IS GOD REALLY GOOD ?

The_Passerby wrote:It depends on your definition of "Scripture." If that is what you hold, don't look to myself to say or add anything else to it.You got it, so nothing else to add.

Sorry. Your writing doesn't make very much sense to me. I don't want to get bogged down trying to clarify your writing. Thanks though.

Oh yeah,

Peace and Love

Brian wrote:Apparently modern day Gnosticism is a huge mishmash of all sorts of religious ideas. It's very difficult to pin down exactly what Gnosticism actually means in the narrow sense.

Quite simply, there is genuine gnosis (singular), and there are (and always has been) a huge variety of 'beliefs' as to what that means!

Genuine gnosis / gnosticism is NOT a "belief" system (i.e. a religion). Religions are man made, true gnosis is revealed by God, with no beliefs attached.

Certainly there are many pseudo-gnostic sects around today - merely mind games being played by those who love the intellect.

PLU ~ Bob

Admin wrote:

Brian wrote:Apparently modern day Gnosticism is a huge mishmash of all sorts of religious ideas. It's very difficult to pin down exactly what Gnosticism actually means in the narrow sense.

Quite simply, there is genuine gnosis (singular), and there are (and always has been) a huge variety of 'beliefs' as to what that means!

Genuine gnosis / gnosticism is NOT a "belief" system (i.e. a religion). Religions are man made, true gnosis is revealed by God, with no beliefs attached.

Certainly there are many pseudo-gnostic sects around today - merely mind games being played by those who love the intellect.

PLU ~ Bob

I agree Bob. A quick look at wikipedia article shows history of Gnosticism to be religion "on steroids." Almost as if it were intended to be deliberately confusing and baffling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosticism

I feel that God is good. He gave all life and put us here to do out best. It is not God's fault when bad things happen. My Aunt use to tell me a saying when I would go through horrific events in my life. She told me God only gives us what we can stand. I think man is weak in most respects and the test is will one reach beyond mere selfishness and strive to be better. That is the true test of faith and belief. We to realize that God is good as his intentions to take a chance on us.

I think the reason everyone has such a hard time defining God for themselves is because God is viewed by an inward point of view describing ourselves. As Christ said in Thomas Gospel " there is nothing greater then a man to know thy self in complete fullness within the Father. The Kingdom of Heaven is within You. So most everyone is looking to analyze and see and understand God, in every other place outside ourselves, then label it, then tell of it to others from an ongoing point of view of themselves were they don`t have to self judge before talking or understanding a situation with others. why.. Because they may not do, what they preach themselves. I say this only from hard lessons of self visions, even now and until the Consummation.
My friends, what are we, are we good? Yes and bad and so-so lol,,,,, and everything iin between so is the Father this also, He better be, we are made in His image are we not?
thus the father in His infinite and everything Status He is a Billion times more of every asset we could possibly have, in Creation of it, but Not the living waters within Him who is His direction to that Loving way, His word(Christ) for us to follow to see we have the seed of Him that always was and always will be. By knowing that God exists is Fine and a great start to start the Spiritual building within us to see each step in Him. But if we leave it there like so many do and say I will be saved, I pray you stopped at a place were you shall have enough Lamp oil to recognize the prince(Christ), The way to wash clean the deficiency in Him and will, without gathering all along till then. The Christ who’s in you also wishes to know the Father from within and without in a living flowing fashion which is the way life is. Remember Life is not a destination it is a Journey Brothers and Sisters indeed, feeling much Glories if sought.
Why is a child or new born not swallowed up by the dark principalities that are about for men of wisdom. Simple they have not one spec of fear. This is also the way Christ tells us to enter heaven, yes within our selves and especially at the time of Crossing.
As the Child gets attached to the world, through food, and all the living motions of this world not of the kingdom of Lights, the Child will soon be in need of the Fathers Mystery of Baptism as we do, to separate from those things of the world that is starting to take precedence in the Soul as we dwell in the Mixture of the Mortal realm.
We as Parents and elders have Children we love and have raised and given all we have, and released them unto the world to also do greater things then we. They are not owned by us, and can fail and achieve how they see fit to live, with love from us all the while to do well and help when needed. when they more likely from a good life if lived, come back to us, we shall give them all of which we have inherited from our parents to them. Is this not the same way of our Father in Heaven for each of us? indeed it is.
So was the world we are of, Good, and bad? yes both. We taught them with our words how to come back to us in great Joy from gather things of the Good, not the Bad although it was there too.
So we now see how all this fits together, the realms are images of each other, and lessons are similar to the same, played out in parables or direct knowledge with actions.

Much peace and contentment in knowing that with which we reign in and over.

Brother Thomas..........

Good and Bad are mundane/earthly moral concepts.

Practical for day-to-day living.

