unphilaz:

Atheist i wish to appreciate the work you have done on the nairaland especially against the Christian religion. I am really impressed with the type and manner of questions u have posted and asked on quite a many thread. however, i wish to state that the more you ask questions on issues of spirituality especially God etc, i have instead been drawn closer to Him for this very reason: Christian Religion vs Christian Life.

In the churches today and most thread, what i read and hear is all about the christian religion- its dogma, its rules and a list of things to do and not to do and as a result it brings about what i believe is spiritual burnout where one becomes delusional about the things of God. On the contrary, Christian life is not based on rules/dogma by a selected few who decide for it but it is a life that transcends the rules regulated by the church. its no wonder a lot of people are turning to atheism because what we have today is a bunch of set rules that is stipulated to imitate the Life of the Vine.

A lot of Christians believe that just as all religions have laws/rules, so also must the christian religion also and this in no small measure has not differentiated Christians from the man on the streets. Muslims have sharia, Jews have the torah etc but is christian life based on the laws men stipulate or is it the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. and i guess could be the reason humanist now are stating their own universal law of love or whatever.

It is written that the Power that raised Christ from the grave dwells in a believer yet we have tried to exagerrate rules on how that power must operate and this has brought a lot of confusion and struggle in the christian. i believe that the life Christ has should be allowed to flow just as a branch does not struggle to bear leaves/fruits but simply remains in the vine so that the Life of the Vine will flow naturally to bear fruit so that the world may see which is not the case.

there is a lot of heated debate on riches/poverty, health/sickness in the church and one wonders whether there is anything really good news about Christianity. but is that the core of Christianity, issues that are here and tomorrow they become meaningless. i believe the simple message of what the Gospel brings is this, that in any message preached by any man of God should be based on exaltation of the Life of Christ in the believer, accepting the abundance of grace/gift of righteousness and finally what one hear if it doesn't give peace and Joy should be discarded.

Finally, athiest, i know u might try to reason out what i have said well that is ok but above all i want you to seek the Christian life not the religious nonsense in the church that has brought grief from the orthodox to the pentecostals.

unphilaz:

Atheist i wish to appreciate the work you have done on the nairaland especially against the Christian religion. I am really impressed with the type and manner of questions u have posted and asked on quite a many thread. however, i wish to state that the more you ask questions on issues of spirituality especially God etc, i have instead been drawn closer to Him for this very reason: Christian Religion vs Christian Life.

Sweetnecta:

@JeSoul; even if the bible says 'there are 3 that bear witness . . . ? how is 'are 3' [plural] is 'God' [singular]?

maybe the bible misspeaks? intending to say there is One that Witness . . . . that One is God.

or

it intended to say 'there are Three that Witness in heaven. . . . these Three are Gods.

one of the two is a better, clearer expression with less confusion than 'there are three that bear witness in heaven. these three are one God'. this is bad message.

you know it and i certainly know it.

mazaje:

What exactly is the Christian life?. . . . .It seems every body is self projecting him/her self as God and telling others what he/she wants them to believe . . . .Any way thats how it has been and how it will continue to be. . . . . .


the Christian life is simply the Life of Christ. You see i see Christianity as a sort of a (or rather like a) system that has a life (Christ) that each part is linked to unlike the religion that pride itself on rules/regulation that i believe u once found yourself in that has disappointed you and really it is good it failed you.

The Vine tree has branches and all you see is the vine,its branches,fruits but you dont see the life that flows through the vine and by extension through the branches and leaves. so the mistake (i prefer to use mistake) that the Christians have made is that if the life of Christ manifest in an individual, it is taken dogmatically by the followers as the way God wants to manifest only and more than once it becomes a ritual and rules are made to maintain the Life.

In my opinion, atheism is a counterfeit of the Christ Life because the Life of Christ is operated by the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. Atheism is not based on rules but on the individual choice and points one to oneself. on the other hand the Christ Life points to the Vine which the branch depends not on rules.

