There are only two religions.

'Interfaith dialogue'



You are an enlightened one.


God bless you.

But could you raise yourself to life again?

And could you, after your resurrection, spend forty days on earth teaching your disciples and then ascend into heaven and be seated at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Here are 41 of the most all encompassing and powerful words you will ever read.

Hebrews 1:3
3The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.


God bless you.

Aquine,

And what is that I hear entwined with the words of your post..........distant drums, or maybe tinkling cymbals......

All the best
tariki
8)

1 Corinthians 13 (King James Version)

(1)Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

It seems to me that any religion that offers salvation requires us to do something. In some it is good works others it is surrender.

Question for yourself: what is the difference between good works and surrender?

F
A
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Surrender is an act of submission.... good works is an act of giving

Apparently Mr.Macarthur has not read the scripture.
True Christianity as defined by the expert (Jesus Christ) says works and faith are both required of the individual. (Matthew 25:34-45)
And St. James in the New Testament said Faith Without Works is Dead.

I would encourage you to get your description of Christianity from Jesus Christ in the Gospels instead of from Mr. John Macarthur.

Maybe my allusion to this is uncharitable of myself, yet to be honest I'm increasingly frustrated by Aquines "tactics" on this forum. Implying that they "lack love" seems to me to sum them up in many ways.

These are the questions/answers I gave to statements by Aquine concerning the King James Bible.....

1)
Aquine, just one question. Regarding translations of the English into other tongues, is there a "dot and tittle", "infallible" version in each tongue......or would people of another language have to learn English before they could read the "infallible" version?

Reminds me of the lady who objected to making any form of translation........"If English was good enough for St Paul, it should be good enough for THEM!!"

2)
The King James version is a translation like all others. Obviously it has remained unchanged since it was first printed! So has every other translation. And personally, I prefer it. (I also like the one with the little line drawings, being a child at heart I can always peep at the pictures when I get to the nasty bits).

But it is a translation, nevertheless. And in many places it has been demonstrated to be wrong. Take Psalm 16 Verse 9.........King James...."Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth; my flesh also shall rest in hope."

my glory rejoiceth ???????

Just as we relate the "heart" to the emotion of love, the Jewish people related different organs of the body to certain emotions. Ancient Hebrew had no vowels, therefore, say, the word moon and the word mine would both be represented by MN. Context would help dictate the actual word intended when it came to translation. In Psalm 16, Verse 9, the hebrew used a vowel-less word which could have been "liver" or "glory". Well, no choice really back in the days when the translation was made. Who ever heard of a liver rejoicing! But then again, how exactly does glory rejoice? Since those days our cultural knowledge has evolved about the ancient Hebrews and their identification of organs of the body with diferent emotions..........the liver with thankfulness/joy. Hence in the Good News Bible......"And so I am thankful and glad, and I feel completely secure." A better translation, closer to the intent of the original words. And thats that.

Sadly you cannot seem to see that the Word of God is Christ, a Person, not a book. And that "salvation" depends upon the initiative of the Divine, "His" grasp of us rather than our "acceptance" and grasp of "Him"or "His" infallible book. Grace not works, lest any man should boast.

Aquines entire response is to ask who the lady was in 1)!!!!!!

This after referring to this forum as a sophisticated discussion forum!!!

This really is inadequate.

Yet I give a polite answer to his question and he then makes what can only be taken as a snide sweep at my own interest in Interfaith Dialogue

Lack of love? Just what is it?

I wish to believe that faith in what man can do is a religion unto itself. The effort we make in life, what we do for others and how we shape events through our words and actions are more meaningful than any belief in God or any other deities. We have built our civilization through the pursuit of our ambition. As Captain Kirk once said, "man stagnates if he has no ambition", I say that if we depend on prophecy or bible inscriptions, we will turn away from the potential of our own mind, our own imagination.

Well I've entertained the thought that he is actually a sociopathic agent provocateur. I've also imagined that he's not a real person at all but rather some sort of computer generated automatic response.

But seriously, he may just be a newly converted atheist who hasn't yet laid aside self righteousness. Maybe what they say about ex-smokers applies to ex-atheists as well.

I don't think your observations are uncharitable at all. You've reached out to him and you've been bitten. You might want to brush up on your snake charming skills.

Hi,

I did genuinely consider that he might be a closet "zen master" (seriously!) swiping away with his awakening stick! Having been on a few Buddhist Forums I know their form!

But no......in the end I gave that one up.

anyway, I don't really mind a few bites............

8)

8) I want to be just like you when I grow up.

Good works are NOT a prerequisite to salvation. The scripture you referenced in Matthew states nowhere that good works are a prerequisite to salvation.

St. James said that faith without works is dead faith. He is focusing on the faith. It is like saying that a seed that does not produce a plant is a dead seed, so get a live seed. James is saying that faith without works is a dead faith, so have live faith (then the works will come). Another example would be a husband and wife. I could say, 'love for your wife without works is dead.' Like a husband that completely ignores his wife and does nothing for her. Will a husband that loves his wife do good things for her? And can a husband do good things for his wife, yet not love her at all? The focus is on what is inside, the faith you have. And that faith will show by works.

And he brought them out and said, ?Sirs, what must I do to be saved??
So they said, ?Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.? Acts 16:30-31

If we want to get the gospel from Jesus, this is what He said:

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
?He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:14-18

Note that is says, "he who believes is not condemned." That is present tense, right now. It does not say, "whoever does enough good works will be saved."