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GOD, ALLA, BUDDA

  • 05-04-2009 2:20am
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 51 ✭✭


    this may seem a stupid Q... but im curious

    if every religion believes in a different God and a different afterlife,

    does this mean that they all exist or that there is only one God and one afterlife/ heaven place and all the other religions are wrong and if so...

    if the Catholic God was the only one, what is supposed to happen to all the muslems and buddists when they die if their gods and afterlifes or heavens dont really exist?
    :confused::confused::confused:


Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 457 ✭✭hiorta


    These names/ titles are considered by different groups of 'theologically tampered with' people as being some kind of apex to aim at.

    Such groups are never overtly told that they must reap as has been sown - the Law of Cause & Efect must always apply - because they would eventually realise that theologians and their formulae are utterly pointless.

    Todays pinacle of spiritual achievement becomes just another milestone along the way, as we rise in knowledge and awareness.
    Our journey is an eternal one, it seems.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7 xxTrotsky69xx


    i said this in a different post but i def think they all point at the same thing at the end? like all the religions are a little bit wrong but they all point us in the right direction!

    i think its our job as humans to find the right path and it might involve bits of christianity, bits of buddihsm, etc. :) dont worry, i dont think anyone is going to hell because of theyre following the wrong god! as long as their heart is true :) hiorta, i think were saying the same thing :confused:


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,931 ✭✭✭togster


    Most religions point to a higher being or God, or so it would seem. Interpretation caused the tru meaning to be blurred.

    I think all the "Gods" point to our own god essence and connection everything and everyone.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 22,479 ✭✭✭✭philologos


    Rabeile31 wrote: »
    if the Catholic God was the only one, what is supposed to happen to all the muslems and buddists when they die if their gods and afterlifes or heavens dont really exist? :confused::confused::confused:

    In Christianity it is believed that Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father. Anyone who believes in Him will have eternal life, and anyone who rejects Him upon hearing the Gospel will be condemned (John 14:6). We haven't been revealed anything about those who haven't heard the Gospel.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,718 ✭✭✭The Mad Hatter


    Just for the record, the Buddha wasn't a god, and (as far as I know) Allah and Yaweh (the Judeo-Christian god) are the same god.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 22,479 ✭✭✭✭philologos


    Allah and the God of Israel which are from the same idea or concept but do differ in quite a few ways between them. Christianity and Judaism are the closest, Islam is based on these traditions but does differ slightly.

    Infact Arab Christians and Jews call God, "Allah". Infact in Malaysia Christian groups are forbidden fron using Allah to describe God so as not to deceive Muslims from Islam.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 51 ✭✭Rabeile31


    thanks for all ur info...

    i am Catholic and well after 2 tragedys in my family i started to think about religion and God a lot more and i'm a bit confused

    Am i still a Catholic so to speak if i dont believe that heaven or hell exist... just one spiritual afterlife for all souls to go

    I think that the Catholic Church is a well run "bully" like organisation that brainwashed people into thinking that they were sinners when it was really the people representing the Church who were the real sinners!!!

    Is it not cult like behaviour to be religious?

    People worship a God they have never met and some time in extreme ways... look at the people who crucify themselves each Good Friday..

    my point is when people worship a living person as a God or the Messiah?... it is seen as a cult and evil and wrong when really its no different than any other religion..

    sorry for rambling on its just that this stuff really bothers me lately!!!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,821 ✭✭✭18AD


    All religions can be classified as a cult.

    Just because something is a cult does not mean it is useless or wrong.

    I think people usually regard any religious group that only has a small number of people in it to be a cult. So because it has less followers it is somehow not true. If you accept this arguement then religion is just a popularity contest.

    Best.
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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 22,479 ✭✭✭✭philologos


    Rabeile31 wrote: »
    Am i still a Catholic so to speak if i dont believe that heaven or hell exist... just one spiritual afterlife for all souls to go

    Well Jesus spoke about eternal punishment in the Gospels. It's a teaching of Christianity to hold this opinion. Catholics have a pretty similar view of it I think.
    Rabeile31 wrote: »
    I think that the Catholic Church is a well run "bully" like organisation that brainwashed people into thinking that they were sinners when it was really the people representing the Church who were the real sinners!!!

    If you don't trust church authorities there is no reason why you can't in the spirit of the Reformation pick up the Bible and read it for yourself or seek out a different church to attend. I have no reason to think that Catholics are corrupt however, or that they are bullies in any respect from any Catholic I have spoken to.

