Including most “Bible believing Christians”

Right, agreed

Not because they believe in the Bible or Christ but because being pure in heart is the level of completely righteous/saint

Someone who is righteous but not completely righteous still has evil thoughts but recognizes them as such, and they don't hold any sway over him

That sounds like an excuse to stay evil?

The concept of sainthood is an excuse to stay evil? What do you mean?

You just said completely righteous/saint, so obviously not. I’m talking about “Righteous but not completely righteous” geez. Are you actually open?

@Hake do you follow the bible and Christ?

No.

Interesting

I understand the bible...but to be a believer you must follow Christ, no?

Yes, you must follow Christ.

Ahh I see what you meant

You don't have to follow both

I don't like people that take the bible serious and quote scriptures all the time

I honestly don’t know if we should have doctrine discussions if we’re not living it. Cultures already too intellectual and prideful and self deceived as it is.

The Bible says to lean not on your own understanding yet that’s all I do, and all I see others doing.

what does doctrine mean in the sense that is intended by this forum?

are we talking about the new testament, or interpetations etc

Whatevs I think. Tim will clarify if you go outside the lines.

i shouldnt be commenting because i have not read the bible.

Not true

just felt like asking

ok

I haven't read the bible either

I can't even explain why, but Jesse lit me up and I ended up at the Bhagavad Gita, and I never cared about it before.

I haven't read the bible either

You should feel free to comment bc you have a concept of what you believe.

I ended up getting into these 2000 year old Indian epics, and finding all these signs that correlated to different events in my life. I have no explanation for why.

What I am taking away from studying these exo-cultural scriptures is a sense of devotion and love for God

It makes me cry at times, just from the beauty. as opposed to the other kind of emotion that's based on things like pity.

@Hake, how does the concept of someone who is incompletely righteous in the sense that their heart still gives them impure thoughts, but they hold no sway over him, "an excuse to stay evil"?

"lean not on your own understanding" means follow the tradition passed down with the Bible instead of your own imaginings. It's the same thing as "Go to the priests and judges that will be in your generation" or "Listen to the Pharisees for they sit in Moses' seat".

"I honestly don’t know if we should have doctrine discussions" is an excuse not to pursue truth. It's up to the individual to be open to changing their positions.

So, is Christ basically Man who is essentially God incarnate?

The concept of Messiah is in every religion

as opposed to a girly beta male who is just a dead branch on the ground

It's not an excuse not to pursue truth. But touting your knowledge and intellectualism is not pursuing truth. It's pride. It's vain pursuit. Especially if you're not living it. Like I said, you don't seem open @Sar

Not open to even trying to understand.

Messiah is the concept that all of our souls have, at their highest level, no separation from each other nor from God

I hear accusations but not reasonings