Gnostic Bishop

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Posts posted by Gnostic Bishop

  1. 7 minutes ago, Jonathan H. B. Lobl said:

    Let us be clear about what I am saying.

    I do not in any way regard the Bible -- or the Koran - as authoritative.  Of course, if we do diligent cherry picking we can find good things in Scripture.  So what?

    An old bit of wisdom.  I don't know who said it.  "The Bible is like any other living water.  Filled with dead offensive matter."

    I don't care about the good things in the Bible.  I don't care about the bad things in the Bible.  I do not obey it.  I don't hold it in reverence.  I don't care.  The Bible is not a useful tool for making a point of any kind that matters.  IMO

     

    Ok.

    I find it useful to use against those who do give it authority.

    Do not translate that as me giving it authority, it has none, but it does have the odd bit of decent advice.

    Regards

    DL

     

  2. 19 minutes ago, cuchulain said:

    Not always, DL.  I mean, I think it's wrong to go into a bar and drink until you can't.  But I don't go picking a fight at the biker club my brother is a member of by telling them how wrong they are, you know?

    Now, test all things, I can get behind that.  To a point, of course.  Moderation in all things?  That applies here, I believe.  If I test everything constantly as I get new information, I don't have much time for living.

    You would be surprised how few testings need alteration once put on a moral graph. 

    Once your ideology is pointed in the right direction it is hard to reverse but easily directed in small increments.

    Regards

    DL

  3. 4 minutes ago, Jonathan H. B. Lobl said:

    That is not at all what I had in mind.

    A lot of people meditate as a spiritual practice.  They do not worship.  They do not pray.  They do not beg.  They do not request.  They meditate.  They open themselves up to the experience of the Absolute.  In silence.  The better to hear with the inner ear.  That Presence.

    Ah.

    I am all in for that. I call it seeking Gnosis.

    Regards

    DL

  4. 9 minutes ago, Jonathan H. B. Lobl said:

    Of course.  If I'm working with a cook book, and the first set of instructions produces something really nasty -- I don't expect the rest of it to be full of good ideas.

    Are you saying that what you and I do a lot of as described in these, is wrong?

    Proverbs 3:12 For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

     1 Thessalonians 5:21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.

    You do not see those as good advice?

    Regards

    DL

  5. 4 minutes ago, cuchulain said:

    How, ultimately, do you decide the golden rule should be your guide?  How do you test such?

    I put the Golden Rule as my number one guide because I have never found a better rule to live life by. That rule is also written as Harm/Care. Meaning how I should react to the harm or care that is directed to me. IOW, a reciprocity rule.

    I look at the issue at hand, apply my view of what I would like, all but one moral tenet I know are subjective, as you point out above,  and go from there. 

    Regards

    DL

     

  6. 8 minutes ago, Brother Kaman said:

    Would that be a silver bullet? What sort of bullet would one need to kill an Almighty God?:diablo:

    All the Gods are created by the thinking and words of immoral men, by todays standards, and all the Gods must die by the thinking and words of moral men.

    Have you noticed that Yahweh and Jesus are not promoted by moral men here and that it is the immoral men here who sing his praises? I have.

    Regards

    DL

  7. 5 minutes ago, cuchulain said:

    Therein lies the problem.  If it is possible to have ANY flawed interpretation of the book, then it becomes possible that YOUR interpretation may be the flawed one.  I do appreciate the idea of testing your ideas.  But how do you test the ideas in the bible that you hold to?

    Logics, reason and the moral value of the tenet using the Golden Rule as my guide.

    This is how the ancients formed their arguments and I think it works quite well.

    http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/03132009/watch.html

     

    Rabbi Hillel, the older contemporary of Jesus, said that when asked to sum up the whole of Jewish teaching, while he stood on one leg, said, "The Golden Rule. That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the Torah. And everything else is only commentary. Now, go and study it."

     

    Please listen as to what is said about literal reading.

     

    "Origen, the great second or third century Greek commentator on the Bible said that it is absolutely impossible to take these texts literally. You simply cannot do so. And he said, "God has put these sort of conundrums and paradoxes in so that we are forced to seek a deeper meaning."

     

    Even Christians are given that directive but as you can see from those here who say God is justified in his genocide of man and the murder of many innocents, they have not dared apply the Golden Rule to the actions of their genocidal God.

     

    Matt 7;12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets

     

    Regards

    DL

  8. 14 hours ago, Dan56 said:

    In the spiritual sense, God has not killed anyone yet.. Death is a natural part of life in the flesh, we were all born to die. If God cured everyone, it would defeat the whole purpose of us being here. God is life, and without him, life does not and cannot exist. People who want to live, naturally worship the life giver. While some don't find this to be a compelling reason to worship the giver of all life, I find it unusual to refer to God as "evil". God is not evil, God is good, and God is love. Evil is simply the result of sin, and sin is our disobedience to God.

    So murdering a body is not killing in the spiritual sense.

    All murderers will love your words.

    And you call yourself religious. What a joke.

    Regards

    DL

  9. 22 hours ago, Jonathan H. B. Lobl said:

    I have re-read this thread.

    A lot of the argument here involves the word -- "worship".  This word, "worship" has a lot of cultural baggage.

    I suggest that -- to be in the presence of -- might raise fewer cultural hackles.  

    If Yahweh was in my presence, I would love it as I have a bullet with his name on it.

    All decent moral men do as all decent moral men would be well justified in killing such a poor and immoral God.

    Regards

    DL

  10. On ‎02‎/‎05‎/‎2017 at 0:44 PM, cuchulain said:

    I find it amazing how often you quote the bible to point out it's God's evil...yet then turn around and quote the bible for why you do so.  If some of the source is evil, the entirety should be suspect, shouldn't it?

