Posts by iconoclastic

14

What did early Christians believe about the dead?

by fulltimestudent in

as witnesses we were truly convinced that we knew the truth about the dead.

they were truly dead, and we often quoted ecclesiastes 9:4-6, our favourite proof text on that topic, to prove the point.

that text reads (just in case you've already forgotten it - smile), (from the niv):.

iconoclastic

Like any scripture in the world, Ecclesiastes too contains contradictions—in one place it says that nothing survives after one dies, but in places like 12:7 it says “his spirit” survives the death of the physical body. This leaves us to resort to our own reason! Danah Zohar, who teaches at the Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme, Oxford University , and psychiatrist Dr Ian Marshall in their 2001 book, SQ: Connecting With Our Spiritual Intelligence, observe that “while computers have IQ and animals can have EQ, it is essentially an SQ that sets human beings apart“. So, for the `wheel of life' to roll smoothly, all the spokes of the wheel -IQ, EQ and SQ -have to be equally developed.

The journey from IQ to SQ represents moving from gross to subtle, finite to infinite, tangible to intangible. SQ has several dimensions: compassion, wholeness, self-esteem, gratitude, spirit of surrender and service and the ego. Handling the ego is a critical dimension. When one realizes that even ego is a just thought, an attachment to a false image what I am not, one leaves out two costumes—gross (physical body) and subtle (ego), and what remains is the real “I” which is capable of being aware of itself. If something could be aware of itself, it could be non-composite. And if it is non-composite, it will be “minuter than then minutest” in form, hence will not be subject to physical eye or scientific equipments, but it can only be discerned, or understood.

Everyone would agree that knowledge exists, and it follows if knowledge exists, knower too exists—and this knower is immaterial (and some are even capable of premonition, clairvoyance … something they get without the help of physical senses)

21

Theory of Evolution and humanity are moving in parallel, and in opposite direction too!

by iconoclastic in

proponents of evolution theory was comfortable with their easiest method of induction that says something like this: i saw a blind man in the us, then in russia, then in australian, then in africa ..., hence all men are blind.

yet proofs are abundant for the decline (opposite of evolution) we experience globally!.

1) most humans declined into greed, the result of which is climate change which has the potential to wipe out all life from the earth.

iconoclastic

StarTrekAngel

Thank you for the very sound observation

21

Theory of Evolution and humanity are moving in parallel, and in opposite direction too!

by iconoclastic in

proponents of evolution theory was comfortable with their easiest method of induction that says something like this: i saw a blind man in the us, then in russia, then in australian, then in africa ..., hence all men are blind.

yet proofs are abundant for the decline (opposite of evolution) we experience globally!.

1) most humans declined into greed, the result of which is climate change which has the potential to wipe out all life from the earth.

iconoclastic

punkofnice

Evolution theory is like fly that tries to fly against a storm or an avalanche. Evolution theory indirectly implied that we humans are the evolute through lower beings (which obviously means things/organisms evolve into something better). Yet history of humanity show otherwise. Most humans worship convenience, and each time one does something convenient, he is travelling on the road to greed. He seeks short cuts. Look the way he turned hunting innocent animals! He started this easy method of obtaining food because agriculture seemed to be too difficult for him, as it required a continuous process of putting forward effort to produce.

Whereas sitting behind a stone, waiting for innocent animals to come along, and destroying and eating them seemed to be the easier way! The food we eat and the thoughts and actions that spring forth from us have a distinct relationship. ‘Garbage in, garbage out’ seems to be true of our bodies too. If you put toxic food, or garbage, into your system, the texture of your thoughts and actions has a tendency to become more un-reconciling, selfish, less concerned for others, and lusty -and potentially dangerous to society. Did vegetarians evolving into non-vegetarians help? Did it bring any better results?

