I Would Like To Know More About Your Beliefs.

[samtttl]

I would like to know more about your beliefs. I am willing to discuss beliefs or just read about yours, it's up to you. ^^

I am not going to try to preach or convert anyone, nor am I going to be converted, I'm just here to learn.

Thank you for your time. ^^

[Atwater Vitki]

samtttl - I think if ya cruise around the topics, you'll find several discussions already going on about this...may be why no one has posted yet? Not sure...just a thought.

Blessings Be,

[samtttl]

I hadn't realized this was moved from it's original place. ^^; I created another one. Hahaha. I kinda fail.

[Fawzo]

My beliefs are that everything came form a state of love and pure potential and one of sheer bliss and beingness. This state is ever expanding further and further away from the core. At some point in eternity within some fringe outer element of consciousness arose the conscious thought of "I AM" and the false belief in separation from the whole. These thoughts of separation led to fear and thoughts of punishment and then an ego developed which then in an attempt to hide creates the ever changing dimension in which we have our focus.

This belief is not written in stone, or at least I haven't found written in stone, silver or gold in any tablets buried in my back yard as of yet

[SalemWitchChild]

The ULC Encyclopedia is a good place to start.

[Pastor Dave]

Hi Salem! How has my favorite Wiccan Priestess? This is the first time I've seen a post from you since I've been back.

Samtttl, I consider myself a Christian.

I could just stop there, and you might think you have an idea of what I believe. On some points we would probably agree, however, I have doctrinal differences with all mainstream Christian sects (denominations). On the other hand I believe that all denominations have a part in the "body of Christ". I don't believe any of them have it all right, nor do they all have so much wrong within any group as to prohibit that sect from producing righteous followers.

If you can agree with these three points I see you as a Christian brother/sister:

1. In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the Earth.
   
2. YHVH has rules that He expects man to live by.
   
3. Yeshua came to Earth and died for the remission of sin and was raised from the grave so that that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
   

After that things aren't always as clear cut as most Christians seem to think, IMHO.

YHVH has many covenants with mankind. Christians are not the only ones that will share in the eternal life. I wont go into each one but I'll gloss over a few covenants.Let's start with the Noahide Covenant.

After the destruction of mans first civilization YHVH made a covenant with Noah. Within this covenant YHVH the Elohim set down governing laws for mankind. Observance of these laws imparts those followers with the blessings that YHVH promised to Noah and his descendants (all of mankind). All who accept the seven laws of Noah (not because they seem reasonable but because they come from G-d) will have a place in the resurrection.

Then there is the covenant with Abram. This covenant is between YHVH and Abraham and his descendants. Abraham had a special covenant with YHVH. Because of Abraham's faith in YHVH he was given promises of blessings over and above those in the Noahide covenant.

Another covenant was made with Moses and the twelve tribes. This is where the 613 mitzvot come into play and more blessings.

Then comes what Christians call the new covenant. What this covenant does (again IMHO) is to offer the blessings of Abraham to those of the world who, by faith , were previously covered only by the Noahide covenant without conversion to Judaism.

I could go on for days. Not just on the covenants, but on the nature of G-d, the will of G-d, Holy Scripture. I can't give you a clear picture of my entire belief system in one post. Perhaps if you poke & prod me enough you may come to understand what I believe and why I believe that way.

[Qryos]

~ Ya ask a question of a silly person like me, you're gonna get a silly answer

I vary too often to actually have a definitive answer...

I have very strong images of past lives, & tho' I have vivid dreams they're always emotionally tinged. Past lives aren't. So I don't know.

I have had moments of extreme clarity of wherein I am in a unity with Creation and peaceful & joyous, mostly I'm disconnected.

Could just be me being manic/depressive. So I don't know.

I've felt deeply within me powers connected to Elements { Fire, Earth, Water, Air } & 'know' that I've existed within each to learn. I'm creative, so I don't know.

I do know one thing. "Be the best person you can be." In any situation.

Whether it's a dream or 'reality', wherever or whoever, 'Do What Is Right' is a good mantra.

... Sorry I don't have any claryfied thoughts for ya Maybe Agnostic?

[Jonathan H. B. Lobl]

Before I get specific about my beliefs; a few words about the gods.

In general, the gods are personifications of the forces that they represent. The gods change over time as cultures change -- but they don't die and they don't go away. They just change. The names change. The form changes. The gods do not change.

Lady Luck is a perfect example. We all know who Lady Luck is. When Guys and Dolls came out -- and Sky Masterson sings -- "Luck be a lady" -- the audience does not need an explanation. Lady Luck is the personification of Luck. Luck is real. Lady Luck is an anthropomorphic image. If we trace her lineage back far enough, we find the Greeks and Norse knew "her"/"them" as the Three Fates. She is very old.