    Christianity is a bigger thing than Catholicism however, and I think it's unfortunate that people don't remember this often enough.
    Rabeile31 wrote: »
    Is it not cult like behaviour to be religious?

    No, I wouldn't think so anyway :)
    Rabeile31 wrote: »
    People worship a God they have never met and some time in extreme ways... look at the people who crucify themselves each Good Friday..

    That only happens in the Phillippines and many Christians disagree with it.

    As for a God that you have never met? People believe they have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
    Rabeile31 wrote: »
    my point is when people worship a living person as a God or the Messiah?... it is seen as a cult and evil and wrong when really its no different than any other religion..

    You clearly don't understand the concept of Messiah if you have an objection to Him being a person. The Jewish scriptures prophesied Him as such hundreds of years before He ever graced the earth.

    As for Christ being God, it is believed that Jesus is the human incarnation of God yes and He lived among us for 33 years to reveal spiritual truth and to proclaim salvation.

    If Christianity is a cult, and if it is evil. Then count me the most evil person you have ever met :)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 142 ✭✭Lone Kimono


    i am Catholic and well after 2 tragedys in my family i started to think about religion and God a lot more and i'm a bit confused

    Sorry to hear about the tragedys, I hope things will be better in the near future.
    Am i still a Catholic so to speak if i dont believe that heaven or hell exist... just one spiritual afterlife for all souls to go

    Well, you were born a Catholic, so in name you are, but not a "propper" (not the best wording) Catholic if you dont believe one of its major teachings.
    I think that the Catholic Church is a well run "bully" like organisation that brainwashed people into thinking that they were sinners when it was really the people representing the Church who were the real sinners!!!

    All people are sinners, you dont have to be religious to know that human beings are corrupted very easily. Its only natural to believe that such people are working with in the church, I wouldn't say the church itself is a "bully" though.
    Is it not cult like behaviour to be religious?
    No, I wouldn't say it is.
    People worship a God they have never met and some time in extreme ways... look at the people who crucify themselves each Good Friday..

    Yes, that would be to show their faith, though yes some can go to far.
    my point is when people worship a living person as a God or the Messiah?... it is seen as a cult and evil and wrong when really its no different than any other religion..

    I know that in the Catholic religion and I would say most religions it is a sin to worship a living person. I'm not sure of the exact definition, but I think a cult is a cult because it has under a certain number of members.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,026 ✭✭✭kelly1


    Hello Rabeile, interesting thread. I hope I can help clear up some confusion because I think I've been where you are now. I hope that doesn't come across as condescending! :) I'll probably repeat some of what Jakass has said.
    Rabeile31 wrote: »
    if every religion believes in a different God and a different afterlife,

    does this mean that they all exist or that there is only one God and one afterlife/ heaven place and all the other religions are wrong and if so...
    There is only one God and different religions call Him by different names. Some religions have a false notion of who or what God is.

    For example Judaism and Islam have a similar notion of God (afaik) as being one person comprising one God. Christians believe that there is also one God but that God is made up of three equal and inseperable persons a bit like a very close-knit family.
    Rabeile31 wrote: »
    if the Catholic God was the only one, what is supposed to happen to all the muslems and buddists when they die if their gods and afterlifes or heavens dont really exist? :confused::confused::confused:
    A good question!
    All religions try to arrive at the truth about God but some religions have an incomplete or even false picture of God. We have different notions as to what happens when we die and what we need to do to achieve our goal of being happy in the afterlife. There is only one God and that means there is only one objective Truth. The confusion is caused by us! For a religion to have any meaning and value it must be true. And since we can't see God directly in this life, the truth must come from God because God is Truth itself. Because of God's goodness to us, He has revealed the Truth to us so we don't chase our tails in endless confusion and become frustrated and despairing.

