True Christian theology

[enchanted]

The holy trinity, the father, the son, the holy Spirit, could be: awareness, physical forms, and desires/thoughts respectively.

[Santiago Ram]

8 hours ago, Jodistrict said:

In my opinion, this forum is biased towards intellectual paths to God, so most here don’t really understand it (including me).  Christianity works through the heart.  Christian theology doesn’t transform anyone.   It’s a mystical transformation involving a relationship with God. 

 

 The Hindu saint Ramakrishna became a Christian for a time in order to verify if it could lead to enlightenment and he verified that is was a valid path.

Exactly.

See @Leo Gura and most people on this forum who critizice Christianity have never had a Mystical or Non-Dual experience with Christ. They are only playing word games, but they have not had a Realization or Awakening on this path. 

They speak of what they don't know.

[Santiago Ram]

Here's an Insight from The Sermon of The Mount

This is true Conflict Resolution.

Christianity is very practical. Even if you don't subscribe fully to faith, there are practical tips you can learn from studying The Bible for your daily life.

Psychologist Peter Gollwitzer coined the term If-Then Plans (or Implementation Intentions) for anticipating future events and responding well.

Here is his definition:

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Implementation intentions use "if-then" statements to link a critical situation to a goal-directed response. For example, "If I get home before 6 PM, then I will clean my room for 15 minutes".

Here are 6 If-then Plans from The Sermon on The Mount

1. Reconciliation

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if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift

2. Sin

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If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

3. Abnegation

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If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

4. Secrecy

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when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret

5. Speaking and prayer

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when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others.

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen
when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him

6. Fasting
 

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When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting

 

Edited April 3 by Santiago Ram

[Caoimhin]

@Princess Arabia "I challenge anyone to study the saints," is not an assumption, it's an invitation to a challenge... like in my marathon example, if i said, "I challenge anyone to train for a marathon," it's pretty open and people who have trained for a marathon are not offended because they know that the target audience are people who have not....

the second one is an assumption that people here have read spiritual books. Yes, that's an assumption. Should I not assume that people on this forum are well read? The carveout is that most people don't read the entire Bible, even most Christians haven't read the whole Bible, I know that I haven't finished it yet. Again, if i said most people haven't given running a marathon a chance, you wouldn't call this an assumption.

now, there is an assumption that we are typing in the same language or if the other person exists.... so if you are going to just call everything i say an assumption, in the most general sense, I'm assuming everything.

now, since you are challenging my "assumption" you can stick it to me by saying that you've read the entire Bible and studied the saints. Or you can fall into the category of people that haven't and to whom I'm addressing.

[Caoimhin]

@meta_male I'm sorry you had that experience. It's difficult to have faith when there is silence. I struggle with that too, a lot. However, it's in the silence that we are called to have trust in God the most. When I struggle I read about Divine Providence, or the truth that everything happens for a reason and for our soul's greatest good.
I would challenge that there is no fear in love claim, even Leo points to the intense fear of absolute love...
Fear in love in is the fear of being separate from God, whom we love so much and Who loves us so much that He allows us to deny Him and to chose separation from Him.

Even without belief in the Christian God, I hope that you still find value in praying for truth and guidance and are open to whatever you might be lead to.

If Jesus is the truth He will make that known eventually and in divine providence. If He isn't then, you lost nothing in trying and found truth in that.

"God, guide me to truth." "Lord, if you are the true, guide me to you." "God, give me the strength and courage to trust you." are a few simple prayers I said every night before falling asleep. If God can hear it and you are genuine, then He won't deny you it. If not, it was worth a shot and on judgement day you can say you gave it an honest go, and there is peace in that(assuming Christianity was true).

feel free to message me.

[Caoimhin]

@enchanted interesting connection. the issue with making this leap is that the trinity(Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is always referring to Christian theological claims. It's not a metaphor or pointing to something outside of definitive Christian theology. Therefore, the Son is always Jesus and not reffering to anything else. To take it out of context would be disregarding the source material and make a metaphor that sounds nice but is baseless and ill applied.

In Platonism there is a similar philosophical idea(the Good, The Intellect, the World Soul), that is a different idea and aligns more with the "trinity" you refer to. 

 The trinity is a complex thing to grasp. I heard an Orthodox priest explain it as, the Father is all Love, the Son is all Sacrifice(we could also say God's Will manifested through Christ's perfect obedience), and the Holy Spirit is all Wisdom through which God's Will moves through His creation.

[Caoimhin]

@Santiago Ram This is very true... Honestly, though I no longer believe psychedelics are useful on the Christian path and only open your mind to corruption and demonic forces(like aliens and "angels"). I would like to see @Leo Gura actually explore wiping the slate clean and accepting Christianity on a trip or attempt to disprove it by actually studying it and praying on it.

I know he won't, but If by God's grace he does, that would be an epic conversion and Leo would make a great Orthodox Saint.

[Caoimhin]

@Santiago Ram beautiful analysis of the sermon on the mount brother.

[Caoimhin]

@Jodistrict well put. Christianity is a heart posture and a path to the total surrender to the will of God. Through God's grace, Christ's sacrifice, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we can be made perfect.

[Nemra]

@Caoimhin, Christianity is like a fantasy movie that some people treat way too seriously.

You can study that fantasy movie for a long time, read books about the main character, you can be an expert on it, and so on.

The deception is that you think that if it has some structure to it, then it means that it must point to the truth and it'll lead to something actually profound and beyond, especially when it doesn't focus on direct experience and epistemic honesty.

Edited 9 hours ago by Nemra

[meta_male]

@Caoimhin  I did give it enough shots. I prayed, I surrendered, I studied and I was open. But what I found didn’t lead me back to Christianity, it led me into something less defined but more alive. The idea that truth can only be found in one tradition is too narrow for me. I get that certainty brings comfort, but for me what works best is to man up and face the unknown. Btw, you remind me of Athelstan from Vikings 

[Hayato]

I highly recommend the works of Rudolph Steiner for understanding the esoteric side of Christianity. 

Here is a list of a couple his works that provide a completely different perspective from the mainstream one:

1. Christianity as Mystical Fact
2. The Gospel of St. John
3. The Fifth Gospel
4. The Reappearance of the Christ in the Etheric
5. From Jesus to Christ
6. The Spiritual Guidance of Humanity and the World
7. The Karma of Untruthfulness
8. The Apocalypse of St. John

[Rafael Thundercat]

@Caoimhin