(08-17-2022, 11:24 PM)Snarl Wrote:(07-08-2022, 03:18 PM)FlyingClayDisk Wrote: it's not that I don't believe (in God. I very much do), I just don't believe in the "Church" of God.
You're on-point for the most part. Though there are many churches with pastors who know of God ... as opposed to believe in God, yet even they are unaware of his will ... or they're doing their own thing. I don't think God even cares about that.
Check out the life stories of these historical figures when you get a chance ... and tell me what you conclude:
Chrishna of Hindostan
Budha Sakia of India
Salivahana of Bermuda
Zulis, or Zhule, also Osiris and Orus, of Egypt
Odin of the Scandinavians
Crite of Chaldea
Zoroaster and Mithra of Persia
Baal and Taut, "the only Begotten of God," of Phoenecia
Indra of Tibet
Bali of Afghanistan
Jao of Nepal
Wittoba of the Bilingonese
Thammuz of Syria
Atys of Phrygia
Xamolxis of Thrace
Zoar of the Bonzes
Adad of Assyria
Deva Tat, and Sammonocadam of Siam
Alcides of Thebes
Mikado of the Sintoos
Beddru of Japan
Hesus or Eros, and Bremrillah, of the Druids
Thor, son of Odin, of the Gauls
Cadmus of Greece
Hil and Feta of the Mandaites
Gentaut and Quexalcote of Mexico
Universal Monarch of the Sibyls
Ischy of the island of Formosa
Divine Teacher of Plato
Holy One of Xaca
Fohi and Tien of China
Adonis, son of the virgin lo of Greece
Ixion and Ouirinus of Rome
Prometheus of Caucasus
Or Ninurta of the Mesopotamians, A.K.A. Ningursu ("lord of the city of Girsu") of the Sumerians. There are literally thousands of us, wreaking havoc on humanity for sport.
A couple years ago, I was doing a deep dive into my geneaology during covid lockdown when there was nothing else to do. Imagine my surprise at finding a certain Odin, who lived around 17 AD in a town named Asgard on the Jutland peninsula, now Denmark, allegedly buried among the roots of my family tree.
Just as Odin was apparently a real person once upon a time, a great many "gods" were, at one time, real flesh and blood people who were deified at some point after their deaths. The Catholics even deified Jesus a couple centuries after his death, effectively setting up a three god and one goddess religion bearing no resemblance to what Jesus taught. A careful reading of the gospels will give the lie to the Catholic polytheistic religion. At no time did Jesus claim godhood, and as a matter of fact he actively taught against such notions, stressing over and over again that there was ONE God, and that it wasn't him. He claimed only to be a servant of that God, the "Son of Man", and perhaps the Messiah. Mere humans even messed that up, expecting the messiah to be a political figure, failing to realize that God does not concern himself with human political systems - God's kingdom is spiritual, "The Kingdom of Heaven", rather than temporal and Earth-bound.
People are crazy. Most of them could screw up a one-horse parade.
.
Diogenes was eating bread and lentils for supper. He was seen by the philosopher Aristippus, who lived comfortably by flattering the king.
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’