END TIMES - A thread for all christians

Vytas

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What people here think about cryptocurrency ? Smell like evil , though i can't explain why, something is off, uncontrollable value, anonymity, when i read that people will not be able buy or sell without mark of the beast, cryptocurrency is first thing i think about...
 

Daniel

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What people here think about cryptocurrency ? Smell like evil , though i can't explain why, something is off, uncontrollable value, anonymity, when i read that people will not be able buy or sell without mark of the beast, cryptocurrency is first thing i think about...
Cryptocurrency is certainly evil, crypt stands for death. Death currency =). I've been swaying back and forth between Gnosticism teachings and Christianity, but have finally settled for Christianity full on. It's funny that gnosticism stands for knowledge, which is exactly what condemned man ( biting the apple).

I'd take belief over knowledge any day!
Perhaps it's time to read the bible.

Felt a bit off-topic, so why does it feel like we are in the end times? I say the I-phone and social media mostly and materialism and increasing education.
 
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TokiEl

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Cryptocurrency is certainly evil, crypt stands for death. Death currency =). I've been swaying back and forth between Gnosticism teachings and Christianity, but have finally settled for Christianity full on. It's funny that gnosticism stands for knowledge, which is exactly what condemned man ( biting the apple).
Adam and Eve had knowledge and were stewards of the Garden of Eden and Adam named all the animals. What they did not know was the difference between good and evil. Fresh from creation they were very good but when they got the knowledge of good and evil they were for example ashamed about their exposed private parts.

And so we all more or less have this intuitive knowledge of good and evil... and the problem is when we know what is wrong or evil and still choose to do it.
 

Aero

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If we are in a spiritual dark age, how come that's not the fault of the church?

I mean I get that you all have a perfect scapegoat in Satan. I just don't get why people can't recognize that they are merely shifting the blame from living people, to a constructed idea. It just seems like there's no need to actually hold people accountable when you lean on your faith so heavily.

BTW I'm not saying hey, it's all the Church's fault. I'm just saying that the logical conclusion to these arguments is that Churches of the world just haven't done a good enough job spreading the word. They aren't reaching out to people and trying to get them interested. And I don't think it has anything to do with their faith.

Faith is not synonymous with maturity. It's simple ego showing through in every Church in America. In such an example a Church is thus transformed into nothing more than a clique of high school level mentalities. Plus Plato's Cave comes to mind here too. People spend so much time in the same church or faith you don't know what else is even out there.
 

Red Sky at Morning

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If we are in a spiritual dark age, how come that's not the fault of the church?

I mean I get that you all have a perfect scapegoat in Satan. I just don't get why people can't recognize that they are merely shifting the blame from living people, to a constructed idea. It just seems like there's no need to actually hold people accountable when you lean on your faith so heavily.

BTW I'm not saying hey, it's all the Church's fault. I'm just saying that the logical conclusion to these arguments is that Churches of the world just haven't done a good enough job spreading the word. They aren't reaching out to people and trying to get them interested. And I don't think it has anything to do with their faith.

Faith is not synonymous with maturity. It's simple ego showing through in every Church in America. In such an example a Church is thus transformed into nothing more than a clique of high school level mentalities. Plus Plato's Cave comes to mind here too. People spend so much time in the same church or faith you don't know what else is even out there.
Bad teeth are not the fault of the producers of low-sugar wholefoods, but the result of the population as a whole preferring sweets and chocolates. You can offer something to a person every day of the week, but choice remains in the hands of the consumer.

On the other hand @Aero I can see, from the time in my life when I turned my back on God, the hypocracy and worldly compromise of some Christians I knew would be my excuse for saying :-

"They're no better than me - at least I'm honest!" Etc

The Laodacean "neither hot nor cold" "best life now" church that many associate Christianity with these days is surely entirely different to the nature of the early church. The Bible describes a "form of godliness but denying the power thereof" and when some people picture Christianity they have a very odd picture on their mind.
 
