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Question to religious people of all faiths

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
This question is to you who follow a religion where a God ask of you to follow the teaching the God gave.

In your understanding is it enough to believe in the God, and you are saved.
Or do you have to follow every little aspect of the teaching, and guideline/rules that was put down, and better you self as a human being, to practice seriously every moment in you day., before God grant you access to what is known as paradise?

What does it take to realize Gods wisdom in your current understanding?
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
Which of the thousands of gods that people believe in? Seems to me you should clarify your question.
The questions is meant to be answered in a way that if a Christian answer, it is from Christian God teaching, if a muslim answer it is from a view of Allah. And so on.

Answer from what God you follow your self :)
 

Reddwarffan

Member
So youd get thousands of answers. And why do you assume everyone wants to be "saved" whatever that means?
The residents of Tanna island in Vanuatu believe that Prince Phillip is god. But I doubt they think he is going to save them. From what, anyway?
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
So youd get thousands of answers. And why do you assume everyone wants to be "saved" whatever that means?
The residents of Tanna island in Vanuatu believe that Prince Phillip is god. But I doubt they think he is going to save them. From what, anyway?
As a religious person i have interest in hearing what other people who are religious, think about their own practice.
And yes there will probably come as many different answers as people who take part in this thread. I find that to be a good thing.
 

Rival

Si m'ait Dieus
Staff member
Premium Member
Obey the rules and you're good, but intention definitely counts. It's considered better that you follow the rules because G-d wants you to, rather than because they seem sensible.
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
Obey the rules and you're good, but intention definitely counts. It's considered better that you follow the rules because G-d wants you to, rather than because they seem sensible.
At more than one ocation i have found my self thinking...why is this a part of what i should do :confused: then the next i think is, well Allah ask me to do it, i might not understand it now, but i will do it, and maybe realize it later :)
 

Kenny

Face to face with my Father
Premium Member
This question is to you who follow a religion where a God ask of you to follow the teaching the God gave.

In your understanding is it enough to believe in the God, and you are saved.
Or do you have to follow every little aspect of the teaching, and guideline/rules that was put down, and better you self as a human being, to practice seriously every moment in you day., before God grant you access to what is known as paradise?

What does it take to realize Gods wisdom in your current understanding?

I look at this with the analogy of the horse pulling a cart.

The horse is faith and salvation and the cart is works of following every little aspects. It isn't the cart is before the horse but after. You don't have to push every little aspects to be saved or restored to the position God had intended from the beginning but rather because you joined with God again, out of love you want to follow every aspects knowing that a failure doesn't ruin the relationship
 
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Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
I look at this with the analogy of the horse pulling a cart.

The horse is faith and salvation and the cart is works of following every little aspects. It isn't the cart isn't before the horse but after. You don't have to push every little aspects to be saved or restored to the position God had intended from the beginning but rather because you joined with God again, out of love you want to follow every aspects knowing that a failure doesn't ruin the relationship
Thank you @KenS i find your reply to be very good, and with wisdom :)
 

Estro Felino

Believer in free will
Premium Member
I look at this with the analogy of the horse pulling a cart.

The horse is faith and salvation and the cart is works of following every little aspects. It isn't the cart isn't before the horse but after. You don't have to push every little aspects to be saved or restored to the position God had intended from the beginning but rather because you joined with God again, out of love you want to follow every aspects knowing that a failure doesn't ruin the relationship

I like this metaphor:)
 

Glaurung

Denizen of Niflheim
Belief alone is not salvific. But neither do I think we can brute force our salvation by the scrupulous observance of rules and ritual. I believe salvation is by divine grace. The unmerited gift of divine beneficence. But of course, in order to become responsive to grace it is necessary to have faith in God and live with moral effort. In my view then the primary goal of religion is to render ourselves more responsive to grace. To the silent voice of God that speaks into our hearts.

If the soul is a mirror, faith and virtue clean the glass and makes it more reflective of the divine light. Unbelief and sin have the opposite effect.
 
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Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
This question is to you who follow a religion where a God ask of you to follow the teaching the God gave.

In your understanding is it enough to believe in the God, and you are saved.
Or do you have to follow every little aspect of the teaching, and guideline/rules that was put down, and better you self as a human being, to practice seriously every moment in you day., before God grant you access to what is known as paradise?

What does it take to realize Gods wisdom in your current understanding?

This question isn't for me, but I figured I'd put in my two bits since the title seems to allow for that. In my faith, God isn't separate, laying out the rules. What he did do is plant intelligence within each and every one of us. So we have varying abilities, depending on soul development, on how well we can use the intelligence he put in us.

