Mother Teresa Doubted The Existence Of God

last SG · 2010-06-29T15:27:35+00:00

to fairyfairy and happyinfopersonally, i feel tat the reason why christians use parallels and link things the way we do is cos of the belief in a single crea...

despondent SG

oh yes, after re-reading ur post, u have merely stated that repentance is a core teaching of buddhism...however, repentance and forgiveness are different...repentance is an act done by the offender when he/she came to the realisation that wad he/she did is wrong...however, forgiveness is an act done by the one who was offended...so its a different party from the party who repented...i noe buddhism teaches repentance but wad abt forgiveness? i was saying that forgiveness of sins is not taught in buddhism...sins once committed have to be paid for even if u repent from them...

Happyinfo2 SG

yeah, you are wrong. from what i have read. repentance is the core teaching in buddhism. sins can be lightened by repenting sincerely (truly regret what you have done and never repeat again) but cannot be pardoned. it also needs the right condition for karma to work. for instance if the person is really good, his bad karma will not have the right condition to work. kind of complicated.

if everyone carries the thought that whatever one does, as long as repent sincerely, all the sins will be forgiven, most people will commit sins without a second thought. i have also seen people commit sin, repent and then commit the same sin again. i wonder in christianity, what does it mean by repent ? repent each time you commit a sin or promise not to commit again ?

actually, repentance is also very much the teacing of Christianity.

and you are right about "truly regret what you have done and never repeat again"

but it is kind of contradictory when you wrote "if everyone carries the thought that whatever one does, as long as repent sincerely, all the sins will be forgiven, most people will commit sins without a second thought"

which actually means that such person never truly regret what they had done and will not hesitate to repeat them again, and thus his or her sins are never forgiven in the first place.

and the meaning of repent is what you have wrote "truly regret what you have done and never repeat again"

now that you mentioned, i guess the difference is simply that we believed that sins can be forgiven (when one truly regret what one had done and never repeat again) while yours believed that the "sins can be lightened ".

which is why christians always says that God is loving and He is prepared to forgive us our sins as long as we truly regret what we had done and never repeat again. not by saying but by our action and the way we live our life.

God is here to save and not to condem. hope this input helps.

despondent SG

to happyinfo2

agreed. :)

Fairyfairy86 SG

share a bit of what i know. karma is "no man operation", thus you can never find the word "punishment", "reward" and "forgiveness". there was a buddhist who told me if buddha had the power to forgive and let everybody lives without misfortune, he would have done so but buddha admitted he had no control over karma. he could only tell you how karma works and how to repent in order to lighten your bad karma and how to live a life of no misfortune.

sometimes i think could it be god is also in the same situation as buddha, no control over certain things, for he is a loving god, he will not let misfortune befall on his followers. i would have better opinion of god if someone tells me it is not god's will, god tries to help but it is beyond his control. that is just my guess.

Happyinfo2 SG

sorry that i interupt...

i see similarity which you may not...what you want is to conclude that God has no control.....?

and you are right... happier now?

God has no control as He gave us free will.....we choose to live the life we want.....you can choose not to believe in God or you can choose to believe in God....

God is loving but does not means that misfortune will not fall on His followers.....

for example, one choose to dash across a busy road instead of using the predestrian crossing....then kena knock down by a speeding car.....misfortune?

yes, then God has no control in that sense.

but it does not change the fact that God is love and here to save - not to condem.

follow the Lord and follow the way to eternal life....sins will be forgiven if there is repentence......

again i find it contradictory that "if buddha had the power to forgive and let everybody lives without misfortune, he would have done so but buddha admitted he had no control over karma"

then "he could only tell you how karma works and how to repent in order to lighten your bad karma and how to live a life of no misfortune"

if i understand correctly from what you said in the first part, there is no such thing as lives without misfortune.....then second part said that lighten bad karma can help us to live a live of no misfortune?

so got live without misfortune or not?

i am not disputing or disagreeing with any faith here...just trying to understand what fairy is writting....

one question, parents love their child and they teach them to be careful and avoid getting hurt or getting into trouble.....but children still get hurt and get into trouble.... does that means (to you) that these parents does not really love their children? or that the love is not real because parents have no control?

dragg SG

dont waste each other's time.

there is no point trying to convince each other with words.

despondent SG

happyinfo2

yes, u have understood the family concept...although there is more to it, ur answer is gd enuff for wad we are discussing...so far, onli christians understand the family concept and how its related to christianity...i have yet to meet a non-christian who can relate family and christianity tgr...

despondent SG

ok lah, fairyfairy...help u out a bit more...i am sure u have heard christians pray b4? now, wad do we call our God when we pray? we call Him sth no other religion would call their deity/god...we call Him heavenly Father...does the word ''Father'' ring a bell concerning the family concept?

Fairyfairy86 SG

sorry that i interupt...

i see similarity which you may not...what you want is to conclude that God has no control.....?

and you are right... happier now?

God has no control as He gave us free will.....we choose to live the life we want.....you can choose not to believe in God or you can choose to believe in God....

