No, not to my knowledge, but like Christianity there are some things that can be seen as evidence for reincarnation by some. It’s debatable. However I don’t think this was an issue that the prophets (and I see Jesus as a prophet) thought was an important issue at the times. There were other issues, most particularly social justice, that were far more relevant and needed addressing during the times and places that they came to Earth.
This covers it thoroughly:
people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment
Hebrews 9:27
The idea that you have been reincarnated is an illusion, I am afraid.
1 Like
This is the opinion of Paul and nothing else.
I would far more trust this:
Reincarnation: Past Lives of Jesus Christ and John the Baptist (freerepublic.com)
" he very end of the Old Testament is a prediction of the reincarnation of Elijah and Elisha: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” 3 Thus John (Elijah), sent “before the coming . . . of the Lord,” was born slightly earlier to serve as a herald for Christ. An angel appeared to Zacharias the father to testify that his coming son John would be no other than Elijah (Elias)."
You are certainly free to believe that. Some of us believe that Paul was an Apostle, had the Holy Spirit living in him and knew what he was talking about.
That was a prophecy using figurative language.
In christianity there is.In premarital one
You seem confused.What part of “an atheist doesnt believe in sin” you have a hard time to understand
Because premarital sex is a sin in Christianity, doesn’t make it a sin for all and sundries.
I think, contrary to your accusations of me being confused, it is you who are confused.
An atheist is not a bad person, not an inhumane person. Why would an atheist believe in sin? The answer has to do with what is sin? Sin is a wrong doing. No one needs to be a religious person to know right from wrong. You seem to think that an atheist is someone who is inhumane. They are not. They are just another person, with a conscience, and thus with knowledge of right and wrong. They know if they do something wrong and having a conscience they would suffer a bad conscience same as anyone else who is humane.
A person is not a sinner if they are atheist.
If Paul had the Holy Spirit in him then how do you explain the sudden, near instant deaths of Ananias and his wife Saphira when they lied about having kept some of their own money for themselves in their answers?
If Paul is an apostle then how come he was rounding up Christians for the Romans to have them killed. And there is a lot more “how comes?” too.
Whether prophecy using figurative language or not, it smacks of reincarnation to me. Everyone is entitled to read it as they wish that is why I I said the references in the Holy Books is debatable.
We don’t know who wrote Mathew Mark Luke and John. All of them are “the Gospel according to”. So what is written and how it is written makes a difference to the meaning. We have to decide what it all means. You obviously read it and understand something different to me. Who is right? It is all up to interpretation and what one believes.
Um, that was before he became a Christian, a Christ follower?
1 Like
I have grave doubts that someone who can be employed to have others on mass killed for their faith is capable of becoming someone who has love for and empathy for others. Sorry. It is too much to take in. I see him as a Roman agent all the way. When the Roman saw that it was a lost cause they employed him to brain wash the Greeks and the Syrians in preparation for them to sack Jerusalem, commit near genocide and destroy the temple. Oh and while Paul was the first pope. And what do we know the temple mount land is owned by the Vatican today.
Thanks for the humor. Atheists cannot believe they are sinners. That hardly means they are not sinners.
Then you must have grave doubts about the power of God to change people.
Also it appears that many otherwise humane people support jihad against others based on false beliefs.
2 Likes
Boy oh boy.
I enjoyed reading through all these. I saw many things.
I saw hyprocrisy, grandiose, tunnel-vision, bias, sarcasm, and belittling of others.
Must we entertain the idea of God to know what is good and what is bad?
And yet, I am a believer. How would God want us to conduct ourselves in our journey in finding the truth (the creator)? We clash amongst ourselves before we find the way.
Judge yourself before you judge others. Love is the answer. God bless.
Finally! Thank God, … someone who agrees with me. Welcome to the forum!
I don’t doubt that God can change people. The question is would God choose to use a psychopath or other inhumane person to do God’s work on earth? Why choose the worst and change them? Why not use a humane person, who is worthy of God’s love.
An important point that I see here is that God did not desire to make puppets. God gave us free will. Why do that if God was to change what a person chose to do and to become?
I’m sorry, but in Paul I do not see the marks of God at all. There was too much that raises one’s suspicions to the max. Why whenever he got into trouble with other Jews etc., the Romans arrested him and “imprisoned” him. I put imprisoned in inverted commas because his imprisonment was in luxury style, able to write, have visitors, receive and send gifts etc… In Rome he was imprison in the palace of the Emperor and had all the conveniences of life. How many prisoners do you know that have been treated in this way?
As for jihad, there are many who possibly are humane, at least look to be, who have acted on false beliefs. However this is not God choosing them to do harm. They may claim to be acting for God but they are not acting for God at all. We see these in all religions, including Christianity. The inquisitions across Western Europe claimed to be acting for God too and did horrendous harm. There are people, who use religion and betray humane people if they are able to deceive them into what something means.
I don’t think that we can put Paul into the group of humane people, who have been led astray. When the disciples saw him they were outraged and didn’t want to have anything to do with him. I think they were swept into submission by deceitful means in order to accept him And even then there were significant differences. If he was only a humane person gone astray, I think the disciples of Jesus would have recognized that and said so. They didn’t.
For me the deaths of Ananias and his wife Saphira are the tell tale signs of inhumanity. I don’t believe that Peter was involved in that for one minute. I am certain in my mind that it was Paul who was behind those deaths, acting together with the Romans behind the scenes. These were two heart attacks, sufficient to be fatal, on call! And it was not only done to frighten the community into submission and compliance, but Peter as well.
“Sin” and “sinner” are only Christian religious words that mean “wrongdoing”, You might have special rules for being Christian but these are not the general understanding of wrongdoing.
Stealing, killing unlawfully, doing harm to others such as rape and incest etc., are wrongdoing. Just because someone is an atheist doesn’t mean they are going to do wrong doing, what you call sins. And atheist knows and understands what wrong doing is. If they are also inhumane then that is a different story.
Thinking wrong things* about God is sin, sin against him.
*Attributing characteristics to him that he does not have, or failure to attribute characteristics to him that he does possess, blaming him for things, etc.
Firstly, I didn’t say anything about God.
Secondly, no one knows God. God is beyond our understanding. We can attribute characteristics to God, but that is only our own say so. God knows when we do our best and when we try to do harm. So any characteristic that anyone can make is either done in good faith or bad. God knows what it is. So where is there sin?
This topic was automatically closed 6 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.