Re: Death, Self-Awareness, God, & Forgiveness

[Neueregel]

Genesis is a bunch of fairytales for primitive beings

[ontij68]

Very good video!

Can I just say you look like Franz Kafka.

[Tiredofcrap]

Creature speak.

[sweeetly]

I AM

[drew335533]

Wow, this is a great video.

[PinkProgram]

Without language you humans would be chimps. You can't even do it very efficiently. 

Why should theology survive? What value does it have?

[modemusicman]

Let's say god is absolute perfection, what purpose would it have to create creation? A god of absolute perfection would already have the answers to everything, so for a god of absolute perfection to do anything less then nothing would be something less then a god, it would be more like average because it would be spawned out of some type of human intent or just any other type of human emotion. So maybe you are right, its a question of dialect and its translation within the mind.

[modemusicman]

Wow, Buddhism was easy, probably not so for Buddha. How about the philosophy that all things are connected, be it Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism etc. But all they are at best is a composition of each other, kinda like when you play music and read a speech the body of work is already done, you're just drawing from it. What about something brand new? The god concept, why would a god be a god if it was jealous, revengeful, angry, lonely, selfish etc? Maybe rethink the concept.

[MrBook8]

A friend of mine with a philosophy degree was explaining to me something about how Buddhist shun away from all forms of desire. In connecting that to Christianity I see that desire is part of the human drama. Our one desire should be for the other. A tremendous sacrifice of ourselves in unconditional love.

Just wondering, what would you say are your beliefs? Belief system?

[LatinoParaSiempre]

Wow, that God become human then dies for all, interesting idea, never thought of it that way...not sure i agree but interesting, thank Matt.

[notonewhit]

There is no final word; the many 'portholes' will never add up to one objective point of view on the world. 'The word is the murder of the thing', according to Hegel. As soon as one speaks one speaks one's alienation. More discussion does not lead to convergence of belief, but only to more discussion (which is not necessarily a bad thing, eh?). I am yet partial to Zizek's (Lacan, Marx) view regarding irreducible antagonisms though difficult to face unsymptomatically, must nevertheless be lived.

[tramwreck]

Exactly. Moses wrote Genesis (and also wrote the next four books of the Pentateuch).

He is taking poetic license as a means to explain Man's seperation from nature through knowledge or consciousness or Mind... At least this is an explination.

Atheism is dull or closed, and easily accepted because it promises a comforatble answer to life... Nothingness. Its unhealthy to stop asking questions, and BORING!

(This is why most atheists are actually agnostics, because they still ask)

[basaete]

OThouart I think you'd like to read Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis. I also recommend Jesus of Nazareth, by the present pope.

[PostmodernAnomaly]

Thouart was addressing the language that we use for religious discourse more than religion itself.

The guy he responded to put it this way, that when we use the word God, we are looking for a "context of relation that allows us to address those ultimate questions"

That discourse allows people to be aware of The othering of the cosmos that is, in some ways, a false dichotomy (we are part of the cosmos and the cosmos create, not God as separate from creation).

C.S. Lewis is great tho.

[yikeswood]

why do liers feel so philosophical when they lie....Einstein has said that great minds has meet with opposition from stupid people....job is moses is jesus....the same jews who accused job accused the christ

[bobstheking]

you ought to take a look at NORMAN VINCENT PEALE. and the power of positive thinking. It's sort of akin to wayne dyer. i mean peale as in what he wrote and preached about LOVE. you mention appreciation of beauty as a characteristic that distinguishes us from... animals? I think that's very perceptive and realistic.

[Mathfails]

These recent videos of yours are off the hook brotha.

[yikeswood]

are you a jew or what is your ethnicity

[0ThouArtThat0]

3rd generation american, but russian jew, german, and welsh before that.

[mavidbabae]

thats colorful

[0ThouArtThat0]

genes are interesting things, eh?

[bobstheking]

There's a term, "egregore". that groups of jewish freethinkers, called "sabbateans", or "frankists" use to describe a group mind construct, a "Personal spiritual server" as their family deity. Corporations use logos and company names as similar purposes. It's possible that all religions functions that way.

[HotSexyHandsomeGuys]

Matthew, much of the Jewish bible borrowed from the prophet Zoroaster in Persia, who founded the first major monotheistic religion, rising between the 11th and 10th centuries BCE. Zoroaster focused on the universal struggle between good and evil, creation, and the concept of "free will". By exercising good thoughts, words and deeds, mankind is able to support goodness over evil. Does all of this sound familiar? The bible is not an original work - nor are the religious stories and concepts in it.

[0ThouArtThat0]

I wouldn't claim the Bible is original. I agree that Christ has elements of many prior archetypes melded into him. Christianity is a culmination of Zorastrianism, Greek mythology, Egyptian mythology, Buddhism... I don't think the fact that humanity's religious expression has been building toward Christianity is in any way contradictory to what I said in this video. Christianity is a culmination, it is not completely novel.

[TheNewRenaissance]

I think it is also interesting that archeology has uncovered some evidence of the presence of Krishna Hinduism in the near middle east centuries before the beginning of Christianity.

[HotSexyHandsomeGuys]

But the point I was trying to make is that christianity is not really a progression, end-point or culmination of man's religious expression. Rather, the historical evidence shows it to be a fabricated patch-work of pieces taken from other religions and therefore, the validity of its tenets lack credibility. Whereas science builds upon an ever expanding basis of knowledge, each piece of which can be tested, god models can't be tested and such fabrications can not be shown to be a progression.

[cruelfate45]

What if there are particular "truths" that are universal to man? Wouldn't you expect to see them in every culture and religion? How is what you stated an argument against a particular religion's (aka Christianity) credibility? Science draws on universal "truths" in the exact same way, gathering them from a vast array of cultures across time.

