How To Get To Heaven When You Die

Originally posted by Lord Urizen
What are Jesus's teachings ? Because st. Paul contradicts much of what Jesus himself supposedly said.

On top of that Jesus' teachings contradict the Old Testament...

so can i only pay attention to what Jesus said, and IGNORE the rest ?

Originally posted by Nellinator
Jesus made a new covenant that fulfilled the Law and the Passover. Paul does not contradict Jesus, he teaches on the deeper meaning and workings of Christ's power and we are specifically warned in the Bible that are easily misinterpreted by the immature in faith. This is what you and many others who are not of the Christian faith have done: misinterpret it. If you pay attention to what Jesus says and OBEY what he says which means repentance and acceptance of his sacrifice you will likely do just fine, but understanding the entire Bible is better.

So Paul was a greater teacher then Jesus? I don't think so. I think that Paul distorted and corrupted the teaching of Jesus. Today the church of Jesus is extinct. In it's place stands the church of Paul.

Jesus was definitely the greater teacher, no doubt about it. Jesus is alive in the church today moreso than he has been in over a thousand years. In JESUS's name we cast out demons, in JESUS's name we heal the sick, in JESUS's name addictions are broken, in JESUS's name he are set free from the chains of this world. Jesus baptized us with the Holy Spirit and has given us all power and authority through his name. I am a follower of Jesus. If Paul said something that disagreed with Jesus I would ignore it, but it doesn't. To JESUS be the glory, not Paul. Be Baptized in the name of the Father, the SON, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Originally posted by Nellinator
Jesus was definitely the greater teacher, no doubt about it. Jesus is alive in the church today moreso than he has been in over a thousand years. In JESUS's name we cast out demons, in JESUS's name we heal the sick, in JESUS's name addictions are broken, in JESUS's name he are set free from the chains of this world. Jesus baptized us with the Holy Spirit and has given us all power and authority through his name. I am a follower of Jesus. If Paul said something that disagreed with Jesus I would ignore it, but it doesn't. To JESUS be the glory, not Paul. Be Baptized in the name of the Father, the SON, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Careful there, remember the "goats" in Mathew 25. They claimed to have done all that stuff in His name too, but still ended up on the wrong side.

Originally posted by Nellinator
Jesus made a new covenant that fulfilled the Law and the Passover. Paul does not contradict Jesus, he teaches on the deeper meaning and workings of Christ's power and we are specifically warned in the Bible that are easily misinterpreted by the immature in faith. This is what you and many others who are not of the Christian faith have done: misinterpret it. If you pay attention to what Jesus says and OBEY what he says which means repentance and acceptance of his sacrifice you will likely do just fine, but understanding the entire Bible is better.

oo0o0o00o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Okay...I get it now 🙂

Oh wait....No I don't....Paul tends to focus more on punishment and judgement, while Jesus tends to focus more on Love and Unity....

There is a DEFINATE Contradiction between the two....

Paul was teaching people how to come to Christ repent of your sins and accept him as your lord and savior. Paul never contradict himself, people that are not Christians or have no faith will always say that the Bible contradict itself, to me people using that argument are using it a scape goat and not come to christ.

If you die in Christ you will be joint heirs in heaven, you will be on the same footing with Jesus, no more pain, no more crying, no more stress, you will feel joy beyond belief.

Jesus is the truth and the way, if you don't believe so than you are putting your soul andyour eternal future on the line, that's why God created free will you can make you own decision life or death, choose wisely.

"No one comes to the Father but threw me" Jesus said, if you don't believe it then I am sorry for you, because when you die you will be judge by a living god, and his judgment is final and righteous.

Originally posted by the Darkone
Paul was teaching people how to come to Christ repent of your sins and accept him as your lord and savior. Paul never contradict himself, people that are not Christians or have no faith will always say that the Bible contradict itself, to me people using that argument are using it a scape goat and not come to christ.

If you die in Christ you will be joint heirs in heaven, you will be on the same footing with Jesus, no more pain, no more crying, no more stress, you will feel joy beyond belief.

