We don't need mythology [i]or[/i] religion. Neither, will get any of us to heaven. Religion is nothing but man-made philosophy. Did religion die on the cross to save us from our sins? No. But Jesus did. Man has the mistaken idea that he can save himself from his own sins. Also that he has the power and authority to set the standard of salvation FOR God. He is going to be sadly mistaken when he faces God in eternity. We are all in the same boat. We all need a Savior, who can forgive us our sins. Without Jesus, our sins will keep us separated from God the Father in heaven. No one needs religion. What they do need is a relationship with their Father in Heaven. That's what God said, not man. I think we would be foolish to ignore that. God didn't leave us to guess how to get to heaven. He approved and appointed Jesus as our only Mediator and Savior. Surely man is not stupid enough to think he can save himself from his own sins. But then there are always those who will mock God and risk losing their own soul.
"For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, but loses his own soul?" Mark 8:36
@Imsleepy it wasn't fair that Jesus had to die on the cross to save us from our sins, either, but he did. In fact, He volunteered, because that's how much he loves us and wanted to save us from the condemnation sin placed on us. The salvation that Jesus offers, is our security that we will live in the place He has prepared for us in heaven. That way we don't have to guess where we'll end up. I would be pretty scary to die and not know where you're going, but many don't. But Jesus keeps his promise to forgive us our sins so that we can live in heaven with him. He didn't die and suffer on the cross for nothing.
If god knows everything, it knows where every soul will end up before it is created. There is no free will involved. If god erases your memory of your loved ones that are in hell, you aren’t yourself and again you don’t have free will. Also, in the story, Jesus didn’t sacrifice anything. A sacrifice would have been him remaining dead. Furthermore, in this story, god created sin in the first place, so all sin comes from god. When you look at the Bible rationally it simply does not hold up. @LadyGrace
@Imsleepy Just because of God knows something doesn't mean we're predestined or that he made that choice for us. It just means that since he is all-knowing, he naturally knows as God, what the outcome was. God doesn't predestine anyone. Each person on Earth has that choice to make of where they want to spend eternity.
Why would God create sin just so he could die on the cross to save us from our sins? That's what doesn't make sense and that's not what happened. God did not create sin. He is pure and holy so why would he create sin? Makes no sense at all. Instead, the Bible says that sin was found in our character. We make the choices. Not God.
I thank God that I won't know who went to hell. Spiritual things cannot be looked at rationally because they are spiritual and supernatural, as in miracles, and God said not to lean to our own understanding because we will be wrong in assuming things about God. That's why he gave us His Word. And the Word of God cannot be deciphered, the Bible says, unless you are "born-again". That's when we ask Jesus to forgive us our sins and then he sends the Holy Spirit to dwell in us as a guide and help, so that we can understand the things of the Spirit, as the Holy Spirit reveals them to us. God never told us we would understand every single thing in the bible, but without it, man would be lost forever and surely everyone would be in hell. But he did tell us the most important thing, and that is how to be saved.
I find it odd that anyone could believe that [i]any[/i] of these are correct. [i]All[/i] mysticism, superstition, mythology and spirituality was created by primitive humans as a placeholder and substitute for a real (scientific) explanation for phenomena they observed around them and could not yet explain (say, lightning and thunder).
And those among us who still cling to that past are sacrificing the planet because they believe things like, oh well, I'll be in an afterlife paradise anyhow, so who cares?" as well as "BuT tEh bIbLe sEz I'm SuPpOsEd To MaKe 20 bAbIeZ".
@SW-User I agree. I'm a spiritual person, I'm wiccan and yet I'm a huge advocate for science. I love science and I've studied a lot of science myself over the course of my educational career. In my brain my spirituality can coexist with science. I don't understand how religious or spiritual people can become so self deluded that they deny science out right. It seems so naïve and archaic to me.
I like that it puts wicca as founded with Gerald Gardner. Cause you do meet wiccan that are like "it's the world's oldest religion!" And as a former wiccan I always thought that cringe and thirsty. Lol it has roots that old. But is not that old on its own.
I was under the impression that it was much older. Like you said, it’s probably because of its roots and people saying what you quoted. @canusernamebemyusername
I don't think this is labelled entirely accurate. Still interesting however a lot of what's under Central Asia has origins in South Asia which eventually spread to central. The Indus civilisation is South Asian. Some of what's under Middle Eastern also has South Asian origin, Sikhism for example has its origins and following from Punjab and that's rooted in Pakistan and India
Interesting as an ex Muslim I didn't hear of Shikhism, well maybe in Arabic. I just wanted to point out that it sounds like an Egyptian slang word for shitting 😅
Atenism is on there, WOOT! 🙌 The earliest-known monotheistic religion and a religion devoted to worship of the Sun. If there's any religion I could get behind, that is it. 🌞
@Ducky You’ll notice that the various gods of Greeks, Romans and Egyptians usually related to aspects of creation like the sun, moon, sea etc. These are all things that God himself created. So God rightly calls on all people to worship him, and not the things that he created.
@Imsleepy The real relation between religions may be much more complex. I know, for example, that some scholars think that early Islam derives from pre-Nicaean versions of Christianity.
