[split] Are Questions About God Important?

[arewethereyet]

Yeah, well, we had a member here who thought he had met and spoke with an angel...a real heavenly angel.

If your dream gets you through the night, so be it, it was still a delusion and proof of nothing.

[Ahriman]

I dont understand all of it.  

i search for that person i met one night - 

i read the bible looking for him, 

i do find him about in the world.

i try to leave his presence where ever i go.

I picture Jesus much as you do. Sort of as the answer to the question of What would a person be like if he always did the correct moral thing? How would we behave if we actually loved each other? 

Though I've never had the kind of revelatory experience you have, so for me it's all literary and aesthetic. But it's still important.

I remember something Herbert McCabe said: "If you don't love you're dead, and if you do, they'll kill you."

Dude, don't encourage the other poster's delusions.

[Confused-by-christianity]

@Confused-by-christianity
I'm not sure what you mean by Jesus said No.  Firstly, because the issue is whether or not Abraham should have said no (and you haven't given a straight response to that),

Abraham should say no to anyone asking him to sacrifice his child.
What i meant was ... i experienced something like my soul being murdered or possessed or something like that. jesus stepped in

and secondly because Jesus was a willing human sacrifice to a deity.

I have always struggled to understand the doctrine of sacrificial atonement.

I frankly go as far as saying i think paul was mistaken or misunderstood here.

It's interesting you say that in the bible you meet and not meet the Jesus of your religious experience.  It seems you judge the scriptural text by the light of your own understanding.  You are the moral judge, in that sense.

thats fair enough.

I have my experience as my primary guide.

[Confused-by-christianity]

If you had to describe the character of this spiritual Jesus you encountered, how would you describe him?

Love.
patient.
kind.
forgiving.
understanding.
gentle.
reality.
think of a warm loving home.

[Fake Messiah]

think of a warm loving home.

Warm like Hell.

[Confused-by-christianity]

i knew the bible talked about him.  his life, death, subsequent people tried to carry on his work (doing a good or bad job of it, but trying i guess).

I see his attributes in other places too

two places are ...
mother holding a baby - making eye contact.
a father who is so tender and patient with his little boy

You may slap that Jesus-label onto anything, but that only dilutes its meaning. Sooner or later you get to "god is love" ... but I know love without believing in your mess of a deity. I have been that father you romanticize. No gods required.

I dont think we need be at odds - so thanks for sharing your view.

I have been that father you romanticize. No gods required.

"been" .... ??

What happened??

[Confused-by-christianity]

Yeah, well, we had a member here who thought he had met and spoke with an angel...a real heavenly angel.  

If your dream gets you through the night, so be it, it was still a delusion and proof of nothing.

Fair enough :-)

[The Grand Nudger]

Awesome, now if we can just get jesus to step in on some real murders, and not just for you. If you think paul was wrong about sacrificial atonement you won't be able to be christian. That's the christ part. It's a job description, not a name. Another pagan calling themselves christian, just like the polling data suggests.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

If you had to describe the character of this spiritual Jesus you encountered, how would you describe him?

Love.
patient.
kind.
forgiving.
understanding.
gentle.
reality.
think of a warm loving home.

Sounds like a Labrador puppy.

[FrustratedFool]

If you had to describe the character of this spiritual Jesus you encountered, how would you describe him?

Love.
patient.
kind.
forgiving.
understanding.
gentle.
reality.
think of a warm loving home.

I take it you valued these virtues prior to your experience.
In which case, what did your experience add to your understanding?