You say you do not understand my post. One day what the NASA’s scientists warn will come true: “New Statistics Warn that Global Sea Levels Continue to Rise At An Alarming Rate.” (http://www.piercepioneer.com/new-statistics-warn-that-global-sea-levels-continue-to-rise-at-an-alarming-rate/45600) That day, you will also ponder over in the same line as I did!

21

Theory of Evolution and humanity are moving in parallel, and in opposite direction too!

by iconoclastic in

proponents of evolution theory was comfortable with their easiest method of induction that says something like this: i saw a blind man in the us, then in russia, then in australian, then in africa ..., hence all men are blind.

yet proofs are abundant for the decline (opposite of evolution) we experience globally!.

1) most humans declined into greed, the result of which is climate change which has the potential to wipe out all life from the earth.

iconoclastic

Billyblobber

What the school biology books say may be true, and understandable. But what is not understandable is what they are interpret through the supposed proofs. This is the reason why we find some scientists who do not believe the theory of evolution.

21

Theory of Evolution and humanity are moving in parallel, and in opposite direction too!

by iconoclastic in

proponents of evolution theory was comfortable with their easiest method of induction that says something like this: i saw a blind man in the us, then in russia, then in australian, then in africa ..., hence all men are blind.

yet proofs are abundant for the decline (opposite of evolution) we experience globally!.

1) most humans declined into greed, the result of which is climate change which has the potential to wipe out all life from the earth.

iconoclastic

Proponents of evolution theory was comfortable with their easiest method of induction that says something like this: “I saw a blind man in the US, then in Russia, then in Australian, then in Africa ..., hence all men are blind.”

Yet proofs are abundant for the decline (opposite of evolution) we experience globally!

1) Most humans declined into greed, the result of which is climate change which has the potential to wipe out all life from the earth. July 2015 was the hottest month in recorded history.(http://www.cbsnews.com/news/july-2015-was-hottest-month-on-record-globally/) Global recession (another effect of greed) that started in 2008 is now all set to assume the size of a global tornado!

2) Religions (from religare, “reunite”) declined into divisiveness!

3) When people were told to sacrifice the beast called ego, they declined into the easier option of sacrificing a literal animal (followed by eating its flesh too)

4) Human body too is on the reverse gear with deadly disease being on the increase (https://agenda.weforum.org/2013/09/how-to-stop-the-rise-of-deadly-new-diseases/)

5) Bible correctly foretold a global moral decline (the very opposite of evolution) in 2 Timothy 3:1-5

All the scientific achievements we have made so far is the result of various combinations we have tried with properties of various elements of nature, most of which came with their ill-effects too, thus neutralizing all the supposed benefits—hardly an evolution from good to better.

12

The salvation paradox

by OverlappingGeneralizations in

another thing that has bothered me-.

if the righteous and the unrighteous will be resurrected, and will have the same chance at paradise as the hard-core dubs, what was the point of being hard core?

i know the point used to be "well, armageddon is gonna happen this weekend, and you'll survive and they won't!

iconoclastic

There cannot be salvation.

If you are able to be self-aware, it means you have a non-composite identity/entity behind the details called your physical body.

If it is non-composite, it is obviously not subject to disintegration, hence eternal—it can only live forever whether here on earth through different births or somewhere else. Where and how matters not—let that be a surprise!

20

If God exists ....

by iconoclastic in

if god exists, he must be a god of freedom.

because he has endowed us with free-will, and never interferes with it (as confirmed by our own experiences).

that means he wants everyone to make their choice and reap the fruits accordingly.

iconoclastic

The Rebel

Free-will and fate are two sides of the same coin—you are free to do whatever you like, but are not free to reject its fruits!

9

Public Prayers - Scriptural?

by OverlappingGeneralizations in

something that has always been a pet peeve of mine- public prayers.

is that even scriptural?

i know many churches (along with the jws) do it.

iconoclastic

All prayers originated from the misplaced belief that we are beggars: “your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Mathew 6:8) and insult God who is the very epitome of goodness (Mark 10:18)

20

If God exists ....

by iconoclastic in

if god exists, he must be a god of freedom.

because he has endowed us with free-will, and never interferes with it (as confirmed by our own experiences).

that means he wants everyone to make their choice and reap the fruits accordingly.

iconoclastic

All your various responses confirm the very first sentence of the excerpt (“The people of various tendencies can only be accommodated into the corresponding phases of cyclic history”). A God who accommodates every variety of people is easily understandable.