God is loving but does not means that misfortune will not fall on His followers.....

for example, one choose to dash across a busy road instead of using the predestrian crossing....then kena knock down by a speeding car.....misfortune?

yes, then God has no control in that sense.

but it does not change the fact that God is love and here to save - not to condem.

follow the Lord and follow the way to eternal life....sins will be forgiven if there is repentence......

again i find it contradictory that "if buddha had the power to forgive and let everybody lives without misfortune, he would have done so but buddha admitted he had no control over karma"

then "he could only tell you how karma works and how to repent in order to lighten your bad karma and how to live a life of no misfortune"

so got live without misfortune or not?

i am not disputing or disagreeing with any faith here...just trying to understand what fairy is writting....

i understand that one can live a life of misfortune if follow the teachings strictly. i've seen a few, though now rich but live a peaceful life. how can you compare human parents with god? god is supposed to be powerful because we are all his creations. he can do wonders.when a christian pass away, people will say god calls him home. so it is god's will ? sometimes at his will, sometimes at our own will. very confusing. anyway i'm just trying to understand how things happen and trying to figure out who is behind all these. anyway i'll never get an answer, afterall i'm just a normal human being with no supernatural power.

i shall close my case here because we are all not sure how things happen.

Fairyfairy86 SG

correction : though not rich but live a peaceful life

despondent SG

u noe why christians comapre human parents with God? because we are created in God's likeness...at least, thats wad we believe...however, this doesnt mean we are perfect like God...this juz mean we have certain attributes like Him...juz like when babies are born, they inherit certain genes from their parents...now do u see the family concept clearer?

dadeadman1337 SG

If that's the case, can't blame people for being vengeful, jealous, capricious, etc,traits which the Bible clearly outlines god as possessing

Happyinfo2 SG

i shall close my case here because we are all not sure how things happen.

actually, i do not understand what you mean by "i understand that one can live a life of misfortune if follow the teachings strictly" ??

and i do agree that many people who are not rich but live a peaceful life....I see that in many people in the church. i consider myself one of them.

the love that God has for us is the same as the love that parenets has for their children. why can't we make that comparison? didn't you use parents hiding sweets from kids too?

God is not supposed to be powerful - He is and He does everything at his will. not sometimes at His will and sometimes at human's will. He gave us free will to choose and discern.... we are not robot and surely you don't want to live like one right?

do you want your parents to control everything you do? what to eat, what to wear, where tp go, when to go, what to say etc....etc...etc....?

yes, when a christian pass away, people will say god calls him home - it is god's will.

i know you are trying to understand things....which is very good.

i also feel that you are leaning more to buddhism which is also very good.

i also feel that you are trying to justify leaning toward buddhism by doubting christianity....which i think is not very good and not necessary....

suggest you try to understand buddhism instead and if that convince you, well go for it.

if you doubt christianity and go to buddhism, then i think you go for a wrong reason. the reason for going to any faith is not because you doubt another.....but rather you believe in what the faith has to offer you.....and you understand the teachings of the faith.

yes, you will never get any complete answer from a forum as far as christianity is concerned. you need to spend time to learn and understand about the faith.....only then you can clear or confirm your doubts.....you need time and effort.

the same kind of time and effort is also needed for other faith.....

and if your mind is already closed and heart decided, then nothing will change that....not because you are normal human being with no supernatural power, but because your heart is not willing....

continue to search with an open heart and you will find your answer....God bless you.

despondent SG

to dadeadman

ah...u are advocating the idea tat God is both good and bad...and this is contrary to the christian teachings abt God...i mentioned clearly tat i was referring to the christian perspective so God would then be defined as perfectly good...so can we still say tat we inherited jealousy, vengeance, capriciousness from Him?

again, its a matter of definitions which u and i have toked abt in the past...we are looking at God from different perspectives...so its will be an apple-orange argument if we continue...

dadeadman1337 SG

to dadeadman

again, its a matter of definitions which u and i have toked abt in the past...we are looking at God from different perspectives...so its will be an apple-orange argument if we continue...

The definitions will vary, with the arguments built upon the definitions, thus providing the basis for the apple-orange logic. However to look at it from another perspective, the definitions have to be supported by evidence I believe, however the bible does suggest contrary to the Christian definition. In certain instances words like "vengeance" & "jealousy" are explicitly stated, how would a church raise a defence to that argument?

despondent SG

by checking the context and original meaning of the word ''jealousy'' according to the hebrew/greek text? just like the word ''love'' in the bible...it has 3 different meanings in greek...but in the english bible,its juz ''love''

dadeadman1337 SG

The word for it in Hebrew is qin'ah, in Greek "zelos", meaning heat, anger, envy and of course jealousy. The idea behind it is there, even across languages.

Fairyfairy86 SG

no, no, it is still wrong to compare us with god because he is supposedly to be more powerful than us. no point debating. conclusion is christians see the logic (i don't understand how the logic comes about) that is why you are chritians, we don't see the logic, that is why we are non-christians.

Happyinfo2 SG

right, no point discussing (i don't think we are debating), you will not see logic if you don't want to even when it is obvious.....

we cannot compare ourselves to God - no...no..no.... and that's not what we are trying to do (at least not me). just want you to see the logic and concept that God loved us like a parent loving their kids......

you won't understand it until you put your heart and mind into understanding it..... like a maths problem....you will not understand how to solve them....you won't see the logic until you understand the concept behind it....

i have pointed the contradictions in your post but....

despondent SG

well i can safely say i am not comparing humans wif God either...fairyfairy, its abt using parallels to explain things...for u, u dun see things in parallels...i feel tat u tend to look at things at face value...A is A, B is B...but wad i have been sharing is A is A, B is B, they are related because they have a common trait...both are letters in the alphabet...hence, its relevant to link A wif B although they are different individually...hope u get wad i saying...

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