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Aero

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Bad teeth are not the fault of the producers of low-sugar wholefoods, but the result of the population as a whole preferring sweets and chocolates. You can offer something to a person every day of the week, but choice remains in the hands of the consumer.
That's fine, but spirituality isn't like eating a cookie. And you are assuming everyone gets the same offering. So I'm here to tell you, they really don't. Picking up on a spiritual path is not like picking out your groceries at the store.

Your analogy is partly accurate though. In that, you are comparing Churches to competing Corporations. Where their main goal is the promotion and survival of themselves, not the competition. You know? It sounds like that's doing just as much to keep people in spiritual darkness.

It's not some crazy Mindbender to wonder why Churches don't work together more. Because they will lose power and money. Just like corporations who compete aren't going to work together. Therefore I'm just wondering, how does all of that sound good to you? Like is anyone going to honestly tell me Church provides an inclusive setting? I mean come on and get real. A church is like the least inclusive place you can probably be.
 
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If we are in a spiritual dark age, how come that's not the fault of the church?

I mean I get that you all have a perfect scapegoat in Satan. I just don't get why people can't recognize that they are merely shifting the blame from living people, to a constructed idea. It just seems like there's no need to actually hold people accountable when you lean on your faith so heavily.

BTW I'm not saying hey, it's all the Church's fault. I'm just saying that the logical conclusion to these arguments is that Churches of the world just haven't done a good enough job spreading the word. They aren't reaching out to people and trying to get them interested. And I don't think it has anything to do with their faith.

Faith is not synonymous with maturity. It's simple ego showing through in every Church in America. In such an example a Church is thus transformed into nothing more than a clique of high school level mentalities. Plus Plato's Cave comes to mind here too. People spend so much time in the same church or faith you don't know what else is even out there.
The Church’s refusal to evolve in a modern world and cling to literal interpretation is the main reason for a decline in western Christianity. Followed by abuse and corruption scandals (not just Catholics either) and episodes of hypocrisy ( Ted Haggard ) plus a bullshit political agenda.

Think about it, the only time religion makes the news is for something bad like abuse or corruption, or on the wrong side of a social issue like the Teri Schiavo case.
 

Aero

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The Church’s refusal to evolve in a modern world and cling to literal interpretation is the main reason for a decline in western Christianity. Followed by abuse and corruption scandals (not just Catholics either) and episodes of hypocrisy ( Ted Haggard ) plus a bullshit political agenda.

Think about it, the only time religion makes the news is for something bad like abuse or corruption, or on the wrong side of a social issue like the Teri Schiavo case.
Well, that's one way to put it. But what I find most interesting is watching the religious folks basically channeling Socrates. Like all the critiques and observations about people and society are the same things Socrates observed and critiqued over 2,000 years ago.

The difference of course being, Socrates was actually wise. Most of these people out here aren't. In fact, Socrates would roll over in his grave upon hearing people say knowledge is bad. Because for him, knowledge was one of the few good things on Earth. Anything less than being knowledgeable is just straight up ignorance.

Now I'm just trying to imagine a world where Adam and Eve choose ignorance. And its as if the Religious folks would have preferred Eve not take the apple. Well, I love her for digging in on that apple. I would, in fact, love to go back in time and eat that apple with her. With a big ass smile on my face.
 
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Well, that's one way to put it. But what I find most interesting is watching the religious folks basically channeling Socrates. Like all the critiques and observations about people and society are the same things Socrates observed and critiqued over 2,000 years ago.

The difference of course being, Socrates was actually wise. Most of these people out here aren't. In fact, Socrates would roll over in his grave upon hearing people say knowledge is bad. Because for him, knowledge was one of the few good things on Earth. Anything less than being knowledgeable is just straight up ignorance.

Now I'm just trying to imagine a world where Adam and Eve choose ignorance. And its as if the Religious folks would have preferred Eve not take the apple. Well, I love her for digging in on that apple. I would, in fact, love to go back in time and eat that apple with her. With a big ass smile on my face.

Knowledge is an expression of faith. That it is regarded as an evil is a heresy. Nothing in science has disproved “God” just changed our human perceptions of God.

