I see a lot of Christians by name only.
I lean towards Buddhism.
I lean on the teachings of Christ as well.
Actions speak louder than words.
Discussion
This is what I mean:
>A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool; you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being [only] a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.
-- C. S. Lewis
And this - see ch. 4 of Machen, [Christianity and Liberalism](https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/machen/ChristianityandLiberalismJGreshamMachen.pdf). 🤙🏼
My God welcomes peace and love. I do my best to follow that path.
Feel free to immerse yourself in Scripture.
Actions will always speak louder than words.
Are you a man of active love?
Are you just preaching about Jesus, eager to pass judgement on others for not knowing the man written words you spout and quote?
Friend, I am just a beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.
"Love one another" is the very law that we cannot keep perfectly and therefore subjects us to the guilt and punishment of sin. This puts us at enmity with God--who, though a God of Love, is also a God of Justice (he is Holy).
Peace between God and men required the sacrifice of Christ to reconcile us to him.
The gospel (good news) of grace is that Christ loved perfectly *for us* and we can therefore escape just punishment and enter glory. This he did "while we were still enemies."
This is the Love and Peace that God brings through Christ, our redeemer.
One might reject this teaching, but at least understand what Christianity is before doing so... peace my friend, really like your posts!
A thought:
If we consider "the Word" metaphorically as language and symbolic thought, then it could be argued that our conception of the universe and of God (or gods) is indeed emergent from this. Our understanding and interpretation of the universe, our philosophical and religious beliefs, including the concept of God, are heavily influenced, if not constructed, by the language we use and the cultural narratives we engage with.
This is a more philosophical treatment of John. Maybe our entire conceptual framework, including our understanding of higher powers or ultimate realities, is shaped by our cognitive and linguistic capabilities. Would it be considered blasphemy to say that our conception of the universe and of God is emergent from 'the Word' understood as language and human cognitive processes?
If its possible then I think we can probably hug most issues out.
-Random Thoughts of a cartoon frog
Oh yah and although the Torah doesnt use the concept of the word in the same way as John does, the concept of reality emerging through the word exists right up front and in the beginning. lol see what i did there? couldnt help myself.
In the Torah, the act of creation is often described as being performed through speech. For example, in the Genesis creation narrative, God creates the world by speaking it into existence ("And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light"). This can be interpreted as a metaphor for the power of divine speech or command, where the very act of speaking brings forth creation.
Sorry for butchering the text. Consider all things badly paraphrased. Plus you shouldnt believe me you should go look it up and verify first.
- More cartoonish thoughts
As long as we can agree that behind that Word which created all things that were created is an Absolute Person, an author, who thus has author-ity over all he speaks...then sure!
[Colossians 1](https://esv.org/Col+1) is pretty awesome when read alongside John 1...
🤙🏼
Words are spoken. Implies speaker I think.
but understand then that every culture approaches truth through their own lens. For some traditional cultures the divine and the esoteric are the dominant lens. There are truths revealed to all cultures through devotion or observation (science). No one has the whole answer that I have come across. Seems like all have truth expressed in the language of their cultural framework. I think one of the greatest hopes I have for us as humanity is that we start to bring together the ancient wisdom and piece together a better picture of this infinite marvel that we found ourselves in.
-- The cartoon frog is now high