Jesus is the truth and the way, if you don't believe so than you are putting your soul andyour eternal future on the line, that's why God created free will you can make you own decision life or death, choose wisely.

"No one comes to the Father but threw me" Jesus said, if you don't believe it then I am sorry for you, because when you die you will be judge by a living god, and his judgment is final and righteous.

I am no saint I've sin and I ask God to forgive me of my sins, and I have faith Lord Jesus Christ who died for me took the nails that where mint for me.

Their is one faith that is lord jesus, anything else saying that their is another way into heaven is false, Jesus is the way repent accept Jesus as your lord, if you don't you will be left behind and their will be a real hell on earth when the anti-christ comes on the sceen and ask man and woman to take the mark of the beast.

Originally posted by Nellinator
Amen. It is important to notice that Paul most directly deals with those already within the Church. Once you have accepted Christ you must hold yourself to a higher standard and strive to be Christ-like. Paul wrote his letters to the Churches, not the unsaved, in an effort to uproot the evil that was corrupting the Church. Jesus preached mostly to the unsaved, showing them the way into a relationship with the Father.

exactly^^.

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
So Paul was a greater teacher then Jesus? I don't think so. I think that Paul distorted and corrupted the teaching of Jesus. Today the church of Jesus is extinct. In it's place stands the church of Paul.

I agreed. Judeo-Christian perception of God was the same as taught by the idol worshipping society. The Mesopotamians and the people of Asia Minor believed in anthropomorphic gods. They made their gods in their own image and similitude. Gods were immortal "people". They were like men and women, with especial powers. They were supermen and wonder women with the same psyche of their creators, the primitive humans. Each nation adopted one of the gods as their patron and protector, whose job was to give them strength to fight against the enemy who followed other gods. They attributed their victory to the greatness of their god. Messengers of these gods where abounding. They talked to their followers, demanded sacrifices and donations to the priests. Eventually people matured and because religion is nothing but the figment of human mind, their concept of God also matured. They could no more believe in a multitude of gods, each competing with the other over the allegiance of the people. So, as different cultures intermingled and international commerce flourished, polytheism gave way to monotheism. For example, although Christ did not think much of the non-Jews comparing them to dogs, (Mat 15:26) Paul his apostle, the salesman of Christianity to the West, modified the religion of his master and changed its exclusivist character to make it palatable to the pagan nations of Europe. He even accepted their "unknown god" to be the same as Yahweh, the god of the Jews (Act 17:22,23).

Today’s Judaism and Christianity are monotheistic and their followers assume that this has been so since their inceptions. But a more in dept study of the Bible reveals another reality.

We should understand that oneness of mankind, is relatively a new concept. Our ancestors who lived thousands of years before us had no use for such oneness nor they could comprehend it. Tribalism was the name of the game. Love of one’s country was part of the religion. Respect for human rights had no meaning for them. They considered themselves superior to the rest of humanity and their god more powerful than other gods. Of course each people had their own god and protector who defended them during the wars and they made sacrifices to him. The polytheism is even reaffirmed in one of the Psalms.82

--God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods
--How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
--Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
--Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
--They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
--I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
--But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.
--Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

Here YHWH is addressing other gods, supposedly the gods of other nations admonishing them for being negligent and unworthy of their duties as gods. The interesting part is the verse 82:6 where YHWH reminds all the gods that they are the children of the Most High. Who is this Most High? Who is YHWH talking to? Are there many gods? Who is this father of all of the gods? Is there another god superior to YHWH and other gods who has begotten all of them? It is not clear whether YHWH considers himself also to be the son of the Most High or not, but apparently he (YHWH) must regard him (the Most High) with respect as he mentions his name with much reverence.

The bible assures that YHWH is the god of the Hebrews (Exodus 7:16) and warns them not to worship other gods. In fact many verses in the Bible acknowledge the existence of other gods. Judaism and even Christianity were not originally monotheistic religions. There is a paragraph in the New Testament that shows that even Christ thought that YHWH is only the god of the Jews and his own mission was restricted to the children of Israel.

