trying to mix christianity with bits and parts of other faiths

[trablano]

I'm on the road of sincerely trying to mix christianity with other faiths. In my seeking, for example, I got close to Zeus too besides Jesus and don't want to deny this. I also embraced Durga, Odin, the Buddha and others. But I have no good education in this, ie I only know the names of the deities and some stories and that was it. And both my christian friends and the members of other religions say I can't mix Christ and other faiths. I do not want to leave Jesus because he came to me a few times and I am still so much loving him. I wish I knew what to do. Sometimes I do not like the bible because it sometimes speaks in such a language of exclusivism that I feel like there's nothing for me in it. At other times I get out on the other side and see the world-loving Yahweh and the mankind-loving Jesus and just feel happy in this faith. I hang out at tentmaker.org a lot where I learned to read the bible positively.

In the same time I lately get into the fear of death a lot, especially the death of loved ones. Masha Kaleko wrote a good poem about that, one verse reads: "your own death you only have to die, with the death of others you must live".

I also have to say that I am mentally sick. I have schizophrenia. In this illness I switch between odd manias and depressed times. It's all a bit awkward to explain but for example I have believed in telepathy and that I am a prophet and that the whole world is entering a deep new time. I've cried about the wars in Syria and in Africa. I've been so afraid of nazi history that I can't read it anymore. And sometimes I felt pushed into atheism because I prayed and nothing seems to have come from God. But atheism is such a bleak view of life really. When it all ends with death, what's the sense of love? My dad died 7 years ago and it's like he has fully disappeared from our family life. We sometimes recount the past but my 3 sisters believe my dad is gone forever now and that there can't be God and Heaven. My christian mother has some faith in the afterlife but I feel like she is just sentimental lately, she doesn't seem to really believe we're going to an afterlife when we die.

What would you do now?

 

[Lyndon]

Try to be a good person, make sure to take all your meds as you're supposed to, and definitely don't do any drugs or alcohol as these will simply make your illness worse, following this regimen, my mental illness has gone into remission and I no longer have manic or depressed episodes, however I still need the medicine to sleep.

 

[Dawnofhope]

Little by little, day by day. Eventually the small steps become bigger ones.

 

[The Holy Bottom Burp]

Lyndon's advice sounds spot on mate, and pretty inspirational. Your fears will recede if you get yourself into the same happy place he finds himself in these days.

 

[omega2xx]

I'm on the road of sincerely trying to mix christianity with other faiths. In my seeking, for example, I got close to Zeus too besides Jesus and don't want to deny this. I also embraced Durga, Odin, the Buddha and others. But I have no good education in this, ie I only know the names of the deities and some stories and that was it. And both my christian friends and the members of other religions say I can't mix Christ and other faiths. I do not want to leave Jesus because he came to me a few times and I am still so much loving him. I wish I knew what to do. Sometimes I do not like the bible because it sometimes speaks in such a language of exclusivism that I feel like there's nothing for me in it. At other times I get out on the other side and see the world-loving Yahweh and the mankind-loving Jesus and just feel happy in this faith. I hang out at tentmaker.org a lot where I learned to read the bible positively.

In the same time I lately get into the fear of death a lot, especially the death of loved ones. Masha Kaleko wrote a good poem about that, one verse reads: "your own death you only have to die, with the death of others you must live".

I also have to say that I am mentally sick. I have schizophrenia. In this illness I switch between odd manias and depressed times. It's all a bit awkward to explain but for example I have believed in telepathy and that I am a prophet and that the whole world is entering a deep new time. I've cried about the wars in Syria and in Africa. I've been so afraid of nazi history that I can't read it anymore. And sometimes I felt pushed into atheism because I prayed and nothing seems to have come from God. But atheism is such a bleak view of life really. When it all ends with death, what's the sense of love? My dad died 7 years ago and it's like he has fully disappeared from our family life. We sometimes recount the past but my 3 sisters believe my dad is gone forever now and that there can't be God and Heaven. My christian mother has some faith in the afterlife but I feel like she is just sentimental lately, she doesn't seem to really believe we're going to an afterlife when we die.

What would you do now?

It is not what I would do that is important, it is what you should do as a Christian--reject any religion whose teaching are contradicted by the Bible. Reject any Christian denomination who does not base its teaching on sola scriptura

 

[omega2xx]

Little by little, day by day. Eventually the small steps become bigger ones.

Just make sure you are going in the right direction.

 

[Viraja]

Dear friend,

I totally understand your views. You love jesus but you feel his power might be limited in some aspects...

Also you would love to love other deities as well!

There is nothing wrong in these sentiments, although I am a staunch Hindu, I love other gods equally too. Until sometime ago, my home altar used to have mother Mary and also the Kabbah and I used to flower them from time to time!!! But I removed them not because I feared they were or my gods were antagonistic to each other, but I felt praying to others were:

i. Unnecessary
ii. Might make me receptive of the traditions and religions and their ideals that worship them and did not want to get influenced by their views.