Are you sure?. . . . . In the Christianity I was raised in, faith, belief, trust in God are higher virtues than reason and logic. . . . .You are made to accept everything the bible says on faith even if there are so many evidence to the contrary and even if what is stated does not agree with the reality around you. . . . . One takes the Bible on faith that it's true and is a better Christian for it. To apply reason shows a lack of faith. .There are a number of methods [/b]of dealing with what seems to be unavoidable cognitive dissonance. One is, to suppress or deny the knowledge. This can be done by fervently throwing oneself into apologetics and research. Another (and I suspect more common) approach is to become very liberal in one's beliefs, substituting a vague and distant "universal force" for a personal God, and a metaphorical, allegorical reading of scripture for a literal one or [b]just saying that every body is getting it wrongly and you alone is right like the OP is doing and other Christians on NL are fond of doing. . . infact most Christians I know are now taking this position. . . .They throw every body that does not agree with their opinions and interpretation  under the bus and claim monopoly of knowledge just to keep the faith alive since they are too fearful of dropping their deeply held beliefs. . . .


If one's religion is not central to one's life, then a liberal interpretation can be sufficient to quell the cognitive dissonance and allow the faithful to continue to embrace a vaguely-defined feel-good social religion. It is those of us who fervently embraced religion who are really stuck when reality contradicts our faith. Compromise is not an acceptable solution, so we must either work furiously to justify our faith, or abandon it entirely.  And YES I was a fundamentalist end of days enthusiast Christian back in the days. . . .

mazaje:

What exactly is the Christian life?. . . . .It seems every body is self projecting him/her self as God and telling others what he/she wants them to believe . . . .Any way thats how it has been and how it will continue to be. . . . . .


Are you sure?. . . . . In the Christianity I was raised in, faith, belief, trust in God are higher virtues than reason and logic. . . . .You are made to accept everything the bible says on faith even if there are so many evidence to the contrary and even if what is stated does not agree with the reality around you. . . . . One takes the Bible on faith that it's true and is a better Christian for it. To apply reason shows a lack of faith. .There are a number of methods [/b]of dealing with what seems to be unavoidable cognitive dissonance. One is, to suppress or deny the knowledge. This can be done by fervently throwing oneself into apologetics and research. Another (and I suspect more common) approach is to become very liberal in one's beliefs, substituting a vague and distant "universal force" for a personal God, and a metaphorical, allegorical reading of scripture for a literal one or [b]just saying that every body is getting it wrongly and you alone is right like the OP is doing and other Christians on NL are fond of doing. . . infact most Christians I know are now taking this position. . . .They throw every body that does not agree with their opinions and interpretation  under the bus and claim monopoly of knowledge just to keep the faith alive since they are too fearful of dropping their deeply held beliefs. . . .


If one's religion is not central to one's life, then a liberal interpretation can be sufficient to quell the cognitive dissonance and allow the faithful to continue to embrace a vaguely-defined feel-good social religion. It is those of us who fervently embraced religion who are really stuck when reality contradicts our faith. Compromise is not an acceptable solution, so we must either work furiously to justify our faith, or abandon it entirely.  And YES I was a fundamentalist end of days enthusiast Christian back in the days. . . .

unphilaz:

[b]In my opinion, atheism is a counterfeit of the Christ Life because the Life of Christ is operated by the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. Atheism is not based on rules but on the individual choice and points one to oneself. on the other hand the Christ Life points to the Vine which the branch depends not on rules.[/b]

Sweetnecta:

@Mazaje; « #5 on: Today at 02:10:36 AM »is it still cold in sweden, since you wrote as if the brain is frozen? tell me how your response addresses what i wrote, above. you can't just throw jabs, and don't expect me to duck and throw my own. i have the options of [1] a jab for a jab whether you hit me or you missed, [2] a mere avoidance of your jab, [3] don't jab if you hit me. each of the 3 is a real life condition which your heart, if you are normal can grasp. as long as i'm not the thrower of the first jab, am good to take any of the three options. what is naturally normal is always on the safer side. islam is unlike not so sincere stand of turning the other cheek, and saying 3 are 1 or 1 is 3 is not sensible. you know it, so does jesoul and i definitely know it.

Martian:

Yea, yea , yea, we definietely know it. Your invicible allah is the one true god, the trinity doesn't make sense, god speaks arabic, adam was a muslim and Osama bin laden is chilling with mohammed and some virgins in paradise.
We acknowledge the fact that arabs are the chosen people and we should all learn the language of god which is arabic. Thank you.

Can you give this same old rhetoric a rest now. Please? For the love of Allah?

