Greatest I Am wrote:
Let me see if I can clear things up for you a bit.
Well, that certainly did not clear anything up for me. You seem to have God speaking to Himself, glorifying Himself here.
The below is a hyperlink which more precisely and fully explains the term I AM than I could and perhaps it would hold more authority for you too…perhaps
chicagobible.org/why-did-god-ca … that-i-am/
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When I believed in God, I did not put myself on the same level as God. I called myself a creation/creature of God’s, not one equal with God and certainly not divine.
Why would I choose to worship something which I found to be equal to myself?
I stand in awe of many things in creation. You might say that I worship them in a sense, but they are things which bring out something in me which I almost reverence. At least I am not worshipping the Golden Calf there.
Can you please post for me here the biblical verse for that. I would have to read what comes before and after that in order to “see” what I think he meant by that.
Do Gnostic Christians believe that Christ was both human and divine – I mean as the Second person of the Blessed Trinity or simply a prophet?
I do not understand how you could possibly believe that that is not over-inflating yourself.
I can easily say that I Am because I am - after all, I do exist, but I do not mean it as it was meant in the biblical sense and translation.
So, do you mean it as I do - that I exist - or do actually believe that you share in a God’s divinity?
As an agnostic, the only mind picture I could possibly at some point in time have of God is that of a creator.
At one time, I did believe in a personal God and if I were to ever actually “see” God in the sense that I would know that one existed, it would not be of a personal God. At least this is my thinking but rather than be so absolutist about it, I will take that last bit back. How could we know now how we might think and feel in the future.
You mentioned that before and I said that I would not have expressed myself in that way. If you are speaking of human evolution, sure but I would say that I am in the process of growing up…I am not there yet.
What does being a “brethen to Jesus” encompass for you and the others?
Anyway, your above quote seems to be a pretty self-serving statement to me. You would probably not be so bad if you did not think of Gnostic Christians as the only good Christians or the only good individuals.
I am sure that there are many Christians who do not label their selves as Gnostic Christians who also see their selves as followers of Christ, as his brethren, and who follow his teachings.
So what is this saying to you?
That is pretty self-explanatory. So, does this also hold true for those who are not Gnostic Christians or are GC the only ones who are capable of following this precept?
Maybe you can explain what this means to me. I looked it up and all I got over and over again were the same words in different lines.
Paul could have actually been speaking there to the OT prophecy of Jesus coming down to Earth and becoming Man, et cetera but I do not. Where is Jayson when you need him. There was once here a man with the username of Jason I believe who was a biblical scholar.
Personally, I do not believe in predestination and I do not believe that I was always a twinkle in God’s eye. I was not even a twinkle in my mother’s eye.
I noted that Watts also spoke in terms of a democracy in heaven which I do not think that you agree with since you like to separate the Christians from the Gnostic Christians.
I also think that the video might be better served if it did not have that sentimental gooey music in the background. That was getting on my nerves. If something is real, it does not need that kind of background music.
Some of what he says I can go along with and some I cannot.
Allan Watts, in the video, toward the end pretty much said that the bible ought to be burned. If only certain parts of the bible could be burned, I would say “yea”. But at the same time, there still is a lot of good and practical wisdom in it.
There is another way of looking at what Paul says. In other words, grow up. He may have also meant what you said. I wonder what he would have thought about the parting of the Red Sea.
I might take this to mean that he was speaking to people like priests, ministers, sisters/nuns. I do not necessarily think that John was speaking in terms of actually hating the world and what is in it.
I pretty much remember having things like this explained by the priests during the epistles and homilies.
So, what do you think and feel Christ was saying with the above words? I am curious about the “disturbed” word in there?
Disturbed can mean having had its normal pattern or function disrupted. or
suffering or resulting from emotional and mental problems.
I personally would opt for the first definition about the normal patterns and functions.
I can imagine both scientists and philosophers experiencing that above quote.
[Those who] become acquainted with [themselves] will find it; [and when you] become acquainted with yourselves, [you will understand that] it is you who are the sons of the living Father.
But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."
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I do not understand why you have to compartmentalize biblical sayings into Christian or Gnostic Christian.
But I do not see it in that way and I did not see it in that way when I believed that God’s kingdom was…
I do not think that it is living in poverty to see a “real” world out there, the way that it actually is. But you do have the right to see it your way and I suppose that it is not such a bad way to see it, that is, if you actively help the world in some ways in its ongoing evolution.
I do not think that I see either of those. The first seems to me to be an excuse ~ in other words, what choice do we have but to see things your way as things are as they are, (we cannot go back and change things) and as for the second, I do not see an ugly world but I do at times see extremely ugly people - man’s inhumanity to man - It is also a beautiful magnificent world but it is an imperfect world.
The fact that someone believes in God and believes that God is in the world and in people does not change that.
This is a poem which I wrote quite awhile back. It will give you an idea of what I see and how I see when I look around.
Obviously this statement is true though things might have been otherwise than what they are if we had made other or better choices or had been there when it would have been a good thing. But then again, who is to say. Too many so-called random things get in the way. But I do not believe that we are pre-destined.
I suppose that I can go along with the first part here but as for the second part, I think that that is kind of looking at life through rose-colored glasses although I do realize that we need to live with hope.
But WHY must they necessarily be created for the best end? Do you think that God has it already all planned out? Would that make us puppets?
In other words, we are to accept our fate. We have no other choice. I wonder if we really take this as our philosophy, what part it might play in our sitting back and not doing much at all as far as a future goes. But I may be wrong here.
Just to be sure, the “supernatural” here pertains to God?
Are you speaking of any evidence besides the Universe itself and its workings?
That may speak to the possibility of God but not necessarily to the actual reality of a God.
As for myself, I cannot be forced to take that leap from wondering and questioning and seeing possibility of ~~ to knowing or knowing definitively.
I suppose that I am just a disgrace to the human race. I can accept that.