The apple and the subsequent fall of man is just a metaphor for human evolution from the instinctual beast to the self-aware human. The knowledge of Good and evil is that we are basically the only species that can choose not to kill.
 

TokiEl

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Now I'm just trying to imagine a world where Adam and Eve choose ignorance. And its as if the Religious folks would have preferred Eve not take the apple. Well, I love her for digging in on that apple. I would, in fact, love to go back in time and eat that apple with her. With a big ass smile on my face.
She had knowledge but she didn't know good from evil. So don't try to twist this story as if the serpent saved her from a life of ignorance.
 

Red Sky at Morning

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She had knowledge but she didn't know good from evil. So don't try to twist this story as if the serpent saved her from a life of ignorance.
As an analogy, it puts me in mind of a low life working away on a recently married friend at a bar and trying to sell the line that he can only really understand faithfulness by having an affair. You can imagine after a few drinks it might seem like a persuasive line, but it is still a bare faced lie.
 

TokiEl

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As an analogy, it puts me in mind of a low life working away on a recently married friend at a bar and trying to sell the line that he can only really understand faithfulness by having an affair. You can imagine after a few drinks it might seem like a persuasive line, but it is still a bare faced lie.
Right it's a lie and that's how sin entered the human line. Innocence lost because of the knowledge of good and evil.

So it's a sin to not do good and a sin to do evil.

And that is why we need and have a Saviour... whom we can trust to help heal guide and save us from ourselves really.
 
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I thought faith was defined as belief despite a lack of knowledge. If you truly know something then you don’t believe it on faith, it’s just a fact.

You are correct and I should have stated that the pursuit of knowledge is an expression of faith or that to seek God is to seek knowledge. A faith system demanding ignorance is not a faith but spiritual slavery.
 

Red Sky at Morning

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The parable of the Wheat and the Tares is an End Times allegory...

Both types of people will exist right up till harvest time. Sometimes it will be hard to distinguish between the two. Sometimes people who are "Tares" will pretend to be "Wheat".

Matthew 13:24-30 New King James Version (NKJV)

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares

24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

Here is the test:-

At harvest time, the Wheat bows down, and the Tares stand up straight and proud. Given the parable above, I think it's clear our choices matter.

wheat-and-tares4.jpg
 

Dalit

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She had knowledge but she didn't know good from evil. So don't try to twist this story as if the serpent saved her from a life of ignorance.
I was listening to Rabbi Jeremy Gimpel today and he said that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents "what's in it for me?" In other words, knowledge to better oneself or to be self-centered, even lustful. Found that to be an interesting take on it.

Also, when Adam and Eve saw that they were naked, shame entered in. They felt shame. Before, when everything was fine and peaceful, they didn't care that they were naked. They didn't even know what naked was. That's another part of the story that shame was now introduced to God's first two people. He didn't want them to know shame. Wouldn't the world be better off without shame? Just a thought.
 

Red Sky at Morning

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Amongst all the talk, events on the world stage continue mirror the state the world would be in before the time of "Jacob's Trouble"*


*for those who open their eyes...
 

SnowFall

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I was listening to Rabbi Jeremy Gimpel today and he said that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents "what's in it for me?" In other words, knowledge to better oneself or to be self-centered, even lustful. Found that to be an interesting take on it.

Also, when Adam and Eve saw that they were naked, shame entered in. They felt shame. Before, when everything was fine and peaceful, they didn't care that they were naked. They didn't even know what naked was. That's another part of the story that shame was now introduced to God's first two people. He didn't want them to know shame. Wouldn't the world be better off without shame? Just a thought.
That is an interesting take on it
My belief is that humans weren’t meant to have the consciousness we have and that’s all down to defying god and eating the fruit of the tree of good and evil.
Now we are locked in a constant struggle between the primal knowledge we were meant to have and the advanced intelligence we weren’t.
So now because we know what’s right and wrong we are accountable for it, and thus need to restrain from acts that feel so natural to us (lusting etc) and discipline ourselves to follow the word of God and refrain from acting apon it so we can eternally live and not surely die in other words damned
 
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