed Elias and had John the Baptist Killed-like they would Jesus.
Matt 17:12- But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed, Likewise shall also the Son of Man suffer of them.
Then in Matt 17:13 the disciples understood the example.
Matt17:13 Then the Disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.
SO Matt 17:10-13 doesen't say that John the Baptist was the reincarnation of Elijah, Moreover if reincarnation was a real part of a soul's journey, don't you think that the Bible would have more to say about it than a heavily veiled reference within a few verses?

IP: Logged

Posts: 16464
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted September 06, 2002 07:31 PM         

---

I thought everyone knew that: WWJD stands for What Would Jesus Do.

------------------
"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

IP: Logged

Posts: 90
From: PA, USA
Registered: Nov 2002

posted December 17, 2002 05:23 PM         

---

Just jumping in here, Hi, I believe that the conservative or fundamental Christians are turning off the potential convert. AS Americans, we pick and choose from all of the array that we have in our peripheral vision. I dunno to not be open minded is a blunder that's potentillay dangerous. Right, I mean we can be tortured by the multitude of choice or we can spend our time locking into one and running with it, It really is the same thing? !! Right? Reincarantion logically makes sense.

IP: Logged

Posts: 88
From:
Registered: Dec 2002

posted December 18, 2002 09:25 AM         

---

The biggest reason I think some people dismiss reincarnation is that it allows them to stay in their comfort zone. Anyone who believes in reincarnation eventually, at some point or other, has to face the music about what they did in past lives, for better or worse. Reincarnation and karma was the first ever thing that Star Signs taught me, and it completely turned everything upside down. The amnesia of death, aka the Veil of Maya, allows many people of Western faiths to put aside the traumas and errors of past lives and start fresh again. For this reason it would be wrong to try to force your friends or loved ones to believe in reincarnation. People have to reach for these things only when it is their time to become aware.

IP: Logged

Posts: 44
From: Philadelphia, PA, USA
Registered: Jun 2002

posted January 29, 2003 08:22 AM         

---

it always struck me odd that Jesus' big quote is "I am the Way." when i think of The Way in mysticism i think of chinese yoga and Taoism (tao=way). after all i have never read it in Aramaic or Chinese. i don't read chinese. but i know that the Bible has been translated -- if roughly -- wonder what word they used for that passage, if not the word "tao". But my point is that knowing that Taoist practise includes sexual mystical stuff Like the Tao of sex, it seems less unlikely that Jesus and Mary Magdalene would have been physical lovers, and highly likely that it would have been [CENSORED] out of the Bible.

IP: Logged

Posts: 16464
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted January 30, 2003 01:22 AM         

---

I never made the correlation with that statement and Taoism before!

------------------
"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

IP: Logged

Posts: 72
From: USA
Registered: Dec 2002

posted February 05, 2003 02:45 AM         

---

According to my grandmother, who claimed to know the Bible from A to Z (being the only book she grew up with), the idea of reincarnation was very central also in early Christianity, a heritage from Judaism. Jesus was Jewish, as you know, so this idea would naturally be well known to him and the people he lived amongst, and probably incorporated in his teachings.

But today you have to read the Bible with traces of reincarnation in mind to find those tiny traces. It is not very logical that such an accepted idea from Jesus's own time would not be mentioned more concrete in the scripts.

Around 400 AD (according to my grandmother), it was decided to cencor the idea of reincarnation. The people was, as someone suggested earlier here, becoming lazy and sinful in their flesh and mind, and less "spiritually responsible" as the leaders saw it. This was a problem for both the church and the Emperor. They were losing power over the people. Fear of consequences being a very strong leading star for people's behavior and loyalty.

The idea of only one earthly chance to live a spiritually "correct" life, plus promise of eternal Heaven (in the good company of God) and threat of eternal Hell (both painful and away from God) was effectively introduced to scare people into obedience and religious mindfulness.

The closest description of "Hell" in the original scriptures is something about not being worthy of a burial among the good men, but ending up as one of the corpses thrown onto the dungyard (which name in Hebrew comes sort of close to "Hell") outside town, which was the final destination for the dead among the outcasts and poor. Since bad karma and being denied a good burial site was not enough, more scary consequences were introduced. Obviously religion, like everything else, takes on a life of its own and is under constant development and influence and re-interpretation. And might lose sight of its fundamental spirituality on the way.

IP: Logged

Posts: 342
From: Kettering ,Ohio ,USA
Registered: Jan 2003

posted February 06, 2003 08:29 AM         

---

I am a devout follower of Christ,He is my way ,my hope,my strength.
I try to listen to what he said,"Love thy Neighbor",don't judge, reep what you sow,pray the "Our Father".(the Jewish "Tree of Life" in prayer form).But I have had trouble going to Church always.Felt like I din't belong.I also felt guilty because I didn't participate and go all the time.

But my brother is a "Christian"and is always going to church,working hard to help the church. Going to all of the social events, and help raise money.Is well liked and has many friends in the church. I always feel like I have to be careful of what I say and think around them.(guilt?)
Recently they changed the name of their church from "Ferry Road Church of God" to "Crossroads Church of God".They didn't want to be associated with "the Gays",and they didn't want them to think they were welcome.I asked my brother if Ferry wasn't a cargo boat, and he said "yeah, but it sounds queer".
I wish Christians would concentrate on the RED words in the Bible, the ones Jesus said.His gospels,His ways.
I would LOVE to find out that Jesus had a "Man's" life. Married to Mary Magdelen, being the Father to His own children.Maby thats what he did the 18 years he was lost.
(Although I think he was studying Quabalah)
The Bible was wrote in ancient languages,(Hebrew), and just by changing the tone or influction of the same word, you get a totally new translation.It was wrote so that it is a personal book, and everyone should translate it for themselves.
Christ did say "You have to be Born Again, to enter the Kingdom of Heaven" ......reincarnation!!!

IP: Logged

Posts: 44
From: Philadelphia, PA, USA
Registered: Jun 2002

posted March 15, 2003 02:36 PM         

---

i think if there was a Fairy road Church of Christ i might go...just to see what it was like...but i would be careful with the wine. might neverwant to leave...you know how those old stories go?

i am sure, so sure that Jesus and Mary Magdalena had a physical love, as sure as I am that the doctrine is all wrapped up in Genisis and Original sin consciousness, so they can't elevate Mary the Mother cause she's a woman, like eve...

I amsure that jesus wanted/wants us to exist in balance betwen genders..not like now, a lot closer to actual general harmony between male and female. But i would love to see documented evidence of Christ and Mary M. having physical love too.i find it deeply troubling that sex could be separate from god at all.

IP: Logged

Posts: 16464
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted March 16, 2003 12:17 PM         

---

Interesting.

------------------
"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

IP: Logged

Posts: 16464
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted March 17, 2003 06:27 AM         

---

On a side note: Grape juice was called wine in Biblical days.

------------------
"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

IP: Logged

Posts: 16464
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted March 18, 2003 06:25 AM         

---

------------------
"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

IP: Logged

Posts: 16464
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted March 19, 2003 06:17 AM         

---

That was for the grape juice, not the wine.

------------------
"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

IP: Logged