So neither Judaism nor Christianity were originally monotheistic religions. Then who is the father of monotheism? To whom shall we give the credit for this new theology that inseminated intolerance and is responsible for many wars amongst the nations as each claimed to be the chosen people of the most-High and the only ones with the truth?

The father of monotheism is Paul. This man was a true believer with an unshakable faith that Jesus was the Son of God, (perhaps because he never laid eyes on him and did not know him personally to be aware of his weaknesses). He became determined to preach the message of Christ that was rejected in his own homeland, amongst the rest of humanity. But this was a tough sell. Other nations had their own gods and would not listen to the preaching of a foreign cult. Many had customs that were different from those of the Jews and those that Jesus practiced. What Paul did is what any good salesman would do. He changed his product to make it more attractive to his western clients. Paul was clever enough to realize that if he had to convert the Gentiles into Christianity, he had to re-invent a new Christianity palatable to their taste and liking.

He soon dropped the requisite of circumcision, belittled the importance of Sabbath, undermined Jesus’ preference of the Jews and even claimed that he is preaching the messages of a pagan "unknown god". This is reported in the following verses.

"Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you." Act 17:22,23

The temple dedicated to the unknown god was built because of the Athenian's concern not to leave behind any god, very much the same concept when we dedicate a monument to the memory of the Unknown Soldier. The unknown god was certainly the least of the gods and not as Paul wanted to believe the Creator of the universe.

It looks like by then many had come to see the similarity and the oneness of humankind. And therefore it was unreasonable to believe that each nation had a separate creator. It is interesting to observe that, as we saw in the above episode, apparently Jesus was less aware of this oneness than his disciple Paul. The reason is obviously circumstantial. Jesus was born and raised in a closed and dogmatic society. He, like his contemporary compatriots believed that the Jews are the chosen children of God. He was not concerned for the Gentiles and even rejected to assist them when they came to him. On the other hand, Paul was a more sophisticated and learned person. He had traveled extensively, was familiar with many cultures and had been in touch with great civilizations. His views were more cosmopolitan than those of Jesus. In his opinion, if Christ was the Son of God, his message should not be reserved only to the Jews but must spread to all the nations of the world. He, unlike his master, did not believe that God would play favoritism. But like Peter believed that “God is not respecter of persons” Act 10:34

Thus, monotheism owes its popularity to the clever and more universalistic views of the disciples of Jesus and not to his own teachings. The spread of Christianity in the West, forced the early believers to adapt the teachings of Jesus and make it more appealing to the new converts. In this way, a local and obscure cult of few Jews became the religion of choice for Romans who eventually made it the religion of the entire continent.

Originally posted by mahasattva
I agreed. Judeo-Christian perception of God was the same as taught by the idol worshipping society. The Mesopotamians and the people of Asia Minor believed in anthropomorphic gods. They made their gods in their own image and similitude. Gods were immortal "people". They were like men and women, with especial powers. They were supermen and wonder women with the same psyche of their creators, the primitive humans. Each nation adopted one of the gods as their patron and protector, whose job was to give them strength to fight against the enemy who followed other gods. They attributed their victory to the greatness of their god. Messengers of these gods where abounding. They talked to their followers, demanded sacrifices and donations to the priests. Eventually people matured and because religion is nothing but the figment of human mind, their concept of God also matured. They could no more believe in a multitude of gods, each competing with the other over the allegiance of the people. So, as different cultures intermingled and international commerce flourished, polytheism gave way to monotheism. For example, although Christ did not think much of the non-Jews comparing them to dogs, (Mat 15:26) Paul his apostle, the salesman of Christianity to the West, modified the religion of his master and changed its exclusivist character to make it palatable to the pagan nations of Europe. He even accepted their "unknown god" to be the same as Yahweh, the god of the Jews (Act 17:22,23).

Today’s Judaism and Christianity are monotheistic and their followers assume that this has been so since their inceptions. But a more in dept study of the Bible reveals another reality.

