Sannhetseeker

From Bart Erhman's book "Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew": Were any of the books that made it into the New Testament actually written by apostles of Jesus? As we have seen, critical scholars are fairly unified in thinking that Matthew did not write the First Gospel or John the Fourth, that Peter did not write 2 Peter and possibly not 1 Peter. No other book of the New Testament claims to be written by one of Jesus' earthly disciples. There are books by... Sign in to see full entry.

I was recently commenting in a post at Christianmystics.com about reincarnation. But I wrote something that I had never thought much about before and I think it is important when it comes to spiritual growth. I wrote that while it was validating to find others who believe in reincarnation, especially some early church fathers, and while it is validating that some of the verses in the Bible could be interpreted to mean that reincarnation is real, I don't really need anyone or anything to help me... Sign in to see full entry.

For many who read the New Testament, the harsh words of Paul concerning women is painful. In 1 Timothy, Paul is pretty blunt about his feelings toward women and the Church. “I do not allow for a woman to teach, nor to exercise authority over a man; they are to be quiet. For Adam was formed first, and the Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but th woman was deceived and fell into transgression. But she will be saved through bearing children – if they remain in faith, love and holiness, with... Sign in to see full entry.

Did you know that the Gospel of Peter (author unknown but written after the death of Peter around 64 CE), was a much more popular document in early Christianity then the Gospel of Mark? According to Bart Erhman, chair of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, in his book “Lost Christianities: The Battle for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew”, if material remains are any indication, the Gospel of Peter was much more popular than that of Mark. Of thirty manuscripts found since... Sign in to see full entry.

Matt 22: 37-39 “Master, which [is] the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said unto him, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” I was recently asked on what I based my concepts of love being the only message of Yeshua. After reading the above verses, I would... Sign in to see full entry.

I got into a bit of a discussion yesterday with my carpool partner. We stopped at an intersection and a homeless person was standing on the median with a sign indicating that he was hungry and couldn’t work. He had a visible limp (real or faked, I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter) as he walked up and down the median looking for handouts. As he came near us, I pulled a dollar out of my pocket and handed it to my carpool partner (who was driving) and asked him to give the man the dollar. My... Sign in to see full entry.

I was reading various articles on a Theosophy website, and I came across a discussion on the existence of soulless people – people without souls. And that got me to thinking, I wonder if there are people born without souls? The essence of the article I was reading was that Theosophy believes in the idea of a person being soulless, but this term means one whose soul is not awake. The person has a soul, but it has not been “activated” if you will. It can remain this way throughout a person’s life,... Sign in to see full entry.

1 Corinthians 3:1-3: "Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly--mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly." With this statement by Paul, how can any of us really think we know what the Bible says? Each of us is still worldly. Each of us is but a child in our understanding of “God”. Therefore each of us is but a child in our understanding of “God’s” word. To think that we... Sign in to see full entry.

In yesterday’s post I said I was a universalist. I believe that everyone will get to “heaven” eventually because Christianity is not the only path to union with “God”. Here are some examples from other spiritual traditions that helped me come to this conclusion: A portion of a Chinook blessing litany: We call upon the creatures of the fields and forests and the seas, our brothers and sisters the wolves and deer, the eagle and dove, the great whale and the dolphin, the beautiful Orca and salmon... Sign in to see full entry.

I guess I need to classify myself as a universalist when it comes to the question of who will go to “heaven”. Like Origen, Gregory of Nyssa and William Barclay before me, I believe that everyone will ultimately make it back to “God”. Understand though, that I see things a little differently. Origen, while a universalist, believed in heaven and hell, and even thought that some had to go to hell before they could get to heaven (as did Steve Miller in “Jet Airliner”). I don’t believe in either... Sign in to see full entry.