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Merry Christmas to the forum (in the sense of a warm hearted holiday long ago synchronized with cycles of nature)
that is right up there with Santa Clause..
do any of you Taoists have thoughts on the section of the King James gospels that say that when Jesus was dying on the cross the earth shook, the sky turned dark, and the temple fell..
(it’s right up there with Jesus walking on water)
My question to you is this:
I am sitting there with two “christian relatives” who say, flat out, that they really do believe that the sky turned dark and the temple fell…
For me, this is an obvious poetic metaphor, a hyperbole,
a mythical exaggeration of how poignant the death of the new messiah was..
one of those things that ANY RATIONAL HUMAN BEING WOULD READ AND SAY YEAH. IT’S JUST TO GET THE POINT ACROSS
but for some reason, they will not even consider it..
HAS ANYONE ELSE EXPERIENCED THIS?
Because at that moment, where this person responds REPEATEDLY with a total insistence that JESUS WAS GOD and that THE SKY REALLY TURNED DARK AND THE EARTH SHOOK..
well, lets just say we are no longer on the same level..
one might think that this was some show of firmness on their part, some “read between the lines” sort of thing..
But to your own family? Repeatedly? Over decades? Sitting there saying that God can do anything and they have no doubt of it’s factual validity?
I have no problem whatsoever with saying that Jesus is a message of love, a philosophy of forgiveness, a faith that there is a creator that loves us and an afterlife of eternal peace.. and that this is all obviously poetic hyperbole..
WHY CAN”T THEY?
Did the Greeks think Zeus was a real person? No.
Do Hindus insist on the physical existence of Vishnu? No.
Do Islamic people insist upon such things? No..
What is going on?
Wouldn’t it be nice to enjoy a holiday of love and forgiveness without all of this?
Hello,
there is a theory that says all the great hollidays of the year were once moments of grace, in which the awareness of human beings could tune in to the higher frequencies of the universe. such were the solstice and equinox celebrations, and the 12 or 13 monthly cicles…
unfortunately, sometime in history, for some reason, someone thought that it would be a better idea to see time differently. so they changed the way they recorded time, they turned the natural way to feel time, to the intelectual way of classifying events.
the intelectualisation is a good thing, helps us put things in a certain order, but is just a fallacy when we speak about the relationship wt the universe, for it is nonliniar, and it can only be witnessed with the combined awareness of mind, heart and body…
and so on…
Little1If you have faith that something is true, then a rational consideration of the opposite is pointless. You can neither prove that the sky turned dark nor that the sky didn’t, so why should someone play a what if game?
Some believe that the Bible is the literal word of God. If they believe this, then asking them to doubt one small point is really asking them to doubt everything. If the sky didn’t really turn dark, then maybe Jesus didn’t really come back to life. It starts a slippery slope.
Faith in the literal Bible is all or nothing. You can point out inconsistencies and question the how and why of anything, but those that believe in a literal Bible accept that our knowledge is limited and can not understand the mysteries of God. Some see confusion and respond with arrogance. Other see confusion and respond with humility.
su·per·sti·tion
noun 1. a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like.
2. a system or collection of such beliefs.
3. a custom or act based on such a belief.
4. irrational fear of what is unknown or mysterious, esp. in connection with religion.
5. any blindly accepted belief or notion.——————————————————————————–
[Origin: 13751425; late ME < L superstitiôn- (s. of superstitiô), equiv. to superstit- (s. of superstes) standing beyond, outliving (super- super- + -stit-, comb. form of stat-, adj. deriv. of stâre to stand) + -iôn- -ion]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary – Cite This Source su·per·sti·tion (sôô'pər-stĭsh'ən) Pronunciation Key
n.
An irrational belief that an object, action, or circumstance not logically related to a course of events influences its outcome.A belief, practice, or rite irrationally maintained by ignorance of the laws of nature or by faith in magic or chance.
A fearful or abject state of mind resulting from such ignorance or irrationality.
Idolatry.[Middle English supersticion, from Old French superstition, from Latin superstitiô, superstitiôn-, from superstes, superstit-, standing over; see stâ- in Indo-European roots.]
Yes,
it is a good definition. what it really and literally means is that IT STANDS ABOVE the so called normal INTELLIGENCE
Little1
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