We should understand that oneness of mankind, is relatively a new concept. Our ancestors who lived thousands of years before us had no use for such oneness nor they could comprehend it. Tribalism was the name of the game. Love of one’s country was part of the religion. Respect for human rights had no meaning for them. They considered themselves superior to the rest of humanity and their god more powerful than other gods. Of course each people had their own god and protector who defended them during the wars and they made sacrifices to him. The polytheism is even reaffirmed in one of the Psalms.82

--God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods
--How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
--Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
--Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
--They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
--I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
--But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.
--Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

Here YHWH is addressing other gods, supposedly the gods of other nations admonishing them for being negligent and unworthy of their duties as gods. The interesting part is the verse 82:6 where YHWH reminds all the gods that they are the children of the Most High. Who is this Most High? Who is YHWH talking to? Are there many gods? Who is this father of all of the gods? Is there another god superior to YHWH and other gods who has begotten all of them? It is not clear whether YHWH considers himself also to be the son of the Most High or not, but apparently he (YHWH) must regard him (the Most High) with respect as he mentions his name with much reverence.

The bible assures that YHWH is the god of the Hebrews (Exodus 7:16) and warns them not to worship other gods. In fact many verses in the Bible acknowledge the existence of other gods. Judaism and even Christianity were not originally monotheistic religions. There is a paragraph in the New Testament that shows that even Christ thought that YHWH is only the god of the Jews and his own mission was restricted to the children of Israel.

So neither Judaism nor Christianity were originally monotheistic religions. Then who is the father of monotheism? To whom shall we give the credit for this new theology that inseminated intolerance and is responsible for many wars amongst the nations as each claimed to be the chosen people of the most-High and the only ones with the truth?

The father of monotheism is Paul. This man was a true believer with an unshakable faith that Jesus was the Son of God, (perhaps because he never laid eyes on him and did not know him personally to be aware of his weaknesses). He became determined to preach the message of Christ that was rejected in his own homeland, amongst the rest of humanity. But this was a tough sell. Other nations had their own gods and would not listen to the preaching of a foreign cult. Many had customs that were different from those of the Jews and those that Jesus practiced. What Paul did is what any good salesman would do. He changed his product to make it more attractive to his western clients. Paul was clever enough to realize that if he had to convert the Gentiles into Christianity, he had to re-invent a new Christianity palatable to their taste and liking.

He soon dropped the requisite of circumcision, belittled the importance of Sabbath, undermined Jesus’ preference of the Jews and even claimed that he is preaching the messages of a pagan "unknown god". This is reported in the following verses.

"Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you." Act 17:22,23

The temple dedicated to the unknown god was built because of the Athenian's concern not to leave behind any god, very much the same concept when we dedicate a monument to the memory of the Unknown Soldier. The unknown god was certainly the least of the gods and not as Paul wanted to believe the Creator of the universe.

It looks like by then many had come to see the similarity and the oneness of humankind. And therefore it was unreasonable to believe that each nation had a separate creator. It is interesting to observe that, as we saw in the above episode, apparently Jesus was less aware of this oneness than his disciple Paul. The reason is obviously circumstantial. Jesus was born and raised in a closed and dogmatic society. He, like his contemporary compatriots believed that the Jews are the chosen children of God. He was not concerned for the Gentiles and even rejected to assist them when they came to him. On the other hand, Paul was a more sophisticated and learned person. He had traveled extensively, was familiar with many cultures and had been in touch with great civilizations. His views were more cosmopolitan than those of Jesus. In his opinion, if Christ was the Son of God, his message should not be reserved only to the Jews but must spread to all the nations of the world. He, unlike his master, did not believe that God would play favoritism. But like Peter believed that “God is not respecter of persons” Act 10:34

Thus, monotheism owes its popularity to the clever and more universalistic views of the disciples of Jesus and not to his own teachings. The spread of Christianity in the West, forced the early believers to adapt the teachings of Jesus and make it more appealing to the new converts. In this way, a local and obscure cult of few Jews became the religion of choice for Romans who eventually made it the religion of the entire continent.

