Ex Nihilo

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  1. Cannibalism

    in * Welcome - ULC Minister's Introduction Junction *

    Posted · Edited by Rev'd Rattlesnake

    This might be comparable to the American Indian Church that has a dispensation from the government to use Peyote.

    If there were actually a church group that practiced canibalism as a sacrament -- they might well petition the government for permission to practice their rite, only among their own group. After that, it would be up to the government and the courts.

    I can't predict the outcome. A Jamaican church was refused the rite of ganga.

    :)

    I've had to do a little research on this for work. The courts, thus far, have rejected any expansion of the sacred use peyote to any other group or apply it to any other drug. And barring some radical shift in the court's reasoning this will remain the case. (caveat: my research is a couple of years old and primarily dealt with it's application to the sacred use of cannabis).

  3. Pagan Origin Of Christmas

    in Earth/Nature-Based & Indigenous Religions

    Posted

    I enjoy Christmas. It is a time that liberates me from the tensions of daily life, just like any other special celebration. It matters not if its origins are Pagan or not, it is a joyful time of the year. To be honest, I do not think that God has established any holidays. I think that we can have sacred celebrations in any time of the year. Why must we limit ourselves?

    Hermano Luis

    I dig it Hermano

  5. Pagan Origin Of Christmas

    in Earth/Nature-Based & Indigenous Religions

    Posted · Edited by Rev'd Rattlesnake

    For me, mixing Hebrew God's instructions to Pagan customs is a BIG NO, NO. Why dont they just continue to follow the original Feast of the Hebrews?

    Constantine Romanized Christianity with Paganism and it must never meant to be. In my opinion, the Hebrew God doesnt like to be worship in pagan way .

    Yet people are celebrating on a wrong date! They are celebrating the Birth and Resuurection of Yeshua on a wrong date so their praise and worsip are still useless...

    I agree He didnt destroy the old so we are still expected to obey the Torah (Old Law). I do not want to speak against the Torah however, salvation does not come through obedience of the Torah but through the resurrection of Yeshua. But even though salvation does not come through obedience of the Torah, we are still responsible to obey it because trying to Trying to OBEY and HONOR Christ, WITHOUT the commandments (including the festivals, feasts, and appointed times) of our Creator, is impossible. Since YESHUA is the Word (TORAH ) that became FLESH! So if you reject Torah (WORD) you also rejects Yeshua/Jesus.OBEY the commandments (including the festivals, feasts, and appointed times) of our Creator, WITHOUT Christ, is impossible.

    Does it make sense?

    Alright just for a clarification, I am spaeking to those Christ followers not to the heathens.

    Interesting points Nealocampo. I think you are arguing two issues here: 1) you are saying that Christians are obligated to celebrate the holy days and festivals of the Torah and should abstain from other feasts which developed in the church over time and which replaced older pagan holidays; and 2) you are saying more broadly that Christians, including “gentile” Christians, must follow the Torah along with the obeying Christ under the new covenant.

    I will start with the second issue. The Torah, made up of 613 laws, is what I and many Christians refer to as the Old Covenant. It was the law given by Moses to the people of Israel. It is invaluable to us and to all people because it convicts us of our sin and shows us our need for a savior. A great debt is owed to God’s chosen people for keeping the law and preserving the seed of David from which Jesus came according to the flesh. But the Law was a means to an end, not the end itself: “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves” (Heb 10:1). And that good thing, that savior, came in the person of Jesus Christ. In the Gospel of St. Matthew, Jesus is recorded as saying “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Mt. 5:17-18).

    How does he accomplish the fulfillment of the Law? He, the sinless one, gave himself as a sacrifice for us sinners by being crucified. He even drove this point home with his final words before dying: “he said, ‘It is accomplished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (Jn 19:30).

    How do we know this accomplished the fulfillment of the Mosaic Law? We have it from the highest authority. Christ himself, when he was risen, returned to his disciples and gave them understanding of the scriptures: He said to them, “’These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.’ And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Lk 24:44-47).

    In its place, Christ instituted a New Covenant. He showed this at the Last Supper: “In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you’” (Lk 22:20). This new covenant is one of grace through faith in the finished work of Christ and not of works of law.

