more emerging thoughts …
Are all Abrahamic religions simply branches of the “Pagan” tree? (the Unwind)
If true … this would make Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code book the equivalent of a fart in a windstorm. 
The Unwind?
The Unwind = Omega Point
When you post a quote, you’re supposed to say where you got it. That lets other people verify the source, the context and the contents.
It is highly unlikely that the Pope said those words in that way. And though not totally unbelievable, I hope that he didn’t state that particular translation of the literal. Too many very informed people know better than to be that simple minded.
Very interesting, and its kinda how I see it. I would add that divinity was around before and after Christ, so ‘the bible’ is still being written. This as if there were something akin to the bible but the universal version of it [history in the akashik perhaps], and concerns all peoples and all their stories too. Religion is shown in very ancient artefacts.
…back on point though;
Is this true; there is at least the set of informations specifically derivative in causal info of the material world, as well as >a given info set of divine/other origin<,. if existent.?
to me the answer must be yes.
The next question concerns application; what percentage of our thoughts and actions derive from that set. Next; what proportion of the remaining derives from the divine. Then finally; what proportion is neither divine nor causal [sets] and is therefore directly responsible to the individual.
Sin I must conclude, is in the material. Moreover in an ever-changing world those instincts are constantly meeting with unexpected situation and events. Sin is in and of the world imho. We inherit it because we inherit everything we are.
The Adam and Eve metaphor may represent [ehem, somewhat archaically] how a soul being born into this world, WILL inherit sin.
_
edit; i think the root of any given evil can be found to be illusory. our instincts aren’t necessarily good or evil, but simply effective. ergo sin itself has no basis.
It being a spiritual belief and a scientific speculation spans the huge chasm between religion and science, but I guess that is what he was going for, but at the very least it’s a beautiful concept.
It is plausible that very ancient man started out with one God and expanded the concept through a growing need to reconcile their place in the world through an ancient brain with a complex world they found themselves in.
Pope Francis declares evolution and Big Bang theory are real and God is not a magician with a magic wand…
independent.co.uk/news/world … 22514.html
If you wanted to create a religion everybody would embrace, how would you do it:
Perhaps make it more mainstream, perhaps invite leaders of other religions from all over the world and make it clear you consider all these religions to be valid as well and all that unscientific stuff about God creating the world in six days and creating man out of the dust of the earth is to be thrown out.
The following are some of the Pope’s statements.
-“When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so.”
-“The Big Bang, which today we hold to be the origin of the world, does not contradict the intervention of the divine creator but, rather, requires it.”
-“Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.”
Really?
Pope Francis says there is not any room for 'fundamentialsm" in Christianty.
He said “A fundamentalist group, even if it kills no one, even it strikes no one, is violent. The mental structure of fundamentalism is violence in the name of God.”
But what is 'fundamentalism?"
A google search gives this definition
“a form of a religion, especially Islam or Protestant Christianity, that upholds belief in the strict, literal interpretation of scripture.”
It would seem the Pope has a problem with people that believe the Scriptures are literally true.
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The source is included in the quote … “now defunct Critic Magazine”
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My source is Rev Roger Karban … I subscribe to his weekly scripture commentary. fosilonline.com/index.php?pagekey=roger#0305
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""Do not be influenced by the importance of the writer, and whether his learning be great or small; but let the love of pure truth draw you to read. Do not inquire, “Who said this?” but pay attention to what is said” Thomas Kempis
The “simplicity” of the words is the “beauty” of the message. For me … words that are served up in exquisitely adorned vessels are much more suspect.
No it isn’t. The entire quote can’t have been published in a “defunct Critic Magazine”.
The author of the quote does not give the issue of Critic Magazine which served as his source.
We are unable to verify his statements.
He does not give his sources either.
Seems to be a trend.
That’s why fake news and fake stories proliferate like the plague. People end up believing all sorts of nonsense.
If people verified the sources, fake nonsense would be nipped in the bud.
Phyllo … you make a very valid point … yet … you also infer the entire Bible … the entire Sanskrit Scriptures … the entire Quran … the entire Buddhist Scriptures and so on … are also “Fake News”. Who can verify their source?
Well, yeah. A lot of people think it is fake. A fair amount of effort goes into trying to figure out who wrote what, when and why.
The bottom line is that you can’t depend on what’s written in those books. You have to be prepared for the possibility that all of it is fiction.
Fortunately, life is not a book.
Yeah … even when we are able to state the 4 w’s unequivocally … we remain unable to confirm the source ergo … God, Krishna, Abba, Yahweh and so on.
