Religion & Spirituality - 7 August 2007

2007-08-07 03:01:08 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous

Why do we bow to god? Because god defines absolute power. We human bow down to power. God is immortal, but in the world of mortals, corporates, politicians, and dictators define absolute power. In that way, don't you think people bow to god because they are intimidated by god's power. In the end, it's the power that makes them slaves to anyone whether it's a rich man's power, or a dictator's power, or god's power.

Disclaimer: This is not a private correspondence. The points expressed in this question are hypothetical. They aren't meant to promote atheism or to hurt the sentiments of my religious friends.

2007-08-07 02:59:35 · 16 answers · asked by Razor 5

2007-08-07 02:59:22 · 5 answers · asked by zurioluchi 7

Just wondering which is more polite.

2007-08-07 02:58:24 · 3 answers · asked by Cathy 6

More people believe in traditional healing and at the very same time they believe in GOD. In most cases this is regarded as two different beliefs that should not be combined. what do you think? do we have to believe in ancestors as well as GOD?

2007-08-07 02:55:59 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous

So are you saying that if you didn't have the bible then you wouldn't know right from wrong? If that's true then you're a pretty crappy person.

2007-08-07 02:54:23 · 17 answers · asked by Ginger Ninja 4

2007-08-07 02:52:16 · 13 answers · asked by zurioluchi 7

For example, take our good friend Ariel. Those of us who know her love her, for she is a thoughtful, friendly, funny and loving individual.

Seems there are two kinds of flu running in Australia. One is bad, the other has been fatal.

Ariel has had the flu for a week, and it is bad. She may be going into the hospital in the next few hours to get proper attention for it.

She still doesn't know which flu she has.

Why would such a bad thing happen to such a good person?

(information posted with permission)

2007-08-07 02:52:04 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous

Let me rephrase that... ahem!

Since we all have guardian angels, then why does things like car accidents and rape and murder happen to us humans? Aren't they supposed to guard us from that sort of stuff?

HEY! I'm not against the Angels or your beliefs, I was just really curious why things like that happen when you have Angels sent to protect you?

2007-08-07 02:48:33 · 31 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-08-07 02:47:49 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous

I was christened into the Church of England as a baby. I resent it greatly, and want to know if there is any way to get this officially rescinded? It's not my religion.

2007-08-07 02:45:58 · 19 answers · asked by florayg 5

....what enables muslims to engage in, or clandestinely support violence [israel/sudan/chechnya/etc-etc-etc-bali-etc-egypt-etc-etc] .. and in the same breath spout the untruth that theirs is a religion of peace...

is that sort of contradictory thinking only possible if you see the people of your religion as US, and ALL! the other people on the planet as THEM?

when are muslims going to shake off their xenophobia, or is it so innate that they are never going to be able...with a full heart... to join hands with the wider world?

2007-08-07 02:41:09 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous

I can understand thousands of years ago why there was a need to populate the earth. But now with 6 billion+ people and counting, does anyone of the religious persuasion think that's too many? Or does God just want people to keep reproducing with no end in sight? Is 10 billion still not enough? What about more?

2007-08-07 02:39:14 · 5 answers · asked by Raging Hillbilly 3

I just find it interesting how often we are called upon to renounce our (un)beleifs and join up with the religon of whoever is issuing the call.
I didn't exactly feel like I had a choice in my athiesm. In actuality, my becoming athiest was really just a process of finnaly giving in to what I knew was true despite my huge (and still present) desire to beleive otherwise.

What do you guys think about this? Did you have a choice?

2007-08-07 02:33:56 · 24 answers · asked by Anonymous

the person will die or be Raptured before he or she can fulfill the call?