Experience, though noon auctoritee
Were in this world, is right ynogh for me
To speke of wo that is in mariage;
For, lordynges, sith I twelve yeer was of age,
Thonked be God that is eterne on lyve,
Housbondes at chirche dore I have had fyve, --
If I so ofte myghte have ywedded bee, --
And alle were worthy men in hir degree.
But me was toold, certeyn, nat longe agoon is,
That sith that crist ne wente nevere but onis
To weddyng, in the cane of galilee,
That by the same ensample taughte he me
That I ne sholde wedded be but ones.

Experience, though no authority
Were in this world, were good enough for me,
To speak of woe that is in all marriage;
For, masters, since I was twelve years of age,
Thanks be to God Who is for aye alive,
Of husbands at church door have I had five;
For men so many times have wedded me;
And all were worthy men in their degree.
But someone told me not so long ago
That since Our Lord, save once, would never go
To wedding (that at Cana in Galilee),
Thus, by this same example, showed He me
I never should have married more than once.

Martian:

Yea, yea , yea, we definietely know it. Your invicible allah is the one true god, the trinity doesn't make sense, god speaks arabic, adam was a muslim and Osama bin laden is chilling with mohammed and some virgins in paradise.
We acknowledge the fact that arabs are the chosen people and we should all learn the language of god which is arabic. Thank you.

Can you give this same old rhetoric a rest now. Please? For the love of Allah?

mazaje:

Are you sure?. . . . . In the Christianity I was raised in, faith, belief, trust in God are higher virtues than reason and logic. . . . .You are made to accept everything the bible says on faith even if there are so many evidence to the contrary and even if what is stated does not agree with the reality around you. . . . . One takes the Bible on faith that it's true and is a better Christian for it. To apply reason shows a lack of faith. .There are a number of methods of dealing with what seems to be unavoidable cognitive dissonance. One is, to suppress or deny the knowledge. This can be done by fervently throwing oneself into apologetics and research. Another (and I suspect more common) approach is to become very liberal in one's beliefs, substituting a vague and distant "universal force" for a personal God, and a metaphorical, allegorical reading of scripture for a literal one or just saying that every body is getting it wrongly and you alone is right like the OP is doing and other Christians on NL are fond of doing. . .In fact most Christians I know are now taking this position. . . .They throw every body that does not agree with their opinions and interpretation  under the bus and claim monopoly of knowledge just to keep the faith alive since they are too fearful of dropping their deeply held beliefs. . . .

If one's religion is not central to one's life, then a liberal interpretation can be sufficient to quell the cognitive dissonance and allow the faithful to continue to embrace a vaguely-defined feel-good social religion. It is those of us who fervently embraced religion who are really stuck when reality contradicts our faith. Compromise is not an acceptable solution, so we must either work furiously to justify our faith, or abandon it entirely.  And YES I was a fundamentalist end of days enthusiast Christian back in the days. . . .

mazaje:

What exactly is the Christian life?. . . . .It seems every body is self projecting him/her self as God and telling others what he/she wants them to believe . . . .Any way thats how it has been and how it will continue to be. . . . . .



Are you sure?. . . . . In the Christianity I was raised in, faith, belief, trust in God are higher virtues than reason and logic. . . . .You are made to accept everything the bible says on faith even if there are so many evidence to the contrary and even if what is stated does not agree with the reality around you. . . . . One takes the Bible on faith that it's true and is a better Christian for it. To apply reason shows a lack of faith. .There are a number of methods of dealing with what seems to be unavoidable cognitive dissonance. One is, to suppress or deny the knowledge. This can be done by fervently throwing oneself into apologetics and research. Another (and I suspect more common) approach is to become very liberal in one's beliefs, substituting a vague and distant "universal force" for a personal God, and a metaphorical, allegorical reading of scripture for a literal one or just saying that every body is getting it wrongly and you alone is right like the OP is doing and other Christians on NL are fond of doing. . .In fact most Christians I know are now taking this position. . . .They throw every body that does not agree with their opinions and interpretation under the bus and claim monopoly of knowledge just to keep the faith alive since they are too fearful of dropping their deeply held beliefs. . . .

