are there any?

where you at?

i wanna learn about more and more and more...

i grew up with orthodox christianity and waqqaafetta... hinduism and a bit of buddhism in theory but i wanna know about these lives.

hook up the knowledge por favor?


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pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living - mother jones

same here. Looking for something different.


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"አትቅና!!! :ሥራ!!!" - A motto popular in Addis.

i suggest take philosphy of religion. or you can even practice bahi faith- where all religion is basically leads to the same destination. (but it is flawed.) i suggest, you should read C.S lewis "mere christianity"-it will knock your socks off. (if you still looking for something fresh).

Miller ~ good recommandation. Its a good book... I have some reservations on some of his ideas but over all its good.

Naz

Sefan8 ~ I consider myself to be an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian. But my excessive reading habit has lead me to discover an American philosopher by the name of Ernest Holmes (1887 - 1960). He is credited to be the fathers of the New Thought movment. The new thought movment, not to be confused with New age, actually came out of Christianity, and the teachings honor the teachings of Jesus Christ in a non-traditional way. They now have Churches with faith based on Ernest Holmes' philosophy.. the faith is called Religious Science. Their faith greatly facinates me and I like to read about them... If anything, it makes you think about every belief you've ever had. And since you ask I'd like to share with you their philosophy and beliefs..

Interpretation of Sin? : The original meaning of sin was simply to fall short of or "miss the mark" of spiritual perfection. A sin is not a thing, it is merely an activity that produces an undesirable effect in out lives. In other words, we are punished by our sins, not for them

Interpretation of Evil: : Religious Science does not deny the appearance of evil. However, it teaches that evil does not exist as a force or power in the world. That which is called evil is merely the obstruction, or inversion, of the only power acting, which is Spirit. The obstruction of Spirit's expression always occurs in the mind through the holding of false beliefs. According to Religious Science, the only presence acting in the universe is God, which is always Good. Evil is merely the way that we withhold our expression and experience of that good by accepting false beliefs into our minds.

The Devil : Religious Science believes that, since the only power acting anywhere is God, the devil simply cannot exist as a force acting in opposition to God's expression through Spirit. Therefore, there really is no devil. There is only the manifestation of falsely held beliefs within our minds, which produces that appearance of some sinister invisible force, or being, acting in our lives. To blame unpleasant conditions and circumstances on the devil, or anyone else, is a way of avoiding responsibility for our own experience of life.

Heaven and Hell: Religious Science believes that heaven and hell are states of mind. We experience heaven when we are are in harmony with the Life that surrounds us. Hell is a state of mind that we experience when we don't understand why something unpleasant is happening to us. We can choose to create our own heaven or hell on Earth, and take our beliefs with us when we go through the transition the world calls death to the next plane of existence.

Death Religious Science teaches the eternality of life. It accepts that our physical bodies operate within a natural cycle of birth and death. However, even though we may have a body, we are not just our body. What we really are is the Life that animates our body, and that Life is infinite and immortal. As we become increasing identified with our divine and eternal nature, our underlying fear of death begins to dissolve and our experience of life become more joyous.

Jesus Christ In Religious Science, Christ is viewed as a universal principle rather than a person. It is the principle of God expressing through humanity. Jesus of Nazareth was a human personality through which the Christ Principle, or Divine Personality, expressed itself on Earth. The principle of Jesus Christ represents the mystical marriage of our inner spirit with our outer personality. This union produces an expression of Life that includes both, yet is greater than either. The potential for this expression lies within each one of us. Therefore, Jesus is viewed as a great example for humanity, rather than the great exception. Ernest Holmes, founder of the philosophy of Religious Science, says:

"Religious Science does not deny the divinity of Jesus; but it does affirm the divinity of all people. It does not deny that Jesus was the son of God; but affirms that all beings are children of God. It does not deny that the Kingdom of God was revealed through Jesus; but affirms that the Kingdom of God is also revealed through you and me."

Is Religious Science Christian? : Ernest Holmes, the founder of Religious Science, came out of a Christian tradition. He studied all of the world's religions, and synthesized what he saw to be the truths running through them all, free of any particular dogma. He began the philosophy with the intention that all churches, especially Christian ones, would embrace the philosophy and incorporate those teachings into their own. When that did not happen on a large-scale basis, he allowed the people around him to talk him into starting a church to make sure that the teachings would endure. His original intention was not to start a new religion. Religious Science comes out of the Christian tradition in the sense that we believe in the teachings of Jesus and use them to create a "Heaven on Earth".

Prayers : Religious Science honors and endorses all forms of sincere prayer. In addition, it teaches a unique and scientific form of prayer called Spiritual Mind Treatment. This is a powerful, affirmative method of prayer that was developed by Dr. Ernest Holmes, the founder of Religious Science. It involves a five step process that embodies all of the elements of the creative process of Life itself.

What about Reincarnation? Religious Science neither endorses nor rejects any particular theory or concept of reincarnation. Since life is eternal, there are an unlimited number of possibilities for its evolvement after the experience of physical death. In Religious Science, we accept the on-goingness of life and we deal with what is before us in the present moment.

What about Miracles? Everything that occurs in our lives is simply the out-picturing of our consciousness operating through the Law of Mind. Therefore, those events that seem to be miraculous in nature are actually the Law acting at a level beyond our awareness. As we evolve our consciousness, what previously seemed miraculous becomes a natural, normal and understandable way of life. In actuality, there is only one miracle, this is Life itself


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If you have time read the book "Science of Mind" by Ernest Holmes or you can also check out this website.......

http://www.religiousscience.org/ucrs_site/philosophy/index.html

take care.
Naz