/lit/ - Literature

bump

Anyone?

tl;dr humanity would be damned except for divine intervention through Jesus Christ to forgive humanity's sins and make humanity worthy of eternal salvation. also a bunch of stuff about historical jews. not a religion of salvation by good deeds and works, but by simple faith

It's the word of the one true God.
Tolle lege

Real Archon-shit, don't touch that brainwashing lotus-eater garbage

>>18720415
Doesn't sound very interesting. Should I become Muslim Christians or Jewish? What's most based religion?

>>18720447
start with the greeks

>>18720344
God creates the universe and man rejects God, so the universe starts to deteriorate. Man keeps committing crimes generation after generation, but a few in each generation stay on God’s side. Eventually God destroys all of humanity except one guy, but then his descendants majorly fuck up in several ways, and God scatters them. He then picks one guy, Abraham to be the source of his chosen people, and then the story follows his descendants through his second son for about four thousand years. The most important thing from this is that he gives a Law to these people in the desert of Sinai, promising to help them if they follow it and to abandon them if they dont. It alternates between law, history, and poetry.

Then after a lot of stuff, God takes on human flesh in order forgive all human sins starting with the first one. He does this by giving a new Law, dying innocently, and rising from the dead. He promises to send a helper, ascends to heaven and then the Helper arrives, God again, who empowers the new church to spread this new Law, which is to love God and neighbor, over the whole world. Then there are letters between these members of the early church, and finally a vision of the end of time.

I can give you more details if you want

>>18720512
I would love to become a Christian just like my friends but I think I don't get it. I have a deepest feeling that they are using the Jesus lore to control their nigger cattle. I just can't help myself

>>18720574
Bruh

Read The Mystical Theology of the Orthodox Church by Vladimir Lossky. It’s like taking the Christpill intravenously.

>>18720344
It's not a single book, it's several. The first five ones are a collection of laws for the Israelites as well as their early history and some information of how the world came to be.
Then you have the historical works which tell the history of Israel up to the second temple.
The wisdom words are more like philosophy and poetry books.
The prophetic works are a collection of apocalyptic literature which culminates with the annunciation of the messiah but there's also a lot of other stuff there.
The NT is divided between the Gospels, which are kind of like 4 separate biographies for Christ, each emphasizing different aspects; Epistles, which are a collection of letters exchanged between early Christian communities and which gives us insight into what early Christians believed; Acts of the Apostles which is what happened after Christ died and what the Apostles went on to do and Apocalypse which is cryptic book full of revelations of things to come and the ultimate fate of the world.

>>18720512
I want more details. how can I find Christ?

>>18720874
well, you can just start by asking him. but you should also read at least the new testaments.

>>18720344
Basically what happened is this: Goodness sent a son to the Earth to rescue men from the prison of matter, but (in one of the biggest mistakes ever made) spawned him near Jews who took control of his church and tacked on their blasphemous lies and narcissism. The resulting text is the Bible.

>>18720512
Stop watching BibleProject; it's Jewish propaganda. Nothing to do with Christianity.

>>18720624
Do not be like the Jews, who love the tree but hate the fruit.

>>18720447
Buddhism I guess

>>18721218
correct me if i am wrong but wasnt budha just some nihilistic hobbo? krishna seems more basado

>>18720344
The Bible is comprised of 2 testaments and contain 66 different books. The different books of the Bible cover different topics and were addressed to different audiences. The books of the Bible were written by approximately 40 different men over a period of approximately 1,500 years.

The Old Testament is divided into five sections: the Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy), the historical books (Joshua through Esther), the poetic books (Job through Song of Solomon), the Major Prophets (Isaiah through Daniel), and the Minor Prophets (Hosea through Malachi). The Old Testament was written from approximately 1400 B.C. to approximately 400 B.C. The Old Testament was written primarily in Hebrew, with a few small sections written in Aramaic (essentially a variation of Hebrew).

The Old Testament deals primarily with the relationship between God and the nation of Israel. The Pentateuch deals with the creation of Israel and God establishing a covenant relationship with Israel. The historical books record Israel's history, its victories and successes along with its defeats and failures. The poetic books give us a more intimate look at God's relationship with Israel and His passion for Israel to worship and obey Him. The prophetic books are God's call to Israel to repent from its idolatry and unfaithfulness and to return to a relationship of obedience and spiritual fidelity.