2007-08-07 02:33:38 · 13 answers · asked by SFECU12 5

RECENTLY a Canadian newspaper interviewed a number of clergymen of different faiths as to their understanding of the meaning of Christ’s return. One said that the second coming of Christ was accomplished by the acceptance of Christ’s teachings by individuals and not by his returning to earth. A Presbyterian minister said that he believed “there will be a physical return of Christ.” Yet another expressed belief in two comings: one to receive the Christians in the air and take them to heaven, and the second to come back to the earth and then reign there forever with his followers. And, finally, one minister admitted that he did not understand the doctrine.

Obviously there is confusion on this subject among the world’s religions. In view of the importance of the Bible teaching on this subject we do well to investigate the real meaning of Christ’s return and learn how it takes place.

Christ’s return does not mean, as some clergymen imply, that as the world becomes more Christian Christ’s coming becomes more complete, and that when world conversion is accomplished Christ will have returned in the fullest sense. If that teaching were correct, we would be obliged to say that Christ is leaving rather than returning, since, not only is the world becoming less Christian in proportion to world population figures, but even the nominal Christian sectors are steadily drifting farther away from his teachings and example. Jesus’ own answer to his apostles’ question about his return shows that he did not believe such world conversion would take place.—See Matthew 24:3-14.

Does that leave us with only one other alternative: a literal return of Christ Jesus to our planet Earth? Not at all. Again Jesus’ words rule out such idea. At John 6:51 he says: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread he will live forever; and, for a fact, the bread that I shall give is my flesh in behalf of the life of the world.” Jesus thus gave up his fleshly body in sacrifice for mankind. For how long was that sacrifice to be in effect? The apostle Paul answers: “We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.” (Heb. 10:10) Christ Jesus will therefore not take back what he gave up, namely, his fleshly existence.

Those who hold to the idea of a reign by Christ Jesus from an earthly throne are thereby downgrading the grandness of the heavenly hope Jesus set before his anointed followers. Such persons would make it appear that the heavenly abodes he promised to prepare for his disciples are only to be places of temporary sojourn until they return to this earth with him, as though it, after all, were the better place to be. (John 14:2, 3) Jesus encouraged his followers to faithfulness, holding out as a reward the privilege of sitting with him near his Father’s throne. His Father said: “The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.” (Acts 7:49) So why would Jesus bring these followers down to the footstool again?—Rev. 3:21; 2 Cor. 5:1, 16; Col. 3:1, 2.

IN WHAT SENSE HE RETURNS

Much of the difficulty apparently lies in the failure to realize that the word “return” can mean something else besides a going back bodily to a previous geographical location. Yet, in everyday speech, we often speak of “returning” in other senses. For example, we say that a person has “returned to normal health,” or that a deposed ruler has “returned to power” (although he may never have left his palace).

Note the Bible’s use of the word at Genesis 18:10. There Jehovah God told Abraham: “I am surely going to return to you next year at this time, and, look! Sarah your wife will have a son.” He kept this promise, not by making a literal visit to Sarah, but by extending his power toward her so that in her old age she could conceive and give birth to Isaac. (Gen. 21:1) The Bible tells of a number of occasions in which Jehovah “visited” the nation of Israel. Thus we read concerning Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law, that “she had heard . . . that Jehovah had turned his attention to [“visited,” RS] his people.” How? “By giving them bread.” So his visit was not a literal going to their land but a turning of his attention to them or taking certain action toward them.—Ruth 1:6; Gen. 18:21.

Therefore, since Christ’s return does not mean a literal coming back to this earth, it must mean that he takes Kingdom power toward this earth and turns his attention to the earth. He does not need to leave his heavenly throne and make a bodily descent to our small planet to do this, any more than the president of the United States has to go to all the fifty States of the Union in order to preside over them. Before his ascension to heaven, Jesus told his disciples: “Look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.” (Matt. 28:20) How was he with them? Not literally, but by means of holy spirit, poured out at Pentecost, he continued to guide and instruct them so that wherever even two or three gathered together he could be “there . . . in their midst.” (Matt. 18:20) However, his return in Kingdom power would mean much more and result in the accomplishment of certain definite purposes affecting all mankind.