If one's religion is not central to one's life, then a liberal interpretation can be sufficient to quell the cognitive dissonance and allow the faithful to continue to embrace a vaguely-defined feel-good social religion. It is those of us who fervently embraced religion who are really stuck when reality contradicts our faith. Compromise is not an acceptable solution, so we must either work furiously to justify our faith, or abandon it entirely. And YES I was a fundamentalist end of days enthusiast Christian back in the days. . . .

unphilaz:

You would agree with me that logic and reasoning for a particular field cannot be applied to another field, rather people in the other field will simply live by faith that what one says in the other field is true because he/she knows more. for example when i as a musician (having my logic and reasoning based on music) will willingly believe the medical doctor if s/he diagnose me as having malaria. do i simply reject that claim because it is contrary to my "logic and reasoning" from music? No i think i will simply by faith believe that what s/he is right and so i depend on such a one's judgment.

unphilaz:

Atheist i wish to appreciate the work you have done on the nairaland especially against the Christian religion. I am really impressed with the type and manner of questions u have posted and asked on quite a many thread. however, i wish to state that the more you ask questions on issues of spirituality especially God etc, i have instead been drawn closer to Him for this very reason: Christian Religion vs Christian Life.

unphilaz:

In the churches today and most thread, what i read and hear is all about the christian religion- its dogma, its rules and a list of things to do and not to do and as a result it brings about what i believe is spiritual burnout where one becomes delusional about the things of God. On the contrary, Christian life is not based on rules/dogma by a selected few who decide for it but it is a life that transcends the rules regulated by the church. its no wonder a lot of people are turning to atheism because what we have today is a bunch of set rules that is stipulated to imitate the Life of the Vine.

unphilaz:

A lot of Christians believe that just as all religions have laws/rules, so also must the christian religion also and this in no small measure has not differentiated Christians from the man on the streets. Muslims have sharia, Jews have the torah etc but is christian life based on the laws men stipulate or is it the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. and i guess could be the reason humanist now are stating their own universal law of love or whatever.

unphilaz:

It is written that the Power that raised Christ from the grave dwells in a believer yet we have tried to exagerrate rules on how that power must operate and this has brought a lot of confusion and struggle in the christian. i believe that the life Christ has should be allowed to flow just as a branch does not struggle to bear leaves/fruits but simply remains in the vine so that the Life of the Vine will flow naturally to bear fruit so that the world may see which is not the case.

unphilaz:

there is a lot of heated debate on riches/poverty, health/sickness in the church and one wonders whether there is anything really good news about Christianity. but is that the core of Christianity, issues that are here and tomorrow they become meaningless. i believe the simple message of what the Gospel brings is this, that in any message preached by any man of God should be based on exaltation of the Life of Christ in the believer, accepting the abundance of grace/gift of righteousness and finally what one hear if it doesn't give peace and Joy should be discarded.

unphilaz:

Finally, athiest, i know u might try to reason out what i have said well that is ok but above all i want you to seek the Christian life not the religious nonsense in the church that has brought grief from the orthodox to the pentecostals.

thehomer:


So what is your Christian life based on?
Note it is the life of Christ not my life.

Actually, I think Christians take their rules from the Bible but where do you think they get these laws from?

in actual sense it is not suppose to be based on laws/rules - do and donts - on life and u will agree that a life cannot be controlled by rules but its own generated rules. for example when a body of water comes across and obstacle, it simply decides on the course it want to take and not one set by anyone and that is the Life for you. Now the bible is not actually a book of rules but it shows how that life that the bible speaks of operates which men have tried to reduce to dos and donts.

What else can this power that raised Christ do? Can it raise other dead people? Can it cure others of cancer? Can it heal amputees?
Great! the reason why u have not been seeing the above is becos Religion has overstep Life and hence the life(power) is not witnessed which has led to the strength of atheism/humanism.

I think a lot of churches do say this. Only that the abundance flows from the congregation and manifests on the church leaders while minimizing the terrors instilled by the said church leaders.

You have ritely stated "lot of churches" as i said earlier its the doctrines/dogma of this organised churches that has hindered life. A Vine Life cannot be controlled by the branches/leaves but vice versa.


What is so good about the Christian life that it should be [b]sought above other things?[/b]
thanks for your question, this made me to pause and reflect . . . good. . . Life . . . above other things! Hmm! its really deep, really deep!!!

