'There are many paths to god.'

"killing over one million people."

The inquisition sucked and all, but I've heard htat it was actually no more than 50,000 died in it, maybe not even that much.

 

50,000 jews maybe,

 

50,000 Jews?

What do you mean?

 

i mean maybe the # that person was thinking of is the 50000 jews killed in the inquisition, not of the overall #
what did you think i meant?

 

I didn't really know what you meant, which is why I asked.

 

Jesus said he was the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one came to the father but through Him. So, he clearly taught that he was the only way to God.

TFU, if God the Father=Jesus=The Holy Spirit then coming to the Father or The Holy Spirit is coming to Christ. Now if you are saying that Christ isn't God then I can understand where your coming from, but Christ said he was God and I choose to believe him. Now, explain John 6:45 if Christ is the only way to God.

If Jesus was just another path to god, then I don't want to believe in that god, because that's a sick god if he would let Jesus go through what He did during the crucifixion process even though there were "other ways." Jesus prayed to God in the garden of gethsemane (probably not spelled right) that if there was any other way, that he would take "this cup" from His mouth. In other words, He said, "God, if there's any other way, then I'd rather do that."

Christ is/was God, so in order for all humanity to be saved a perfect being had to take on all of the sin of the world. Christ had to liberate us all from our karma. There was no other cup. There was no other way for that to happen. He's not talking about who makes it into heaven or who is saved there...he's talking about destroying the consequences of Adam's fall at the beginning of creation. If one man can damn all of humanity, then one man can save all of humanity.

He knew the torture He was going to have to go through in the next 24 hours or so. But God's answer to Jesus was basically, "There's no other way. This is what has to be done." So, if you believe Jesus is just one of "many paths to god", then how can you believe in such a sick god that would do that when it wasn't even necessary?

Again, Jesus said that there is no way to the Father except through him. The funny thing is that Christians take this to mean that they have to cram their religion down everyones throat and that every other religion in the world is wrong. Look carefully at what Christ is saying. He doesn't say "And they shall all know me as Chist the Jesus. All others are evil." He left it open as to how people come to know him. He didn't say, "And there shall be a great religion Christianity and all shall come to me through it. It shall glorify the world and it shall condemn all others mightily for my sake." He merely said all come to Him and then the Father. And he also said that all who come to the Father come to him (John 6:45). That is because he and the Father are One. Why do people ignore this verse? We are told that we are brothers and sisters of Christ, meaning that Christ wants us to join him in oneness with God. It is our birthright. That is why humanity is so special. The Hindu's have known this for millenia. I hope that Christians eventually figure it out.

Edit: Clarity

Edit2: Darth_SnowDog, the similarities between the Bhagavadgita and the Bible make me wish that I could read Sanskrit...Not to mention it's poetic beauty, which is also just as beautiful as the bible i.e. psalms.

Edit3: Spelling of the word, Clarity! LOL!

 

So Wylding, are you saying you believe that everyone will go to heaven?

 

Wylding

I agree with what you're saying (I think), but I would put it another way. Christ is the vehicle by which humanity and God (the Father) are reconciled. As part of the God-head, this is what he does. No one comes to the Father but by him because there is no one else who can do his job. No matter how we come to know the Father, Christ is the bridge that makes it possible. Sin has broken our connection with God...Christ, by his death and resurrection repaired it. This is why, before Christ's incarnation, the Jews experienced an impersonal God (no connection). Only afterwards (when the connection was repaired) are we introduced to God the "friend."

So in short, Christ's ministry was simply to reestablish humanity's direct access to the Father. If you fall into the "humanity" catagory, you have access to God. Religion is not a factor.

 

Yes but when religion is not a factor, you lose the whole cool us vs. them thing.

I think humans cling to religion in the same way some may cling to their ethnic background or political persuation. They sometimes need to feel separate from everyone else by a specific belief or trait they hold that they are sure the people they don't approve of don't share. I'm sure i'm guilty of this in one way or another. The goal of a civilized society is to find the common ground among all these various influences. To look past the tiny little things and focus on the more global things, like decency, compassion, honesty, respect, the good stuff.

God created a universe with lots of variety and lots of natural conflict, thoughts could fall under this category. Some people say God is in the details and i think in this context that's the whole problem. Blah blah blah.

 

So Wylding, are you saying you believe that everyone will go to heaven?

Yes, I believe that everyone who does not consistently reject God in whatever form they have come to know him will go to heaven/nirvana...whatever you want to call it.

 

I have been gone a few days but I would like to respond to somthing written earlier.

Some one stated that the Roman Catholic church turned a blind Eye during the Holocaust.

I scoff at such accusations, especialy whe Golda Mier once refered to Pope Pius XII as "One of the greatest men in the twentieth century". A well know Jewish historian (whose name escapes me) wrote a book called "Three Popes and the Jews" (which you can find at most major book stores or on the internet easily), Credited Pope Pius XII with saving over 800,000 jews. Lets also not forget the heroism of the Franciscan friars, especially Saint Maximillian Kolbe, who saved over 3,000 jews and in the process died saving them. Those are merley two of the numerous accounts of Bravey on the part of the Catholic church. We must remmeber The Holy Father has more that just the jews to look out for he also has to look out for his own people. Had he spoken out how many 10's of millions of Roman catholics out of the hundreds of million in europe would have died? The Pope had more freedom to act in secret that he did publicly (especilly when the NAZI's had control of the Vatican). Also, accusations of a blind eye being turned were not made until 15 years after Pope Pius's death (which was 55 or 56), by an anti-catholic writer in his play "The deputy". Books like James Cornwell's "Hitler's Pope" (which I have read) make accusations which are far-fetched and even at times un-founded. the church did its best in horrible situations, and it did better than most.