If you think you will be impervious to the above 2 points, there is no harm in you worshiping other deities. You see, it is important that you remain Christian if you want to continue loving Jesus and not give up your love, because your love for some other tradition asks you not to, right?!

If you are completely convinced of your unflinching love for jesus, you can, in my opinion, incorporate Sri Srinivasa (Sri Vishnu) or Sri Rama (another form of Vishnu) or Sri Krishna (Vishnu again) or Narasimha (the man Lion form of Vishnu) in your daily practice.

The man-lion god Narasimha, a powerful form of Vishnu, is propitiated by his KAVACHA (a hymn praising him) as 'mrityu mrityu' - giver of death to death. He is a supreme deity par excellence.

This is my suggestion to you! Written only with helpful note because you ask.

 

[trablano]

I'm actually so disappointed by the bible and its literal message that I cannot follow it anymore and want to be more free. For example, biblical christianity or judaism totally reject other gods and make their worship a capital crime and that can only be wrong, I think. Because, other religions have had direct experiences with their gods and to suppress that is awful and against the truth.

And when I say Jesus I mean someone who wanted to save Israel into a religion of love and understanding, and who died as that plan was betrayed by jewish pharisees and later by christian ones. He was a studied and travelled and prepared huge saint but he is not almighty and he did not have a literal resurrection. We all go to Heaven after death and Jesus dedicated his death to make that easier, but that plan did not make him the almighty one. I am against the spirit of evangelicalism and worship the Father in spirit and truth instead.

Thank you for all your kind comments, and may you be blessed in your faith. I hope we will all have a better life in the future and that mankind at large will return too peace after the troubling last two centuries.

 

[sun rise]

I'm actually so disappointed by the bible and its literal message that I cannot follow it anymore and want to be more free. For example, biblical christianity or judaism totally reject other gods and make their worship a capital crime and that can only be wrong, I think. Because, other religions have had direct experiences with their gods and to suppress that is awful and against the truth.

And when I say Jesus I mean someone who wanted to save Israel into a religion of love and understanding, and who died as that plan was betrayed by jewish pharisees and later by christian ones. He was a studied and travelled and prepared huge saint but he is not almighty and he did not have a literal resurrection. We all go to Heaven after death and Jesus dedicated his death to make that easier, but that plan did not make him the almighty one. I am against the spirit of evangelicalism and worship the Father in spirit and truth instead.

Thank you for all your kind comments, and may you be blessed in your faith. I hope we will all have a better life in the future and that mankind at large will return too peace after the troubling last two centuries.

As far as your illness goes, I can only wish you the best. It's a tough problem.

As far as syncretism goes, which is the name for what you write about in the section about religious beliefs, I'm one of those who does not accept the doctrine of any religion outside of what is common to them all. And I feel no need to read scripture literally rather believing that some parts are teaching stories For example, in the Bible:

37] Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. [38] This is the first and great commandment. [39] And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. [40] On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

By my reading, anything that promotes the negativity of fear, hate and so forth is fundamentally not a part of thru Christianity (and other religions).

And I'm not constrained to a particular claim of exclusivity about God knowing the truth that all are participants in the story of the Blind Men and the Elephant.

 

[omega2xx]

I'm actually so disappointed by the bible and its literal message that I cannot follow it anymore and want to be more free. For example, biblical christianity or judaism totally reject other gods and make their worship a capital crime and that can only be wrong, I think. Because, other religions have had direct experiences with their gods and to suppress that is awful and against the truth. [

If God is right, and He is. there are no other Gods. To insist that there is, is lying and keeping its followers in bondage.

And when I say Jesus I mean someone who wanted to save Israel into a religion of love and understanding, and who died as that plan was betrayed by jewish pharisees and later by christian ones. He was a studied and travelled and prepared huge saint but he is not almighty and he did not have a literal resurrection. We all go to Heaven after death and Jesus dedicated his death to make that easier, but that plan did not make him the almighty one. I am against the spirit of evangelicalism and worship the Father in spirit and truth instead.

If the Bible says Jesus had a literal resurrection and it does, He did.

 

[trablano]

Omega, please stay out of this. I'm not sola scriptura and will never be.

Sunrise you are right that love is everything really. But in the bible it becomes more of a chore with the cross bearing rule and such. You cannot be really free in this version of the religion. Especially when love is contrasted with condemnation to hell in the teachings.

 

[Sha'irullah]

Try mixing some Satanism in the mix. I am sure it will be enough to shake up your soul a bit. Kidding aside though just make up your own religion and stop diddling with useless primary religions and develop your own thoughts into a practice consistent with what your believe.

