Almost all of your posts are in bad faith, so then it shouldn’t be a mystery when I don’t respond to you.

By definition, this is untrue.

...is in the Bible in the same way as The Joy of Cooking is in the Bible. In an effort to be clear, neither is in the Bible.

I generally do what has been done many times over because it works. If you try to reinvent or reimagine the wheel, you get something that is not as good as a wheel.

Of course, one might believe that they are so special and gifted that their ideas are better. We call that hubris. I cannot recall whether the bible mentions hubris. Perhaps hubris is good in the bible.

You believe that Christianity is a game?!?

Your thought is incorrect though (caveat in the next paragraph). If the way has been always available and many have walked in the path of the lord, then they must understand it.

If you simply mean that Christians aren't particularly good at being Christian, then you will get no argument from me. They seem to have great difficulty following extremely simple required directions, such as those mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount. Those that cannot follow simple directions cannot possibly understand.

I’m not going to agree with you that Christianity is simple and is entirely about following directions. That is the entry point for a child and this was the way Jesus taught in order to establish a foundational layer that would spread. The foundation has already been established now 2,000 years later.

The next stage of Christianity is un-organized and solitary. It’s more about the Hero’s Journey and navigating through the story as an individual. This can’t be done without holding contradictions, something I’ve mentioned several times here. Holding contradictions is not in alignment with following simple directions.

I'm glad that you don't agree with me about something I didn't say.. I didn't say that it was entirely about following directions.

It is simple though, assuming that one has normal (non-pathological) human emotions. Love, for instance, isn't really a thing of following directions.

So, your version of Jesus decided to keep the truth secret. That doesn't sound at all like the Jesus of the bible.

As I alluded to, every individual is an individual who lives their individual life and relates to the rest of the world as an individual in an individual way. Don't take this as me saying that we are all special snowflakes, unless acknowledging that snowflakes aren't particularly special, just individual.

Which simple directions given by Jesus in the bible do you believe do not need to be followed?

Where in the bible did Jesus say (or allude to or hint at) that you'd need to hold contradictions? I'm interested in specific examples where he was speaking.

Here are the first examples that come to mind about truth being hidden:

Based on your individualism spiel, I take it that you don’t believe that we have a soul with inherent, universal truths of identity. You are incorrect about that.

I would never tell anyone to disobey anything Jesus taught. If someone can’t reconcile what I say with what Jesus taught, then so be it.

Still, anyone who listens to me and walks the path that I’ve walked will eventually see that they were wrong about, well, everything. Just like I was. We cannot know what is hidden from us.

That quote is about value and cost, not hidden knowledge.

I will (quite easily) grant that most Christians don't understand (or be capable of paying) that cost.. Loving your neighbor is pretty hard. Living to serve others is even harder.

Identity is, by definition, something that is entirely of itself. Try to be more clear in your wording, please. If you mean that there are commonalities, then say that there are commonalities. If you are trying to say that there is interconnectedness, then the correct word is, unsurprisingly, "interconnectedness."

My identity is "Brian." Yours is "Craig.". There are three letters in common, but you cannot be said to have the same identity as Brian.

Since you asked, I am (sort of, kind of) Buddhist. I was once Christian. I do not believe in an unchanging inherent permanent soul at all. When I was less wise, I believed that there was.

That wasn't what I asked. Please answer the question.

No one can walk the path you walk. Again, you didn't answer my question.

Is god not hidden from you? You can't know him if he is, by your own words. If he isn't hidden from you, that's the exact thing I am asking you for as to how you are so in tune with such esoteric knowledge about him such that people on here don't even know what the hell you mean ... until that is, I call you down on that. Then suddenly it changes to mundane speech.

Again, you do not understand what the Kingdom is. What are we aiming at in the big picture? This is about life vs death. Only one side wins in the end.

If God exists, then his will is not for death to win. Assume that ultimately a Christian will merge their ‘will’ with God’s ‘will’, and then throw away your simple interpretations.

Whatever authority you defer to here when you say “by definition” - I do not share that authority.

Not even close.

I believe you. “This heaven will pass away and the one above it will pass away.” In other words, keep going.


What I know and speak about wasn’t revealed to me based on what Jesus says in the Bible, so whatever you are trying to do with that is futile.

All my posts are in good faith, and you're religious posturing is fraudulent.

When you call me a fraud, you are placing yourself as an authority of God’s mind and will in order to determine that. Are you an authority or are you a hypocrite?

It very much sounds like you have invented your own religion with a believer base of one. I agree that attempting to figure out what you believe is futile. If not entirely futile, then at the very least not something I have the will to pursue as my curiosity about people is not endless

The Bible is supplementary. When Jesus, speaking as the son, says, “You are in me and I am in you,” that is true for everyone.

Since the son knows the way, and he is within me, then it’s possible to navigate through the story by relating, following, and becoming one with something within me.

I said your posturing is fraudulent. And you accusing me of placing myself as an authority on god is just proof of how lost in the role you are, and just massive blind projection.

Obviously, I believe you are misguided. That is the one universal truth: everyone who has beliefs believes that those who have different beliefs is misguided (at best). The obvious difference between me and everyone else is that I am the correct one, while everyone else is misguided. Given this truth, you ought do the sensible thing and believe what I believe.

One final bit of curiosity: did this thing inside you direct you to type at nearly no one on an unpopular subforum? I am no expert on such things, but if I were a god, I'd suggest to my followers that they should do things that were at least somewhat productive.

Which is why the majority of my posts are narrative focused. Stating beliefs and forming intellectual arguments against beliefs doesn’t do much, despite what the rationalists think.

We can communicate more effectively to each other through narrative. This is a religious forum, so most of my posts here are about the Christian story, but I plan to use all types of stories/films.

That doesn't seem to be working either. I am one of the very few people in the world who occasionally visits this subforum, and I'm not aware of you telling any stories.

I know how to make the dead come to life. Be patient.

Whoever hates correction is a fool. Whoever spiels like he's a special diviner of god, then accuses someone who doesn't even believe in that god of acting like an authority about it, has let a fanciful self-image override any sense of reality of the situation. We are all teacher and student. But when the truth is being served up in your face, and you prefer fairy tales and a fanciful self-image to it -- they you are that fool.

Ah. Well, if you can do that, then it seems extremely silly to be posting on an unpopular subforum on a poker website.

Also, non-sequitors don't make for good communication.

"Whoever can be led to believe the absurd can be led to commit atrocities," saysVoltaire. And so such things like this jealous, wrathful god slaughtered every child and fetus on earth, is obediently believed to be good by the faithful. Is that the most evil thing under the sun?