Perhaps … yet practically speaking … so much over such a long period of time … in such a diverse geography … suggests there may be some ‘truth’ in all of it.
Really? For me … life is a ‘book’ … with paragraphs(days) … pages (weeks) … chapters (years) and so on. The quintessential challenge is to greet each new day as a “blank page”.
God either exists in your life or He doesn’t. The books are irrelevant. At best they give you good ideas, at worst they give you bad ideas.
The ideas are tested by living.
Make it effective.
Or perhaps, given the right situation, provide the proper understanding behind those words.
That is true, the “Sky Daddy” concept.
As far as I can tell, the only reason that the BB is promoted is to promote that requirement. The BB never happened and God is the reason that it never happened.
That’s true.
I can’t argue much with that, although “not any room” might be a bit too strict.
Well du-uhhh…
Anyone with any real education concerning the scriptures knows that the words were never to be taken literally. A “tree” is not a tree. “Bread” is not bread. “Water” is not water. The book is about SPIRIT, not OBJECTS. And more importantly, it was written for and by people of an entirely different culture, language, and concern than those of today.
A “Biblical Call” is not a phone call! 
JSS wrote:
Futurism
I see that you are well versed regarding Futurism so I know where you are coming from. To those who are not aware, the Jesuits were commissioned by the Pope to develop a new interpretation of Scripture.
This is also reflected in your response. What you are saying is that one should downplay the importance of doctrine and adopt the attitude that Christianity is really a matter only of the spirit, a pleasant fellowship and that everything else is a minor accompaniment.
Which means, if science makes great discoveries, then manipulate the doctrines to fit these discoveries, which is really another way of saying… abandon the doctrines, hence Jesuit Futurism was born.
Bible Prophecy
Human nature has not changed. Man/Woman are the same as they were yesterday and are today.
The Scriptures are just as relevant now as they were then.
The Book of Revelations means to reveal or disclose. It’s purpose is to reveal crucial issues about end-time events and to prevent ignorance about the future.
Prophecy is used for two purposes, to warn and to recognise.
Because Revelation pertains specifically to the end of time, and
because we live in the closing time of Earth’s history,
this book, in particular, deserves our attention if, we want to recognize the signs and know the future and understand what is to take place.
Quite the contrary. Until you learn how to read the book, it remains merely a hearsay, probably wrong scribble. Once you understand what the book was actually saying, you recognized how relevant it is.
The use of metaphor and symbolism was alive, well, and very well used long before the Jesuits existed.
Well, the story says that the serpent convinced Eve to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Thus Eve bore the mark of her sinful nature and to mix what good and evil were. Pope Paul VI declared that this was a metaphor, along with the original creation story, to fit the narrative of modern science and technology. If Genesis was written by a woman I wouldn’t be surprised. At the end of the first Genesis chapter it declares that when Eve ate the fruit she felt ashamed of her body and she and Adam covered their bodies in shame. This is decisively a female issue, as most men, at least modern men, feel no shame when exposing their bodies. Take a look at the frequency of nude selfies by men.
The Genesis story could be metaphorically true. I don’t think there was a talking snake or fruit that bore original sin. However, there had to be a point where people went from being naked to wearing clothes. There had to be some part in our evolution that decisively made us think in the duality of good and evil. The reason why Genesis, and many other parts of the Bible hold true to so many is its first messages. It repeats, “and it was good”, the creation of the Universe, the creation of light, the creation of the Earth. While literally some of it cannot be true, the fact that Christians view it as good and part of divine nature, atheists could adapt, not by believing in a God, but by simply viewing the creation (us) as good. There are too many people who think we’re all fucked, and most of them atheists. At least Christians believe their faithful will at least go somewhere nice when the Judgment Day comes.
Really? Tell that to the hundreds of Christian cults that told us “the end times are coming”. Climate changers/global warming say the same thing. There’s a lot of bullshit on both sides of the coin. Most eschatology stories revolve bad things happening, and everything getting wiped out. There is no hope for these people - both the religious and non-religious. Most people don’t see what’s really going on, save for a few exceptions like Teilhard, Rothblatt and Kurzweil who understand the “big picture”. Many Christians will say these people are part of the Illuminati, such fools they are. It’s people like them that will help us save our future, our lives and our image. I would contend that The Phenomenon of Man or The Singularity Is Near and the Lifeboat Foundation do more for people and are more relevant in our modern and future ages than any book written literally thousands of years ago.
Shameless plugs, eh…