yep the rationale of something from nothing, design from a non designer, order from chaos. Congratulations you clever ones. And to call it 'rational'. What a joke. No wonder you have witches cheering the death of babies working for planned parenthood. And so the mockers feel smug in their denials of what is obvious. Who really has the greater faith. I suggest it is the irrational ones who choose to be blind.

i think we still have a lot of corrections to make to the misinterpretations of the scriptures & associated stories before the bulk of humans will be able to develop sufficient decency for the required integrity.

Individual

What misinterpretations of what scriptures would you be referring to?

And what level of decency do you consider necessary for this reinterpretation of scripture to occur?

Yuyutsu,

Your ideas from the above posts are confusing. See if I have this right. Your a reincarnationist, correct?

You imply by your writings, you must reach a standard of holiness to enter heaven, or be recycled through the earthly mantle until the required standard is reached.
You must present good works to God as a price of entry?

For if you are a Christian, than good works alone, will not be sufficient to enter heaven.
You will be chosen for that role. ( the doctrine of the elect). But God alone knows who they will be, so you better keep trying, with good works thrown in, for without good works, the gates of heaven are closed, and the gates of hell will open: no second chances. (Unless your a catholic, in which case there is a holding yard called purgatory).

Dear Dan,

Well you can call me an anti-reincarnationist...

Reincarnation occurs, but it is not a good thing, it is something to escape from.

Yes, I believe that indeed there is heaven (more precisely several heavens) and that those with exceptional good works reach there, rather than the holy: heaven is NOT a holy place, heaven is a place of extreme pleasure where one enjoys the rewards for their good deeds.

But no matter how good you were, eventually your merits will be exhausted: it could take millions of years but eventually you will need to be reborn in this or some other world where suffering continues, thus heaven is a trap and something to avoid.

Hell too, BTW, is not eternal: eventually one's demerits are also exhausted, then they are reborn.

By God's grace + your willingness to accept it, one can escape this vicious cycle of birth and death, realise one's true identity as God and never be born again (with the exception of very few saints who are chosen to return to the world and teach, showing others the way out).

Your willingness to accept God's grace is not some theoretical thought-process or a quiz where you must tick the correct boxes: you must actually renounce completely your sense of ego, that of supposedly being a separate entity who desires, feels and acts. Accept in your heart of hearts that your acts, good or bad, are not really yours, your feelings, good or bad, are not really yours and even your desires, good or bad, are not really yours.

God's will is being done, anyway, on earth as in heaven, so to seek God, please remove this barrier, this illusion as if anything is "your" work.

To Don Aitkin.

Thank you for writting your journey in faith aspects. I hope you find God in your life, or at least find a way to trust Him, even if you've never seen Him or found Him in a miracle kind of way.

If this helps there is one thing I can offer. Some times you have to believe in order to give something the chance to justify your belief in it. When it comes to God, I think there are many levels of believing in Him. From just accepting Him that opens up a relationship and prayer. Without that much it might be hard to get a response. But not impossible. It'll be His choice though. And His choice might sometimes be to let you hear Him from what's already been given in the bible.

(Continued)