    And what of the old covenant? Paul, in his letter to the Hebrews, speaks of the effect of Christ’s new covenant: “By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear” (Heb 8:13). Sadly, this proved all to true with the destruction of the Temple a few years later. Now, considering that it has been said that nearly half of those 613 laws required both a Tabernacle and a Levitical priesthood to satisfy, I wonder how Torah followers consider themselves fulfilling the requirements of the Law when the temple system ended and the priesthood was replaced with a rabbinate. Alternatively, Christians believe, as taught in Hebrews 7, that a new priesthood and a new law and a new true tabernacle replaced the old: “For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also” (Heb 7:12). Christ himself is the new and everlasting high priest, interceding on our behalf in the presence of the Father in the heavenly Tabernacle.

    Are we supposed to go back and embrace the old Law? The apostles said no. Acts 15 records the Council of Jerusalem where the Apostles and elders got together to determine whether gentile believers had to fulfill the Torah along with the New Covenant ordinances, they wrote this letter to gentile believers:

    “To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings. We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization [those preaching that gentile believers had to be circumcised before being baptized] and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said…It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.” That’s not very much of the Torah.

    And this brings me to your first argument, I’ll concede that I am bound as a Christian to what is often referred to the moral law of the old covenant like the Ten commandments, but not because it is part of the Torah, but because Christ told me to follow it (as clarified by his teachings like the Sermon on the Mount, the Summary of the Law, and the Golden Rule) as part of the new covenant. But I am not under obligation to observe ceremonial or civil laws. Their meaning and importance has disappeared for many Christians. This is echoed by St. Paul in Colossians “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” So now we have, as a church, created new festivals. Just as much shadows but just as good to point to the reality of Christ for the faithful. Does that mean you shouldn’t observe those festivals? I don’t think so. But I also think it means you cannot require it and you certainly shouldn’t judge those who choose not to participate.

    You speak of the Hebrew God, but I think that is a little limiting. The God and Father of Jesus Christ, is no longer the God of just the Hebrews. He is God for all nations, and in Christ, all nations are one: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28). But all this is my opinion and, as St. Paul says, we all see but dimly.

  6. Pagan Origin Of Christmas

    in Earth/Nature-Based & Indigenous Religions

    Posted · Edited by Rev'd Rattlesnake

    Personally, I look at these holidays as part of the uniquely Gregorian heritage Christians have. In sending Saint Augustine of Canterbury to England to convert the pagans there, Pope Gregory the Great showed. imho, a very progressive and tolerant attitude in converting the peoples. Rather than destroy the old ways entirely, he wanted to reform them, keep what was good, and incorporate them into the new Christian lives of the converts. He said, "Do not destroy pagan temples, but convert them to Christian use so that the people will feel more comfortable coming there...If the people insist on sacrificing an animal, let them do it – just so long as they sacrifice it to God.” I see this as a very forward thinking idea for his time. Thus, following that format, the meaning of Easter is changed to the day celebrating Our Lord's glorious Resurrection, Saturnalia becomes Christmas, Samhain becomes All Hallow's Eve, and on and on. Christmas trees become symbols of the trinity. Easter eggs become symbolic of the new life washed in the blood of Christ. Perhaps for the purist, these days are tainted by a heathen past. But for me, Resurrection Sunday points to the same event whether its called Easter or Pascha. Either way, Jesus opened the door to eternal life for all. Does the miracle of the incarnation of God in the flesh of a little palestinian Jewish baby somehow get diminished because Christians celebrate it on December 25 rather than April 17 (the day the Discovery Channel reported as Jesus' actual birthday)? Either way the good tidings announced by angels is still for all people. To me the heart of Christianity has very little to do with getting the church calendar right and everything to do with sharing the love of Christ. If that means meeting people halfway so that they can feel comfortable, then so be it.

    Besides, the sordid pedigree of Christian holidays is a great reminder of what Christianity is all about. Christians, like these holidays, never started out as Christian, we all started out as something else--pagans, heathens, unbelievers--but were converted to Christ. He didn't destroy the old us but cleansed us, transformed us, set us apart, and made us holy. The church has done the same with these days. That's why they're Holy Days (holidays).

  8. Man: Good, Evil, Or Undecided?

    in Philosophy & Theory

    Posted · Edited by Rev'd Rattlesnake

    Isn't stealing other people's property and driving at reckless or unreasonable speeds harming others, or at least don't they have the potential to harm others? I can imagine where lack of a pen could be harmful, regardless of the disregard it shows for boundaries and respect for other people.