"He gives judgement among the 'gods'" Psalm 82:1
*God is a position of power and authority over these 'gods' making it pretty clear that he is the highest.

PROOF that God is the Most High
"Blessed be Abram by GOD MOST HIGH, Creator of heaven and earth." Genesis 14:19
I didn't even have to look outside the first book of the Bible.

"I have raised my hand to the Lord, GOD MOST HIGH, Creator of heaven and earth..." Genesis 14:22
There it is again. God is the Most High.

"How awesome is the Lord Most High..." Psalm 47:2

Even demons confess that God is the Most High.
"He shouted at the top of his voice, 'What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the MOST HIGH GOD.'" Mark 5:7

Even simple knowledge of Judaism would tell you that it has always been a monotheistic religion. Jews keep tradition better than any other people group in the world and Jewish tradition is that there is ONE GOD.

Now in references to the 'gods' from Psalm 82. The Bible also says "For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens." 1 Chronicles 16:26
And to nullify this a contradiction between writers you must know that that this is also written by David and is also written in Psalm 96. You must consider the entire Bible to understand. This is what so many people fail to do.

You also say that each people had a god that they sacrificed to. Read this: "They sacrificed to demons, which are not God- gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared..." Deuteronomy 32:17
It is pretty clear that these 'gods' are demons.

Another reference to the 'gods' being demons is found in David's writings. "They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons." Psalm 106:37

As for the Unknown God, you need to know the story behind it. This is coming from Greek legend. The Greeks were afflicted with a horrible disease and prayed night and day to their gods to lift the curse of the disease. When this failed they all gathered and called out asking for the one true god to forgive them and withdraw his hand. This worked and the Greeks built the altar in commemoration of the event.
I think it is very likely that this was the Lord.

Next you say it is in Paul's opinion that the good news of Jesus should be spread to all people. Not so. It is Jesus's last commandment to his followers and is sometimes called The Great Commission. Jesus wants word of him to be spread to all people.
"Therefore go and make disciples of ALL NATIONS..." Matthew 28:19
"...and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in [Christ's] name to ALL NATIONS..." Luke 24:47
"...and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH." Acts 1:8
And my favourite, "And this gospel of the kingdom WILL BE preached
in the WHOLE WORLD as a testimony to ALL NATIONS..." Matthew 24:14

And some Old Testament confirmation that this is the way it is supposed to be:
"...make known AMONG THE NATIONS what he has done." 1 Chronicles 16:8
"Declare his glory AMONG THE NATIONS, his marvelous deeds AMONG ALL PEOPLES." 1 Chronicles 16:24
"...for ALL THE NATIONS are your inheritance." Psalm 82:8
"Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and ALL NATIONS ON EARTH will be blessed through him (his descendant Jesus Christ)." Genesis 18:18
"You RULE OVER ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THE NATIONS..." 2 Chronicles 20:6
"For dominion belongs to the Lord and he RULES OVER THE NATIONS." Psalm 22:28
"...the great King over ALL THE EARTH!" Psalm 47:2
"For God is King of ALL THE EARTH...God reigns OVER THE NATIONS... for the kings of the earth belong to God..." Psalm 47:7-9
"...your praise reaches to the ENDS OF THE EARTH..." Psalm 48:10
"Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, 'The Lord will surely exclude me from his people'..." Isaiah 56:3
"...for my house will be called a house of prayer FOR ALL NATIONS." Isaiah 56:7
"...Then THE NATIONS will know that I am the Lord..." Ezekiel 36:23

Prophecy about Jesus being for all nations:
"...and ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH will see the salvation of our God." Isaiah 52:10
"So will he sprinkle MANY NATIONS…" Isaiah 52:15
"...men of ALL LANGUAGES AND NATIONS will take firm hold of one Jew (Jesus)..." Zechariah 8:23

And your last point seems to be that Christianity was an obscure cult of Jews is ridiculously false. Paul's letters are written to GENTILE churches not Jews. And these churches are spread throughout various parts of the entire empire. Peter was in Rome and was martyred there. One of the other disciples (I think it was Andrew) was martyred in Persia. Christianity was already throughout the empire and was mostly non-Jews. Christianity was a large and powerful religion at the time it became the state religion. Don't claim to have made an in depth study of the Bible because you did not.

