PJammer

Assuming standard coverage, non-smoker, reasonably good health.

Beyond a collection of phrases and parables, if I were to get right to the essence, it might go like this:

God is our Father.

All men are God's children.

We are one Brotherhood.

Eternal Life is the pearl of great price.

What do you say? Please base your opinions only on teachings attributed to Jesus (not Apostles, Paul's, Church dogma, etc.)

The obvious answer to this question would be yes. However, I observe many practices which seem to be unscientific. For example, to be approved by FDA, a drug must be proven more effective that a placebo (sugar pill). Why are placebo effective? Why do doctors prescribe multiple medicines with various side effects, when how these drugs may interact has never been studied? Why don't we track the success rates of doctors and drugs, so we can make informed (scientific) decisions on their effectiveness?

What do you say?

I am truly interested in in all enlightened responses. What is your highest truth about this?

P.S. Please use your own words and descriptions (avoid quoting others).

Thanks

I have been good. I have been bad. I have loved and hated. Judged and forgiven. In short I have been around the block more than a few times. Despite my mistakes and successes. Here are my latest and greatest beliefs:

1) I belong to One Spiritual Family, and All of You are included (no exceptions). Despite our faults we really do Love and want the best for each other.

2) Joy, for me, is the greatest experience I can have in the here and now. It is most delicious when shared with another (and/or others).

3) Sincere Thanksgiving is my highest form of prayer, and I have much to be thankful for.

4) I Truly believe we are all destined for heaven! The great Creator has not made one mistake in creating each of us. The unceasing Love of God will win us over, in whom all things are possible.

What say You.

I hate to state the obvious, but I find most sacred books rather ambiguous and very open to interpretation. For instance the Old Testament Bible describes an "angry",vengeful, jealous" God who punishes His enemies (Those who don't do His will). I don't get the same picture from Jesus Christ's teachings (leaving aside the apostles experiences and teachings). Jesus instead calls God our "Father". A Father who loves us so much, that (according to Christ's parable) is ready to forgive a son who has wasted his life and inheritance on debauchery. And not just forgive a sinful life, but celebrate a son who is ready to come home to his Father.

So did God change from the Old to New Testaments? Or did mans understanding of God change. And if God changes, or our scripture evolves, have we been stuck for 2000 years in our last best understanding, only to be destined for a greater revelation?

What do you say?

PJammer

If at this very moment, you breathed your last breath, and found your Soul hurling through a tunnel, at the end of which a bright light asks you if you wish to accept Eternal Life, and in return give only your belief that it is True, ... would you accept it?

And why do so many Christians insist on judging others who have differing beliefs. Christ said, "Judge not, that you not be judge".

So I say let's accept all as our brothers, and exclude no one.

What say you?

I enjoyed "Bethany O's" original question (and answers) so much, that I created a part 2. Please share your story with us. Here's mine:

Greetings and best wishes to all,

I was born into a very religious Catholic family. My mother was an organist at Church, my Father graduated in the first Deacon class of the Archdioceses in Chicago. I went to Catholic grade school and high school. In sophomore year of H.S. I had had enough. I could no longer believe in what had been taught, often in an authoritarian and uncompromising way. I became an agnostic, knowing that neither belief not disbelief in a God who is unseen could be proven. For four years I studied Philosophy in an attempt to fill the void within my heart, it never did. As a junior in College, a Campus Crusader convinced me to read the Bible, and make up my own mind about God. So I went into the dusty bowels of the University library, looking for an original unbiased translation of the Bible. Instead I found a book called Urantia, supposedly written by Angelic and other Higher Beings. After checking it out of the library, and having a good laugh or two over it with some friends, I couldn't help but read it. It answered all my questions in a plausible logical way. Of course, there was no way to prove any of it. In the final analysis, I was led back to God through a personal relationship with the Spirit. And from that day I consecrated my life to the the All That Is, my faith has never again wavered, because it is based on personal experience, and a profound personal choice. My love for spiritual books continues today with "Conversations with God", "A Course in Miracles", http://monjoronson.com,/ ...

I now am clear, each of you are my spiritual Brothers and Sisters, believers and non-believers alike, I will see all of you in our eternal future, all made possible by the Infinite One, Father of All, who can not bear to lose even one of you.

May your Days be filled with the Spirit!