  9. Ism For The Day

    in Philosophy & Theory

    Posted

    New -ism I just learned:

    Repristinationism: The tendency to thoughtlessly and mechanically repeat the theology of the past, blindly accepting the beliefs, wording, doctrines and proof passages of prior theologians as primary authority, rather than restudying Scripture afresh.

    hmmm...

  10. Man: Good, Evil, Or Undecided?

    in Philosophy & Theory

    Posted

    Great post Dan! Let me ask you, if someone is faithful, ie, they believe in God and choose to obey Christ and be in relationship with them...but still occasionally sins, doesn't your definition still make them evil? Yet aren't they declared righteous in the eyes of God? I've always wondered about this...

  11. Man: Good, Evil, Or Undecided?

    in Philosophy & Theory

    Posted · Edited by Rev'd Rattlesnake

    Good and evil are choices. Not in the abstract but in our actions. It is an ongoing process determined by free-will and by our character. Our character in turn develops from past actions. It accumulates.

    what determines an action as good or evil? Intent? Results? Means used? Can an evil person (who accumulated his evil nature over several bad acts) do good? Can a person who means to do evil still be good if his action unintentionally does good? What if the accumulated evil acts that make a person evil are just a lot of small evils, like stealing pens and speeding, can one good deed, if it's really big, outweigh all those little evil deeds? Moreover, what if a person has accumulated 50.1% good deeds, is that enough to be good? What about the other way? What happens if someone is 50.1% evil, will he be punished? But what if some of the good deeds he's done are really good? Will the 50.1% good person escape punishment? But what if some of his bad deeds are really bad? What about the person who is right at the halfway point, are they good or evil? So people start out good or evil or neutral when they're born. Is a person who unknowingly commitsevil still be accounted as evil for the accumulation of evil acts committed without his knowledge? What bout the other way? This is an interesting concept but it does open the doors to a lot of questions.

  12. Answers?

    in Creative Expression & Cultural Arts

    Posted

    I came across this and it spoke to me.

    Answers

    In darkness and in candlelight

    Deep within the treasure-trove of night

    My spirit cries

    Knowledge!

    Wisdom!

    Power!

    Sister Earth replies

    Wait...

    Brother Sky replies

    Watch...

    Mother Moon replies

    Silence...

    Before me blooms the universe

    A flower

    Seed and petal

    Root and leaves

    Fat with stars

    Drunk on lives long past

    All is bare for him who, without eyes, sees

  19. I Am A Hindu

    in Eastern Religions & Philosophies

    Posted

    Is that the case with your religion? I only know from what I've read in the illiad and such, but I thought the gods were quite particular about how humans were to act toward them and were quite swift and severe in punishing any slights...especially hubris. For Christians, sin is a missing of the mark, the mark being right action in the eyes of God, the conduct we were created to live out and one day will live out, imho, when we are fully conformed to Christ.

  21. I Am A Hindu

    in Eastern Religions & Philosophies

    Posted · Edited by Rev'd Rattlesnake

    I've said it elsewhere, I believe that all will go to heaven, but most Christians reconcile this idea by saying that one is condemened only when they actively reject the salvation of Jesus Christ. Because the people you lay out have never been given the chance to accept or reject, they will only be judged by what they know. If they do good "who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus"--Romans 2:14-16. (Sorry but it's just not fair to say that Christians can't use the bible when you get to use awesome quotes from the Upanishads, why should Hindus get to have all the fun?)

  25. Ravens In The Predawn?

    in Earth/Nature-Based & Indigenous Religions

    Posted

    That's an interesting thought. My wife believes her totem animal is a black panther. I once went to a psychic with my wife when I was a teenager, she told us some yarns about our past lives about how I was once an Aztec and gave my kids to be sacrificed and that now they're my spirit guides oh and my totem animal is a jaguar....all completely verifiable, right? Whatevs, I'm not even a cat person. I wish I had that $20 back.

    Years later, my wife talked to her aunt who's a medium who told her that her spirit animal would visit you in life or dreams and no one but you can know what it isn I used to have recurring dreams of a hooded figure with a raven on his shoulder....I'll have to ponder this.