Admin wrote:ON JUNE 10, 1991, A COVER STORY APPEARED in Time magazine on the topic of evil. The author, Lance Morrow, did not argue for a particular thesis and did not reach any conclusions. What he did, however, was in a sense more important. He began by stating three propositions:

• God is all-powerful.
  
• God is all-good.
  
• Terrible things happen.
  

Citing several sources, Morrow said that you can match any two of these propositions, but not all three. You can declare that there is an all-powerful God who allows terrible things to happen, but this God could not be all-good. On the other hand, there might be an all-good God who lets terrible things happen because he does not have the power to stop them; thus he is not all-powerful.

WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THIS? WHAT ARE YOUR OPINIONS? ANY IDEAS? ANY ANSWERS?

PLU ~ Bob

In Hinduism, God is, at times, completely devoid of quality (we call this form of God the Nirguna Brahman). Good and evil (in the absolute sense) cannot always be applied to God. God leaves us in the world to ourselves. Unless we explicitly ask for God to interfere, He usually doesn't. And, even if you ask for Him to interfere, He doesn't always, as there is often a lesson to be learnt from our experiences. He allows us to make our own choices ('good' or 'bad') without interfering. Of course, we have to reap the results of these actions later, so it's better to choose the higher road than the lower road.
Well, that's the Hindu explanation of it anyway... but, Hinduism has gnosis in it as well

In Hinduism, God is, at times, completely devoid of quality (we call
this form of God the Nirguna Brahman). Good and evil (in the absolute
sense) cannot always be applied to God. God leaves us in the world to
ourselves. Unless we explicitly ask for God to interfere, He usually
doesn't. And, even if you ask for Him to interfere, He doesn't always,
as there is often a lesson to be learnt from our experiences. He allows
us to make our own choices ('good' or 'bad') without interfering. Of
course, we have to reap the results of these actions later, so it's
better to choose the higher road than the lower road.
Well, that's the Hindu explanation of it anyway... but, Hinduism has gnosis in it as well

i agree with you here, it is very truth ful , GOD IS
many ortho Christians even preach karma they just dont realize it , from the beginning in genesis with the creation covenant /curse.... do not eat or you will die... blessings for obedience curse for disobedience every thing that happens is a direct result of the choices and actions you make.
it is also spoken about in the new testament , i believe in Galatians " as you sew ,so shall you reap.

Brian wrote:

DarkChylde wrote: ONLY Love and Light comes from the ONE, nothing else. Power is left to the demiurge.

I know very little about the Gnostic religion (in the literal or narrow sense.) I understand the basic concept of Gnostic dualism.

I have a question for Gnostic literalists. Is there any form of 'prayer' or 'prayers' in the Gnostic (literalist) religion. Any form of prayer in literal Gnosticism seems illogical if there's nothing "out there" (beyond Demiurge) except the *powerless* "love and light."

Prayer to a powerless but benevolent Gnostic God seems like it would be a waste of time if it were "powerless" to help anyone in any practical sense.

In a mythical-allegorical framework, Gnostic religion seems to pack way-less punch than classical Christian religion.

Not a waste of time, it can be reassuring and give one focus, tho I doubt it would create any kind of 'change' (then again, NO prayer seems to do that, no matter WHO you pray to.) I am also not one for the 'religion' of gnosticism, tho I try to work within the framework of it. All religion is a prison, but I like to show others how to break the bars down and make them into a ladder (that isn't original, I can't lay claim to that). And since when is prayer of any kind 'practical' anyhow?

sopherim7 wrote:
i agree with you here, it is very truth ful , GOD IS
many ortho Christians even preach karma they just dont realize it , from the beginning in genesis with the creation covenant /curse.... do not eat or you will die... blessings for obedience curse for disobedience every thing that happens is a direct result of the choices and actions you make.
it is also spoken about in the new testament , i believe in Galatians " as you sew ,so shall you reap.

Can I get an AMEN????

DarkChylde wrote:

sopherim7 wrote:
i agree with you here, it is very truth ful , GOD IS
many ortho Christians even preach karma they just dont realize it , from the beginning in genesis with the creation covenant /curse.... do not eat or you will die... blessings for obedience curse for disobedience every thing that happens is a direct result of the choices and actions you make.
it is also spoken about in the new testament , i believe in Galatians " as you sew ,so shall you reap.

Can I get an AMEN????

Amen Indeed there Gals, AS the saying goes goes also sometimes its hard to see the tree from the forrest, meaning here as even the little things we over look in each day that we can do in our blessed struggle sometimes, are just the right light to fill us to continue on keeping our View. Maybe like borrowing a reap from the situation you previously sewed for over sustainability for the all.

Shinning Days to all with the ribbons of Love at our view

Brother Thomas