MushroomBandit
Member
Intro
What does one mans ideas on religion have to do with the religion itself? You will find many different views and many of them will contradict each other and themselves.
Do you understand why this is? It's because religion isn't a science. It's our history and people are deciphering it in any way they can.
There is evidence of many biblical events having actually occurred. In fact, a lot of what we teach about ancient history today comes from biblical scripture. Many think the tales have been over exaggerated and that is understandable.
A lot of issues with today's standard Christianity beliefs stem from too many ignorant people interpreting and spreading the knowledge in the bible. They pick and choose. Read only one line from a paragraph. Believe in things that weren't meant to be believed in.
But there is legitimacy to biblical scripture. The prophets and Jesus' writings should be understood as the actual words of God. All else is from mans interpretation.
2 Peter 1:20Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding,h21or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.
Even Moses' books would be his interpretation according to the Jewish belief that Moses wrote his books himself. Jews worship him as a God among men almost. But they forget even he was unworthy to enter the promised land.
http://www.gotquestions.org/Moses-promised-land.html
All that being said, this is just my understanding of things. Please post constructive criticism if you feel I am in the wrong. I don't claim to know all the answer, or even a tenth of them.
Heaven
Most churches will tell you that if you are good you go to heaven and if you are bad you go to hell. Or something along those lines anyway.
But where is that said by the prophets or Jesus? This has been mans interpretation too. In fact, the righteous are not going to heaven at all.
Heaven is where Enoch ascended to. To live among and judge the chrildren of heaven. The children of heaven sounds like something you won't hear about in the Bible. But the Dead Sea Scrolls seem to agree that the 3 books of Enoch hold some truth after all. Besides being referenced by Jude the half brother of Jesus.
Jesus also ascended to heaven after his resurrection. And it seems that Christians took this as a sign that they would be going there too.
But maybe in a sense they were right. They just didn't understand what heaven meant. The heavens are simply the space outside of our atmosphere. Enoch rode a fiery chariot to the heavens. Sounds kinda like something else to me...
So then, if heaven is the term used to describe "space", then what were Christians promised? Seems like a new planet, or maybe this planet will be drastically altered. Maybe it's a sort of "mother ship". Here's what the prophet John has to say on the matter.
Revelations 21:21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
Hell
Well then, if thats where the good go, what about the bad? Some believe hell is the answer. I don't think so.
Did you know that every "hell", "hades", and "the grave" written in the English OT were originally either "Sheol", or "Gehenna"? Two very different meanings all merged into the modern day "hell".
Gehenna was an actual place on earth in fact. It was named Hinnom Valley. It was sort of like modern day New Jersey. (Jk guys) It was a place were children were sacrificed to the false gods and and burnt offerings were a commonplace. Eternal fire and maggots some have called it.
By the way it is used in the OT, it seems to be used as a metaphor by the conflicting descriptions given throughout.
Sheol on the other hand is where all dead go according to Jewish tradition. Good and Bad alike(in a relative manner of speaking). For sin is what causes death(besides car crashes and stuff along that nature) and if you are free of sin, you will never die of old age.
Enoch is a good testament to this. He never sinned, and never died. He instead left the earth before the flood to live among and judge the children of heaven.
But Sheol is nothing like an eternal hell. In fact, it can be looked at as being similar to a lot of New Age ideas. A place where the "shadows" reside.
Creation
I'm a believer of evolution and the BB theories myself. Its only through ignorance that many Christians won't accept scientific theories. But I'll never understand how so many atheists and theists alike would rather remain ignorant instead of looking for answers.
Many take it that Adam was the first man. But what evidence do we have of this? Is it possible he was simply the first man to walk in gods ways? It would explain why he lived so long. He and his descendants who would have been passed down Adams knowledge.
Did God not say to Jesus in genesis, "Let us make them like us."? Well, God did make Adam and Eve. But maybe he simply made them "like us".
Is it possible that this was simply the moment God set his long plan for us into motion? To send this knowledge down the generations? It is clear in the Book of Jasher, that during Adam and Eves time the world was already populated by kingdoms of men. Enoch taught all these kings the ways of God up until the flood.