People make various remarks about God because they are disappointed at the way religions portray God and the hypocrisy of the believers.

20

If God exists ....

by iconoclastic in

if god exists, he must be a god of freedom.

because he has endowed us with free-will, and never interferes with it (as confirmed by our own experiences).

that means he wants everyone to make their choice and reap the fruits accordingly.

iconoclastic

If God exists, He must be a God of freedom. Because He has endowed us with free-will, and never interferes with it (as confirmed by our own experiences). That means He wants everyone to make their choice and reap the fruits accordingly. This means many would choose as they like—bringing varying degree of goodness and badness, and God will naturally be impartial to everyone. This would mean the following:

1) God will have nothing to do if everyone makes right choices which safeguards the harmony within and without, or

2) God will have to recreate ideal situation if things go to the worst.

With this introduction, my friend sent me an interesting excerpt from one spiritual magazine he read this week, and it goes like:

“The people of various tendencies can only be accommodated into the corresponding phases of cyclic history. Each cycle of history runs like a special ship, a mammoth ship, which has 84 decks/floors numbered in descending order—first on top (smallest) and 84th (largest) being on the entrance floor, and it has a circular route around the globe. This ship is special in one more sense too that it starts the journey by taking a very few chosen travelers from the starting point putting them in the first floor (top-most floor), and when it reaches the second port, some more people will board but into the second floor and in which travelers from the first floor will also join; and when it reaches the third port, some more people will board but into the third floor, in which all people from the second floor will also join; thus when it reaches the 84th port, it will be fully crowded with all the passengers as everyone changed only the floor, but did not go out of the ship.

The higher the floor, the more the facilities and comforts will be and vice versa. First 20 floors are reserved for the people whose character is like that of gods and goddesses whose highlight is altruism. And the remaining 63 floors are for those who are passionately seeking personal gains in all their actions and for those who are always complaining never getting satisfied over anything. And finally when the time comes they are all together in the 84th floor, the Captain (God) takes measures to restore and rejuvenate the condition of the ship and of the passengers. And as they remember their past glorious journey, the souls resolve to recreate their original pure and divine state which will enable them to restart their journey as gods and goddesses.

In this journey, the good people take births in the good phase (first half of the cycle of history) number-wise—according to one’s merit and time, and will continue to take birth in the successive phases too. The mediocre people take birth in the mediocre phase (first part of the second half of the cycle of history) number-wise, and will continue to take birth in the next phase also. The selfish people take birth in the last phase (last part of the second half of the cycle of history) numberwise. Such a sketch of history ensures that good people are available throughout the cycle of history!

Thus the sketch of the history of mankind is such that people who have karmic accounts to be settled will come together again at the appropriate place and time. There is, in fact, no such thing as accident. Everything that happens to us happens by the Cause-and-Effect principle and not by chance. Hence there is nothing to be worried over receiving the unpleasant, and nor to be elated over receiving the pleasant. There is nothing to feel personal in any happening as everything is just ONE THING LEADING TO THE OTHER. Once an action is performed, it is like a seed planted—its sprouting, growth and fruition are absolutely certain—something the forces of nature will do meticulously precise in its own time and its own way. Once convinced of this, one can live in peace and freedom as he knows whatever happened or is happening to him is the fruit of what he sowed in the past, and what he does now will definitely have its appropriate fruits in the future. Hence, it allows one to be very passionate about all his duties and dispassionate about their results–which means one should add fullness to whatever one is doing now which would make every moment of his life joyful.”

I found this interesting, hence thought of sharing with you!