GOSPEL OF THOMAS (new translation)

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by ThatMan

What's your guess, who are these Elohim? Clearly this is not a word for God if you study the OT. Everyone is an Elohim, take a look at Pslam 82.

I have said, Ye are gods ( elohim ); and all of you are children of the most High.

But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes ( from a higher state? ).

That Biblical passage, "Ye are gods (elohim)", has always caught me attention. I must ponder that more .... particularly with regard to your point that "gods"=
"Elohim".

[inavalan]

Originally Posted by pixiedust

All religions have responsibility for the words that they use, and the formats that they adopt.

There are Muslims in this world of such kindness and peace you could not imagine. Yet there are others who will maim and kill, with the same belief in the sanctity of their beliefs.

You made my point: everybody understands whatever fits their current level.

[pixiedust]

Yes
.........

[GlitterRose]

Originally Posted by Soul Seeker

I am sure of my opinion because I have argued it with success.

A natural definition of heaven trumps any supernatural*Deleted* heaven.

I note you did not even attempt to argue against my views.
*deleted*

Regards
DL

Hello Soul Seeker. I see you have returned.

I also see you are still posting things that are so volatile that they need to be deleted. I would have hoped it would be tempered at this point.

You seem to be touting a combo of atheism/materialism and auto-deism.

That's your prerogative.

I respectfully disagree that this is what Christian Gnosticism represents, and in my opinion, what you espouse more clearly aligns with modern atheistic Satanism.

If that's what you were secretly going for, well then...you have achieved it. But I don't think that's what you may have meant to align yourself with.

I could be wrong about that. It is just a feeling that I have about you.

[FallingLeaves]

Originally Posted by Still_Waters

That Biblical passage, "Ye are gods (elohim)", has always caught me attention. I must ponder that more .... particularly with regard to your point that "gods"=
"Elohim".

it seemed obvious to me, especially after what jesus said about how we would do the things he did, and even more...

now if only it weren't so darned easy to buy into the limitations others agree to....

[FallingLeaves]

Originally Posted by pixiedust

All religions have responsibility for the words that they use, and the formats that they adopt.

i don't know why people idolize words, as if they were gods. They are only fingers pointing at the moon, after all...

[pixiedust]

Originally Posted by FallingLeaves

i don't know why people idolize words, as if they were gods. They are only fingers pointing at the moon, after all...

Because words have meanings, and whilst we can trust that more mature and advanced humans can properly decipher hidden meanings, you can be sure that there are many who cannot.

For example:

Matthew 10:34

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

From a Christian site:

Peace will only be achieved by a short-term tribulation and conflict between good and evil. Jesus tells his disciples that there will be conflict in his name. It would be nice if everyone would have loved Jesus and everything he had to say, just as it would be nice for the Church to be loved by the world, but Jesus indicated that approval from the world was a sure sign that the Church, or the Christian, is not standing for truth and for Christ.

This stuff is why some Christians nowadays are fanatical bordering on extremism, rather than following what Jesus taught [ in my opinion. ]

Earlier, I read some guy argue that he could hit another person as long as he didn't hold strong emotions. !!

Whilst I believe that Christianity has many GREAT words and teachings, there is too much which is ripe for misunderstanding also.

Again, weren't many of Jesus's teachings modified/suppressed? I think Jesus is great, too bad for the religion though.

Originally Posted by Still_Waters

I too don't see any conflict with spending time with the leaders of other religions/philosophies .... as I have been doing all my life.

The Gnosticism meeting on Saturday had 5 or 6 Sufi Shaiks in attendance with many of them being Gnostics and/or Freemasons. There was a wide variance of opinions on the various subjects.

No conflict, I just thought it would have been an interesting discussion between the three of them. One of the things I'm interested in is the 'overlap' of different belief systems, so rather than them throwing stones at each other it would have been interesting to see the space where they 'meet'.

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by pixiedust

Because words have meanings...

Yes, they certainly do.
I understood what FallingLeaves was saying as ...'idolizing words' is different than learning from them and respecting them.
People actually do idolize them rather than 'the thing' they are pointing to.
As in, idolizing the map that got you to Disney World...
rather than placing it now in the glove compartment and enjoying the destination itself.

[ThatMan]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

Yes, they certainly do.
I understood what FallingLeaves was saying as ...'idolizing words' is different than learning from them and respecting them.
People actually do idolize them rather than 'the thing' they are pointing to.
As in, idolizing the map that got you to Disney World...
rather than placing it now in the glove compartment and enjoying the destination itself.

You know, every single human being has a certain level of awareness, some see more, some see less.. The "error" is to look outside when all the answers are inside. No one from outside will ever point someone to the truth, only to their own truth and how can you even know it's the truth what they are telling you? You can't. There's only one place where the truth can be found, within.

Take for example Jesus's teaching on casting all our worries to Him, some people do this, but they don't give their worries to Jesus, they give their worries to someone outside them, as if your worries, who are within yourself, can go out from yourself, it's all within, lay your worries to your inner being, they come from there, let them return there, from where they come.

We can give everything that bothers us to our inner being, you lay there your burderns and your inner being takes care of them for you. How we do this? Turn your focus within, feel your burdens being taken away from you into the core of your being, you can visualise this, see yourself taking a weight from your shoulders and laying it to at the feet of your inner being. To me, it's the chest where my inner being I feel is located. You can focus on the area of your chest to have a tangible place for your inner world, like a bridge between you and the core of who you are.

If the Kingdom of Heaven is within then Jesus must also be there.