WHAT HIS RETURN ACCOMPLISHES

Bible evidence and the historical facts in fulfillment prove that in the year 1914 C.E. God’s due time arrived for his Son to begin ruling from his heavenly throne and that the cry was then heard in heaven: “Now have come to pass the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ.” (Rev. 12:10) What would the exercise of Christ’s authority now mean? It meant that not only his loyal disciples on earth but all the nations would be “gathered before him” and would come in for survey, inspection and judgment. From his glorious throne in the heavens Christ has turned his attention toward all of them and he does not need to send out a satellite equipped with television cameras to do this. He thus accomplishes one of the purposes of his return, that of judging the nations and separating the people as “sheep” or “goats.” (Matt. 25:31-33) Not by angels alone but also by faithful Christian witnesses does he accomplish this, sending them into all the inhabited earth to announce the good news of his established kingdom.—Matt. 24:14.

Christ’s return additionally means that he turns his attention to his surviving disciples and to other joint heirs who sleep in earthly graves. The apostle tells us: “We the living who survive to the presence of the Lord shall in no way precede those who have fallen asleep in death; because the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel’s voice and with God’s trumpet, and those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first.” (1 Thess. 4:15, 16) When on earth Jesus stood before the door of Lazarus’ tomb and called for him to come out. Now, from his heavenly position of power he can send down this call simultaneously to thousands of graves all over the globe and, by means of God’s spirit, cause his anointed followers to rise from death to life as spirit sons of God and to join him in his heavenly rule. (Rev. 14:1) Bible evidence indicates that he began to do so from 1918 C.E. onward.

His return also means a time for showing favor to the faithful Christians yet alive on earth, and so, in the verse following those just quoted, we read: “Afterward we the living who are surviving will, together with them, be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (1 Thess. 4:17) This does not mean that these living Christians will be exempted from having to prove faithful until death, but, rather, means that their King now expresses his approval of them and unites them with himself spiritually, in a way that is as invisible to human eyes as the air itself is. He frees them from any captivity to modern “Babylon the Great,” the world empire of false religion, and elevates them to a position of honor aS the approved representatives of his glorious kingdom. Revelation 11:11, 12 symbolically shows that even their enemies are obliged to behold the evidence of the King’s favor manifested toward these loyal subjects.

Eventually his return will also mean complete relief from all persecution and suffering for such faithful Christians who now fearlessly witness about his kingdom. The apostle Paul promised: “To you who suffer tribulation, relief along with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels.” (2 Thess. 1:7) In this age of electronically controlled “ground-to-air” and “air-to-ground” missiles, Christ Jesus, with ‘all authority in heaven and earth’ invested in him, will not have to abandon his heavenly throne and travel to a position geographically near the enemy opposers of his servants on earth in order to eliminate such wicked ones. Like a “sharp long sword” and a rod of iron, his power by God’s spirit and through the mighty angelic hosts will reach all such ones and crush them like ‘grapes in a winepress.’ His return will therefore mean destruction for them at the coming battle of Armageddon.—Matt. 28:18; Rev. 19:11-15; 16:14-16; Ps. 2:8, 9.

Christ’s return in Kingdom power will have a wonderful meaning for an unnumbered multitude of persons who love righteousness and who will serve him as earthly subjects. To these he will say: “Come, you who have my Father’s blessing, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world.” (Matt. 25:34) Christ’s thousand-year rule over them will raise them to human perfection and qualify them for everlasting life in the paradise earth.—Rev. 20:4-6; 21:1-4.

The nation of Israel waited fifteen long centuries for the coming of the Messiah and then missed its meaning when it occurred. Do not miss the meaning of Christ’s return today. Study God’s Word daily and let it guide your thinking.

2007-08-07 02:33:28 · 14 answers · asked by Kiid23 3

From the answers that I read here , it seems that you think you are God's special children..We are ALL his children , he loves each person the same..We are all his creation..we all have the same hope as the next person if we accept Christ as our savior ..and live as sinless as possible being as imperfect as we are. I get the feeling that your religion thinks that they have all of the answers..and I think that is a dangerous position to take..Everyone of Gods creation is loved by God the same..no one gets special treatment. God is not a partial God..Does your Bible version have that scripture in it , I wonder..