The New Testament is divided into five sections: the Gospels (Matthew through John), history (the book of Acts), the Pauline Epistles (Romans through Philemon), the General Epistles (Hebrews through Jude), and prophecy (the book of Revelation). The New Testament was written from approximately A.D. 45 to approximately A.D. 95. The New Testament was written in Koine Greek (common Greek, the everyday form of the Greek language in the first century A.D.)

The Gospels give us four different, yet not conflicting, accounts of the birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Gospels demonstrate how Jesus was the promised Messiah of the Old Testament and lay the foundation for the teaching of the rest of the New Testament. The book of Acts records the deeds of Jesus' apostles, the men Jesus sent out into the world to proclaim the Gospel of salvation. Acts tells us of the beginning of the church and its rapid growth in the first century A.D. The Pauline Epistles, written by the Apostle Paul, are letters to specific churches - giving official Christian doctrine and the practice that should follow that doctrine. The General Epistles compliment the Pauline Epistles with additional teaching and application. The book of Revelation prophesies the events that will occur in the end times.

>>18720874
Read the Gospels, and start praying.
Pray either the Lord’s Prayer or the following:
>Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner
several times a day. You can pray in your own words also but I like those in particular for myself.
After that, God will help you find the next step.

>>18720874
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). God has already done all of the work. All you must do is receive, in faith, the salvation God offers (Ephesians 2:8-9). Fully trust in Jesus alone as the payment for your sins. Believe in Him, and you will not perish (John 3:16). God is offering you salvation as a gift. All you have to do is accept it. Jesus is the way of salvation (John 14:6).

>>18721462
t. Reformation b.s.

You still have to repent of your life of sin and try HARD to be better. You dont have to be perfect and God doesnt have a spreadsheet record of your sins and works, but you cant just pray once and be instantly saved. Salvation is not a matter of works, but it is a matter of dedication.

>>18721462
Those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.

>>18721406
>>18720344
Here are quick summaries of the 66 books of the Bible

>>18721477
Becoming a Christian is not all about rituals, going to church, or doing certain things while refraining from other things. Becoming a Christian is all about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. A personal relationship with Jesus Christ, through faith, is what makes a person a Christian.

>>18721596
>having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ
See, that's what Christians always says. Can you explain it? Do you know any muslim or kike with the personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Is it even possible? Cant you see that they see you the same way you see them? A kaffir or gentile. How do you Christians call the nonbelievers? Its all so comical

>>18720447
If you're looking to get into a religion because it's "based" and "trad" and "redpilled" or whatever you're wasting your time. If all that matters to you is the outward appearance of these things, the way they present themselves politically, or how hard they BTFO atheist libtards on twitter, you're better off just browsing /pol/ until the end of time or joining a punk band.

>>18721750
Those who have a personal relationship with God include God in their daily lives. They pray to Him, read His word, and meditate on verses in an effort to get to know Him even better. Those who have a personal relationship with God pray for wisdom (James 1:5), which is the most valuable asset we could ever have. They take their requests to Him, asking in Jesus’ name (John 15:16). Jesus is the one who loves us enough to give His life for us (Romans 5:8), and He is the one who bridged the gap between us and God.

The Holy Spirit has been given to us as our Counselor. “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:15-17). Jesus said this before He died, and after He died, the Holy Spirit became available to all who earnestly seek to receive Him. He is the one who lives in the hearts of believers and never leaves. He counsels us, teaches us truths, and changes our hearts. Without this divine Holy Spirit, we would not have the ability to fight against evil and temptations. But since we do have Him, we begin to produce the fruit that comes from allowing the Spirit to control us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

This personal relationship with God is not as hard to find as we might think, and there is no mysterious formula for getting it. As soon as we become children of God, we receive the Holy Spirit, who will begin to work on our hearts. We should pray without ceasing, read the Bible, and join a Bible-believing church; all these things will help us to grow spiritually. Trusting in God to get us through each day and believing that He is our sustainer is the way to have a relationship with Him. Although we may not see changes immediately, we will begin to see them over time, and all the truths will become clear.

>>18720415
>not a religion of salvation by good deeds and works
"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."
christianity requires both belief in jesus and adherance to the will of god (and ggod wills for humans to be good to each other [love thy neighbor as thyself])

>>18721750

I'll tell you how it's possible - first of all, I'd like to clarify two meanings of the word personal.

The first meaning, most often used by modern man, is to mean personal like your own personal car, your own personal hot dog - customised to fit your own tastes.

The personal relationship with Jesus Christ is not a personal-like-a-hotdog relationship, where you get to do whatever you want, believe whatever you want, and act however you want. That's exactly the same with any of your friends or family - they are real persons, and to have a personal relationship with them, the truth of who they are has to actually be understood.