Sweetnecta:

^^^^^^ i need to learn the language of your master; the swedes so that you can now understand me, abi?


you are a slave to mere mortal. the state, the people of that state. this is the worst state of mind.

Sweetnecta:

@mazaje; ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ in layman term; you are now uncle tom. what they call house nggh in the days, and even now; street language; whiteman wanna be.

you aint from harlem 'no more' as blacks in america, okay in old new york city tell the blacks denying that they are blacks because of their 'enlightenment' in your case you are denying that you are a slave of your Creator,

but when you take in everything the white people you live with in sweden, without any reservation, you have became their slave, except by your not seeing your own follies, you dont know.

i know who am a slave to; God Who created me.

you on the other hand adopted sweden, or that ideology [atheism] as your lord. but that lord of yours shall perish in due course.

unphilaz:

Note it is the life of Christ not my life.

unphilaz:

in actual sense it is not suppose to be based on laws/rules - do and donts - on life and u will agree that a life cannot be controlled by rules but its own generated rules. for example when a body of water comes across and obstacle, it simply decides on the course it want to take and not one set by anyone and that is the Life for you. Now the bible is not actually a book of rules but it shows how that life that the bible speaks of operates which men have tried to reduce to dos and donts.

unphilaz:

Great! the reason why u have not been seeing the above is becos Religion has overstep Life and hence the life(power) is not witnessed which has led to the strength of atheism/humanism.

unphilaz:

You have ritely stated "lot of churches" as i said earlier its the doctrines/dogma of this organised churches that has hindered life. A Vine Life cannot be controlled by the branches/leaves but vice versa.

unphilaz:

thanks for your question, this made me to pause and reflect . . . good. . . Life . . . above other things! Hmm! its really deep, really deep!!!

Sweetnecta:

@Mazaje; « #23 on: Yesterday at 10:31:18 PM »i know the bold is your headache now. and as to the other part, as a yoruba man, i am an arab. go read obj's book, and no yoruba has opposed him on our arabness.
my soul accepts the story of creation from the Quran, unlike let us create man in our own image and in our likeness. and when you ask them to describe what that means, the christians will have a writer's block. and as for you, except that mom and dad said they are the vessel of which the Creator created you, were you there at your creation? yet you believed your parents, who had the same story from their own parents about them. parents do not always tell children that they had to wrestle many times and the wrestle that God used to create the child, even the wrestlers can identify it. see how much humans know.


i am arab as i have stated concerning the origin of the yorubas. further, i dont live in any arab country. you on the other hand is not white and you live in a first class anti religion white man's country, the reason you are a wanna be. i can do this with you all day long.


my soul and my ability to independently reason after i observe the order in creation. let me share an example with you; every year, there is a winter, followed by a spring, and then a summer after it and the circle ends with fall, which you may call autumn. that does not change year in, year out. pay attention, mazaje.


ou do know that it Islam is the fastest growing religion, in the whole wide world? if this is the way you argue, you have a long list of basic knowledge that you are short of. enjoy the two videos below;
http://www.thedeenshow.com/show.php?action=listvideo&sid=61&id=1016


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6p5w5adsU4&feature=relmfu

PAGAN 9JA:


THATS AA LIE!!!!!!!!!!! U LIE ABOUT your ANCESTORS!!!!!!!!

u have commited aa grave sin by rejecting your true ancestors, a grave sinn,

The Yorubas r aa West African ""black"" tribe and hav NOTHING WHASOEVA to do with d white a$$ arabs,
THE YORUBAS R D DESCENDENTS OF ODUDUWA.


n derz no point in arguin u ppl, cuz u both r wannabes. one, d moslem, is aa arab wannabe( i jus proved by how he so wants to be associated wi d arabs. i wud kindly advise him to stand in front of d mirror and luk at his reflection n see his skin color  ) , d other is a white wannabe, i.e., d christians.

ME, i am aa Naira wannabe, cuz am aa PROUD-PAGAN-MAGUZAWA-HAUSA and im not so shameless enuf ta reject my true ancestor as all my brethren here hav done.

plz my friends, dont do this. by rejecting your true religions and ancestors, u r destroying your culture and rich heritage. this is not right. 

Evil Brain:

Wow, this thread has descended into total retar.dation. Christians and muslims acting like monkeys flinging poo.

While the atheists smile and shake their heads.