    So if you really want to know the Truth, follow Jesus who, as Scripture says, is "The Way, the Truth and the Life". He is the good Shepherd who keeps His sheep safe from harm and leads us safely home to heaven. I as a Catholic believe that Jesus founded a Church which exists to teach the truth about God and to nourish us spiritually through the sacraments. EDIT: Just a note to say that Jesus is the Messiah prophesied by the Jews and He introduced the New Covenant between God and man and also extended God's chosen people to include the whole human race. Jesus is, so to speak, the final instalment of God's revelation to us and He authoratively taught us about the nature of God and what God expects from us. The bad news is that sin destroys our relationship with God who is infinitely holy and the good news is that Jesus is the "bridge" which cross the divide (caused by sin) between us and God. God doesn't just want us to be saved and to run around some kind of new garden of Eden with God looking on from a distance. God actually wants us to be become like Him and share in His divinity. The more we correspond with God's will in this life, the "closer" we will be to God in the next. We will all be completely happy in heaven but some of us will have a greater ability to "absorb" or participate in the divine life. Since we are finite creature, there's only so much grace that we can "withstand". God is infinite so nobody can absorb all of God's love and grace. It would annihilate us! It's grace that gives us the ability to look at God face-to-face and without this grace we cannot withstand the goodness and light of God.

    People who die without this grace will never have the ability to face God so the only other alternative is hell. And there are different degrees of punishment in hell depending on how much you sinned/despised God's grace in this life.

    The spiritual life unfortunately is a dangerous road in many ways because there are lots of wolves in sheep clothing about waiting for a chance to pounce on us! So be careful how you go!
    Rabeile31 wrote: »
    i am Catholic and well after 2 tragedys in my family i started to think about religion and God a lot more and i'm a bit confused
    Sorry to hear about the tragedies. May God give you confort in difficult times. I can also understand your confusion. The road to heaven is a bit of a mine field and you have to know the signs that you're going off the safe path.
    Rabeile31 wrote: »
    Am i still a Catholic so to speak if i dont believe that heaven or hell exist... just one spiritual afterlife for all souls to go.
    Being Catholic is all about being united with Christ. It's a bit difficult to be united when you disagree with what He taught in the Gospels. Jesus mentioned hell fire quite a few times!
    Rabeile31 wrote: »
    I think that the Catholic Church is a well run "bully" like organisation that brainwashed people into thinking that they were sinners when it was really the people representing the Church who were the real sinners!!!
    We're all sinners. Nobody comes anywhere near the holiness of God. The more I learn about God, the more I realize that we are nothing in comparision with God. But the good news is that God's grace elevates our dignity making us adopted sons and daughters who will inherit the Father's "goods" when we reign victorious in heaven with Christ!
    Rabeile31 wrote: »
    Is it not cult like behaviour to be religious?
    Not at all. Some people practice their religion just to get comfort from it and to feel good. It's far more important that we worship God in ways that are fitting according to God.
    Rabeile31 wrote: »
    my point is when people worship a living person as a God or the Messiah?... it is seen as a cult and evil and wrong when really its no different than any other religion.
    Are you refering to Jesus here?
    Rabeile31 wrote: »
    sorry for rambling on its just that this stuff really bothers me lately!!!
    That's the Holy Spirit prodding you! :)

    God bless,
    Noel.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,408 ✭✭✭studiorat


    Just for the record, the Buddha wasn't a god, and (as far as I know) Allah and Yaweh (the Judeo-Christian god) are the same god.

    Also Buddists don't really have a creation Myth in the same way as the Judeao-Christians have.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,026 ✭✭✭kelly1


    studiorat wrote: »
    Also Buddists don't really have a creation Myth in the same way as the Judeao-Christians have.
    Creation isn't a myth. Science has shown that the universe had a beginning. It was created...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,718 ✭✭✭The Mad Hatter


    kelly1 wrote: »
    Creation isn't a myth. Science has shown that the universe had a beginning. It was created...

    Huh?

    First of all, 'had a beginning' doesn't mean the same thing as 'was created'.

    Secondly, a creation myth is a story of how the universe was created - not just a statement of the fact.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,408 ✭✭✭studiorat


    Myth: (noun) a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation.

    Just so we're clear that it's not another christian persecution.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,560 ✭✭✭DublinWriter


    Rabeile31 wrote: »
    if the Catholic God was the only one, what is supposed to happen to all the muslems and buddists when they die if their gods and afterlifes or heavens dont really exist?
    :confused::confused::confused:
    Putting it very simply, the three 'Abrahamic' relgions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam (Muslims) are all monotheistic religions and share the same over-arching 'God'.

    Buddhists don't believe in a single, all-powerful God.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 868 ✭✭✭tdv


    Zeus is the one & only true God.

    zeus.gif

    He will crush you with his foot if you anger him.


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