Here's a pill - you are able to perceive the emotions of other people directly. You might already unconsciously be doing this like with any of your material senses, or you might have been brainwashed by society into forgetting you can do it. This is a spiritual perception of the surface emotions of others hearts. Society to either believe this is crystal-waving magic woo-woo reserved for "special empaths", or just plain not real because of materialist brainwashing. It is, however, just a normal part of human nature.

This works across any distance, with any person, but the closer you are with the person, and the more open they are to you, the easier it is to spend time spiritually within each other's hearts.

Because Christ actually became a human being, he now has a created human soul, just like ours, and we can spend time with Christ exactly like this.

However, the fullness of this is completely impossible outside of the Orthodox Christian faith. This is because, like I said, the personal relationship with Christ isn't a custom relationship with Christ. It must be within the holy tradition that Christ himself has laid down, precisely because he has poured out his holy spirit onto the Church, which we receive in baptism and chrismation.

Before being received into the Church, it may be possible to have a relationship with Christ on the purely human level, according to his human nature. But only in the Orthodox Church do you have the opportunity to, if you follow in his path, open yourself up to communion with the eternal Holy Trinity, and to not just be present with the human energies of Christ, but also present with the divine energies of the Holy Trinity.

Oh, and all along the way, you have to be careful of prelest (ie, spiritual deception), because the moment you start trying to live a spiritual life with Christ like this, demons start flocking into your life like crazy to shove you off course, to try trick you into believing you're someone special, that you have magic powers, that Christ or Angels personally speak words to you all the time, etc. Only in Orthodoxy is the full teaching on prelest preserved - Stigmata is spiritual deception, and so is pentecostal tongues-babbling.

>>18722516
Somebody screencap this, this is the OrthoChristpill

>>18720344
Read The New Testament from start to finish and find out. The versions you want to stick to are King James Version (KJV), New King James Version (NKJV) and New American Standard Bible (NASB).

>>18722516
but you havent explained how we can have a personal relationship with this deceased man/god, just what type of personal relationship you are saying is necessary.
We could attempt to understand his teachings but that doesnt really give us a relationship with him as much as an understanding of what he believed and in what manner he wanted mankind to behave. or perhaps you dont view him as dead but merely that his human form has died and he can still be loved as he still exists but in another more godlike form that can be loved for their deeds of our creation/existence/protection etc, that i can understand but i also see a PERSONAL relationship as difficult as there is a separation between man and god in that we cannot really interact with the other side much. Here i see love as easier than familiarity. sure we can pray but direct back and forth communication/conversation is lacking.

>>18722582
But it isnt lacking. He isnt dead. He is resurrected an ascended, seated at the right hand of the Father, human and divine natures joined inseparably.
We need to hoe out the shed, so to speak, through prayer and the mysteries, through love and asceticism, through constant commitment. Every act that we do in His name, according to His law, brings us closer to Him. Until we get close enough that an actual conversation becomes possible, we have Holy Scripture and the Tradition it is embedded in to comfort and guide us.

>>18722582

Haven't you heard? Three days after Christ died, he rose from the dead, conquering death by his death and descent into Hades. Forty days after his resurrection, he in his human body ascended to heaven. That is how heaven has opened up to human nature.

Christ doesn't have a "God form" and a "human form" - he is an eternal divine person, and without stopping being a divine person, he has acquired human nature when he was miraculously conceived of the Virgin Mary 2000 years ago. From now on into eternity, he is one divine person, with a divine nature, and a human nature, fully God, and fully Man at the same time.

It's true that the direct back and forth communication is lacking, but that's why I mentioned being within each other's hearts in my previous post. Just spending time with someone, even if they do not say words, can bring you closer personally.

Everything else you are saying about appreciating and loving him for what he's done and continues to do with creation/existence/protection applies - but with him becoming human, that personal time can be spent with him now.

There's also the Siants who have progressed far into their relationship with Christ to the point where they have become deified, and so the communication-beyond-words that the Holy Trinity has with each other is opened up to them, with the Holy Trinity. That could farther down the line in this life if you chose to chase that goal fully - but that pure prayer is opened up to anyone who is worthy of heaven at their time of death.

>>18720344
>Can I get a quick rundown
>Book that contains stories older than written language
No. You can't.

What support is there for the belief that the bible is the inerrant word?
What makes some Christians think that it isn't just regular people writing down the teachings of Jesus that had been previously passed through oral tradition?

