Attention Christians!

I don't see any issue with alcohol for medicinal purposes or for entertainment. I do think being drunk/addiction is not biblical.

 

I think it is possible to live a christian life and enjoy a small amount of alcohol. But a person who chooses not to drink at all can also live a christian life, as long as he does it without condemning those who do.

I personally have two good friends who are both nuns, and both drink the occasional brandy especially for medicinal purposes. It's not like you are causing harm to others by alleviating your pain, you are not getting drunk and becoming violent, which then would become a different story...

 

Any thoughts on Christians going to yoga class? I don't think a yoga class (especially hot yoga) offered in a gym or exercise studio for exercise/strength training purposes is religious. My church actually offers free yoga with a qualified yoga instructor (to draw in people); I have not been to that class due to scheduling but I doubt the class includes chants, etc. My pastor told me to use my judgement on yoga class. I do have a couple of close friends who are against it though. Any thoughts?

 

If they start chanting stuff about your inner goddess or any of that new age stuff, just roll up your mat and leave. Nothing wrong with the physical part of it.

 

I prefer group exercise and so yoga is basically the only option left since the other classes have loud music.

 

Really even if they do start chanting, just don't follow along and be nice, maybe just praise God in your head or something. I don't think Jesus is going to hold it against you for just being around pagans and exercising with them. Surely it is not a sin to merely hear pagan chanting.

 

So tell them, 'As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say
(Numbers 14:28)

 

Christianity has centering prayer that can be similar to yoga meditation. So if they do the meditation at the end you can do centering prayer. Thomas Merton, the great American christian trappist monk was a friend of Buddhist Thich Nhat Hnan.

 

Christianity is an Eastern religion after all.

Just not as sexy as Buddhism.

 

Why is it eastern?

 

The Middle East.

 

Jesus' pattern of speaking in parables has been compared to the teaching style of Zen masters. Although when someone asked him a question in private, his responses were clear and on-point.

 

There's long been speculation that Jesus may have spent much of his "lost years" (age 12-30) in India. If so, it's possible that Eastern religions could have influenced him in some way, leading to Christianity adopting some of that culture. I just did a quick online search, and came up with THIS ARTICLE, which chronicles a man's search as to whether Jesus ever did indeed make it to India. I don't consider it a defnitive piece, but perhaps worth reading if a person has the interest.

 

Why would Jesus adopt Buddhist or Hindu beliefs considering that Judaism and Christianity both consider worshipping idols as a big no-no and would have regarded India as a land of spiritual darkness?

 

Nobody is saying he had to adopt the beliefs of another religion. In the article linked by Lane, Jesus is said to have exhorted Hindus to stop worshipping their idols. I haven't heard of this theory before, but certainly many things are possible during the "lost" years from age 12 to 30. It may be that any similarities in teaching styles are purely coincidental.

 

Although Buddhism and Christianity have definitive differences, cessation of suffering and to act out of compassion is at the heart of both of them.

It has long been argued that Buddhism influenced early Christianity. I do not no if this is correct but I do know a friend of mine who was a nun/nurse/psychologist left the catholic church after 23 years and she has taught me meditation and mindfulness techniques that have helped me a great deal.

Even though she is still involved in the catholic church she feels a lot of Buddhist practices can be utilized to coexist with her christian faith.

I also have other friends who are currently nuns in a catholic order and a parish priest who have nothing but respect for other religious practices. Just like the Buddhist monks that teach meditation here in Melbourne that conduct classes without chanting they respect and accept you no matter what your religion.

I was also told today by one of the nuns that she thinks the curcumin I told her to try for her arthritis is helping her, she has been able to sleep better and has been pain free for three weeks. She has taken the same brand as me 600mg.

So your advice on taking this supplement has eased someones suffering. Sorry, but every time someone mentions curcumin I think of your name, because when I was to ill too post and would just read posts everybody would talk about John Adams being the guru about it.... But it has been valuable advice

 

Thanks.
I saw something somewhere that postulated that Gautama Buddha was a Hebrew from that tribe of Gad that was dispersed from Israel when the Assyrians deported all of the Israelites and that he landed in a place that was mostly Hindu and preached against idolatry but over time his story transformed into the lore we have today about him, including the reintroduction of idolatry. This could also explain the trace similarities between Christianity, which came out of the Hebrew religion and Buddhism.

 

'Lord why have you forsaken me'

The book of Job, and later Jesus on the cross...

I have my own ideas as to the answer of this most crucial question... I love this quote... it makes me want to cry.

The Song of Solomon is the most beautiful poetry to come from the old testament, the Torah and the most romantic as well.

 

The Bible doesn't edit out suffering as part of the human condition. It doesn't flinch from showing people crying out "why?", with no immediate or easy answers.

And yet many readers have, and still do, find a path to peace and acceptance, through the narrative of hope and healing that runs throughout this unparalleled collection of writings.

 

The entire context is not assuming this is our only life to live. It promises eternal life in a glorified body.

 

Why we experience pain. When the big guy was looking at Eve and Adam through his huge telescope he watched Eve bite the apple, and when she did the world changed in a flash. The big guy declared "I shall not stop the agony and defeat of man again. I will not answer a prayer. For they were told of the apple, you can blame it on Adam he was always eating marijuana plants. Let them know what pain is.

 

The "lost years" if you want to know about those years then read "The Gospel according to Biff."
God's childhood friend explains it all.

 

Your creativity levels are through the roof.

 

Aw, man, I just bore false witness.

 

So is that a bad thing? I have written over 10 chapters on the subject. Plus I'm going to say one thing and if you or anyone else wants to debate jump in.
So where was this God when my son committed suicide?

 

Where was God when anything bad happened? Where was he when my father was murdered? Where was God during the Holodomer? Where was God when people got tinnitus from medical malpractice? To lash out at God when something bad happens to you is very selfish. You are not the only person to suffer misfortune. The notion that the existence of pain and suffering precludes the existence of God is idiotic. Those of us that believe in God, according to Christian orthodoxy, believe in his promise that we will be resurrected into glorified bodies to live for eternity in perfect peace and that this God that you deny and hate is going to bring about a reconciliation of all things. No one is forcing you to believe that. I'd rather believe that than the notion that once we die, it is nothing but an unconscious dirt nap for all eternity. You can ridicule God or believers of God all you want and it will change nothing. It certainly doesn't hurt our feelings.

 

Did I mention I hated anyone don't remember writing that. We all have a right to feel and say what we think. I quote Samuel Langhorne Clemmens. Or Mark Twain as we know him.
"Religion was invented by a con man, who then found the first fool."
Doesn't get any truer than that. You cannot buy yourself a stairway to heaven by dropping 50 cents in a basket. PERIOD END OF DISCUSSION.
And my tinnitus is still there.

 

That's not what we believe and it's not the end of the discussion. Why are you in here kvetching in the first place? Because you're a child of your father the Devil and you see the word "Christians" and it pisses you off so you come into a thread for Christians made to discuss our suffering and how it relates to our beliefs and ridicule us.

 

Nope

 

Okay, then explain what you think motivates you to come into a thread for Christians to ridicule our beliefs.