I strongly dislike labels

Magdlyn said:
So you're looking to Jesus for the answers! He's someone other than you, isn't he? Or is he just a voice in your head, and the gospel happens to agree with that voice?
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LOL I am wondering a little if I am about to swallow the bait...

For me, Jesus, God, Holy Spirit could simply be summed up as the Divine. I fully accept that others connect the divine with many other names and terms. My point was that I find it more effective looking to and connecting with the Divine directly. I find that if I have questions or need guidance I am able to find it within myself rather than rely on the direction or interpretation of another mortal. As you mentioned in your other comment, there are a multitude of methods people have used to connect to the Divine or the spiritual realm. Personally, all I need is stillness. It's almost meditative but not quite. I could say it's the voice in my head but I know it is more. I am highly empathic as well as very intuitive. I have been accused of being a mind reader but I am not. I simply have the ability to connect very easily with the spiritual energy of others. Sooooo... if I can be with another person and hear their spiritual voice in my head then it makes sense to me that the connection to the divine works in basically the same way.
 
Mbalmr71 said:
LOL I am wondering a little if I am about to swallow the bait...

For me, Jesus, God, Holy Spirit could simply be summed up as the Divine. I fully accept that others connect the divine with many other names and terms. My point was that I find it more effective looking to and connecting with the Divine directly. I find that if I have questions or need guidance I am able to find it within myself rather than rely on the direction or interpretation of another mortal. As you mentioned in your other comment, there are a multitude of methods people have used to connect to the Divine or the spiritual realm. Personally, all I need is stillness. It's almost meditative but not quite. I could say it's the voice in my head but I know it is more. I am highly empathic as well as very intuitive. I have been accused of being a mind reader but I am not. I simply have the ability to connect very easily with the spiritual energy of others. Sooooo... if I can be with another person and hear their spiritual voice in my head then it makes sense to me that the connection to the divine works in basically the same way.
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The reason the Gospel of Thomas and all of the other non-canonical writings were considered to be heresy, eventually, despite their extreme popularity amongst the common folk, was their encouragement of independent thinking and practice. Gnosticism is very similar to Buddhism in that way. That's why I wouldn't say I was a Christian, despite my extreme affection for Mary Magdalene. I even named myself after her, but I wouldn't lay claim to that religion, since its original essence has long been lost, perverted by the male priests, popes and emperors of Rome, and those that followed.
 
If God/s has all powers, then that includes the power to change the rules. Referring to the bicycle example, God/s could bestow on me the power to learn to ride without ever falling over. I have to assume that an all-powerful God/s allows me to feel pain and do evil, not for the greater good and learning which S/he could bestow on me without any of the bad stuff, but because the bad stuff pleases God/s apart from any of its benefits. I guess that's why I don't believe in omnipotence. The world would be a very different place if God/s had all powers -- unless God/s wasn't an entirely good Person. Omnipotence doesn't make sense, and neither does omniscience, since that would mean God/s knew how to accomplish all things. The old riddle of, "Would God know how to create a rock that was too heavy for God to lift?"

I think any existing God/s must be a lot more limited than how people usually picture them.
 
kdt26417 said:
If God/s has all powers, then that includes the power to change the rules. Referring to the bicycle example, God/s could bestow on me the power to learn to ride without ever falling over. I have to assume that an all-powerful God/s allows me to feel pain and do evil, not for the greater good and learning which S/he could bestow on me without any of the bad stuff, but because the bad stuff pleases God/s apart from any of its benefits. I guess that's why I don't believe in omnipotence. The world would be a very different place if God/s had all powers -- unless God/s wasn't an entirely good Person. Omnipotence doesn't make sense, and neither does omniscience, since that would mean God/s knew how to accomplish all things. The old riddle of, "Would God know how to create a rock that was too heavy for God to lift?"

I think any existing God/s must be a lot more limited than how people usually picture them.
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Kevin, all that twisting seems irrelevant, since it depends upon an anthropomorphic God, as in the Old Testament. At the time those books were written, humans thought there was a heaven, or heavens, just a ways above earth. They thought the earth was flat and held up by 4 pillars, one at each corner. They thought the stars were tiny lights. God and the angels were living somewhere up there as discrete beings. Even in the new testament in Revelations, the author imagined the sky could be rolled up like a rug, scattering the stars onto earth, in the end times.

It's been a very long time since humans have known that up above, or around earth, are almost unimaginable miles of space, other galaxies, black holes, etc. Where is your Person God living, this God you imagine cares so much about the minutea of your life?
 
I don't believe there is a God, Person or Otherwise.
 
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