This is mainly an academic endeavor... I have no dog in the fight. I just like learning things. And partly, ok largely, prompted by the recent Abrahamic God threads.
Backstory: I was raised Catholic, left Catholicism and joined the Eastern Orthodox Church when I was 23 years old. I remained Orthodox for about the next 10 years, though I faded away from it. The theology and cosmology just didn’t make sense to me anymore. I took a few side trips through Agnosticism, Deism, Agnostic Deism, Coastinginneutralism (meaning I was apathetic) for a good 10 years, finally landing in Hinduism. This is my last stop.
I was raised on the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament. I was pretty devout, even as a kid, going to Mass regularly by myself and with my friends. We lived in Vailsburg section of Newark, where our church was walking distance. I liked Jesus but I was terrified of God. I feared going to Hell for every f-bomb I launched, every time I did what most 13 year olds boys do (I swear the priests in the confessionals knew my voice), every time I missed Mass. This is what we were taught... that God is judge, jury and executioner, not necessarily in that order.
As I got older I came to the conclusion there had to be two Gods, or one bipolar God (yeeks! ). The God of the Old Testament that we knew, or was taught, was that jealous, angry, vengeful, genocidal God. The one to condemn a wayward soul to burn in Hell for eternity. Not a nice fellow a’tall. And then there is the God Jesus talked about... a loving father who feeds even the birds. The father Jesus told his audience “Who among you would give your child a serpent instead of a fish, or a stone instead of bread? So, if as evil as you are, you give good things to your children, how much more good things will your father in Heaven give you?” But this God was never really publicized.
If you’re still with me, or awake...
My questions to Christians, Muslims, Baha’is (I can never spell it right), and especially Jews because after all, he was their God first...
In my best Linda Richman, “Talk amongst ya selves”.
Backstory: I was raised Catholic, left Catholicism and joined the Eastern Orthodox Church when I was 23 years old. I remained Orthodox for about the next 10 years, though I faded away from it. The theology and cosmology just didn’t make sense to me anymore. I took a few side trips through Agnosticism, Deism, Agnostic Deism, Coastinginneutralism (meaning I was apathetic) for a good 10 years, finally landing in Hinduism. This is my last stop.
I was raised on the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament. I was pretty devout, even as a kid, going to Mass regularly by myself and with my friends. We lived in Vailsburg section of Newark, where our church was walking distance. I liked Jesus but I was terrified of God. I feared going to Hell for every f-bomb I launched, every time I did what most 13 year olds boys do (I swear the priests in the confessionals knew my voice), every time I missed Mass. This is what we were taught... that God is judge, jury and executioner, not necessarily in that order.
As I got older I came to the conclusion there had to be two Gods, or one bipolar God (yeeks! ). The God of the Old Testament that we knew, or was taught, was that jealous, angry, vengeful, genocidal God. The one to condemn a wayward soul to burn in Hell for eternity. Not a nice fellow a’tall. And then there is the God Jesus talked about... a loving father who feeds even the birds. The father Jesus told his audience “Who among you would give your child a serpent instead of a fish, or a stone instead of bread? So, if as evil as you are, you give good things to your children, how much more good things will your father in Heaven give you?” But this God was never really publicized.
If you’re still with me, or awake...
My questions to Christians, Muslims, Baha’is (I can never spell it right), and especially Jews because after all, he was their God first...
- How do you reconcile the two disparate natures and personalities of God from Old Testament to New Testament? (that’s mainly for the Christians, but others are free to weigh in).
- How do Jews actually see God, given the not-so-nice stories of smiting, knocking down cities and killing the inhabitants right down to the children (Jericho)? Afaik Jews worship the God more like the one Jesus spoke of.
In my best Linda Richman, “Talk amongst ya selves”.