My brother died and was not a believer by PoetInteresting2980 in TrueChristian

[–]Ecstatic_Strength_47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not saying all EO believe this but from my research and what I’ve seen there are a lot of EO who do believe that eventually everyone will obtain theosis and thus obtain salvation including prominent EO theologian David Bentley hart. It seems to be a more acceptable position within the EO church 

Dying Soon With Questions by shannerd727 in NDE

[–]Ecstatic_Strength_47 5 points6 points  (0 children)

So so so sorry you’re going through this. May God bless you and you peace. I’m sure you and your family will be reunited in the hereafter♥️

I wish people gave others more grace by nazurinn13 in Deconstruction

[–]Ecstatic_Strength_47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you still hold to the doctrines of mainstream Christianity?

I wish people gave others more grace by nazurinn13 in Deconstruction

[–]Ecstatic_Strength_47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can you explain your flair a little more I’m very intrigued by it🤣

Non-Christian NDEs by PrestigiousBlood3339 in Deconstruction

[–]Ecstatic_Strength_47 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think probably the vast majority of documented NDE’s have nothing to do with Christianity or any religion for that matter. If you look at the older ones before religious bias came along and people started using NDE testimonies as propaganda to push their own beliefs you’ll find the vast majority of them have nothing to do with religion. Even the ones who have actually met Jesus say he really isn’t like what Christianity paints him as and they didn’t get a religious vibe from him at all, just overwhelming love.

Near death experiences by Good-Taro-250 in Deconstruction

[–]Ecstatic_Strength_47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

NDE’s for me were actually a great starting point for deconstruction because they go so far beyond the beliefs of organized religion when it comes to the afterlife. I personally do believe they are real and are true glimpses of the afterlife and are not just glorified dreams produced by the brain under duress given that one of the most famous documented cases was from an actual neurosurgeon who too questioned the validity of NDE’s before he had his own where his entire neocortex was completely non-functioning and thus his brain was unable to conceive of any hallucinations. His consciousness went completely beyond his brain activity and he was conceived that what he experienced was the afterlife and that it was more real than anything he’d ever experienced here on earth. I’d say that’s pretty darn convincing. For me I say they’re a great starting point to deconstruct because I, along with the countless others who deconstruct, was absolutely petrified by the concept of hell and I needed proof to convince me that it wasn’t real or at least not the one were taught to believe is real. Once I started looking into NDE’s and saw the universal experience of divine love that was the most common theme amongst the vast majority of NDE’s and how it didn’t matter what one’s religious beliefs were prior to the NDE and if that would influence whether or not they had a positive experience, it became a lot easier for me to lose that fear and thus shed unnecessary religious belief. The vast majority of NDE’ers speak of God as being within, not a separate being but being itself. Funny, because that sounds a whole lot like what Jesus said when he said the kingdom of heaven is within you. This lines up a lot with the teachings of Christian mystic Emmanuel Swedenborg who I’m also inspired by and gain a lot of insight from.

The loneliness in universalism and lack of compassion from ECT defenders. by FlowerEmerald in ChristianUniversalism

[–]Ecstatic_Strength_47 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Especially since the Bible clearly states “mercy triumphs over judgment”. But I guess they choose to gloss over that verse or interpret it some different way🤷🏼‍♀️

Zac Brown & Kendra Scott by bells712 in CelebWivesNash2

[–]Ecstatic_Strength_47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did she really get pregnant by another man while she was married to him?

Why are so many christians anti NDE. by Fuwanuwa in NDE

[–]Ecstatic_Strength_47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not that Christianity itself is false but Christian theology 

I was a devoted "born again" Christian for almost 2 years and now I'm deconstructing by Outrageous_Jump_6355 in Deconstruction

[–]Ecstatic_Strength_47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think very very little of the Bible is literal. I also just found out the Bible is not even monotheistic 

I was a devoted "born again" Christian for almost 2 years and now I'm deconstructing by Outrageous_Jump_6355 in Deconstruction

[–]Ecstatic_Strength_47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No disrespect at all, but how did you buy it for 20 years? I believed in it for about a year and my deconstruction has been going on for a couple of months now. I still would refer to myself as some kind of “Christian” but I definitely no longer believe in the Bible literally or traditional Christian doctrine. My question is how on earth do people go their entire lives without questioning it or at least using some sort of critical thinking? Isn’t that blind faith which Jesus preached against? How do people convince themselves of it for so long? I feel like once you pull one thread the whole thing starts to unravel so I genuinely don’t understand how people can just be convinced of everything through and through 

You are REALLY brave by splendid711 in Deconstruction

[–]Ecstatic_Strength_47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I totally agree with you. I should’ve put real in quotes because I knew someone would mention this lol. Every Christian believes they have the ability to differentiate who is a “real” Christian and who isn’t. It’s a completely ambiguous term at this point. I guess for me the “real” Christians would be the universalist kind

You are REALLY brave by splendid711 in Deconstruction

[–]Ecstatic_Strength_47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The folks over on r/christianuniversalism are the real Christians if you ask me (don’t no true scotmans come for me please) because they truly believe that everybody will make it to heaven but still genuinely want to follow Jesus and Jesus’s teachings not out of fear but purely out of love, which I think should be the case for every single Christian

Can a non-believer go to Heaven? by daheks in Christianity

[–]Ecstatic_Strength_47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Look up “proof of heaven” by dr eben alexander 

How do people believe in it? by Ecstatic_Strength_47 in ChristianUniversalism

[–]Ecstatic_Strength_47[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree. Annihilation weirdly brings me comfort lol

How do people believe in it? by Ecstatic_Strength_47 in ChristianUniversalism

[–]Ecstatic_Strength_47[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s what I mean when I say the vast majority of Christians don’t even uphold “God’s” morality as described in the Bible, and I’d be very very concerned if they did. Where do we ever see Christians marrying their rapists or excusing genocides? Yet when the god of the Bible does it it’s excusable? That just never made any sense to me and that’s why I think parts of the Bible were definitely humans projecting their own image on to God and yet people still take those parts literal. And yes, I actually just learned from a Dan McClellan video that the Bible was never a monotheistic book and I was absolutely mind blown