[cruelfate45]

"god models can't be tested..."

What is a god model and what is your assertion on the idea of what constitutes a "test"? Aren't you convoluting the issue? It's like using the scientific method to explain the scientific method. To me it makes no sense to think that way. I think Christianity is a progression by the simple observation of the evolution of human thought. Did you understand the vid?

[HotSexyHandsomeGuys]

cruelfate45 - A "god model" is the basis of any religion that promotes the belief in a god or gods. Such "beliefs" are based on "faith", because they can not be subjected to testing and varification by scientific methods. Your statements make no sense unless you can prove that (1) the christian "god model" is a progression over other "god models" and (2) human thought has evolved, and (3) that (1) is a result of (2). Did you understand the vid and my comment?

[phcou]

just like the historical evidence of plato praising homosexuality, even in light of matts admission that the dialogues were a literary form containing characters.

[HotSexyHandsomeGuys]

But hey Beefcake and Brains, I love the way that you think!

[HotSexyHandsomeGuys]

@0ThouArtThat0 .... A "culmination" Matt .... or a fabrication? Plagiarism for the sake of creating political tools to control others should never be mis-interpreted as a progression of philosophical thought, regardless of the passage of time. Constantine was a murderer and had his political reasons for declaring Jesus a god. Muhammad wanted to unite the Arab tribes and needed to justify murder and war. Fabricating religions for such purposes would not seem to be a "culmination".

[ToiToiToiHerrKaleun]

@HotSexyHandsomeGuys is there similarities between the polytheistic religions/cults of for instance middle/south america and other places in the world? and if so does that mean that one necessarily has "borrowed" from the other?

[ThatsBSman]

Y'know Matt, some soul singer / philosopoher said... Good god! ...

Some other singer/philosopher said... Mankind da mindful freak a nature, Huh!... I'll never forget when Unc insisted... But is it serious?... Of course he didn't sing it, it was written on the hickorystick he pointed at my head... Word!... Then the wine flowed like water... Then our brother Jesus showed up & sang Redemption Song... Good thing, I was trippin'!

[plutodrvv]

Matt I really liked your discussion the Buddhism stuff and the new view of Christianity. Deepak Chopra has a a great book out called "The Third Jesus". Also what you say about God, Job and the Devil.

[plutodrvv]

HSHG,

You make a good point about modern religions being a patchwork of more ancient ones take the flood story of Genesis and the Epic of Gilgamesh. Also the point made of the resurrection motif as seen in Osiris and also with Persephone.

[TWITfromURANUS]

Yes.

Many people's INTERPRETATION of Buddhism is "too easy" ~as is amply demonstrated by the amount of hedonistic-types that think it's cool because it doesn't SEEM to demand anything from them...& they are right...it doesn't.

There really is no need for it to do so.

Everyone finds out what life is eventually. Nobody is spared.

[IChoseTheRedPill]

i listened to this vid 3 times... i'm curious as to where this christianity will lead in the discussion... peace2U bro

[HaleyMary]

Sometimes I think that religion, philosophy and science are all connected. Especially Buddhism as it sometimes seems more like a philosophy than a religion in it's teachings. I read somewhere that Buddhists believe that anyone can be reincarnated regardless of their faith/religion. Is that true?

[Maikl71]

I think religion has two functions: at an individual level it provides spiritual exercises that immunize against the fear of death and against world stress and on a social level it provides a codified set of ethical rules. And the advantage of monotheist religions is their transportability as they are available in book form.

[0ThouArtThat0]

Homer wrote books, too...

[HotSexyHandsomeGuys]

But Matthew, the story of Genesis, itself, is a poor attempt at explaining the creation of reality, offering little improvement over older Pagan stories. I wasn't able to follow your train of thought on language and alphabet somehow revealed within Genesis and tied to creation of man and spirituality. I got lost on the circular path of explaining man and man then explaining creation, unless you are saying that we are striving toward some unification theory of god from all of our stories.

[0ThouArtThat0]

I think we are striving toward a unification theory. Christ, as a symbol, definitely has pagan roots; and yet there is something novel about Christ, that he is not merely a hero or a wise teacher, a muse or a dying and rising god, but a sign that Spirit itself has descended to Earth.

[theosophers]

His body descended to earth, and that is said in the gospel of John. That is his good news that if you believe that he did you also may ascend and descend from place to place sent by God our father.

Jesus is a trip. Going and coming as the wind does, reborn of the wind, born of heaven born of God...

[HotSexyHandsomeGuys]

Matthew, the christ story was actually a fabrication and piecing together of many of the ancient religions of Egypt. Gods from Virgin births, gods walking on water, gods turning water into wine were all taken from much older Egyptian religions by the Nicean Council and early christian sects to create the christ story. Even the halos around the disciples in early art was a compromise with Emperor Constantine to try and entice Pagans in the worship of Sol into christianity.

[HotSexyHandsomeGuys]

There were also many gods of Egypt who rose from the dead and ascended into the eternal heavens. Antinous, eromenos of Emperor Hadrian, drowned in the Nile and under Egyptian Pagan beliefs, all who drowned in the Nile rose from the dead to join Osiris as gods. Hadrian declared Antinous a God and his worship exceeded Christ from 130 CE to 393CE. Antinous rose from the dead and ascended into eternal heaven and sat next to Osiris as Antinous-Osiris. Christ was not the first risen god.

[Lanark8]

Its interesting to watch you evolve and chart your interesting observations. Keep up this wonderful work. A quote: There are times when silence has the loudest voice. Kind and warm regards to you and yours.