So who do you put your trust and faith in?.
Not who, what: Experience (Trance/Meditation), Intuition, and the Stories that bring meaning to my life. Through that I experience the Gods, and Source.
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So who do you put your trust and faith in?.
The one God limits Himself to being the only God.
“God witnesseth that there is no God but Him, the Gracious, the Best-Beloved. All grace and bounty are His. To whomsoever He will He giveth whatsoever is His wish. He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the Almighty, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 73
AGAIN, why would we need many Gods that fit the description below? Think about it.
“Regard thou the one true God as One Who is apart from, and immeasurably exalted above, all created things. The whole universe reflecteth His glory, while He is Himself independent of, and transcendeth His creatures. This is the true meaning of Divine unity. He Who is the Eternal Truth is the one Power Who exerciseth undisputed sovereignty over the world of being, Whose image is reflected in the mirror of the entire creation. All existence is dependent upon Him, and from Him is derived the source of the sustenance of all things. This is what is meant by Divine unity; this is its fundamental principle.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 167
It is the human conceptions (versions) of the monotheistic God that contradict each other; God remains forever the same.
You just hit the nail on the head when you said “gods proposed by humanity.” The thing is that humans do not determine what God is, God does.
IF Thor existed, but Thor does not exist, he is an imaginary god.
Thor cannot exist alongside the Abrahamic God because that God said there is no other God. Some people think the following verse means there are other gods that God is competing with, but that is not what it means. It means we should not worship false gods because there is only one true God.
Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
The New Testament further clarifies that there is only one God.
1Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
That is why we have scriptures of religions, to know the truth about God.
John 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
To use Thor again: if your God and Thor can't both exist together, then if Thor exists, then your God cannot exist. This means that unless I can 100% prove that Thor does not exist, there will always be a chance that Thor might exist... which would mean that there's always a chance that your God is impossible.
That is why we have scriptures of religions, to know the truth about God. Show me where Thor has scriptures attributed to him, like Jesus has.
I evaluated the Baha’i Faith but I never evaluated God. I was convinced that God exists after I evaluated the Baha’i Faith.
IF the Greek pantheon existed in reality.
I guess you mean what I said “only one God exists because only one God exists. That was not an argument, it was a statement of my belief.
Baha'u'llah wrote that certain religious traditions have been corrupted by man. I think He was referring to all of them. I think the older they are the more corrupted they have become because time has a tendency to change things that were originally revealed.Which ones? What religion? Who are their prophets and messengers?
In my opinion, anyone who thinks they have a personal relationship with God is imagining it. That is what I believe because Baha'u'llah wrote that God has no partners:Sorry, 2 billion Christians and 1 billion Hindus beg to differ with you.
In my opinion, it is not possible to experience God directly, as I just explained in this post:Not who, what: Experience (Trance/Meditation), Intuition, and the Stories that bring meaning to my life. Through that I experience the Gods, and Source.
As I said in the other post to you, #100, I do not believe that Manifestations of God are ordinary men, they are ethereal beings, a different order of creation. I believe their Will is identical with the Will of God. As such, they are infallible because God is infallible.You can't use the word of men (scriptures) to prove or disprove any one God(s). Regardless of where they come from they are wrong, because men will always filter the true intent, for their perceived intent.
I did not have to meet Baha'u'llah to know about Him. What if I did meet Him, I could still be fooled. I can go by what others wrote about Him because I believe it is accurate. His life and His mission and His scriptures cannot be faked, they are what they are.But again, it's just hearsay you're getting from others. You've never met him. You're also still trusting in someone else's stated experiences. He could've been a charlatan or mentally ill.
God does not want to communicate with us directly, it is you and some other people I know who want God to communicate to them directly. So God did not make any mistakes, since God never wanted to communicate to us directly.Yeah, I know your "messangers" are basically demigods, hence why I said your deity basically made a mistake in designing humans since he isn't able to communicate with us directly.
As I said in the other post to you, #100, I do not believe that Manifestations of God are ordinary men, they are ethereal beings, a different order of creation. I believe their Will is identical with the Will of God. As such, they are infallible because God is infallible.