>>18722733

We Orthodox do think that the bible is regular people writing down the teachings of Jesus that have previously been passed down through oral tradition, but since it has been composed in co-operation with God, that the fundamental teachings of the writings are divinely inspired and true, despite whatever minor inaccuracies on the purely human level there may be (ie, minor differing accounts on the colour of cloak that Jesus wore on the way to his crucifixion is a purely human inaccuracy, but the historical event of his crucifixion is unanimous).

The bible is a collection of divinely inspired teachings and writings, even to the point of it being completely historically accurate (7500 year old earth, global flood, etc.), but the fact that it is a created document composed mostly with human hands is not lost. There are some parts of the bible in the Old Testament that is actually referring to writings made by God himself, as recorded in Exodus 34: "The Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke." This writing was then transcribed by Moses into the bible - but that's a pretty minor point.

We do not believe that the bible is an eternal document - That's a Muslim idea.

>>18722771
I appreciate the elaboration on the concept but I'm not sure it answers what I want to know.
I think I made a mistake when asking the question. I'm not as much concerned with the lack of errors as much as the evidence that the authors had some kind of direct line to God, rather than indirectly being taught God's word through oral tradition.
Maybe it would help if you explained the what divine inspiration means.
On one extreme end of the spectrum I could see it implying some kind of mind control, or God giving the author thoughts in a dream.
On the other extreme, I could see divine inspiration meaning that the divine words that literally came out of Jesus's mouth and then got passed on could be considered inspiration from the divine.

>>18722840

>evidence that the authors had some kind of direct line to God

The most direct form is pretty much like you said here:

>the divine words that literally came out of Jesus's mouth and then got passed on

If you do read the bible, it's plainly clear that contains accounts where God is talking to people directly - and in the case of Christ's incarnation, it is God himself in the flesh, speaking to many people publicly. This is exactly the same as if I wrote out to you a conversation I've had with the cashier at my local shop - It is my personal testimony of a conversation I have had with a real person.

It is this same God who came down in the burning bush, and was directly experienced by Moses as the fire & light in the burning bush. That's also how we know the Genesis creation history - Moses was shown and told what happened in the past, since only God could have known what history was like prior to the creation of the first human being, Adam.

The other, less direct form of divine inspiration, is when a holy man gives his testimony and experience about how to live a life with God, and how to draw closer to God, and what it is like living a holy life.

In the scriptures, the wisdom of Solomon, and the psalms of David fall into this category moreso, since they are expressing true things, and true summaries of our history and experience with God, and the struggle to fulfill his commandments.

Outside of scripture, we still have divinely inspired words from holy men - for example, in relatively recent history in the 1800s, St. Seraphim of Sarov had this conversation with a man who was asking him about how to live a Christian life. We would consider this divinely inspired, too, since St. Seraphim of Sarov was a clairvoyant, miracle-working man, being a living temple of the Holy Spirit.

Here's a link to that conversation from St. Seraphim of Sarov. http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/wonderful.aspx

Pic related, it's St. Seraphim of Sarov with a bear he made friends with in the forest he lived in.

>>18722887

tl;dr It's all based on the direct experience of God.

>>18722887
>>18722892
I always thought that the biblical inerrancy view came along with some kind of intervention from God between the direct experience of God through Jesus and the actually writing of the gospels.
What is the controlling factor that stops the authors of the gospels, or the people who passed on the oral traditions from getting the details wrong, or expression their own biases or opinions in the way a modern preacher might?

>>18722941

The controlling factor is the Holy Spirit, who guides them into all truth[John 16:13], who has been poured out into the church in Pentecost[Acts 2]. The whole point of the Christian life, as St. Seraphim of Sarov tells us in the conversation I linked in the previous post, is to acquire the Holy Spirit. That's only possible in the Orthodox Church - but even being in the Orthodox Church doesn't absolutely guarantee that you will be a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit.

So, modern preachers outside of Orthodoxy can't reliably preach the full truth since they do not have the Holy Spirit - that's why Protestantism has fractured into millions of sects after the great reformation, after they broke off of the Roman Catholics.

Preachers in Orthodoxy can be in general more technically correct, since they have access to the historical interpretation of the tradition from the Church Fathers and Saints, but they too will stray if they are just a member of the Orthodox Church formally, and aren't striving to become deified like the Apostles were, and how the Saints were. The Holy Spirit doesn't dwell in Orthodox Christians who reject The Truth in favour of their own personal biases.