This thread might be too ambitious, but we'll see how it goes. The goal of this thread is to answer your questions about religion, with some specification. "But that's why we have the Religion Forum!" True, but this is a little different. It's to accomplish 3 things at the moment. We'll discuss the three major religions (Will add more if this thread picks up): -Judaism -Christianity -Islam Here's how it works. 1. First, you can ask a burning question that can't let you sleep at night, and you will state to which religion you're directing the question to. Example: Judaism -Why is it not permitted for Jews to consume any pig-made products? Any MAP member can contribute an answer, and if you agree with his or her answer you will use the handy "Thanks" tool in the lower right corner of the post. This will not only show your agreement, but also keeps the thread relatively organized. If you need to add more, you are more than welcome to it. 2. Second, this thread is also open for you to criticize the religion(s). If it violates the TOS then maybe you shouldn't post it. Example: Islam -I think Islam is a religion of violence and not of peace. Mind you these are just examples. This will initiate debates which will refute or reinforce the criticism and we can all hopefully benefit from them. 3. Third, if you believe in a certain religion, you can stat why/what made you believe in that religion. Example: I am a Christian because.... Remember: If you like the answer want to express your agreement, simply use the "Thanks" button. If you disagree or have something to add, that you are more than welcome to state your opinion. This will keep the thread organized and easy to read. You can also direct you question to all three religions at once.
I'll start first. Judaism -I've heard something about a Messiah that is supposed to reveal himself soon. Who is he, and what is his purpose?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah#Judaism As prophecies in religion go I quite like that one. No doomsday apocalypse horsies.
Christianity (I might have my facts completely wrong in this question) .I'm studying Cardinal Wolsey atm in college and one of the things I've picked up is that the pope is, iirc, meant to be the pope as he is the son of Adam. If thats true how would that be any different to any other man on the planet?
All Religions I keep hearing about people who were considered dead, than miraculously start living again. They state that they've seen dead family members, seen the light at the end of the tunnel, etc. Do you think this is true? http://www.near-death.com/
Not sure if you meant that as a question, but I had a instructor in High School who pointed out that many of the Judaic laws were thought out. As an example, pig meat tends to keep poorly.
I have a question, i have heard different answers but lets see what i get this time. Adam and Eve were the first people on earth so to procreate some incest would have had to of happend why is this considered to be ok?
I was trying to come up with examples, but we can discuss this. Well, we have fridges now that can take care of that. So why shouldn't be different now?
Well lemme give you my opinion and ask a question of my own. Ok first of all lemme bend up the thought some more. I remember that Eve came from Adam's rib. IMO that indicates she is a clone of Adam. Maybe god just left out the Y chromosome and doubled up the X chromosome. The incest began when Adam was banging his mutated clone Eve. Who else was there? There weren't many options. Although I think the Bible glosses over the case of original incest I do think there are other examples of incest. I vaguely remember some guy getting lost in the desert and having to intoxicated and seduced by his daughters in order to keep the family line going. I'm sorry I can't remember dude's name. Ok here's my question. I've heard of Arius who in early Christianity believed that Jesus and God were distinctly separate beings. The Nicene Creed declared the official belief in the the Trinity and Arius became considered a heretic. However I don't ever recall anything in the Bible ever saying Jesus was God. Anybody happen to know where it says that in the Bible, especially in the original language of the Bible? As a non-Christian I think its odd that the one belief that is argued the least by Christians also has the least scriptural support. I always ask Christians this and I never get a scriptural supporting argument. The closest I've ever seen is that in the Bible it says Jesus is the word of God. But doesn't say Jesus is God. Unless word in Aramaic also meant the same which I seriously doubt it does.
Good question. I've always thought of that too. I don't mind Adam and Eve, I would think that Adam is not related to Eve because neither of them had a father and a mother, but what about their childern. As far as I know, their two sons married their two daughters. So, any takers? Edit: Pitfighter posted as I was posting. GSHAMBROOKE didn't specify a certain religion so I assumed all. In Islam for example, it's not believed that Eve was created from Adam's rib, but good points.
I always want to ask the following question. - Is God kind? If the answer is Yes, why did he want to punish Adam and Eve? - Is God smart? If the answer is Yes, why can't he predict that Adam would eat that apple? - If Adam and Eve were allowed to produce the entire human race, does that mean brother and sister are allowed to get marry? - What skin, hair, and eyes color did Adam and Eve have? - What language did Adam and Eve speak? As far as religion, here is my story. Long long time ago, far far away from the galaxy, there were many intelligent creatures lived on a planet. The creatures on that planet created some lab animal called human. Later on the creature found out that the human were evil and won't allow human to live on that planet. The creatures sent the entire human population to a new planet far away from them. Later on the creatures from the original planet sent 3 messengers to the new planet to investigate the human behavior. All 3 messengers told the human that if they behavior well, they would be brought back to where they came from. Those 3 messengers were called Jesus, Muhammad, and Buddha. The planet that the creatures live is called "heaven", the new planet that human had been sent is called "earth".
What makes you thinl it was a punishment? Freewill. G-d knows the outcome of every decision we can make, but we are free to make whatever decision we want. The text does not support they were the only ones. The first maybe, certainly the only 2 that Genesis mcares to tell the story of. But Cain and Abel do leave and meet other people. Unknow and irrelevant. However, references in Genesis usually puts the Garden somwhere in the Iraq/Iran region, do Middle Eastern tones is likely. Again, irrelevant. Suffice it to say that the world spoke the same language until Babel.
This might offend, but there is no such thing as God. If you look at religion, it is in many ways a cult. You accept God because your tradition told you to, not because you saw or meet God personally. If you reject your experience and follow second hand experience like religion, how do you know if it is true?