“The essence of belief in Divine unity consisteth in regarding Him Who is the Manifestation of God and Him Who is the invisible, the inaccessible, the unknowable Essence as one and the same. By this is meant that whatever pertaineth to the former, all His acts and doings, whatever He ordaineth or forbiddeth, should be considered, in all their aspects, and under all circumstances, and without any reservation, as identical with the Will of God Himself. This is the loftiest station to which a true believer in the unity of God can ever hope to attain. Blessed is the man that reacheth this station, and is of them that are steadfast in their belief.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 167
Anytime.Next time you want discourse without referencing scripture you let me know.
This is all circular reasoning and you've contradicted yourself in a huge way. It all comes down to you believing it because you want to believe it (it suits you). Which is fine but when you're making exclusive truth claims like you were, it doesn't look good since you can't demonstrate to others the truth of your religion's claims. It's all hearsay.I did not have to meet Baha'u'llah to know about Him. What if I did meet Him, I could still be fooled. I can go by what others wrote about Him because I believe it is accurate. His life and His mission and His scriptures cannot be faked, they are what they are.
God does not want to communicate with us directly, it is you and some other people I know who want God to communicate to them directly. So God did not make any mistakes, since God never wanted to communicate to us directly.
There is absolutely no reason why humans need to hear from God directly; they just want to, like a little kid wants a lollipop. But we do not always get what we want and when it comes to God we only get what God wants to give us.
“God witnesseth that there is no God but Him, the Gracious, the Best-Beloved. All grace and bounty are His. To whomsoever He will He giveth whatsoever is His wish. He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the Almighty, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 73
How do you know that I WANT to believe what I believe? are you God?This is all circular reasoning and you've contradicted yourself in a huge way. It all comes down to you believing it because you want to believe it (it suits you). Which is fine but when you're making exclusive truth claims like you were, it doesn't look good since you can't demonstrate to others the truth of your religion's claims. It's all hearsay.
You only say that because you have expectations of what God would do if God was real... It is all about YOU and what you want. This is psych 101 stuff.Oddly, you and some of your fellow Baha'is border on atheism with how you describe your god, at least functionally. You say god can't communicate with ordinary humans and doesn't want to and that this deity is so incomprehensible to humans. So what's the point? Your deity sounds like a thought experiment and not an actual being.
Again, you say that because you think the deity should be doing what you want it to, instead of what it does.And I stick by what I said about your deity. At the very least, it seems to be playing games by sowing confusion which leads to discord. Whatever this entity is, it strikes me as malicious. I do happen to think that this Yahweh entity went "bonkers" some time ago and started believing that it is the only deity and the supreme being, which is nonsense.
You don't have any evidence. You just writings with unverifiable claims and hearsay. You don't even have personal experience.How do you know that I WANT to believe what I believe? are you God?
I do not believe what I believe because I WANT to believe it, I believe it because I have evidence that it is the truth from God. It does not suit me one single bit, it is a huge responsibility and it means I have to put all my personal desires aside.
It is not my job to demonstrate the truth of my beliefs to others. If they want to know they have to investigate it for themselves.
You only say that because you have expectations of what God would do if God was real... It is all about YOU and what you want. This is psych 101 stuff.
Again, you say that because you think the deity should be doing what you want it to, instead of what it does.
Personal experience is not evidence to anyone but that person.You don't have any evidence. You just writings with unverifiable claims and hearsay. You don't even have personal experience.
You expect God to do what YOU consider logical.No, it's not really what I expect aside from expecting a deity to be logical (as the universe itself is logical). Your deity's system of revelation has caused much unneeded strife and confusion, when even humans can come up with a better system.
Some claims in a book are not verifiable. Sometimes I wonder if you're trolling or if you actually know what you're saying. There's no way to verify anything your "messanger" says. He's dead. Might as well try to verify what a fictional novel says is true.Personal experience is not evidence to anyone but that person.
I have evidence that everyone can look at and verify.
You expect God to do what YOU consider logical.
If humans could come up with a better system, why haven't they?
