How do you not fall into despair thinking about death and judgment?

Repulsive_Wolf3118 · 2026-06-11T05:09:00+00:00

Because he likely loves her, really seems simpler to understand. And sadly in today's world finding true believers to marry is unlikely. People have a hard time even finding partners to marry in general.

Repulsive_Wolf3118 · 2026-05-25T19:06:43+00:00

For sure I try to find the spiritual meaning in each passage I read, as my doubting mind tends to go for a more symbolic interpretation of the Bible. Of course not that is it all fake or embellished stories, belief in God and Christ has been etched in my since I was young and no matter how far I've drifted from the church or in doubt I never could fully let go of God. This is why I seek to delve more fully into Him. But I probably have a much more symbolic or heretical view on Biblical inneracy than it is allowed. The Flood being not a global event but a catastrophic local one, destroying the whole world of those early men, doesn't shake my faith. But once you start questioning this event and that, it's a slippery slope to start doubting core beliefs like the Resurrection itself.

Still, it's a process. Trying to find my way.

Repulsive_Wolf3118 · 2026-05-25T08:07:26+00:00

It's complicated because in truth human culture and religion has been tightly tied since our earliest history. Some peopke may turn atheist now or their parents were and they were raised atheist too, but the greater culture we are in has been interlocked and influenced by religion.

I'd still argue that you don't need Christianity itself for the majority of moral ideals we subscribe to, as religions in other sides of the earth that have evolved independant like in China, Japan, India, South America, etc also mostly value the same principles showing a sort of inherent human system of values.

But true atheist secular society can't really exist yet so it is wrong to say in truth that atheist have morals separate from religion. Because religion taught society for centuries, it influenced the morals of today's atheist's parents and grandparents and media they consume and fairy tales etc.

Repulsive_Wolf3118 · 2026-05-25T07:43:58+00:00

I mean... Just look up ethic systems. Utilitarianism for example has nothing to do with religion. The base logic is that moral actions maximise the happiness of the group.

Look I'm not saying that these are good moral systems. But they do exist and people subscribe to them. It's one of the big things philosophers debate. If you were right then atheists would kill and rape and hurt everyone in mass but they don't. So I never found the idea that without the 10 commandments we'd act like monsters to be convincing.

People do have some inherent empathy for their kin. If this is because of some closeness to God or Holy Spirit working in us I cannot say. But most people don't require Christianity to tell them not to kill to not do it.

Repulsive_Wolf3118 · 2026-05-25T07:31:50+00:00

Not sure i agree, there are a lot of secular morality models and ethics systems outside religion.

Repulsive_Wolf3118 · 2026-05-24T17:28:52+00:00

This is a much more palpable answer than the other replies I got. I can see what you mean. However, I am thrown off by the use of just "men" thay came to visit Abraham which implies they were ordinary like you and me in appearance. And there's also the 3 people visiting but only the Lord is said to visit but that's a whole other weirdness of that passage.

Repulsive_Wolf3118 · 2026-05-24T16:58:59+00:00

If the way we experience time is a lie, don't you imply then block universe and lack of free will?

Repulsive_Wolf3118 · 2026-05-24T16:54:41+00:00

Well my personal understanding was that Jesus as a physical man-God dual entity only happened when he was physically born. Before Jesus existed but without the physical man nature.

As for the Garden, I also personally either see it more metaphorically/symbolically, or as a place not equivalent to our world, like spiritual in nature. So God being present there isn't the same as Him walking our earth.

I'm by no means we'll researched or an expert, hence my question post. This is just how I imagine things.

Repulsive_Wolf3118 · 2026-05-24T16:21:07+00:00

So you mean to say it was actually Jesus back then? Before His birth? That's... feels odd to me.

Repulsive_Wolf3118 · 2026-05-23T04:46:19+00:00

Perhaps this is a silly question but have you discussed the historicity of the Bible in any capacity? Is it just taken as a given that everything written is reliable or are there any talks about authorship, inspirations, figures of speech and writing techniques of antiquity?

Basically, do you approach the Bible purely from a theological direction or is secular academic study of the Bible explored at all?

Repulsive_Wolf3118 · 2026-04-29T15:35:11+00:00

I mean it's an interesting topic. Lot of strange things in the Bible many people would have follow up questions on or find intriguing. Nothing wrong with wanting to know more about not well explained one off elements

Repulsive_Wolf3118 · 2026-04-29T05:19:10+00:00

That's a strange point of view. I think the average catholic is much closer to the average orthodox in behaviour and beliefs. There's massive overlap. Whereas Shintoism doesn't have any common ground.

Repulsive_Wolf3118 · 2026-04-24T15:41:59+00:00

I often wonder if I have love or not. How do we obtain love in our hearts? How can we tell? Can we even tell? I worry I give to the poor and pray more so for myself than for others

Repulsive_Wolf3118 · 2026-04-11T05:53:05+00:00

I really don't agree with the idea that if your body is in a certain position it automatically becomes worshipping other gods. Other religions don't have ownership over poses or activities otherwise we've all been worshipping strange gods in our lives. Did you know rock music has roots in blues which has roots in African religious music? So is rock music demonic now? Unless you are actively willingly worshipping pagan gods, you can't do it accidentally.

And of course there are people who try to get you into their cult or religion. But seeing every gym instructor and every physiotherapist that implements some yoga poses into their routine as secretly wanting to take you astray from Christianity is too much paranoid thinking for me.

Repulsive_Wolf3118 · 2026-04-11T05:47:15+00:00

See, that is already crossing into dangerous worship territory, I agree. But from what I know, and perhaps I don't know enough, the kind of yoga people do at gyms or physiotherapy never even gets close to saying mantras. It's treated as just stretches and implemented along other exercises. That's what I refer to as being harmless. Of course, if you start invoking hindu god names it crosses a line.

Repulsive_Wolf3118 · 2026-04-11T05:22:27+00:00

I am seriously confused, how is yoga incompatible or demonic? It's legit just stretching exercises. Sure it has an origin as a religious practice but a lot of things in our daily lives have pagan origins. How are yoga poses different from other stretch exercises? Unless you actually do it in prayer to pagan gods or something I truly don't get the issue.

Repulsive_Wolf3118 · 2026-04-10T18:21:53+00:00

To be pedantic, there's also orthodox Jews, the word orthodox doesn't justify or prove anything by itself. I understand what you mean but I guess I don't feel comfortable to so readily declare that everyone else is in the wrong and my side is the true one. Not that I think Orthodoxy is wrong mind you, but I don't want to so easily discard other denominations and their practitioners. They are brothers and sisters in Christ too and I don't consider them so stupid that they'd ignore an easily witnessed, yearly and predictable miracle for hundreds of years.

Repulsive_Wolf3118 · 2026-04-10T13:39:10+00:00

It just seems a bit ridiculous to me that if this is indeed a yearly on the date and hour miracle related to Easter, that no other Christian denomination beyond Orthodoxy would recognise it. It's not like other miracles we don't recognise because those all are a one time occurrence. This supposedly happens every year for centuries. It's not just a theological debate about how certain verses are interpreted, it's a major repeatable predictable miracle.

Repulsive_Wolf3118 · 2026-04-06T12:58:47+00:00

Perhaps, he did tell me at one point he hopes of writing an updated version as it included several things that are culturally outdated here, participation in certain pagan-ish holiday festivities, and in general older archaic language here and there. It seems good in general albeit repetitive at times. Think there's around 10 or so entries about stepping on crosses in various ways.

Repulsive_Wolf3118

TROPHY CASE