A Brief History of the World's Dominate Relgions.

Here lies a map of what the world looks like, thanks to religion.

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World's Last Chance or a Shade of the Past?

This is a very interesting and well-meaning website. But, I have to make a few comments about them.

First of all, the group seems to be formed by people who were raised in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and are becoming disillusioned with what it has turned into today. But, they should exercise some caution in their statements. Remembering that according to the Bible, no man knows the Hour of Judgment (Matthew 24: 36-39).

Here is where I think we'll see shades of the Millerite Movement.

(PRWEB) September 4, 2006 -- A Bible study at www.worldslastchance.com has yielded that John Paul II will appear as the next pope. The importance of this startling conclusion is that, if true, it would mean that humanity is closer to the end than many, even of the most daring, have ever imagined. And if the end is coming that soon, the natural question would be: are we ready?

It is based on a study of Revelation, chapter 17. The study explains how we are currently living during the reign of the 7th king of the papacy, Pope Benedict XVI, whose reign has been prophesied in Revelation to be a short one. "The count of the kings started with the Lateran Concordant of 1929," stated Galal Doss founder of World’s Last Chance, "which recognized, for the first time, the pope as absolute monarch over the State of Vatican City. Furthermore," he added "the next pope, the eighth, will be the last, and during his reign the papacy will be transformed back into a persecuting power which she enjoyed up until 1798, when she exercised great political and ecclesiastical power over much of the Christian world. It was a time of ultimate religious intolerance towards all Christians who disagreed with any of the Roman Catholic Church’s teachings." According to the study, the church lost this control in 1798 when Napoleon ordered General Berthier to conquer Rome and declare an end to the temporal power of the papacy. Ever since that event, when Pope Pius VI was banished to Valence in France, the Roman Catholic Church has never regained the position she has had.Again, someone is trying to narrow things down for the "End Times".

Joseph Miller made the same mistake trying to nail God down to a specific time. This has become known as "The Great Disappointment". From this group sprang up several modern religious movements including the Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses and Bahá'í.

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Miller made the mistake of trying to unravel the mysteries of Prophecy using his purely human intellect, which proved disastrous. For the same reasons I cannot agree with Galal Doss. I am sure we shall see signs amongst us everywhere when the end is near. But, I'm not convinced that our ending will come as John the Elder saw it on Patmos.

Jesus VS Paul

I have been reading some articles by a man who goes by the name of John, theologica.net, and have really been fascinated by the views of this former minister’s views.
There are two things that I agree with whole heartedly. The first is the idea that the mainstream churches of today are not based at all on the teachings of Jesus but, rather, the teachings of Saul of Tarsus. The second, and probably the most controversial is that of the idea of Jesus being married.
There are very few Christian Organizations that can say they follow the teachings of Jesus. Most churches forget that Jesus taught that one’s life should be filled with service to others. Most agree with Paul who states that works do not save man’s soul, yet we forget hat the Epistle written by James says to the contrary that faith without works is meaningless. Therefore, the majority of Christianity would better be called Paulianity.
As far as Jesus being married, it is my understanding, as well as John’s, that the Jewish people considered unmarried men a disgrace and would never have looked upon one as a rabbi.
These and many more issues are discussed on John’s site, I highly recommend it.

Tags: theology

What you will find herein.

The subjects that will be tackled here will bounce around the Bible from time to time and sometimes appear to have nothing to do with scripture. That is one of the things that should be perfectly clear from the outset. This is not just about the Judeo-Christian Faith, but all faiths. All have their good points as well as their bad. Those belonging to each faith should own up to the faults therein.

But, for the most part, we will focus on the Judeo-Christian Faith. This is because it appears to be the dominate religion in Western Society and therefore the more known amongst our potential readers.

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Why Armchair Theonomy?

In the ancient world, a world which was by no means as primitive as we sometimes like to think, the scientific study of the heavens was known as Astrology. Then, gradually, this term began to be associated with what orthodox scientists regarded as the lunatic element of star-gazing, the art which saw in the position of the stars and planets at a given moment signs of good or bad fortune for human beings. Feeling that this denigrated their scientific method, those who applied observation and reason to the stars and suns of space left the predictors to get on with things, left them with the term "Astrology" and renamed the scientific side of things "Astronomy."

I am not passing judgment either way on the rights and wrongs of astrology, indeed I am not qualified to do so. I mention the above purely as a reference to reported history, and because I believe that the time has come to make a similar change with regard to the use of the term "Theology." Theology, in my view, has become discredited by ignoring observation and reason in favour of sometimes very convoluted ways of making the "facts" fit the doctrine. We need to move towards a much more scientific and empirical way of looking at the claims of religion, and to do that we first need to abandon the use of the term "Theology" replace it with something else. I suggest "THEONOMY" The farcical reasoning of many theologians in the past has meant that the discipline is so discredited that only by adopting a new name, and accepting the separation from the past that such a change implies, can there be any hope of acceptance. Starting with an open mind and working from the evidence to a conclusion is not an easy path, but it is a very rewarding one.

---Taken from http://www.theologica.net
from the article, Duality in the Gospels

Thus begins the article by a man only going by John on theologica.net. From reading his website, we can conclude that he was a minister for most of his life and the views presented within his website are not just tossed together by some crackpot. This man had formal training in his line of work.
Unlike myself. I freely admit that the material you will find gracing this blog is not from someone who has spent years of studying in schools, nor will I say that I have THE ENDS ALL TRUTH. But I will express my opinions on some of the beliefs found under the banner of Christianity today. The articles will appear on average, once a week. As I work full time, and at night, I will post as I have a chance, but will attempt to maintain the once a week formula. So without any more hoo-haa, let us begin to explore Christianity with open minds.
-- hk

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A Modified Nicean Creed

We believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible; and in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten before all
worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made; who for us humans, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate of Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end; and we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lady and Giver of Life, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets.

Our Mother who is within us

we celebrate your many names.

Your wisdom come

your will be done

unfolding from the depths within us.

Each day you give us all that we need.

You remind us of our limits

and we let go.

You support us in our power

and we act with courage.

For you are the dwelling place within us

the empowerment around us

and the celebration among us

now and for ever. Amen

Text by Miriam Therese Winter

Medical Mission Sister, Professor

of Liturgy, Worship and Spirituality.

Author of WomanWord and other

books and resources for Ritual.