Amore wrote:I do believe that obedience is the first law of spirituality and science too. If you don't obey certain laws, there are consequences... Ie: If you pretend that you aren't subject to laws of physiological digestion and drink toxic chemicals, you will experience the consequence of not obeying that law.
I don't believe following imperfect people is in any way equal to following laws based on genuine truth. And having other gods before God is basically disobeying what one's soul genuinely wants. This is the greatest challenge - to not contradict what it is we really want most in the big eternal picture.
"want"?
Seek freedom and become captive of your desires...seek discipline and find your liberty I can tell if a person is judgmental just by looking at them what is chaos to the fly is normal to the spider - morticia addams If you're not upsetting idiots, you might be an idiot. - Ted Nugent
Good point Subgenius. Our thinking may be of God, but our wants may be wine, women and song, or perhaps donuts, Vivaldi and control of the Maxwell Institute.
Vivaldi and MI in the same sentence? I should put You into ignore list...
- Whenever a poet or preacher, chief or wizard spouts gibberish, the human race spends centuries deciphering the message. - Umberto Eco - To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim that Jesus was not born of a virgin. - Cardinal Bellarmine at the trial of Galilei
Good point Subgenius. Our thinking may be of God, but our wants may be wine, women and song, or perhaps donuts, Vivaldi and control of the Maxwell Institute.
control is not a want, it is an inevitability
Seek freedom and become captive of your desires...seek discipline and find your liberty I can tell if a person is judgmental just by looking at them what is chaos to the fly is normal to the spider - morticia addams If you're not upsetting idiots, you might be an idiot. - Ted Nugent
God is a word - a symbol representing countless different subjective meanings.
Besides "kingdom of god within" and underlying perceptive energy that flows through all (like Leibniz's monads), god may also be considered as that which you worship - what you want most, your "ultimate concern."
Ie, SteelHead may want mostly to stock and harass anybody who believes in human reproduction process. Another may want most to post on this forum - prioritizing everything else before that. To determine one's ultimate concern, it's more about practical daily patterns than any symbolic words.
I am not stalking nor harassing anyone amore. You noted that having other gods before god is disobeying the souls desires. I am asking for clarification, as to which god is preeminent.
Disagreeing with the ideas you present is not stalking, nor harassing. Nor is questioning your ability to serve as a role model lecturing on bigotry.
It is better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener at war.
Some of us, on the other hand, actually prefer a religion that includes some type of correlation with reality. ~Bill Hamblin
moksha wrote:"Whether a man really loves God can be determined by the love he bears toward his fellow men." - Levi Yitzhok, quoted in Buber, "Tales of the Hasidim"
Subgenius, you cite the unlovable, but out of curiosity do you think Jesus would turn his back on them?
You seem to consider that JC would never "turn his back on them"?
Seek freedom and become captive of your desires...seek discipline and find your liberty I can tell if a person is judgmental just by looking at them what is chaos to the fly is normal to the spider - morticia addams If you're not upsetting idiots, you might be an idiot. - Ted Nugent
Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently.
subgenius wrote:The "prime rule" is actually 2 rules??
You have it correct in that the first rule is to Love God...so, how is it that loving God is exclusive from Obedience to God? (as noted in your reference of the Teachers manual - of course)
Is there a difference between obedience to God and obedience to church leaders?
Yep, but Church leaders don't want you to realise that....