Chili

You have a good point here in that if essence precedes existence the metaphorical must be found in the rethorical to be conceived first and later emerge in reality where it has 'being,' which then is where beauty is the persuading force of fruitfull rethoric . . . and of course is where Eris finds a home in being.

DCHindley

I think you too quickly grant "Paul" the rhetorical genius to have thrown such golden apples into the grand wedding of faith, so as to create great warfare between the house of Abraham and the children of the good god.

DCH

Chili

. . . but I do not see it that way at all and will always admire and even defend
Judaism as the religion that has no equal, and on which even the mighty Catholic church is just a grafted branch in testamony to the wisdom of their ancients. There just is no argument there because for us to come full circle with our testamony that makes us worthy to be the salt of the earth we must freely be humbled to come full circle in their Genesis. So here now a grafted branch is like being a Jew by adoption.

Chili

Because it hurts to be phoney?

Johnny Skeptic

Why doesn't Judaism have an equal? What is mighty about the historically corrupt Roman Catholic church? Perhaps you are joking. Surely you are not an Orthodox Jew, or a conservative Roman Catholic. Perhaps you like the myths, metaphors, and fairy tails of Judaism and Roman Catholocism better than you like the myths, metaphors, and fairy tails of other religions.

What about Deism? In my opinion, Deism makes a lot more sense than Judaism and Roman Catholicism do.

Just out of curiosity, do you care what people believe? If you have children, what are their worldviews? Did you try to influence them? If so, what did you tell them? What do you believe that parents should teach their children about religion? Do you believe that agnosticism is a rational worldview? What best describes your worldview? If you wish, you can answer those questions by starting a new thread at the General Religious Discussions Forum.

Chili

Because there is only one top and that is exactly where the wisdom if Judaism is at. It is kind of like being on top of the Eifeltower wondering how people can get lost down below. I would say to 'spit it it' out if it makes sense to many. I do not care what others believe and once again would never ask anyone to believe me. That which you call a worldview we call philosophy to include the wisdom of heaven above.

Chili

I am reluctant to that because as soon as I mention the word Catholic I get shipped to the basement but the fact is that Catholics are not Christian in the same way as Jews are not Christian and I hold that Christianity is the abomination that ran away with the brother of Jesus by the second Paul who was preaching the other Gospel by which also America is infested today.

They are twins like in heaven and hell as is shown in Matthew and Luke wherefore Jesus came to show us why and how Matthew was wrong and he showed us in Luke what was right and how to do it right (for my part leave Jesus out of it because he was just the natural way to heaven once one is conceived from above).

In John 6:66 he identifies them as those who parted company with Jesus who had offered 'them' food from heaven that is only accaptable to those who are called by the father (which makes faith a gift of God restricted to those he had 'created' himself = just oposite to reading second hand bible passages).No, just call it the fire of hell that also drives the Jesus worshipers today who with all good intentions do not know what they are doing but only know that they are doing something that works well for them = just opposite to the narrow gate.To this I say that once you are pregnant (as in 'called from above') it is easier to have a baby than not have one and we sure do not need and evangelist do a premature delivery on us that leaves us stranded on earth like an eagle without wings, and that is exactly what the second Paul was about in a Billy Graham fashion (I hope you can see why they squack so much).

Mark was also a rethorical genius who hasn't got a clue about spirutual things but is just throwing bricks in the right direction and he learned that from the Jews.

Lucis

when humanity was a little child, they needed rules so that they would behave.

but now when humanity has grown up to a teenager, they no longer need rules, and they want to rebel against their parents (the gods, the religions, the uncool).

Chili

Teenager? I would say that by the looks of our fertilite rate we are getting old pretty fast . . . and don't even know why, as if we never grew up!

Chili

That is how religious Fundamentalism is born that immitates Christ instead of being a Christ for Christ's sake, which already has been demonstrated in this tread by Sheshbassar.

The difference is why Mark is strikingly beautifull but flat in a Christ-Jesus kind of way as opposed to Jesus-Christ after love has been crowned queen of heaven and earth by the isolated elect (I see evidence of this in Paris where the Notre Dame is isolated on Isle the la Cite (next to the Conciergerie) to be compared with de Madeleine next or close to L'Opera there merely making melodies among the faithfull.