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Peter Hodges

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Does religion have any relevance in the modern world ?

Given that most religions are founded on ideas and teachings that come from books written hundreds, or even thousands of years ago, and that their relevance to modern ideas have been superceded by scientific discoveries, is it logical to have any belief in religion ?

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    edward long 100+

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    Apr 19 2012: @ Obey-- re: "what makes you think. . . ": Your Humanist thinking has limited the scope of possibilities in life sir. We humans do not need something above us. Everything in the Universe is not determined by human needs. Possible explanations of existence go far beyond human determination. Consider the idea that Man is not supreme. re: "If there are no gods. . . ": You invoke Atheist doctrine as the only possible explanation for the Universe, which it is not. re: "We are getting better. . . ": Really? Better? The evil side of Man does not change with the times. Predators, destroyers, parasites and all the other evil doers have always been, and always will be, with us. You are right that we are equipped with reason and instinct for both good and bad. The problem is the bottom line always shows enough bad to prevent the good from prevailing. re: "Unbelievers are no worse than believers.": Correct. In fact many "believers" are far worse than the typical unbeliever. Human behaviour is not what determines the relevance of God (I said God, I did not say religion). re: "isn't it better. . . ": If you do good and show compassion your motivation for so doing is not really relevant. God is relevant. Religion is not relevant. Thanks Obey.

    • Peter Hodges

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      Apr 21 2012: You say that God is relevant Edward. What is your concept of what God actually looks like ? Does he (or she )
      exist in physical terms, or is he merely a spiritual being ?
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        edward long 100+

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        Apr 22 2012: The God of Christianity, Judaism and Islam is one God. He is described in the Holy Bible. God is Spirit. Infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His wisdom; being; power; holiness; justness; goodness; mercy and truth. God is uncaused. He is one, existing in three forms: the Father; the Son; and the Holy Spirit. Religion is man's effort to know God. It is boundlessly subjective and utterly without authority except where it aligns with the Holy Bible. Otherwise religion is without relevance in the modern, past, and future world. God is not a synonymn for religion. Knowing God is supremely important and relevant. Knowing religion is dispensable and irrelevant. Thanks Mr. Hodges.
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        Adriaan Braam 20+

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        Apr 27 2012: Hi Peter,
        Since God came on earth 2000 years ago we could have an impression of what His body looks like. But looks, I do not think, are very important here. Another point is that God is the cause of gender and thus 'above' gender.
        BTW since that same time there has exited a Trinity (of aspects, not of persons) with the Father being the soul, the Son being the body or Person and the Holy Spirit as the Influence on the universe by that Person. All this can fully be applied to us humans being a soul, body and influenbce..

        In case you'd like to read a whole lot more about this..
        https://sites.google.com/site/liveitupspiritually/home/writings/DLW_DP.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

        • Peter Hodges

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          Apr 27 2012: As an atheist I look on the bible as a fairy story. It would be just as logical to believe that Grimms fairy tales are true. Just because something is written in a book does not mean it's true. No one can ever prove that Jesus existed.
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        Adriaan Braam 20+

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        Apr 28 2012: Obviously your answer to your question is NO and you are 100% free to decide that, for you. Absolutely no one, not even God will ever force you to believe what you do not want to believe, before or after your body dies.

        No other book has the same history and relevance, and if it is Revelation, over the many ages, books were the only option. Although, who knows it may have started on cave walls. What Revelation does, it connects us with God whether it is a book or a pdf file.

        What makes most sense to me is that this universe is so very much organized by physical and spiritual laws, from the minutest particles to whole galaxies. Plus there are so many parallels on the many levels of the living existence, There is no item that is alive that is useless.
        On top of all that, every single human being has the total freedom to recognize there must be someone in charge, or completely ignore all that and live on.

        I have chosen the idea that there is a higher power, because if not, humanity would have destroyed itself and gone extinct many ages ago.
        When the teacher is out of the class room, or the police is on strike, us humans go berserk. If we think we can get away with it, we rob and steal and lie like there is no tomorrow.

        All the above is portrayed and explained by stories and situations in the Bible. Every single word, in some of the books of the Bible, has now been explained on a spiritual level through Emanuel Swedenborg (Google his last name and any question you may have).
        That explanation is 100% consistent with the Bible from beginning to end, and also our human mental/spiritual experience and condition.

        Don't believe that serpents can talk. But your bodily senses do 'talk' to you and so "thought based on the eye closes our understanding, but thought based on our understanding opens our eye."
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      Obey No1kinobe 50+

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      Apr 29 2012: I think democracy is a step up from monarchy or theocracy.
      I think secular human rights, including freedom of religion within limits, is a step forward.
      I think an understanding that there are no real gods telling us how to live, that we have to sort this out ourselves is a better approach.

      I don't know if there are gods for sure. I'm pretty confident none of the thousands of human inventions including the Abrahamic belief systems come close if there is. Its almost ridiculous to think the creator of the universe is relying on a collection of books originally associated with a particular tribe in the middle east and then waited until 2000 years ago to sort out things for the rest. It looks just like a cultural construct.

      Why do you think the bible is pointing in the right direction in terms of god?

      What it you were born 2100 years ago in America? You might be arguing shamanistic theology.
      Its a kind of cultural arrogance to think your cultural religion has a basis any more sound that any other.

      I don't know if there is a god. If there is I doubt any human belief system comes close including the bible based ones.

      Is religion relevant - yes for many and it still impacts the non believers.
      Is it logical. I think if you could grow up away from any religious dogma, then took a look at the world, studying the history of religion you'd see it to be man made.

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