There is no saving. There is moksha, or release from the cycle of samsara. Belief in God is not enough for that. The working out of all karma is, and that's done solely through behavior, not belief.

One does not realize God's wisdom, one realizes God. One gets wiser the closer that becomes.

Very different paradigms, and very difficult to understand the other paradigm, as it makes no sense in either direction.
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
This question isn't for me, but I figured I'd put in my two bits since the title seems to allow for that. In my faith, God isn't separate, laying out the rules. What he did do is plant intelligence within each and every one of us. So we have varying abilities, depending on soul development, on how well we can use the intelligence he put in us.

There is no saving. There is moksha, or release from the cycle of samsara. Belief in God is not enough for that. The working out of all karma is, and that's done solely through behavior, not belief.

One does not realize God's wisdom, one realizes God. One gets wiser the closer that becomes.

Very different paradigms, and very difficult to understand the other paradigm, as it makes no sense in either direction.
Thank you for taking part in the discussion, since i have been on both sides of faith in asian religion and now in Abrahamic religion i can understand your way of thinking :) i find your answer to hold wisdom :)
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
Thank you for taking part in the discussion, since i have been on both sides of faith in asian religion and now in Abrahamic religion i can understand your way of thinking :) i find your answer to hold wisdom :)

I don't believe for a minute you understand dharmic faiths. Your saying this reminds me too much of my discussions with our Baha'i friends. Saying you understand and understanding are two different things. Beginning teachers (and some older ones) in elementary classrooms make that mistake, all too often. They ask the students if they understand, all the kids nod, and a week later when test time comes, the teacher discovers that several students were afraid to admit they didn't understand at all.
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
I don't believe for a minute you understand dharmic faiths. Your saying this reminds me too much of my discussions with our Baha'i friends. Saying you understand and understanding are two different things. Beginning teachers (and some older ones) in elementary classrooms make that mistake, all too often. They ask the students if they understand, all the kids nod, and a week later when test time comes, the teacher discovers that several students were afraid to admit they didn't understand at all.
Maybe you are correct.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
Maybe you are correct.

In other discussions, the proof was always in what was said about my faith. Although over two years there was some minor learning, it was never substantial, and huge misconceptions remained. The challenge is that you really have to get out of your box to see it. Perhaps a comparable example is how well you understand the Canadian psyche, or how I understand the politics of Norway. Quite frankly, I don't know much about Norway at all.
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
In other discussions, the proof was always in what was said about my faith. Although over two years there was some minor learning, it was never substantial, and huge misconceptions remained. The challenge is that you really have to get out of your box to see it. Perhaps a comparable example is how well you understand the Canadian psyche, or how I understand the politics of Norway. Quite frankly, I don't know much about Norway at all.
Hindu faith is the faith i know almost nothing about, so in my other reply i might have spoken without thinking. Sorry about that.
 

Sirona

Hindu Wannabe
This question is to you who follow a religion where a God ask of you to follow the teaching the God gave. In your understanding is it enough to believe in the God, and you are saved.

Or do you have to follow every little aspect of the teaching, and guideline/rules that was put down, and better you self as a human being, to practice seriously every moment in you day.

Is this mostly adressed to Christians? I’m no longer a Christian but to my understanding of that religion, Christians are not saved by their belief, because they can’t do anything to save themselves, but they are saved through God’s grace, which is something like a gift. I believe that Christians are to obey the rules not out of a spirit of law, but out of a spirit of thankfulness and love for God and that gift.

before God grant you access to what is known as paradise?

As to how I understand my own religion, you should not love God for a hope of a “reward” such as paradise as this is considered selfish, and therefore no genuine love. The Srimad Bhagavatam narrates the stories of various people who began to serve God in order to obtain a reward, but when they finally saw God/Vishnu appearing before them, they felt so overwhelmed that they began to consider their former intentions as valueless.

What does it take to realize Gods wisdom in your current understanding?

This depends on the nature of the believer. People who like to work will say work is best, thinkers will say that thinking about God is best, and emotional types will say that the path of loving devotion is superior.
 

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
On occasion, gods have communicated to me certain sorts of expectations. However, just because the gods ask something of me doesn't mean I have to follow through with it. And my refusal to follow through with it doesn't mean I'm not "saved" as "salvation" is a non-concept in my tradition anyway. Some of the gods may expect service, but if they expect servitude frankly they can take a hike. Paganisms in general aren't down for blind obedience to the gods that way. Devotion comes from a mutually-desired relationship, not a master-slave relationship I guess?
 
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