Aaaahh. Three days and three nights have passed since the last post, the dust has settled, and it’s time for me to jump in and resurrect this thread.
To respond to the OP, Jesus’ message, IMO, was threefold:
I am the messiah.
The kingdom of God is nigh.
The way to get there is through Me.
The rest is all commentary and homilies.
What I want to know is, why can’t I just be a nice guy and get there? Why do I have to go through Him? At the factory where I work, we say of such people, “Who died and left Him in charge?”
Just being a nice guy has to include being a perfectly nice guy to every single person who lives. Forgiving everyone who is not a nice guy back, every time they do it. Being a nice guy when being a nice guy costs you the things you want most in the world.
He said that you could fail, and be given eternal life anyway. He also said you could choose judgment, by the measure you use to make judgment yourself. Think about it.
TRIS–Thanks for the advice, but I’ve tried to do all that for a long time. In fact, MANY years ago, in order to be perfect, I took everything I had, and gave it away. I didn’t have a lot, but I still miss my little English roadster with the Ford V8. In contrast, I haven’t even been able to afford to have a car for the last nine years.
But you still haven’t mentioned WHY I should follow Jesus. Just because he said so? That’s not enough for me. Why is it enough for you?
Why should you follow Him? Because your heart tells you that living for the sake of love itself is a good thing to do. Because the world is not a good enough reason, by itself for living a life. Or, because even if it isn’t God, it is still the Way.
I too am a pedestrian.
Ten years ago I could carry all that I owned.
Now I need a place to keep it all, and will have to rent a truck if I have to move it anywhere. Soon I will have a car, as well. Then I will have to have a parking place, too.
That reminds me, I have to get rid of that extra coat. I was not faithful enough to do that before spring. It’s a good thing that God forgives me. Maybe that’s why I believe Him.
TRISKADECAMUS: At least we have SOME things in common. When I moved to my present location 30 years ago, I came with two suitcases. Now, I have too much. Was even able to get a car recently! [I call it my “round feet.”] As convenient as a car is though, it’s a black hole as far as money is concerned. The part about the coat sounds like one-upmanship, but I don’t know; if you’re sincere, I applaud. I still have three coats myself.
I forgot to thank you for putting me in charge. Here are my first orders:
“Listen up, people; drop your religious faiths, and step AWAY from your meeting places.” Now maybe we can all get along.
Oh. I guess you meant I was in charge of me. Was it not ever thus?
“Ok, people, listen up. Re-acquire your religious faiths, and go back to your meeting places. But don’t come whining to me when your internecine warfare bathes the planet in blood.”
Diletante, it is indeed a pleasure. You must know by now how much I respect your father and honor his wisdom. I will do my best to avoid that horrendous trap of evaluating son by father, but I do look forward to knowing you better, and hope that you post more in future.
Well, given an established rate just over two posts per month for the last two years, I suppose you will hear from him again, if you listen very carefully.
He is leaving the country today, in fact.
Tris
“The road to truth is long, and lined the entire way with annoying bastards.” ~ Alexander Jablokov ~
Newsweek reported that there are 33,800 different Christian denominations in the world today. Sixty percent of all Christians today live in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In 1900, 80% of all Christians lived in Europe and North America.
Next question to all those who think they’ve found the true path to Heaven: What percentage of these 33,800 odd sects did you try out before you picked the one you currently follow?
Maybe it’s possible that what sect you “follow” is no criterion for God’s love. Maybe God even loves atheists who taunt people of faith with irrelevant statistics.
Doesn’t answer the question at all, Libertarian. The question doesn’t concern your god’s love, it concerns the entrance exam to get into Heaven. Are you saying that it doesn’t matter at all how you believe, or what you believe-everybody gets into Heaven?
What is your honest answer?
The same as it’s always been. But let’s be clear that “honest answer” is not necessarily synonymous with “answer that satisfies Czar”. People go wherever they want to go, attracted by whatever they love. When you see Him, if you like what you see, He will welcome you with open arms. If you fancy that He doesn’t suit you, you may abandon Him and go your own way.
The “entrance exam” is an essay question, where you write out what it is that is the longing of your soul. And that longing is granted to you. Does it somehow not satisfy you that you’ll get what you want? More to the point, I guess, does it somehow not satisfy you that others will get what they want as well?
You don’t believe in God, or Christ. You deny them. You do so often, and with a lighthearted humor that many are unable to distinguish from disdain and contempt.
Now, just as a logical exercise, assume that you are Jesus and the redemption and salvation of the soul known here as Czarcasm is a very important thing to you, personally. How hard would you try? How hard you make it for him to come to you?
It isn’t a test. Lib and I, don’t know the criteria. We assume that when Jesus said he loves each and all of us, He really meant it. Since Jesus is the Human face of God Himself, and rules the powers of “The Earth, and Heaven” it seems to us that He can save everyone. To Poly, it means absolutely everyone. To me, it means everyone who ever accepts and offers love. To Lib, it means everyone who loves Jesus when they meet. Those are human interpretations, not binding on God.
To you it means no one. From your perspective everyone will die, be dead, and nothing else will happen. All Lib has said that you are right for you. Somehow that lighthearted humor of yours makes it seem like that pisses you off.
Tris
“It was a woman drove me to drink and I didn’t even have the decency to thank her.” ~ W.C. Fields ~
