John 1

[Steve Consilvio]

Bismillah
Do u care to explain more how your belief stands in between the regular trinity concept and that of Quran.


And I wonder if u or FHC are interested in discussing the other point I introduced on the other thread???

I don't know what else I could say. I started with the position that the concepts of monotheism and trinity are at odds with one another, from a logic point of view. I argued in defense of the trinity because all is possible with God 3=1. I now accept the Qu'ran position that teaching the trinity is 'not good' to the extent that the trinity is 'one God.' Primarily because it masks the important differences between God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The three exist, and are of central importance, even according to the Qu'ran. For example, I see no problem with opening a prayer with "in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." Nor do I see a problem with The Lord's Prayer, which mentions neither Jesus nor the Holy Spirit. To a certain extent, the Qu'ran has affirmed what I 'smelled' regarding the logic issue. However, logic is not the important issue, faith is. In that regard, one of the problems I have always encountered, regardless of faith or denomination, is that people are unwilling to 'Trust the Spirit.' Rules, dogma, and religious, political and economic bigotry are the norm. I question everything, but what I really question are my own beliefs. And as this issue demonstrates, I constantly evolve. So when you ask where my 'belief stands,' please realize that I am always walking.


I see all scripture as a combination of <b>instruction</b>, <b>prediction</b> and <b>description</b>. It is important to understand how the point of the conversation changes. <b>Describing</b> a war is not an <b>instruction</b> to war, for example. The <b>instruction</b> is for peace; war is a <b>description</b> of the consequences for failing to abide by the <b>instructions</b>. Scripture is what it is obviously meant to be: It is an attempt by the Father to teach His children how to avoid mistakes in life. Sometimes we don't always understand why our parents make the decisions they do, but we trust the spirit and love them and respect them. Children, however, fail to heed their parents advice, make mistakes, and only later come to understand what was meant and why. Unfortunately, it is hard to learn without experience. And parents in this world are not always right and are growing, too. For example, I now teach my children the opposite of what I used to teach them. As I grow, what I teach changes. God does not have this problem. What He has always taught has been consistent. He just sends new mouthpieces.


I try to understand everyone's experience, for good and ill. I try to understand their wisdom, as well as their folly (fear and pride) for both will shed a light on my thinking. My goal is to please God, and to understand fully what is expected of me, and to accomplish that task. I do not accept any groupthink, just as I do not accept my own thinking. I am constantly testing and searching and sharing. My wife says sometimes that I 'criticize everything.' I see her point, but I am testing everything. I described Reagan the other day to somebody, and it was received as a withering criticism. It was not meant that way, nor was it my purpose. I was trying to explain how fear and pride color people's beliefs. Reagan is an easy and well-known example.


In a funny way, what we love also reveals what we fear. Therefore, I love no groupthink, and I do not fear being alone. I am not interested in being in a group that thinks itself superior to other groups. One who thinks critically about the group is not welcome in the group, by definition. Hence all the schisms, by those who leave and form their own groups. They think they have something to 'win' by creating separations. I don't. I think like an individual, and try to get people to think like an individual, and not hide behind the skirts of scholars, Popes, or old or new cultural tradition. The truth is found on our own. We have to do our own lifting. We can share within a group, and worship as a group, obviously, but doctrine is just an attempt by one person to explain what one person is thinking. It is a road to a destination, not the destination.


<b>One should never stand still, much less stand still permanently with ideas that are not their own.</b> God's message is always simple, because it always has Love at its center.