    Absolutely.

    That is why this is in it.

    1 Thessalonians 5:21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.

    There is some wisdom in scriptures but most of it is lost on Christians because they do not know how to read or interpret it. That is not surprising as it is a consolidation of many older traditions.

    Regards

    DL

  11. On ‎01‎/‎06‎/‎2016 at 10:27 PM, scottedward said:

       Rev Richard said

    We should all find our own ways which suit us as individuals.

    On ‎01‎/‎06‎/‎2016 at 10:27 PM, scottedward said:

    Gnostic, for someone so anti-scripture, you're quite adept at sounding like an expert.  i liked Richard's answer, personally.  It was both open and clear-headed, and wouldn't you be just a little happier had all of us acted like that?

    There is some wisdom in the bible if you read it the way a Gnostic Christian does.

    Some individuals find ways that are quite immoral and to not care enough to try to help them find a better and moral path is not to follow the golden rule.

    If you were on the wrong path, would you not want someone to point it out?

    Oh. Here is wisdom from your bible, and you can even read it literally.

     

    Proverbs 3:12 For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. 

    1 Thessalonians 5:21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.

    Regards

    DL

     

  12. On ‎01‎/‎06‎/‎2016 at 10:51 PM, scottedward said:

    I sit on the floor at my home and repeatedly and quietly chant every Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon as a show of devotion to The All (or Our Source of Creation).

    In the morning I spend time in silent prayer to my chosen god (also a gift from The All), offering my gratitude for the continued lives of my loved ones.  At night I also express my Hope that the hungry find food, the oppressed know justice, the helpless have support, those in pain receive comfort, and I selflessly offer my modest strength to those with a more urgent need for it.

    I like this, but I hope you add in a bit of struggle against those who are directly doing evil, like most mainstream religions including Christianity and Islam do.

    For the evils of those homophobic and misogynous religion to grow, all good people need do is nothing.

    Regards

    DL

  13. On ‎26‎/‎04‎/‎2017 at 10:21 PM, Ex Nihilo said:

    I worship God wherever I am. I read Morning an Evening Prayers most days. I try to get to church but its been a long time since I was near a faithful local congregation.

    Faithful?

    Jesus said that any that had real faith in him could do what he did and more.

    It seems that either he was lying or there has never been a true believer.

    Regards

    DL

     

  14. On ‎08‎/‎04‎/‎2016 at 4:10 PM, Jonathan H. B. Lobl said:

    Praise does not apply.   On the other hand, the forces of Nature can be held in "reverence."  

    Indeed. We should not worship what cannot help but be what they or it is.

    If we do that, we may as well worship all things and people because the world, and universe is always the best it can possibly be given all the conditions that brought all to this point in time.

     We are always living in the best of all possible worlds.

    Regards Buddy

    DL

  15. On ‎03‎/‎04‎/‎2016 at 1:12 PM, Rev Richard said:

    With ULC places of worship few or far between, does anyone attend other churches?

    I was married in a Methodist Church and still attend occasionally, plus now and then a Unitarian church, but I must admit I also feel great spiritual awareness when I'm out walking.

    It would be interesting to know where some have or some still worship.

    Why on earth would a person want to worship anything?

    Jesus preached to seek God, not become an idol worshiper.

    Whatever you worship is just a figment or construct of what you see as an ideal in your own mind.

    Why would you want to worship your own construct?

    The above is why we Gnostic Christians are perpetual seekers and even after my apotheosis, I set aside the God I found, as instructed by my God, and raise the bar of my expectations so as not to become an idol worshiper of the construct in my own head. 

    Regards

    DL

     

  16. On ‎24‎/‎04‎/‎2017 at 1:27 PM, Assassin said:

    The problem we have is people pick through the book and only use what is useful to them at that moment just like I am about to do. In the bible it tells us not to judge yet people judge homosexuals, drunks, and people who are just all around different all the time saying they are going to hell.

    Just two quick things.

    I disagree with you on the bible telling people not to judge. It does, as well as putting an onus on us to correct the evils we see as well as foolish beliefs.

    1 Thessalonians 5:21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.

    Proverbs 3:12 For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

    My second question is, why you, as a Christian, would follow a God who is demonstrably evil?

    He used genocide and always seems to take the satanic moral low ground and kills, when he could take the moral high ground and cure. He also chose to have Jesus murdered for our sins instead of just forgiving us some other way.

    Regards

    DL

     

     

     

     

  17. On ‎20‎/‎04‎/‎2017 at 7:25 PM, Rev. Calli said:

    Greetings to you my brother,

    I am reminded of a bit the late, great Bill Hicks used to do.  One night he was performing in a small town way down in the Bible Belt.  Afterwards, in the parking lot, he was approached by a few of the locals who said "Hey buddy, we're Christians, and we don't like what you said up there'"  To which Mr. Hicks (blessed be his memory) remarked, "So, forgive me."

    In Solidarity,

    Rev. Calli

     

    Not to insult Christians, but when they asked for forgiveness of God, his answer was that we had to accept as good justice the punishment of the innocent instead of the guilty and use the death of an innocent Jesus to get into heaven.

    Rather a satanic doctrine wouldn't you say?

    Regards

    DL

  18. On ‎19‎/‎04‎/‎2017 at 5:33 PM, Pete said:

    It is not that Atheists are not wanting to be saved but that they do not recognise anything to be saved from and the means of being so called saved is nonsense to them. Some do not understand this.

    That is likely because you have not bought into the false guilt that Christianity creates and uses to build up their coffers.

    People who know they do not need saving will not pay the indulgences that the church uses as a con to make people thing they are helping themselves out of hell, another Christian invention.

    Regards

    DL