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I am my highest authority and guide. Who is yours?
As a Gnostic Christian, I follow the esoteric teachings of Jesus.
Matthew 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
This fits perfectly with the bibles teachings that we are to judge all things and hold to the good.
1 Thessalonians 5:21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.
This is a compulsion to be our own masters instead of just kowtowing to someone else’s opinions.
This is also why Christians used their inquisitions on us. Freedom of thought was not allowed by Christianity.
A concept and freedom that Christians now seem to promote.
Many Christians follow the teachings of, to us, a genocidal and infanticidal demiurge, Yahweh.
How Christians can see him as a good god is beyond me and Christians shy away from any apologetics as to why they think such a satanic god is good.
I see my judgements as more moral than that immoral demiurge and that is why I have rejected him for Jesus.
Do you follow 1 Thessalonians 5:21, or do you let someone else do your judging for you
Regards
DL
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Nice to see an adult. Watch and be disappointed to see how theists run from this thread.
The moment morals are mentioned, they run for the hills to hide, unfortunately, as then they do not take the loving correction and you and I cannot show our love. They see our correction as evil.
Proverbs 3:12 For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
Regards
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Answer: There is actually no such thing as Christian Gnosticism, because true Christianity and Gnosticism are mutually exclusive systems of belief. The principles of Gnosticism contradict what it means to be a Christian. Therefore, while some forms of Gnosticism may claim to be Christian, they are in fact decidedly non-Christian.
Gnosticism was perhaps the most dangerous heresy that threatened the early church during the first three centuries. Influenced by such philosophers as Plato, Gnosticism is based on two false premises. First, it espouses a dualism regarding spirit and matter. Gnostics assert that matter is inherently evil and spirit is good. As a result of this presupposition, Gnostics believe anything done in the body, even the grossest sin, has no meaning because real life exists in the spirit realm only.
Second, Gnostics claim to possess an elevated knowledge, a “higher truth” known only to a certain few. Gnosticism comes from the Greek word gnosis which means “to know.” Gnostics claim to possess a higher knowledge, not from the Bible, but acquired on some mystical higher plane of existence. Gnostics see themselves as a privileged class elevated above everybody else by their higher, deeper knowledge of God.
To discredit the idea of any compatibility between Christianity and Gnosticism, one has only to compare their teachings on the main doctrines of the faith. On the matter of salvation, Gnosticism teaches that salvation is gained through the acquisition of divine knowledge which frees one from the illusions of darkness. Although they claim to follow Jesus Christ and His original teachings, Gnostics contradict Him at every turn. Jesus said nothing about salvation through knowledge, but by faith in Him as Savior from sin. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Furthermore, the salvation Christ offers is free and available to everyone (John 3:16), not just a select few who have acquired a special revelation.
Christianity asserts that there is one source of Truth and that is the Bible, the inspired, inerrant Word of the living God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice (John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 4:12). It is God’s written revelation to mankind and is never superseded by man’s thoughts, ideas, writings, or visions. The Gnostics, on the other hand, use a variety of early heretical writings known as the Gnostic gospels, a collection of forgeries claiming to be “lost books of the Bible.” Thankfully, the early church fathers were nearly unanimous in recognizing these Gnostic scrolls as fraudulent forgeries that espouse false doctrines about Jesus Christ, salvation, God, and every other crucial Christian truth. There are countless contradictions between the Gnostic “gospels” and the Bible. Even when the so-called Christian Gnostics quote from the Bible, they rewrite verses and parts of verses to harmonize with their philosophy, a practice that is strictly forbidden and warned against by Scripture (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 22:18-19).
The Person of Jesus Christ is another area where Christianity and Gnosticism drastically differ. The Gnostics believe that Jesus’ physical body was not real, but only “seemed” to be physical, and that His spirit descended upon Him at His baptism, but left Him just before His crucifixion. Such views destroy not only the true humanity of Jesus, but also the atonement, for Jesus must not only have been truly God, but also the truly human (and physically real) man who actually suffered and died upon the cross in order to be the acceptable substitutionary sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 2:14-17). The biblical view of Jesus affirms His complete humanity as well as His full deity.
Gnosticism is based on a mystical, intuitive, subjective, inward, emotional approach to truth which is not new at all. It is very old, going back in some form to the Garden of Eden, where Satan questioned God and the words He spoke and convinced Adam and Eve to reject them and accept a lie. He does the same thing today as he “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). He still calls God and the Bible into question and catches in his web those who are either naïve and scripturally uninformed or who are seeking some personal revelation to make them feel special, unique, and superior to others. Let us follow the Apostle Paul who said to “test everything. Hold on to the good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21), and this we do by comparing everything to the Word of God, the only Truth.
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I do not really have any "highest authority". There is no single being (not even me) that I trust with absolutely everything.
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Why do you call the Jesus I quote from your bible a false Jesus?
Why did you quote someone outside of scriptures to rant against prophets? Why did you not let the bible speak of it's own?
Isaiah 56:11) "They are shepherds who have no understanding; They have all turned to their own way, each on to his unjust gain, to the last one" But do not despair, for the day of judgment is at hand, for the day of judgment and the day of the LORD occupy the same time frame. All the dross will be burned away. (Zech 13:9) & (Malachi 3:3). In that day, "you will distinguish between the righteous and the wicked" (Malachi 3:18)
Further, if you wish to grow your wisdom, why are you using the bible at all when the WORD of god tell you to go look elsewhere, given that you bible says that your god lies to the prophets?
Hebrews 6 King James Version; 1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Regards
DL
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Yet you trust yourself enough to know when you need more info.
Even I have a doctor that I consult.
I was looking more to moral judgements. I cannot think of an instance where I had to ask on such but I am sure I likely did when younger.
Then again, I have always had a criminal mind and delinquent attitude and kind of knew when I was doing wrong. I think we all have a golden rule in us as a part of our altruism and empathy.
Regards
DL
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We were know as the only good Christians because we rejected your view of a genocidal prick of a god, as a good god.
Why do you favor a genocidal god?
Regards
DL
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Well, to me the scriptures belong between Humpty Dumpty and the Teletubbies in the children story section so there's that... Whether they "urge us" to do anything or not, I don't care...
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Modern Gnostic Christians name our god "I am", and yes, we do mean ourselves.
You are your controller. I am mine. You represent and present whatever mind picture you have of your God or ideal human, and so do I.
The name "I Am" you might see as meaning something like, --- I think I have grown up thanks to having forced my apotheosis through Gnosis and meditation.
In Gnostic Christianity, we follow the Christian tradition that Christians have forgotten that they are to do. That is, become brethren to Jesus.
That is why some say that the only good Christian is a Gnostic Christian.
Here is the real way to salvation that Jesus taught.
Matthew 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Allan Watts explain those quotes in detail.
Joseph Campbell shows the same esoteric ecumenist idea in this link.
The bible just plainly says to put away the things of children. The supernatural and literal reading of myths.
Regards
DL
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I think you care if you have ever read your children fairy tales.
It is a shame that literalists forget such truths and read their adult myths literally.
Regards
DL
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That is why there is a heaven but no hell. God is a universalist and never has to lose any of what he originally started (owning) so to speak. He always keeps 100% to himself.
I already quoted you the appropriate text but it does not suit your supernaturalstupid thinking. Try understanding it this time.
Here is the real way to salvation that Jesus taught.
Matthew 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Allan Watts explain those quotes in detail.
Regards
DL
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Ok.
Grandma used to ask me when I was a child and just went along with idiocy; if everyone is jumping off a cliff will you just follow?
Regards
DL
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Regards
DL
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