Strife and confusion was all part of God's Plan, but now there is no reason to continue in strife and confusion, because God cleared it all up when He sent Baha'u'llah. The strife and confusion only persists because most people have rejected Baha'u'llah. That is not God's fault because people have free will to accept or reject what God reveals.
We know exactly what Baha'u'llah wrote because He wrote it in His Own Pen, and we have the original scriptures which have been authenticated. It would not matter if Baha'u'llah was still alive, we would either believe what He said or not.Some claims in a book are not verifiable. Sometimes I wonder if you're trolling or if you actually know what you're saying. There's no way to verify anything your "messanger" says. He's dead. Might as well try to verify what a fictional novel says is true.
How could that possibly be God's fault? It is the fault of the Baha'is who are not getting the message out, that's who is to blame.Most people in the world don't know who the hell this Baha guy is and most of us could go our entire lives without ever meeting a Baha'i. That your deity's fault, not humanity's fault.
Of course humans are to blame because humans are fallible so they make mistakes.You can't "reject" something or someone you've never even heard of! He had a stupid plan and so cannot be some omnimax being. Of course he will just blame humans for his own failures. Baha'is are a tiny little sect that is fairly insignificant but your belief system has an extreme amount of arrogance in it.
More circular logic and hearsay.We know exactly what Baha'u'llah wrote because He wrote it in His Own Pen, and we have the original scriptures which have been authenticated. It would not matter if Baha'u'llah was still alive, we would either believe what He said or not.
How could that possibly be God's fault? It is the fault of the Baha'is who are not getting the message out, that's who is to blame.
Of course humans are to blame because humans are fallible so they make mistakes.
God is never to blame for anything because God is infallible and never makes any mistakes
Where is your evidence of any arrogance on the part of the Baha'is?
If anyone is arrogant it is you because you think you know more than an All-Knowing God about how to run a universe.
That is true, there is no way to confirm that Baha'u'llah got communication from God. I never said there was.First off, I didn't say we don't know if he is the author. I was saying that you have no way to verify if anything he wrote about God or his status as some prophet or whatever was true. You have no way to confirm or demonstrate. It's just a matter of you believing it because you agree with it. That's all.
God does not want to speak directly to everyone and one reason is because God wants people to prove their worthiness. If God spoke to everyone, some of the everyone would be unworthy. It would not be just for the sincere seekers of truth who put forth an effort if everyone heard from God even when they did nothing to deserve it. So there you have it. God is just.I don't really blame anyone. I don't believe your version of the Supreme Being even exists. If there is one, I see no reason why it has to be the petty, inept Abrahamic version of it. I'm criticizing your concept of the Supreme Being. It was part of what you say was your deity's plan, so your deity can take the blame for choosing such a dumb method of getting its message across when it could speak directly into our hearts if it wanted to.
Arrogance means having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one's own importance or abilities. I do not think I am important or have any special abilities. I have no Gods of my own and no religion of my own. I just belong to a religion and believe in God. I did not say everyone should convert, I said eventually everyone will convert of their own free will.As for arrogance, I'm not the one claiming only my gods are real and only my religion has all the truth so everyone should convert to it.
I'm glad.Now, at this point I'm pretty much done with you on this.
It's called child abuse when human parents treat their children in such a way, so how much more when it's the Creator of the universe who is responsible for the existence and nature of all things.God does not want to speak directly to everyone and one reason is because God wants people to prove their worthiness.
Here's an example of that arrogance.I said eventually everyone will convert of their own free will.
You think you are so important that God owes it to you to communicate directly to you.It's called child abuse when human parents treat their children in such a way, so how much more when it's the Creator of the universe who is responsible for the existence and nature of all things.
That is not arrogance. It is a belief based upon what Baha'u'llah wrote.Here's an example of that arrogance.
I don't believe I'm owed anything. It has nothing to do with my wishes. I'm just saying that I could think of a better system of revelation.You think you are so important that God owes it to you to communicate directly to you.
Definition of arrogance
: an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions Definition of ARROGANCE
That is not arrogance. It is a belief based upon what Baha'u'llah wrote.