There is a paragraph in the New Testament that shows that even Christ thought that YHWH is only the god of the Jews and his own mission was restricted to the children of Israel.

Mark:7
25: For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him (Jesus), and came and fell at his feet:
26: The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.
27: But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meant to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.
28: And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.
29: And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.
30: And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed."
See also (Matthew 15:26)

There are a lot of verses in the Old Testament that show YHWH was only the God of the Jews and that other nations had their own gods. Obviously these other gods compared to YHWH were the underdogs. Here are some examples:

"He assigned to each nation a god but Jacob’s descendents he chose for himself" (Deut. 32:9)

"The Lord alone led his people without the help of a foreign god: (Deut. 32:12)

"Lord who among the gods is like you"? (Ex 15:11)

"The Lord the God of the Hebrews…" (Ex 7:16)

"Listen to everything that I, the Lord, have said to you. Do not pray to other gods; do not even mention their names" (Ex. 23:13)If there is no other god what is fuss?

"I will live among the people of Israel" (Ex. 29:45) So God is not Omnipresent, he is not to be found in the rest of the word and he plays favoritism.

"…. the god is with us and has defeated the gods who protected them" (Num. 14:9) How can he defeat someone who dose not exist and how that non existent being would be able to protect anybody?

"… Your god let the men become refugees… " (Num. 21:29)

"By doing this, the Lord showed that he was more powerful than the gods of Egypt" (Num. 33:4) How can one be more powerful than something that does not exist?

"There is no god in heaven or on earth who can do the mighty things that you have done" (Deut. 3:24) If there were no other gods the first part of this sentence would have sufficed.

"Has any god ever dared to go and take a people from another nation and make them his own?" (Deut. 4:34) Implying that other gods are weak, or care not for their believers.

"Do not worship other gods, any of the gods of the people around you" (Deut. 6:14)

"The Lord your God is supreme over all gods…" (Deut. 10:17) Here Jehovah is being compared again to other gods, so there must be other gods, or there can be no comparison.

See also (Deut. 11:16, 28; 12:30; 13:6, 12, 28:10)

So it is clear that the early Jews were not monotheists. The reason behind this obsession of worshiping one god and not the others becomes clear from the following verses.

“Never come to worship me without bringing an offering” (Ex. 23:15)

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘When you take a census of the people of Israel, each man is to pay me a price for his life, …Everyone must pay this in an offering to me” . (Ex. 30:11-13)

Hence, the Israelis had to relinquish the worship of other gods and worship just YHWA. And they had to make some material offerings to him so their prayers gain acceptance. Then there were rituals for cleaning the impure objects, marriage, birth etc that required the believers to make offerings to god.

“The first born of an animal already belongs to the Lord,… A calf, a lamb, or a kid belongs to the Lord, but the first born of an unclean animal may be bought back at the standard price. Plus an additional 20%” (Lev. 27:26,27).

One-tenth of all the produce of the land, whether grain or fruit, belongs to the Lord.” (Lev.27:30).

But who is going to benefit from all these offerings? Of course the vicegerent of god on Earth, who else?

“…Lord’s permanent property; it shall belong to the priest” (Lev. 27:21)

The whole religion was invented by the priesthood to milk the gullible and ensure their dominance and hegemony over the foolhardy believers. You can find plenty of verses in the Bible where the author makes sure the priests are well fed and well paid. There was nothing an individual could do without paying the clergy their lion’s share. When a believer had to slaughter an animal for his household consumption. He could not do it anywhere else but in the “tent of the Presence of the Lord”. He had to bring it to the altar and sacrifice it there. And the priest would keep the best part of it. “Then, when the shoulder of the ram is boiled. The priest shall take it and put it, together with one thick loaf of bread and one biscuit from the basket, into the hands of the Nazirite, Next the priest shall present them as a special gift to the Lord: they are a sacred offering for the priest, in addition to the breast and the leg of the ram which by law belongs to the priest. (Num. 6:19,20) also (Num. 7:5)

This is how and why religions were invented. Similar rituals and costumes can be found in today’s primitive societies where the shaman, the witch or the medicine-man have their hold on the simple minded believers.