2007-08-07 02:33:12 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous

Are you saying you wouldn't let her have an abortion?

2007-08-07 02:30:42 · 51 answers · asked by Ginger Ninja 4

2007-08-07 02:28:23 · 26 answers · asked by bethybug 5

I believe Holy Ghost has a character and Personality. Please tell me the references about the attributes of Holoy Ghost from the Bible

2007-08-07 02:23:29 · 6 answers · asked by Lima D 2

Bet that got your attention (o.O)

Every time I talk about how the christian god drowned all the babies in the world someone tries to defend this decision by saying "The babies of Genesis 7 would grow up to be violent and rebellious just as their parents were.", as if -that- was cause enough to drown newborns.

(and yes, that quote is legit, got it today in answer to an earlier question).

It is interesting in this day and age that there are actually people who stoop so low as to -justify- the drowning of -infants-.

(O.O)

Even more interesting is the belief their god was helpless to stop it and could only wipe them all out, despite the fact their god regretted the decision later and promised to never do it again.

Just can't stand having their god accused of malicious cruelty I guess.

So do these people advocate the elimination of all children born to criminals? Drown them all?

Or is drowning newborns only good when their god does it?

(o.O)

2007-08-07 02:20:58 · 34 answers · asked by Anonymous

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AhcIhPNkx772tI56J8b1t6bsy6IX?qid=20070807061209AABh0Zc&show=7#profile-info-312fee674ffb63e34af04971f8089f43aa

2007-08-07 02:18:50 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous

Do you go around justifying the drowning of infants often?

(o.O)

Do people look at you weird when you justify the drowning of infants?

(O.o)

Do you find it difficult to convince people to worship a god who drowned infants?

(o.O)

Is this why you believe in baptism for infants?

(O.O)

2007-08-07 02:18:15 · 23 answers · asked by Anonymous

The Bible instructs them to be prejudicial. They cannot deny their god's own word otherwise they are not real Christians, even if they don't like it. Perhaps the vile hatred taught via the Bible is why genuinely good people turn away from Christianity.

http://net-burst.net/hot/bigot.htm...

p.s. don't bother pointing out the fallibility of other religions.

2007-08-07 02:17:21 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-08-07 02:16:41 · 13 answers · asked by Gypsy Gal 6

2007-08-07 02:13:40 · 4 answers · asked by Praisy I 1

2007-08-07 02:13:30 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous

I am going to be Confirmed as a Christian - I have being Baptised - I know what a CONFIRMATION is just not what is involved in the preparation period.- i am 13 male

2007-08-07 02:10:57 · 11 answers · asked by green_maths_scout 2

http://www.watchtower.org/e/20040622/article_02.htm

(If you can't be bothered, I'll paste just the introduction)

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SCIENCE is constantly unraveling new secrets about the universe and the life that thrives on our planet. Nonetheless, scientists and laymen alike still face such fundamental questions as these: How did the universe come to be? What existed before that? Why does the universe appear to be expressly designed to support life? How did life arise here on earth?



Science still cannot really answer such questions. Some people doubt that it ever will. Many, then, have felt compelled to rethink their views and beliefs. Let us consider three of the mysteries that are leading some scientists to wonder about the existence of a Creator.

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You don't have to read much, you'll get the jist of it quickly.

Incase you were wondering, I'm not a Jehova Witness. I just find this section on Science and Religion working together really dinteresting.

2007-08-07 02:09:59 · 13 answers · asked by m8g8 3

Are you saying that if you had to, you could make yourself attracted to the same sex? I mean if it's a choice, surely you could switch if you needed to? If your answer is yes then you are bi-sexual, if your answer is no then you agree that it isn't a choice.

2007-08-07 02:07:49 · 29 answers · asked by Ginger Ninja 4