dagnabitt
2005-02-28, 23:36
Which is sort of cool, if they get it down right. No Christian of course will ever see or admit the relation.
My mother goes to this church where they do alot of singing and dancing and what not. She also believes that when people enter into trance like states when doing this that they are "being filled with the holy spirit". Her, and her type seem to be almost completely unconcerned with the bible. They dont admit this, and they still base their actions on scripture, but they dont read or study it either. And they see the modern criticisms of the faith (valid criticisms) as completely irrelevant regardless of cogency. The church experience for her seems to fulfill a different purpose. Even though contradiction abounds, they (of course as Christians) dont care.
I think with the growing apprehension towards the church, and more organized religion, many christians are focussing (or claim to be focussing on) the "love" aspect of God (which I find to be thoroughly absent from the Bible).
This reminds me of Devotional Hindus. Generally they are less concerned with metaphysics and consistancy, as they are with personal relevance. There are few contradictions in the Hindu traditions because different dieties and faiths are just manifestations of one God (while christians have been almost definitively exclusionist). To a Hindu, Jesus would just be another symbol of this. And within Hinduism People are free to identify with whatever sub-diety they wish, as there devotion is ultimately for Ishvara (God head, which created the universe and in which all things are).
So if a devotional (contrast with, for lack of a better term scholarly) Hindu identifies with say, Shiva as their personal manifestation of Ishvara) then they use him as a figure of worship. But through and through it is not rational at the devotional level. (typically because it is religion for the poor).
I cant help but see the similarities. And cant help but think that Jesus can more easily be understood by a born again christian in a hindu context, because they require no allegiance to to the rigidty of the bible, or other christian doctrines that are becoming to outdated for the modern era.
If a christian really does claim a personal relationship with god through Jesus, and that religion is less important than this relationship, then they appear to me to have more in common with the Hindu Tradition then any possible Christian one.
Anyone following this?
[This message has been edited by dagnabitt (edited 02-28-2005).]
My mother goes to this church where they do alot of singing and dancing and what not. She also believes that when people enter into trance like states when doing this that they are "being filled with the holy spirit". Her, and her type seem to be almost completely unconcerned with the bible. They dont admit this, and they still base their actions on scripture, but they dont read or study it either. And they see the modern criticisms of the faith (valid criticisms) as completely irrelevant regardless of cogency. The church experience for her seems to fulfill a different purpose. Even though contradiction abounds, they (of course as Christians) dont care.
I think with the growing apprehension towards the church, and more organized religion, many christians are focussing (or claim to be focussing on) the "love" aspect of God (which I find to be thoroughly absent from the Bible).
This reminds me of Devotional Hindus. Generally they are less concerned with metaphysics and consistancy, as they are with personal relevance. There are few contradictions in the Hindu traditions because different dieties and faiths are just manifestations of one God (while christians have been almost definitively exclusionist). To a Hindu, Jesus would just be another symbol of this. And within Hinduism People are free to identify with whatever sub-diety they wish, as there devotion is ultimately for Ishvara (God head, which created the universe and in which all things are).
So if a devotional (contrast with, for lack of a better term scholarly) Hindu identifies with say, Shiva as their personal manifestation of Ishvara) then they use him as a figure of worship. But through and through it is not rational at the devotional level. (typically because it is religion for the poor).
I cant help but see the similarities. And cant help but think that Jesus can more easily be understood by a born again christian in a hindu context, because they require no allegiance to to the rigidty of the bible, or other christian doctrines that are becoming to outdated for the modern era.
If a christian really does claim a personal relationship with god through Jesus, and that religion is less important than this relationship, then they appear to me to have more in common with the Hindu Tradition then any possible Christian one.
Anyone following this?
[This message has been edited by dagnabitt (edited 02-28-2005).]