spirituality

[Friend of God]

Swordemen-of-God

Again my poor childeren, Again
Must I put my Head down in shame,

Must I feel your pain,
Don't cry to me for I am free,
Don't cry to me for I am not the one,

The one,
Is love,

A dad to those who are Fatherless,
A lover to the lonely ones,

The one has died for all of us,
The one took my place,
What about Yours.

By John Goddard aka. Angel-Spot1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

God is Real there is no doubt...
Ask anyone and they will have to say yes there is something greater then Us....
So God is real why not the rest?

i couldnt have said it better myself! smile  

[Friend of God]

KanadajinGaijin

Now that's a little silly - even if you believe God works through you (which is a mite arrogant, in my opinion), the work was still put forth through your hand. When someone says 'Nice job!' it's a compliment, and you should be happy! The fact that it was written in God's name, or if you so believe, by God through you, is irrelevant! Someone said something nice, say Thank You, not You're Quite Mistaken.

In my humble opinion.

*sighs in exasperation* who do u think wrote the Bible? men right? men who were overcome with the Holy Spirit! Joseph himself said in Genesis to the Pharoh, that my gift to explain dreams comes not from me, but my God who explains them to me. Joseph gave the credit of his talents to God who blessed him with them in the first place!  

[Iron_Felix]

The bible was also written hundreds of years after the fact. Sure, the manuscripts were there, but they were changed during translation and re writing. Im sure the origional version is much different than the version we have now.  

[Friend of God]

Iron_Felix

The bible was also written hundreds of years after the fact. Sure, the manuscripts were there, but they were changed during translation and re writing. Im sure the origional version is much different than the version we have now.

i have to disagree, the Bible was only rewritten so we could understand it better. i mean, how many people have difficulty reading arameic, or the King James version? *raises hand* i do!  

[Iron_Felix]

They re-wrote it to suite there needs. And believe what you want, but that is true. It was written when the church was at its prime, and so they could do whatever they wanted.  

[Efstathios]

Sadly such is the case.

Do you have any idea how many times it was copied before it even got to King James?

Not to mention that it originated as an oral tradition (Much like Homer's epics) and was only written down centuries after the fact. (This is mainly true of the old testament, the new testament may have been written as early as 60 years after the fact). Even if it was originally inspired by God, it has been hand copied for millenia. Human error has changed much of the original text despite every effort to preserve it.
Some have argued that the copiers were divinely inspired, unlikely and even if they were, would all of them have been?

Not to mention that in the early church the bibles were all in latin and the congregation had to have it read and interpreted to them. This was the source of much creative interpretation, which has since become accepted as fact.

Mass translations such as that of King James allowed for more creative translating and editing.

Through this all you can argue that people knew the stories and that if they were copied wrong people would know. In many cases this is accurate and bibles exist that are famous for containing typos. But not all would be caught, small disccrepancies could add up over decades, and centuries. Embellishments were certainly added.
[/rant]

Uhm.. sorry about that. There are counter-arguements for that, don't worry, you may maintain unshaken faith if you like.

As for spirituality, I kind of follow it in the form of a weird mix of Deism and the santeros that was mentioned earlier. It's a highly spritual, yet still analytical way of living and viewing the world.
I am contstantly seeking truth, knowledge and alternate viewpoints though. I love an involved discussion/debate with someone who is intelligent and barely agrees with me on anything. I will remain civil, but I will push.  

[Iron_Felix]

This here is a poem I wrote about WWI, It proves that there is a God, but an uncaring God.

Trenches.

The flames of the artillery light the pale sky,
Soldiers forced to run into death head on,
The ruthless Machine Guns and Sniper Fire,
Another ten thousand men for the funeral Pyre.
Men praying for death,
Prayers soon answered by an uncaring God.
The gas, more deadly than any bomb,
burned the eyes, and the lungs...
When the whistle blows, men rush to death.
As the bodies pile up,
The generals drink to a victory that was not won.
Death and Chaos for miles,
All that I can see are the bodie piles...
The screams of the wounded
Silenced by machine guns.
Friends, cousins, Brothers.
Together they fought evil,
Together they died.
Together,
They won.
Lest we forget.

- Sean

What kind of All loving God would allow the sensless massacres of war?  

[Efstathios]

Iron_Felix

This here is a poem I wrote about WWI, It proves that there is a God, but an uncaring God.

Trenches.

The flames of the artillery light the pale sky,
Soldiers forced to run into death head on,
The ruthless Machine Guns and Sniper Fire,
Another ten thousand men for the funeral Pyre.
Men praying for death,
Prayers soon answered by an uncaring God.
The gas, more deadly than any bomb,
burned the eyes, and the lungs...
When the whistle blows, men rush to death.
As the bodies pile up,
The generals drink to a victory that was not won.
Death and Chaos for miles,
All that I can see are the bodie piles...
The screams of the wounded
Silenced by machine guns.
Friends, cousins, Brothers.
Together they fought evil,
Together they died.
Together,
They won.
Lest we forget.

- Sean

What kind of All loving God would allow the sensless massacres of war?

Ah, but they provide for this too. You see God gave people free will. If it is their will to annihilate each other, he won't do anything about it.
Some parenting model that is.

Nice poem, btw.  

[Iron_Felix]

If anything, God should intervene and set things right. Free will is a gift, one that we have shamelessly exploited.  

[Efstathios]

Iron_Felix

If anything, God should intervene and set things right. Free will is a gift, one that we have shamelessly exploited.

He did that once, theoretically.

Big flood.

Theoretically he will again. After satan's army kills everyone. confused hm.

Free will is important. If we didn't have free will God would choose whether or not people loved him, the only thing a truly benevolent God can do is give complete free will.
(urgh, I sound like my Bible Study teacher)  

[Iron_Felix]

I know.. I know. But I cant wait. Simply because when that war comes, I will be on the front lines. Simple as that. I will give up my general status if neccasary. I want to fight at the front.  

[Efstathios]

The people in front die first xp

Then again, I would probably want to be in the front lines too if there was any indication I was to be part of this army.  

[Iron_Felix]

I wont die first. I'll be fighting at the front untill the war ends. No leave, no rest. Untill I find my equal on the other side, I know who she is, hell, she's my best friend. Funny eh? My best friend in mortal life is my greatest rival in the battle to come.  

[Efstathios]

That's the way it goes.

I guess it's a bit funny, but it makes sense. Two equal beings will make the best friends, even if they're on opposite sides.  

[Iron_Felix]

Thing is, right now, were not equal. I could crush her in one hand, and her spirit in the other. If the battle were tomorrow, the side of light would lose. It is that simple.