 

[trablano]

Satanism and too fundamentalistic christianity are really not that different. Free chaos on one hand and bad order on the other hand offer no choice but to shun away from both. I seek the experience of the divine. And enlightenment. I think Krishna offers plenty of that in this stage of my spiritual journey. Nobody can take satanism seriously. He's just a symbol for evil anyway, and I cannot choose evil because I've suffered from it and hate it. And I'm impressed by those who are sincerely virtuous and friends of mankind.

 

[DavidFirth]

It is not what I would do that is important, it is what you should do as a Christian--reject any religion whose teaching are contradicted by the Bible. Reject any Christian denomination who does not base its teaching on sola scriptura

This. Christians only need Christ. He is more than enough.

 

[DavidFirth]

I'm actually so disappointed by the bible and its literal message that I cannot follow it anymore and want to be more free. For example, biblical christianity or judaism totally reject other gods and make their worship a capital crime and that can only be wrong, I think. Because, other religions have had direct experiences with their gods and to suppress that is awful and against the truth.

And when I say Jesus I mean someone who wanted to save Israel into a religion of love and understanding, and who died as that plan was betrayed by jewish pharisees and later by christian ones. He was a studied and travelled and prepared huge saint but he is not almighty and he did not have a literal resurrection. We all go to Heaven after death and Jesus dedicated his death to make that easier, but that plan did not make him the almighty one. I am against the spirit of evangelicalism and worship the Father in spirit and truth instead.

Thank you for all your kind comments, and may you be blessed in your faith. I hope we will all have a better life in the future and that mankind at large will return too peace after the troubling last two centuries.

If you don't think Jesus is the Son of God and you deny the resurrection you're not a Christian. I'm just telling you the truth. To deny John 3:16 is not what Christians do.

 

[DavidFirth]

Satanism and too fundamentalistic christianity are really not that different.

Wow, who taught you this? That's way out there, somewhere around Pluto.

 

[trablano]

It's easy to see that satanism and fundie christianity are similar. Both condemn those who do not want to play along with hell.

 

[omega2xx]

This. Christians only need Christ. He is more than enough.

AMEN and AMEN

 

[Viraja]

Satanism and too fundamentalistic christianity are really not that different. Free chaos on one hand and bad order on the other hand offer no choice but to shun away from both. I seek the experience of the divine. And enlightenment. I think Krishna offers plenty of that in this stage of my spiritual journey. Nobody can take satanism seriously. He's just a symbol for evil anyway, and I cannot choose evil because I've suffered from it and hate it. And I'm impressed by those who are sincerely virtuous and friends of mankind.

Dear friend,

Not sure if to welcome you in to the order of Krishna worship (Hare Krishna) but seems like you are gravitating towards it! My warm wishes and sincere regards to you!

(Not that I am happy someone denies Jesus, or any other for that matter, my personal philosophy is that there is only 1 divine - and that he is known by the name of Rama in Hinduism, Allah in Islam and Jesus in Christianity, I repeat, I believe Rama = Jesus = Allah, but I also believe there is no point in mixing faiths because the paths are tailored towards individual temperament and they are not one at the same).

Krishna epitomizes 'pure love' - love for all, the mankind. Good choice!

 

[trablano]

Hello Viraja,

yes I am really gravitating towards hinduism at this point. I even got some spiritual signs recently, such as feeling heart warmth and soul joy when watching Ganesha mantras or already some ecstacy when watching a Krishna Kirtan on youtube. I still venerate Jesus a lot but I'm thinking nowadays that he is more of a big saint than a genuine divinity. He exemplifies sonship in a particular tradition that looks different elsewhere on the world and in other spheres of the cosmos. The bible is a difficult book for me though because I think it has been manipulated or some explaining parts were left out with evil intent. I've had a "spiritual meeting" (don't know how to call it) with Jesus once which was very impressive for me, but not from divine power but from genuine humanity and kindness of heart showing through. He had a hard time in Judea and Krishna explained to me that Jesus did not really want to die but was persecuted by harsh fundamentalistic religion. He decided not to run away to erect a sign among the people that would lessen their fear of death. After death I think the deceased can stay for a while on Earth as spirits to say goodbye to this world and to their family and I believe Jesus was allowed to stay longer as a Spirit being and appeared to many people in Israel. But it was no literal resurrection of the body.

Today I also prayed to Shiva and it was my impression that Shiva talks to the divine spark in us that is a self and I got to know that self realization actually is a duty in hinduism whereas it so looked down upon in christianity. And I'm feeling release in hinduism's polytheism that allows me to "switch" from one God to the other if it's getting too tedious or complicated. I think Ganesha may fulfill that role sometimes providing gentleness and even a sacred sense of fun in religion when you can't hear one of the musical styles anymore or have become too full or too tired of a particular mantra song serving.

What I am curious about, can Jesus Father be the same like the Brahman in hinduism? That would help me a lot harmonizing my spirituality but maybe I'm overseeing something as hinduism has very complex theologies and I'm not well-read in its scriptures yet.

And thank you for the kind comment and the warm greetings, God bless you too and have a good day!