Well, that's all I have for now.
What does one mans ideas on religion have to do with the religion itself? You will find many different views and many of them will contradict each other and themselves.
Do you understand why this is? It's because religion isn't a science. It's our history and people are deciphering it in any way they can.
There is evidence of many biblical events having actually occurred. In fact, a lot of what we teach about ancient history today comes from biblical scripture. Many think the tales have been over exaggerated and that is understandable.
A lot of issues with today's standard Christianity beliefs stem from too many ignorant people interpreting and spreading the knowledge in the bible. They pick and choose. Read only one line from a paragraph. Believe in things that weren't meant to be believed in.
But there is legitimacy to biblical scripture. The prophets and Jesus' writings should be understood as the actual words of God. All else is from mans interpretation.
2 Peter 1:20Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding,h21or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.
Even Moses' books would be his interpretation according to the Jewish belief that Moses wrote his books himself. Jews worship him as a God among men almost. But they forget even he was unworthy to enter the promised land.
http://www.gotquestions.org/Moses-promised-land.html
All that being said, this is just my understanding of things. Please post constructive criticism if you feel I am in the wrong. I don't claim to know all the answer, or even a tenth of them.
Heaven
Most churches will tell you that if you are good you go to heaven and if you are bad you go to hell. Or something along those lines anyway.
But where is that said by the prophets or Jesus? This has been mans interpretation too. In fact, the righteous are not going to heaven at all.
Heaven is where Enoch ascended to. To live among and judge the chrildren of heaven. The children of heaven sounds like something you won't hear about in the Bible. But the Dead Sea Scrolls seem to agree that the 3 books of Enoch hold some truth after all. Besides being referenced by Jude the half brother of Jesus.
Jesus also ascended to heaven after his resurrection. And it seems that Christians took this as a sign that they would be going there too.
But maybe in a sense they were right. They just didn't understand what heaven meant. The heavens are simply the space outside of our atmosphere. Enoch rode a fiery chariot to the heavens. Sounds kinda like something else to me...
So then, if heaven is the term used to describe "space", then what were Christians promised? Seems like a new planet, or maybe this planet will be drastically altered. Maybe it's a sort of "mother ship". Here's what the prophet John has to say on the matter.
Revelations 21:21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
Hell
Well then, if thats where the good go, what about the bad? Some believe hell is the answer. I don't think so.
Did you know that every "hell", "hades", and "the grave" written in the English OT were originally either "Sheol", or "Gehenna"? Two very different meanings all merged into the modern day "hell".
Gehenna was an actual place on earth in fact. It was named Hinnom Valley. It was sort of like modern day New Jersey. (Jk guys) It was a place were children were sacrificed to the false gods and and burnt offerings were a commonplace. Eternal fire and maggots some have called it.
By the way it is used in the OT, it seems to be used as a metaphor by the conflicting descriptions given throughout.
Sheol on the other hand is where all dead go according to Jewish tradition. Good and Bad alike(in a relative manner of speaking). For sin is what causes death(besides car crashes and stuff along that nature) and if you are free of sin, you will never die of old age.
Enoch is a good testament to this. He never sinned, and never died. He instead left the earth before the flood to live among and judge the children of heaven.
But Sheol is nothing like an eternal hell. In fact, it can be looked at as being similar to a lot of New Age ideas. A place where the "shadows" reside.
Creation
I'm a believer of evolution and the BB theories myself. Its only through ignorance that many Christians won't accept scientific theories. But I'll never understand how so many atheists and theists alike would rather remain ignorant instead of looking for answers.
Many take it that Adam was the first man. But what evidence do we have of this? Is it possible he was simply the first man to walk in gods ways? It would explain why he lived so long. He and his descendants who would have been passed down Adams knowledge.
Did God not say to Jesus in genesis, "Let us make them like us."? Well, God did make Adam and Eve. But maybe he simply made them "like us".
Is it possible that this was simply the moment God set his long plan for us into motion? To send this knowledge down the generations? It is clear in the Book of Jasher, that during Adam and Eves time the world was already populated by kingdoms of men. Enoch taught all these kings the ways of God up until the flood.
Well, that's all I have for now.
