A question about sin

Sounds like it would be good fun!!

Venal not genial!
What would a genial sin be?

Only just seen this thread.
I refuse to subscribe to any religion that bans the wearing of pearls!

Seriously, at the convent I was told the two types of sin were mortal and genial. Genial was things like lying, mortal things like murder!

papa I could have written your post. I was raised by a staunch Christian, non-conformist mother Her brand of Christianity was one of equality, and kindness.

Soontobe If your views are representative of mainstream Christianity, I'm rather glad that I'm not a Christian or a follower of any religion. I suspect, though, that Jesus would have disagreed with many of your comments.

soon You were not quoting the bible when you expressed your view that you 'personally' think that homosexuality is a wrong thing to do then as now.

I have seen the heartache caused to a dear friend due to people who hold the same view as you.

Surely in 2015 anyone with even the slightest knowledge of biology understands the reasons behind homosexuality.

I would go with Luke 15:7

I say unto you that likewise more joy shall be in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance.

I have always had a cynical attitude towards religion, due I suspect to a non-conformist upbringing. Some aspects of religion I respect and admire, while much of it I find quite unacceptable. Fundamentalism stinks as far as I am concerned. Tolerance and kindness should be the norms of human existence. Those who practise otherwise are hypocrites. What is going on in the east these days fills me with great anger yet conduct in the west leaves much to be desired. Answers? I don't have any, but I do have a good feeling about Jesus so I call myself a Christian. I think JC knew a lot more about human nature than we give him credit for and, after all, its human nature that is the cause of most of our problems.

Agus.
On the blasphemy thread, I said that God is offended by it. I dont think I said that I was. That was one of the reasons why I didnt contribute much to that thread.

Even telling what the bible says about gays now appears to offend people. So I shall have to stop.
But it is not fair on people if they dont know what God says in the bible about it.
But I shall stop.

I have always loved the short poem by Leigh Hunt called "Abu Ben Adam". It seems to summarise what a lot of you are saying about loving God through loving others.

On the topic of who will be "saved", remember the parable of the sheep and the goats. The sheep did not know they were sheep and the goats did not know they were goats. Those chosen for eternal life were those who had been good to their fellow men and not those who expected to be chosen

There is so much we don't know or can comprehend with our finite minds.

I think this discussion is likely to go nowhere as soon subscribes to a brand of "Christianity" that is now very much in the minority, for very good reasons. It is not open to rational discussion or thoughtful reflection. There is one path and no other.

To be honest I see this brand of religion as a total cop-out. No need to think or read or learn or explore - just follow the prescribed edicts however they came to be written down or by whomsoever.

My Christian friends are thoughtful and kind; and one or more have family whose sexuality would be condemned by soon - including one who is a vicar!

Where in your thinking soon is charity, gentleness, kindness, intellectual exploration, open-mindedness, humility (which involves listening to others' views)? Sorry to be blunt - and I do not usually single out individual posters - but this is the stuff of which prejudice and conflict are made; the fuel for unrest and unhappiness.

Not sure I want to go to a heaven that discriminates against so many people. If God made us in his own image then he must have allowed for homosexuals, transgenders, transvestites etc otherwise are we saying that God makes mistakes.

Didn't Jesus seek out those who society spurned? Would he tell a homosexual that he was disgusting?

Don't bother with the Christians are supposed to love the person crap after your offensive remarks about gays.

You claimed to be oh so offended by blasphemy yet you appear to have no qualms being offensive yourself.

Christians are supposed to love the person, not judge their behaviour.

soontobe, my dad came from a very practising Catholic family. His favourite sister realised in alte teenagehood she was gay. There was nothing, nothing she could do about that- but as a sincere Christian she chose to be celibate to keep her faith- encouraged of course by the Priests at confession. She never told her family, although some guessed- but never said a word. In her 40s she had a massive breakdown, ended up in a mental asylum, and killed herself. Is that what YOU want- what your God wants?

My mother had a cousin who did the same- he was Protestant though, but he could not bear tghe guilt either.

Children, men and women are still stoned all over the world for being gay, in the name of one or other God- now that is sin, true sin- hatred is the worst and only sin in my book- and religions are the worst sinners often.

I do not think it is possible to hold a rational discussion with a fundamentalist. There are those who believe their holy books as the word of their god - no-one can argue with that or attempt to bring in logic.

Thankfully many religious people recognise that their teachings are the work of men who were influenced by their own culture, lack of scientific knowledge and by their personal goodness or otherwise and desire for power. They interpret these writings in a rational and thoughtful way, and seek the important truths that are locked away there - notably the importance of kindness to others (which another poster has outlined in remarkable detail).

The "word of god" is the word of those individuals who wrote down their own thoughts and desires and persuaded others to do their bidding.

I maintain that being kind to others encompasses and neutralises all the potential sins that one might commit. I will try my best to stick with that.

If there is a god, I do not think that he/she/it is to be found in the writings of folk centuries ago, nor do I think that this being would desire worshipping and loving.

Rigid rules appeal to some people, Jingle. A strict father is better security than being an orphan. They feel safer when a narrow path is marked out, with definite penalties for straying from it, and a mantra to repeat to let them in at the door (open sesame?), safe from the outer wilderness.

Oh for goodness sake! None of us really knows if there will be a God waiting for us when we pop our clogs, or whether it will be just nothingness. Just live your life so you enjoy it as much as possible, and help a few others if you can. I doubt whether our petty transgressions would bother any God anyway.

Logic doesn't come into it. That is not what faith is about. It is totally separate from logic, and from any different form of belief system. In the view of a follower of one of the "One God and one alone" religions, everyone else is WRONG and that is all there is to it. Not only wrong, but evil.

So basically it makes no difference if I live a good life. Doing my best to never to cause harm and help others when I can won't ever be enough. I can be the best person who ever lived but the door of heaven stays firmly shut and I'm condemned to eternal damnation and suffering if I don't believe in the reincarnation but I can cause all sorts of damage and heartache and go to heaven as long as at some point I feel bad about it.

So as long as Hitler felt bad at the end of his life for the things he'd done then he's in heaven but Mahatma Gandhi won't be.

Wtf is this "sinning against the Holy Spirit"? When the IS hack off a journalist's head, is that a sin against Jesus or against the Holy Spirit? Totally Probably because this thread is load of old cobblers.

I am finding it difficult to follow your logic soontobe

Jesus treated women in a very dignified way given the confines of the society in which he lived. The maligning of women is, I believe, a distortion sadly.

Is your God really an old man up in the sky?

Do you believe in the reincarnation of the body?

He/it is in your head.