The Name of God

[Thief]

Biblical accuracy is an oxymoron in many cases.

For example, Mark 9:17-18 "17 ...Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute;18 and whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.”

According to those anonymous, Gospel authors, Jesus exorcised a demon. Jesus even acknowledged the "evil spirit." Unfortunately those authors did not have a clue what epilepsy was. Back then, when something could not be explained they defaulted to the supernatural. Sorry, but the Bible is not pure truth, 100% literal, and inerrant.

was the Carpenter able to remedy the ailment?

 

[Hong Xiuquan]

was the Carpenter able to remedy the ailment?

Neo Deist didn't read the rest of the story. The full story is Mark 9:14-29. It was not epilepsy in this case. Jesus cast the demon out. It left and the boy was healed. According to a non-religious medical practitioner today, they would say the boy was deaf and dumb, with mental problems. See verse 25.

 

[Neo Deist]

Neo Deist didn't read the rest of the story. The full story is Mark 9:14-29. It was not epilepsy in this case. Jesus cast the demon out. It left and the boy was healed. According to a non-religious medical practitioner today, they would say the boy was deaf and dumb, with mental problems. See verse 25.

I beg to differ, as I have studied the Bible backwards and forwards for 35+ years.

It was epilepsy. If you were in the medical field and saw the symptoms, you would immediately recognize what was going on.

It was not a demon. Demons don't exist. There are not any supernatural, invisible, boogeymen lurking in the shadows.

 

[Neo Deist]

was the Carpenter able to remedy the ailment?

According to the anonymous, hearsay writing authors trying desperately to keep the dream alive, yes.

 

[Thief]

I beg to differ, as I have studied the Bible backwards and forwards for 35+ years.

It was epilepsy. If you were in the medical field and saw the symptoms, you would immediately recognize what was going on.

It was not a demon. Demons don't exist. There are not any supernatural, invisible, boogeymen lurking in the shadows.

if you have no belief in life after death.....your post would be true

if there is life after death (I think so)....then there may be polar viewpoints
Someone with intent of good
Someone else with intent of harm

believers lean to such extremes as the oncoming and ongoing scheme of things

and it is written.....
He (the devil) shall be at your heel

 

[paarsurrey]

Neo Deist said: ↑
All of the holy texts that make up the world's dominant religions were written centuries ago, prior to the invention of telescopes, satellites, space shuttles, cosmic probes and planetary rovers. To those people, the sky was merely a canopy over the earth, and the stars were tiny dots glowing within. Little did they know that those stars are so far away that it takes light years to reach them, and that some of them are so massive that they would cover the distance from our sun to Mars. They had no concept of how enormous the universe really is. Many believed in geocentricity, or that the earth was the center of God's creation.
Which leads me to the next part of this topic; the name of God. Obviously the various earth bound cultures and religions have (or had) different names for their chief deity: Ra, Zeus, Odin, Bhagahan, Tawa, Tunkanshila, Akal Purakh, Adonai, Yahweh, Allah, Elohim, Ahura Mazda, etc. Every single one of these is culture bound and reflects a certain area of the world and/or time period.
Let's stop and think outside of the box for a minute. Those names are all man made, based on the culture/language. But what would a being from the planet Neburius (random, made up name) call God? Obviously and most likely, they do not speak any earth bound language. It could be "Kre-a-kahz-phut" for all we know.
I say that because our tiny planet is one of hundreds of BILLIONS upon BILLIONS in the universe. Just because we lack the technology to find life on other planets does not mean that life does not exist. It is only within the past 70 years that we have ventured out into space. We are mere infants when it comes to cosmic exploration, still attached to the umbilical cord called earth.
Getting back to the name of God, I think it is silly for religions to argue over who is right or wrong. Some go as far as to not say or spell out their version of the name. These idiosyncrasies are of human origin, not divine. Someone, at some point, said "you should not do this" and the concept stuck. Personally I don't think God really gives a crap what you refer to "Him" as. How finicky would it be for the Supreme Being and Creator of the universe to get hung up on whether or not someone on earth uses a dash, or draws a picture depicting "Him" in a comic strip. I think God has bigger things to be concerned with...you know, like asteroids on a collision course with planet Bada-wata-hata.
Furthermore, has anyone actually seen God? Does God have male anatomy? The answer is no, so why do we always refer to God as He or Him? Well, because the Judaism/Christian/Islamic culture from long ago was very male chauvinistic and God HAD to be a male, as women were seen as inferior (and still are in many parts of the world). I respectfully refer to God as It, and don't presume to know God's gender, if any.
So why do I call God, "God"? Because I speak English and grew up with that tradition. YMMV.

