DebateGate

General Category => 3DHS => Topic started by: sirs on February 09, 2013, 03:18:58 PM

Title: Matters of FAITH section here
Post by: sirs on February 09, 2013, 03:18:58 PM
......or not
Title: Re: Matters of FAITH section here
Post by: sirs on February 09, 2013, 04:08:44 PM
Quick chronology of recent faith tangent

Bt; The reason i ask is that if you claim the the Bible is inspired by God and XO claims that the Bible is not inspired by God and both positions are based on Faith (as concluded by Bt) or lack thereof, why is XO wrong and you are right?

Sirs; Because I'm on the record as referencing that its an act of faithI'm not proclaiming it as some logical fact based conclusion

Bt; That does not answer my question. Why are you right and xo wrong on a faith based position? (notice again how Bt ignored my reference as to how I answered his question, and instead applied his conclusion that Xo was providing a faith based position)

.................... *drum roll*

Xo then seals the deal with: I beg your pardon?  I do not have a "faith based" position. I simply said that the Bible is not the word of God, and explained why it is entirely logical to say this

That felt good.  Thanks Xo      8)
Title: Re: Matters of FAITH section here
Post by: Xavier_Onassis on February 12, 2013, 01:29:03 AM
The Bible is not the word of God because the Bible does not claim anywhere that God wrote it. The various books of the Bible are attributed to several individuals.

The Acts of Paul are attributed to Paul. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as well as Peter and Timothy are attributed to their authors, and bear their names.

It is claimed by some that men were INSPIRED by God to write the various books of the Bible.
Title: Re: Matters of FAITH section here
Post by: Plane on February 12, 2013, 10:06:00 PM
The Very Definition of a prophet is that they speak as instructed by God.
That is how it is done, if you would do it diffrently , you can as soon as you are God.


57.Jeremiah 19:3
and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle.
 Jeremiah 19:2-4 (in Context) Jeremiah 19 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
58.Jeremiah 19:15
“This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on this city and all the villages around it every disaster I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked and would not listen to my words.’”
http://www.biblegateway.com/ (http://www.biblegateway.com/)
Title: Re: Matters of FAITH section here
Post by: Xavier_Onassis on February 12, 2013, 11:35:21 PM
And exactly how many years happened between the time Jeremiah said that and his prophesy came true?

Jeremiah ran around naked, hollering what he thought God wanted. In any modern society, they would have locked him up and given him some Xanex.
Title: Re: Matters of FAITH section here
Post by: Plane on February 12, 2013, 11:56:16 PM
And exactly how many years happened between the time Jeremiah said that and his prophesy came true?

Jeremiah ran around naked, hollering what he thought God wanted. In any modern society, they would have locked him up and given him some Xanex.

Therewas no Xanex, but he didn't get kind treatment .
Title: Re: Matters of FAITH section here
Post by: BSB on February 14, 2013, 03:41:12 AM
'....I am going to bring on this city and all the villages around it every disaster I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked and would not listen to my words.’

The law is an ass? I'd say God is the ass.

BSB
Title: Re: Matters of FAITH section here
Post by: Xavier_Onassis on February 14, 2013, 04:39:51 PM
God would not necessarily be the ass in this case, just Jeremiah's version of God.

The Hebrews were in a precarious location between Mesopotamia and Egypt. That was enough to doom them.

The Babylonians, curiously, treated Jeremiah rather well.

At the same time Jeremiah was out predicting doom and gloom, there were other prophets, predicting peace.
Title: Re: Matters of FAITH section here
Post by: BSB on February 14, 2013, 06:32:18 PM
"God would not necessarily be the ass in this case, just Jeremiah's version of God"

Is there a version of God that isn't man made? I don't think so.


BSB
Title: Re: Matters of FAITH section here
Post by: Xavier_Onassis on February 14, 2013, 09:54:46 PM
There does not appear to be a God made version available, that seems rather clear.

Title: Re: Matters of FAITH section here
Post by: BSB on February 15, 2013, 12:18:42 AM
The concept of religion expresses very clearly one of the skills the human mind is capable of, but it also expresses one of the dangers that skill seems to inherently posses. If a concept is just, and only, a concept, when followed it can cut us lose from the very ground of our existence. And that is a dangerous proposition. If you don't think so, read the daily newspaper.

The Buddha understood this. I think it's his main contribution. Nirvana is not a place, or something that can be aspired to. It is the mind free of attachment to concepts. It is found by a dropping away, not by an addition. It is just here, you can't search for it. The religions of the world don't understand this.


BSB   
Title: Re: Matters of FAITH section here
Post by: Xavier_Onassis on February 15, 2013, 01:16:13 PM
It seems to me that religion is a vital necessity for some people, and of little importance to others. It seems to me that Buddha, who thought of himself as not a deity, nor a son of a deity, nor a prophet, but simply a teacher who had found a way of dealing with the injustices and problems of existence, is far more useful from a logical standpoint than the tenets of Christianity, Judaism or Islam, which take the view that they are the only or the best way to deal with life's problems.

One can arrive at the Buddha's teachings through logic, rather than blind faith.
Title: Re: Matters of FAITH section here
Post by: BSB on February 15, 2013, 03:54:41 PM
If people understood religion was only concept, and didn't try to make it a truth, they could use it as a way to tap beneficial human emotions such as compassion without getting caught by dogma. But they won't.

BSB
Title: Re: Matters of FAITH section here
Post by: Xavier_Onassis on February 15, 2013, 06:40:02 PM
To some, it is clearly more than a concept. Some people are predisposed to religion and others are not. Note all the immense folderol that the Tibetans have added to Buddhism, or the obsession with populating the landscape in places like Burma and Thailand with Buddha images. Apparently, some people feel that one immense Buddha statur=te is not nearly so effective as two or four or seventeen identical statues in the same sight.
Title: Re: Matters of FAITH section here
Post by: BSB on February 15, 2013, 09:32:25 PM
Although educated Tibetans know Buddhism is not a religion they sure do puff it up as if it were one.

BSB
Title: Re: Matters of FAITH section here
Post by: Xavier_Onassis on February 16, 2013, 02:26:13 PM
I am not so sure of the Dalai Lama, but Tibetan Buddhism is clearly treated as a religion. The idea of a reincarnation of the Buddha seems to be more Hindu than a part of Buddha's teachings.
Title: Re: Matters of FAITH section here
Post by: BSB on February 16, 2013, 03:53:51 PM
The Buddha's teaching was in response to reincarnation. It was a way to escape the endless rounds of suffering reincarnation saddled man with.  Westerners think the East likes the idea of reincarnation. No, reincarnation is a bad thing for those who believe in it. The goal for a Buddhist is to become a non-returner.

Now, of course Buddhism offers a lot more than that, but that is its historical raison d'être.



BSB
Title: Re: Matters of FAITH section here
Post by: kimba1 on February 17, 2013, 03:28:12 AM
most of my family is buddhist and not once has  reincarnation been mentioned.
interesting
Title: Re: Matters of FAITH section here
Post by: BSB on February 17, 2013, 05:28:58 AM
I'd say about half the Buddhists I know consider reincarnation. The other half, like me, not at all.

BSB