I was surprised just now to see utube video clips about cases of more and more muslims moving away from classic islam and towards sufism, so it is also happening in the islamic world.Mankind is tired of strife and just want peace and oneness with fellow human beings.
I was very happy to learn about this.A new and more benevolent "one true god" image is now needed. The old one is totally played out now.

jagunlabi:

They are trying very hard to redefine and redesign their deity(which is a very positive thing), but their holy book and their unyeilding and narrow doctrines are not leaving them enough wriggle room to maneuvre.
I think the whole of the bible needs to be rewritten to fit the changing consciousness of modern mankind.There is no other way ,imo.And the priests all need to be retrained in deep spiritual stuffs rather than superficial dogmatic stuffs that no longer convince anybody of their relevance.As the human consciousness evolves, so must the doctrines themselves and the texts upon which they are based.

Very true words my Chairman . . . . .The all good and loving God is just the selling point they use to attract people to their religion, Since their religion is based on proliferation they need very good selling points. . . . .I am guessing an omnibenevolent god is automatically and incontrovertibly deserving of adoration and praise. If god is 100% good and you still refuse him, there's got to be something wrong and evil with you. Think about it, if god's an asshole, if you decide not to worship him, it's quite understandable. But you don't want a religion that makes not worshiping that god "understandable".
And it makes that god better than any other god. If my god is awesome and yours in an asshole, then my god is better than yours. And if I worship a god that is all-good while you worship an asshole, I must be better than you. . . . . .There are Christians these days who claim that their God isn't omnibenevolent and that the term omnibenevolent is a strawman invented by wicked atheists in order to reject the God of Christianity.

The irony of it is that a omnibenevolent deity does not have to even need adoration and worship.Part of being omnibenevolent is to give benevolence for free without asking anything in return except the continuation of human spiritual and intellectual evolution.
The aztecs can beat their chests and say that their god, quetzalcoatl, was a very benevolent being because, not only did he live amongst them physically, but he also helped them build their civilizations and taught them so much nation building knowledge without demanding worship from them.The worship came from the indians voluntarily out of sheer love for him.
When he finally left them, the whole populace were in tears, begging him not to leave,as the legend goes.Now that is what i call a benevolent god.
Any deity that specifically demand for worship and adoration is a malevolent being merely pretending to be benevolent, in my book.

mazaje:

Very true words my Chairman . . . . .The all good and loving God is just the selling point they use to attract people to their religion, Since their religion is based on proliferation they need very good selling points. . . . .I am guessing an omnibenevolent god is automatically and incontrovertibly deserving of adoration and praise. If god is 100% good and you still refuse him, there's got to be something wrong and evil with you. Think about it, if god's an asshole, if you decide not to worship him, it's quite understandable. But you don't want a religion that makes not worshiping that god "understandable".
And it makes that god better than any other god. If my god is awesome and yours in an asshole, then my god is better than yours. And if I worship a god that is all-good while you worship an asshole, I must be better than you. . . . . .There are Christians these days who claim that their God isn't omnibenevolent and that the term omnibenevolent is a strawman invented by wicked atheists in order to reject the God of Christianity.

@Traugott

Traugott:

@Joagbaje: You missed my point, sir. I was explaining the meanings of the words "peace" and "evil" as opposites to one another. See the MESSAGE translation (which I must confess, I really like):

Isa 45:7 I form light and create darkness, I make harmonies and create discords. I, GOD, do all these things.

The way I see it is that, God does WHATEVER he pleases, and he always has his way. The question is "Are you IN his way, or ON his side?" because whatvere is in his way gets crushed. So Viaro is correct in saying that Isaiah and the other OT prophets knew what they were saying. One needs to stay alert to the "two" qualities in God, He will not be limited in action or form of expression.

Rom 11:22 Make sure you stay alert to these qualities of gentle kindness and ruthless severity that exist side by side in God--ruthless with the deadwood, gentle with the grafted shoot. But don't presume on this gentleness. The moment you become deadwood, you're out of there.

I also do not agree that evil spirits were not known in the OT, and that demonology was a strange thing. e.g. In Jewish mystical books, it is believed that Solomon had control over thousands of demons that he sent on diverse errands. And in the Bible, we have:

Deu 18:10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
Deu 18:11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

And this was GOD speaking in Zechariah about an unclean spirit:
Zec 13:2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

I,m sorry if i misunderstood you, i will still read your post over again just incase i miss something. I agree with you that there was demonic activities those days ,idol worship, witchcraft activities etc. But the point I was driving at was that people generaly attribute events both good and bad to the sovereignty of God. That he is behind every thing. I once had an encounter with an Eckist and he told me that all these bible we carry about is nonsense,that good and bad work together . God and the devil work together,and he said ; on the day of judgement we will be surprised to see God and the devil sitting together sipping beer!. I know that doctrine, and it does not agree with the concept of God's justice.

paradox 1."god" put a tree in the garden of eden and then instructed adam not to eat the fruit of the tree
paradox 2 god knows the begining and the end, he knows ur tots even b4 u think about them,==== scary hun=====, so he must ave known adam was going to eat the fruit of this particular nasty tree
paradox 3 god is angry or perharps surprised or even disappointed that adam eat the fruit of this particular tree, knowing fully well he was goin to eat it----duh
paradox 4 god purnishes adam for doing wat he knew he was goin to do====rather mean====
paradox 5 did adam have any choice in the matter, was he predestined or pre designed to eat the fruit
paradox 6 was god just having a big old laugh at adam, scolding poor confussed adam and punishing him for somthing that really wasnt his fault
paradox 7 where is the justice in that, adam was mearly a scape goat, it all doesnt make any sense, i smell a conspiracy
here is another one, hw convinient, adam ate the fruit from the tree of good and evil or was it knowledge, cnt really remember, hw come he didnt eat the tree of life so we cld all live for ever

here is anoda one, god cursed eve for decieving adam, might i add one of the main reason women r seen as evil or decietful=====very sexist this god is--------by pinning the suffering of the human race on the slender shoulders of a woman,,,,god said eve will suffer pain during child birth as a result, but i observe that no mammal enjoys child birth, ever seen a dog or goat give birth, it isnt pretty n doesnt look like they r having a good time

all in all, this whole adam, eve , serpent and tree story sounds a wee bit doggy

I honestly dont know. The whole bible was written by humans (supposedly directed by the spirit of God or something of the sort) and that to me, is a problem.

Am not sure what I believe. Or maybe am just too scared to admit what I dont believe.

Akebulan:

I honestly dont know. The whole bible was written by humans (supposedly directed by the spirit of God or something of the sort) and that to me, is a problem.

Am not sure what I believe. Or maybe am just too scared to admit what I dont believe.

Noooo, you can't say that at this point in time
if you have a belief or conviction, you should courageously state it wherever you are
whether good or evil
then we can start from there!
so give it a shot

inedi:

But I didnt write the bible. what about Isaiah prophecy

Isaiah 45:7
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.

see the explanation here:

Isaiah 45:9I

I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right

inedi asked some valid questions here.


i think calling it the tree of knowledge of good and evil, points to the fact that there was evil outside the garden.


possibly preceding its creation as well.

as we can see, evil did enter eden eventually in the form of the serpent and rebellion against God.

.