"We are mere infants when it comes to cosmic exploration, still attached to the umbilical cord called earth."
In other words during all this time lapsed nothing material has changed. Does one agree with it?

Please
Regards

 

[Neo Deist]

if you have no belief in life after death.....your post would be true

if there is life after death (I think so)....then there may be polar viewpoints
Someone with intent of good
Someone else with intent of harm

believers lean to such extremes as the oncoming and ongoing scheme of things

and it is written.....
He (the devil) shall be at your heel

I can't prove life after death...I can only hope for it, and lead a moral life in the here and now.

It has nothing to do with supernatural boogeymen, an evil, arch enemy of God, eternal torment, etc. Those are all man made beliefs that are used as scare tactics and to create guilt trips, all in the name of control, power and influence for the Church.

 

[firedragon]

I beg to differ, as I have studied the Bible backwards and forwards for 35+ years.

It was epilepsy. If you were in the medical field and saw the symptoms, you would immediately recognize what was going on.

It was not a demon. Demons don't exist. There are not any supernatural, invisible, boogeymen lurking in the shadows.

So what you mean is that the story is written by third party person who had old beliefs of evil spirits and demons etc. But the symptoms are of Epilepsy and Jesus cured the boy. Just that people or the Author of Mark thought it was a demon because people who believe it might. Well, even in the current world it happens.

And yes, the symptoms are very similar to epilepsy (Im no doctor though).

I think its a very sound argument and cant think of any reason to disagree.

 

[Neo Deist]

So what you mean is that the story is written by third party person who had old beliefs of evil spirits and demons etc. But the symptoms are of Epilepsy and Jesus cured the boy. Just that people or the Author of Mark thought it was a demon because people who believe it might. Well, even in the current world it happens.

And yes, the symptoms are very similar to epilepsy (Im no doctor though).

I think its a very sound argument and cant think of any reason to disagree.

What I mean is:

1. The Gospels are all hearsay, written by anonymous 3rd parties that were not eyewitnesses. I am not saying that the events did not happen, but you have to take hearsay with a grain of salt.

2. Yes, ancient people had many superstitions, to include devils, demons, a pantheon of gods/goddesses, demi-gods, magic, etc. That is because they were largely uneducated by today standards, and did not have the medical or scientific knowledge that we have now. They did not have telescopes or microscopes.

3. The anonymous author makes the claim that Jesus cured the boy (and others). However, there is not a single Roman account of any of those miracles, even though Jesus and company were smack dab in the middle of the Roman Empire. You'd think that a Roman would have seen all of those miracles and made a report. The Romans were known for documenting everything in the empire to include the deaths of priests, rebellions, battles, elections, medicine, healing arts, executions, etc. There is absolutely NOTHING documented outside of the Bible, that even remotely mentions miracles, divine healing, etc. All that is mentioned is that Jesus was crucified by order of Pilate, a Roman governor.

Why was Jesus executed Roman style? Because he was somewhat of a rebel, causing civil unrest. Pilate made an example out of him. End of story.

 

[firedragon]

What I mean is:

1. The Gospels are all hearsay, written by anonymous 3rd parties that were not eyewitnesses. I am not saying that the events did not happen, but you have to take hearsay with a grain of salt.

2. Yes, ancient people had many superstitions, to include devils, demons, a pantheon of gods/goddesses, demi-gods, magic, etc. That is because they were largely uneducated by today standards, and did not have the medical or scientific knowledge that we have now. They did not have telescopes or microscopes.

3. The anonymous author makes the claim that Jesus cured the boy (and others). However, there is not a single Roman account of any of those miracles, even though Jesus and company were smack dab in the middle of the Roman Empire. You'd think that a Roman would have seen all of those miracles and made a report. The Romans were known for documenting everything in the empire to include the deaths of priests, rebellions, battles, elections, medicine, healing arts, executions, etc. There is absolutely NOTHING documented outside of the Bible, that even remotely mentions miracles, divine healing, etc. All that is mentioned is that Jesus was crucified by order of Pilate, a Roman governor.

