As PK has surmised the question may also relate to the awareness that we each refer to as "I".
Does this awareness start at conception and if so is it simply a material bundle of complex organic molecules or is there something else?
Where does the spirit of life go when the body returns to the elements of nature?
Where does the spirit of life come from at conception?
What's it all about Alfie?
IMO despite some massive technological and scientific achievement, some things are still best regarded as "mysteries"
A "cobbler of fables" [Augustine]; "Leucius is the disciple of the devil" [Decretum Gelasianum]; and his books "should be utterly swept away and burned" [Pope Leo I]; they are the "source and mother of all heresy" [Photius]
Gnostic Bishop wrote:Then let's park our brains and live in the same mysterious fantasy world that the ancients lived in.
Saying that some things are not necessarily amenable to intellectual analysis does not mean one has to park one's brain in the dustbin, or that saying that some things appear to be a mystery is not necessarily giving up upon possible intellectual solutions and/or understandings of the mystery.
I don't know the answer to a great many questions, particularly those mentioned in this thread. I am happy and comfortable to see a mystery in some things that I cannot understand, or do not know the answers to. But I am also happy to listen to others answers and opinions. We all live and learn.
A "cobbler of fables" [Augustine]; "Leucius is the disciple of the devil" [Decretum Gelasianum]; and his books "should be utterly swept away and burned" [Pope Leo I]; they are the "source and mother of all heresy" [Photius]
Well thanks, folks, for all your input. I have been pondering and have been inspired to continue in my own personal research. Personal belief should be backed up by some type of (scriptural) text and in that I am lacking, since I only know the Christian New Testament and not much of the other texts on this site (that's why I started visiting, to become more familiar). I guess I was looking for a quick answer and/or a guide in anxiousness. Well, if this is somehow Divinely inspired, I shall find the answers I am seeking.
cmarie wrote:Personal belief should be backed up by some type of (scriptural) text and in that I am lacking ....
I don't think that personal belief should be necessarily be backed up by some type of (scriptural) text, and even if I did, I don't think that the scriptural text need be a religious text at all. I think that personal belief should be subjected to one's own critical questioning. Accepting one text or another as "Gospel truth" is like walking into a shop full of crutches and selecting a crutch. Most people do not need a crutch to walk from A to B, or from B to D (birth to death), although many choose a crutch. I think its all about examining how we have been conditioned by societal belief systems, including religions, and breaking free of their hold.
A "cobbler of fables" [Augustine]; "Leucius is the disciple of the devil" [Decretum Gelasianum]; and his books "should be utterly swept away and burned" [Pope Leo I]; they are the "source and mother of all heresy" [Photius]
cmarie wrote:Well thanks, folks, for all your input. I have been pondering and have been inspired to continue in my own personal research. Personal belief should be backed up by some type of (scriptural) text and in that I am lacking, since I only know the Christian New Testament and not much of the other texts on this site (that's why I started visiting, to become more familiar). I guess I was looking for a quick answer and/or a guide in anxiousness. Well, if this is somehow Divinely inspired, I shall find the answers I am seeking.
If you have any type of belief, then you would have to have trust that your God, whatever that word means to you, created you for the best possible end. Is that not correct?
As a Gnostic Christian and Universalist I have no problem with that view. We are demonstrably in the best of all possible worlds.
As to scriptural back up. That is just men and their views and hold no more truth than anything you could say of heaven.
cmarie wrote:Personal belief should be backed up by some type of (scriptural) text and in that I am lacking ....
I don't think that personal belief should be necessarily be backed up by some type of (scriptural) text, and even if I did, I don't think that the scriptural text need be a religious text at all. I think that personal belief should be subjected to one's own critical questioning. Accepting one text or another as "Gospel truth" is like walking into a shop full of crutches and selecting a crutch. Most people do not need a crutch to walk from A to B, or from B to D (birth to death), although many choose a crutch. I think its all about examining how we have been conditioned by societal belief systems, including religions, and breaking free of their hold.
John T wrote:You asked a serious question from a Christian point of view, so you should get a biblical answer and not Catholic dogma or smart-aleck comments from atheists.
1. The dead know nothing (Ecc 9:5) and are not in heaven or hell. The Bible does not mention anything about limbo.
2. Christ is the firstborn of the dead. Rev 1:5.
3. Upon the return of the Lord himself, the dead in Christ will awaken in heaven. 1 Thess 4:13-18.
In short, when you die you are dead and will not know/feel anything until the resurrection.
The gnostic version of heaven is from Greek mythology and not what Jesus taught to his disciples.
Really. Gnostic Christian hell is like the Greek myths.
As a Universalist religion, Gnostic Christians should not have a need for a hell.
This I have to read so please, link me up to anything that makes that connection.
Gnosticism, just like Christianity has many, many different doctrines/denominations and as such it has many different views on hell.
I'm not here to argue for or against one Gnostic belief over another but only wish to point out that certain sects of Gnostic do believe in hell based on Greek thought.
Although the majority of Gnostic sects view earth as evil/hell as well as if you live an evil life, upon death, your soul will be reincarnated and remain in hell/earth as your punishment.
Sincerely,
John T
"It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into."...Jonathan Swift
John T wrote:You asked a serious question from a Christian point of view, so you should get a biblical answer and not Catholic dogma or smart-aleck comments from atheists.
1. The dead know nothing (Ecc 9:5) and are not in heaven or hell. The Bible does not mention anything about limbo.
2. Christ is the firstborn of the dead. Rev 1:5.
3. Upon the return of the Lord himself, the dead in Christ will awaken in heaven. 1 Thess 4:13-18.
In short, when you die you are dead and will not know/feel anything until the resurrection.
The gnostic version of heaven is from Greek mythology and not what Jesus taught to his disciples.
Really. Gnostic Christian hell is like the Greek myths.
As a Universalist religion, Gnostic Christians should not have a need for a hell.
This I have to read so please, link me up to anything that makes that connection.
Gnosticism, just like Christianity has many, many different doctrines/denominations and as such it has many different views on hell.
I'm not here to argue for or against one Gnostic belief over another but only wish to point out that certain sects of Gnostic do believe in hell based on Greek thought.
Although the majority of Gnostic sects view earth as evil/hell as well as if you live an evil life, upon death, your soul will be reincarnated and remain in hell/earth as your punishment.
Sincerely,
John T
You sound so literal when Gnostic Christians never were at all literal.
Modern Gnostic Christians do not believe in reincarnation nor do we believe in reading any scriptures literally.
We do recognize the spark of God within all of us, whom are matter, and thus we have a great liking for matter and the physical world. Remember that it is Christian theology that has God cursing the whole world. That is not Gnostic Christianity.
If you wish to know what a Gnostic Christian believes, best to ask, because as you say, there are many sects. Those who do not know how we believe or what we believe, often make errors.