I believe he was using the unknown God to illustrate a point, not necessarily meaning that the people in question were already praying to him.

What you fail to understand mahasattva is that God is the only TRUE god. Other gods exist, but they are demons as I showed in my previous post. That is why God commands us not to use their names. Yes, Jesus was sent especially for the Jews, but that does not exclude his salvation from others as I also showed. Yes, the Jews are (some say were) God's chosen people, but that does not exclude from being God over all nations as I also showed. The passage from Mark that you quote only proves my point... Jesus was sent to the Jews, but when we Gentiles show enough faith and accept Christ as Lord, he does not withhold this grace from us. You consisently claim against the Bible but show no understanding of its message or meanings.

Originally posted by Nellinator
What you fail to understand mahasattva is that God is the only TRUE god. Other gods exist, but they are demons as I showed in my previous post.

All other gods, even the ones that don't advocate anything bad, or in fact represent or advocate good things? Or even those gods that bare a strong resemblance to Jesus and God of the Christian faith?

It is hard to reconcile such Gods as demons, especially when they sometimes represent Christian ideals and/or rules, simply under a different name.

And by all accounts it appears that the demon gods have had a far better run then the Christian god. I mean, all those polytheistic religions that predated Christianity, all those religions that grew in absence of Judea theology (and there were so many...)

Originally posted by Lord Urizen
What are Jesus's teachings ? Because st. Paul contradicts much of what Jesus himself supposedly said.

On top of that Jesus' teachings contradict the Old Testament...

so can i only pay attention to what Jesus said, and IGNORE the rest ?

* i cannot think of anything that Saint Paul contradicts about the teachings of Christ... if there is, according to you, can you please quote it?

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
So Paul was a greater teacher then Jesus? I don't think so. I think that Paul distorted and corrupted the teaching of Jesus. Today the church of Jesus is extinct. In it's place stands the church of Paul.

* the Church that Saint Paul ministered was called like this...

"For ye, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus: for ye also suffered the same things of your own countrymen, even as they did of the Jews;"
I Thessalonians 2:14

* the Church of God in Christ Jesus... there is no Church of Paul... 😕

Originally posted by Lord Urizen
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Okay...I get it now 🙂

Oh wait....No I don't....Paul tends to focus more on punishment and judgement, while Jesus tends to focus more on Love and Unity....

There is a DEFINATE Contradiction between the two....

* Saint Paul also preaches Love and Unity...

"So then, as we have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith."
Galatians 6:10

"For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
Galatians 5:14

* and Christ also teaches Punishment and Judgment...

"But I say unto you, that every one who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire."
Matthew 5:22

"And if thy hand or thy foot causeth thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from thee: it is good for thee to enter into life maimed or halt, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire."
Matthew 18:8

* so, where's the contradiction? 😉

^ The Church of Jesus was the Gnostics.

* nope, the Gnostics preached a different "Jesus" and is not in accordance with the other books...

"Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ salute you."
The Romans 16:16

* and Saint Paul preached the Church of Jesus... 😉

Ok, Heaven and sinning, I have a little bit of a typical Hell question -

According to you, everyone is a sinner, at some level. If road to Heaven is extreamly difficult, then a lot of people will end up in hell/have ended up in hell....so...

Wouldn't by now, considering thousands upon thousands of years of humans and civilisation, Hell get..you know...full? Overcrowded?

What does soul do in heaven? It doenst have a body, so how can it feel pain?

And does it ever get used to pain? But how can a soul feel pain, when all the pain we feel is associated with either our bodies, or our egos?