Why was Jesus executed Roman style? Because he was somewhat of a rebel, causing civil unrest. Pilate made an example out of him. End of story.

I know that a Christian would not accept this. Maybe if you have a similar view over some thing in the Quran, I will not accept it at the face of it either.

But you are absolutely right.

 

[Sabour]

Well, because the Judaism/Christian/Islamic culture from long ago was very male chauvinistic and God HAD to be a male

In Islam, God has no gender.

 

[Neo Deist]

I know that a Christian would not accept this. Maybe if you have a similar view over some thing in the Quran, I will not accept it at the face of it either.

But you are absolutely right.

I am Christian and I accept it...I am just not orthodox. I think for myself.

 

[Thief]

I can't prove life after death...I can only hope for it, and lead a moral life in the here and now.

It has nothing to do with supernatural boogeymen, an evil, arch enemy of God, eternal torment, etc. Those are all man made beliefs that are used as scare tactics and to create guilt trips, all in the name of control, power and influence for the Church.

better than most.....
so you do good for the good sense of it?...atta boy....

but that won't take away the scheme of greater and lesser attitudes.

in the scheme of superlatives....there will be Someone Greater
and another trying to undo that.....and you

 

[Thief]

Why was Jesus executed Roman style? Because he was somewhat of a rebel, causing civil unrest. Pilate made an example out of him. End of story.

he was executed for a false accusation....King of the Jews

and we are no where close to the end of the story

 

[firedragon]

I am Christian and I accept it...I am just not orthodox. I think for myself.

Well. Ode to you.

 

[Desert Snake]

In Islam, God has no gender.

No gender, and no /form,; How did muhamad even know the message was from the Deity? Could have been a jinn in disguise.

 

[firedragon]

No gender, and no /form,; How did muhamad even know the message was from the Deity? Could have been a jinn in disguise.

Could have been the same with Saul.

 

[Desert Snake]

Could have been the same with Saul.

Do you think a formless, genderless,/?/ , deity that //cannot(?) reveal itself, is more likely? Is it even something that one would want to worship?

 

[Sabour]

No gender, and no /form,; How did muhamad even know the message was from the Deity? Could have been a jinn in disguise.

Muhammad peace be upon him used to see dreams that turn out to be 100 % true. He felt an increasing need for solitude, and this lead him to seek seclusion and meditation.


Prophet Muhammad was in solitude in the cave on Mount Hira. He was startled by the Angel of Revelation, Gabriel, the same who had come to Mary, the mother of Jesus, who seized him in a close embrace. A single word of command burst upon him: ‘Iqra’ - ‘Read![1]’ He said: ‘I am not able to read!’ but the command was issued twice more, each with the same response from the Prophet. Finally, he was grasped with overwhelming force by the angel. Gabriel released him, and the first ‘recitation’ of the Quran was revealed to him:

“Read in the name of your Lord who created -created man from a clot. Read: for your Lord is Most Bountiful, who teaches by the pen, teaches man that which he knew not.” (Quran 96:1-5)


As he descended, he heard a great voice crying: ‘Muhammad, thou art the Messenger of God and I am Gabriel.’


Muhammad peace be upon him hastened home and cried to Khadija: ‘Cover me! Cover me!’. She said “Never! By God, God will never disgrace you. You keep good relations with your relatives, help the poor, serve your guests generously, and assist those hit with calamities.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)

At once, she went to see her uncle Waraqa, a biblical scholar. After listening to the account of her husband’s experience, Waraqa recognized him from the prophecies of the Bible to be the awaited prophet, and he confirmed that what had appeared to him in the cave was the indeed the angel Gabriel, the Angel of Revelation:

“This is the Keeper of Secrets (Gabriel) who came to Moses.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)

The Prophet continued to receive revelations for the remainder of his life, memorized and written down by his companions on pieces of sheepskin and whatever else was at hand.

That is the story of the first revelation through the angel Gabriel.

Source: http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/183/muhammad-s-biography-part-3/

 

[firedragon]

Do you think a formless, genderless,/?/ , deity that //cannot(?) reveal itself, is more likely? Is it even something that one would want to worship?

God has gender? Where is that? Does the God of the bible have a gender?

Anyway, Paul also is the same then. The Devil could have appeared to him if you wanna play the devils advocate mate.

Apply the same standards.