Mother Nature is an other old goddess. She is the personification of all the forces of nature. She is the earth worms deep in the ground. She is the fruit on the trees. She is the currents in the oceans. She is sun light and wind. All the forces of nature, represented by one poetic image. Her lineage is ancient. There were many great Earth Goddesses whose worship was old, before the current God was even an idea. Mother Nature is the form in which they still exist.

God is also a personification. God is the Unity behind existence. God is also the source of all things. God is all things. Somehow, God is supposed to have an external, objective existence in a way other than the other gods. Mother Nature and Lady Luck are understood well enough to be poetic imagry of real forces.

Is God real? That is the great debate between the true believers and the Atheists. I think both sides in this debate are falling into the same trap of literalism.

I would like to close with a quote I got from a Buddhist monk -- Kedem Morton. "The gods are illusory, but if we call apon them for assistance, they will help us anyway.

That is enough for now. If anybody is looking for a friendly discussion, I have much to add.

Edited April 20, 2012 by Jonathan H. B. Lobl

[Brother Kaman]

God is the Unity behind existence. God is also the source of all things. God is all things. Somehow, God is supposed to have an external, objective existence in a way other than the other gods. Mother Nature and Lady Luck are understood well enough to be poetic imagry of real forces.

Is God real? That is the great debate between the true believers and the Atheists. I think both sides in this debate are falling into the same trap of literalism.

I would like to close with a quote I got from a Buddhist monk -- Kedem Morton. "The gods are illusory, but if we call apon them for assistance, they will help us anyway.

That is enough for now. If anybody is looking for a friendly discussion, I have much to add.

Now that is one of the best definitions of God that I have read in a long, long time. Thank you.

[Hyper Real]

Now that is one of the best definitions of God that I have read in a long, long time. Thank you.

I really wonder how can anyone believe in the existence of a real and living God if they accept such a God can be defined.

[Jonathan H. B. Lobl]

I really wonder how can anyone believe in the existence of a real and living God if they accept such a God can be defined.

There are definitions and definitions. My favorite is from Deut. 6:4 Translations vary greatly. "God is One."

Is God alive? Is the Universe alive? I think this is perspective. I would say, "Yes." We could equally ask -- "Is Mother Nature alive? Nature certainly is. Of course, death is also part of Nature.

A small point in passing. Like the countless other cultures before us, Death also has personifications. We all know who "the Reaper" is. Also the "Angel of Death." Who does not know that, "Death rides a pale horse?" The old gods are still with us. They are hiding in plain sight.

Edited April 21, 2012 by Jonathan H. B. Lobl

[Youch]

I would like to know more about your beliefs. I am willing to discuss beliefs or just read about yours, it's up to you. ^^

I am not going to try to preach or convert anyone, nor am I going to be converted, I'm just here to learn.

Thank you for your time. ^^

Dear Samtttl,

Welcome to the Forum.

You know naught of what you ask.

Belief systems are as differnet as the individuals that hold them. And argue naught any of them, as to do so is to stab at the individual heart. Such is the nature of belief systems.

I once originally coined the faith and philosophy of Golfism (adopted by a few and shared freely without compensation, as all good faiths must).....and have since long lost the scriptures....and since then the interweb has exploded with opportunistic copycats and other folks sucking up any and all URLs and niche market terms, and as such the original dogma may have been lost to history.

[emalpaiz]

I believe that Life is everywhere.

[Brother Kaman]

I really wonder how can anyone believe in the existence of a real and living God if they accept such a God can be defined.

My God is very real. My God does not breathe, is not in a shape of anything, much less a man, doesn't go places or meddle in the affairs of the world or the people on it. Is my God a living God? Probably not. My God is.

[Qryos]

~ The music we cannot hear... The stars humming in a unison we cannot comprehend enveloping all of this most marvelous existence

All we really can do is dance as well as we can

[Enkidu]

Greetings samtttl. I am a pantheist.

Pantheists are persons who derive their fundamental religious experience through their personal relationship with the Universe. They feel that Nature is the ultimate context for human existence, and seek to improve their relationship with the natural world as their fundamental religious responsibility.

Pantheists see their personal religion as a system of reverent behavior toward the Earth rather than subscription to a particular creed. Because Pantheists identify God with Nature rather than an anthropomorphic being, Pantheists oppose the arrogant world-view of anthropocentrism.

information taken from the Universal Pantheist Society website