The Qur'an (4 Viewers)

[Jon]

There will be a grow-your-own steak. Or 3D printed. Isn't there a God of Mars out there?

 

[ebs17]

No. Mars was a god, namely the Roman god of war. War should not be the first choice now.

 

[Cotswold]

I don't quite get why 2,000 years or more ago, all these Gods never bothered to go and introduce themselves in Australia or the Americas etc.

Was it because only around the Mediterranean could they make up stories and write them down?

 

[ebs17]

Religion is BELIEF, not KNOWLEDGE.
Belief is spread among people and only becomes reality (within certain limits) through practice. Today one still looks in vain for paradise and hell in the original descriptions as places that can actually be visited.

 

[NauticalGent]

I don't quite get why 2,000 years or more ago, all these Gods never bothered to go and introduce themselves in Australia or the Americas etc.

Was it because only around the Mediterranean could they make up stories and write them down?

There is actually a good explanation to all of this - and damn interesting. Research "The 12th Planet" series by Zecharia Sitchin. I don't know if I completely buy in to all he says, but it is thought provoking and fills in the gaps that religion has no answer for, except faith.

 

[AccessBlaster]

Faith is the universal ingredient, with it you are limitless, without it you are left with beliefs.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Today one still looks in vain for paradise and hell in the original descriptions as places that can actually be visited.

You are correct about "looks ... for ... places that can actually be visited." Not everyone appreciates this, but old Greek references to "Utopia" translate literally to "no place" - more colloquially, an ideal place that can never be reached. It's partner place is "dystopia" which means "bad place." Heaven and Hell are the Utopia and Dystopia from ancient Greek writings.

Was it because only around the Mediterranean could they make up stories and write them down?

The four oldest civilizations are from Mesopotamia (literally: "between rivers", the Tigris and Euphrates), Egypt (Nile Valley), the Indus Valley (India), and Chinese cultures around the Yangtze River. These cultures started the shift from nomadic hunter-gatherer to agrarian, about 10,000 BC or 12K years ago. But formal writing didn't appear to start until about 3400 BC in the Sumerian culture. They included some of their stories in their writing. The earliest known "hero" story comes from 1500 BC and tells us of the hero Gilgamesh. Greek written mythology is from maybe 500 BC. Many of the stories in the Bible were passed down by story-tellers until that culture learned writing. Therefore, we can tell the time that the Bible was written but CANNOT tell when the stories in the Bible actually originated. Nor can we tell how much they became distorted over time before finally being written. (Think of the "telephone/pass the message" game.) Some scholars suggest that the story of Jesus is actually a distortion or adaptation (or cultural appropriation) of the story of Horus (Egyptian origin) which is in turn a "modernization" of the story of Gilgamesh.

 

[Isaac]

I'd say Azis is "long and enduring" !

 

[Isaac]

Our true goddess is the earth on which we stand and which truly nourishes us. If there is anyone we should really respect and preserve, it is this earth of ours. Because it is indispensable for us.

I can agree with the nourishing and dependency, although I don't see how it would be connected with a God.
I'm dependant on my wife too, and she on me, but we don't worship each other. Something has come from something.

 

[Isaac]

I don't quite get why 2,000 years or more ago, all these Gods never bothered to go and introduce themselves in Australia or the Americas etc.

Was it because only around the Mediterranean could they make up stories and write them down?

Totally objectively speaking, one 'reason' that would answer the question perfectly is: Because the stories of the Bible are actually true. God had a chosen people and He began by mostly appearing to them. This is why consistently the Christian faith doesn't start in other places.

You make my own point by the humorous last sentence. clearly, people could have been making this stuff up all over the world, but only one religion has actually changed and continues to change and motivate billions of people's lives - Christianity. Only one religion is the one that mostly people come TO, not FROM.

 

[aziz rasul]

Uncle Gizmo, have you recited the Shahadah?

 

[aziz rasul]

The_Doc_Man, there are no writings of Muhammad (pbuh).

Jesus himself says he is a Prophet in the Gospels and was looked as such by the people at the time.

The God of the following Prophets is the same i.e.

Eloha (Hebrew) or Alaha (Syriac Aramaic) or Elahi (Aramaic) or Allaah (Arabic)

The Prophets in bold were also Messengers a higher rank of a Prophet.

Adam (first prophet of Islam)
Idris (Enoch)
Nuh (Noah)
Hud (Heber - great great grandson of Nuh)
Salih (Shelah)
Ibrahim (Abraham) - [Received the Souhouf (the Scrolls) in Hebrew]
Isma’il (Ishmael – eldest son of Ibrahim)
Is’haq (Isaac – youngest son of Ibrahim)
Lut (Lot – nephew of Ibrahim)
Ya’qub (Jacob – son of Is’haq)
Yusuf (Joseph – eldest son of Ya’qub, through Rachel)
Shu’aib (Jethro)
Ayub (Job)
Harun (Aaron – elder brother of Musa)
Musa (Moses) - [Received the Taurat (the Torah or the Law) & the Ten Commandments both in Hebrew]
Dhu’l-kifl (Ezekiel)
Dawud (David) - [Received the Zabur (the Psalms) in Hebrew]
Suliman (Solomon – son of Dawud)
Ilias (Elias)
Al-Yasa (Elisha)
Yunus (Jonah)
Zakariyah (Zechariah)
Yahya (John – son of Zakariyah)
Isa (Jesus – son of Maryam) - [Received the Injil, in Aramaic]
Muhammad (the Seal of the Prophets) - [Received the Qur’an, in Arabic]

(Peace and Allaah’s blessings be upon them all)

 

[Mike Krailo]

 

[aziz rasul]

“Verily, We fashioned man from a small quantity of mingled (amchaj) liquids . . .”
Qur’an - Surah al-Insaan (Man) 76:2

“As we know, this liquid is composed of secretions from the following glands: the testicles, the seminal vesicles, the prostate and the glands annexed to the urinary tract.” (What is the Origin of Man by Dr. Maurice Bucaille)

12. We fashioned man from the quintessence (sulatat) of a clay (tiyn - water and earth).
13. Then placed him as a drop (nutfah - of seed) in a place of rest, firmly fixed (qararin makin);
14. We fashioned the thing which clings (alaq) into a lump of chewed flesh (mudrat) and We fashioned the chewed flesh (mudrat) into bones and We clothed the bones with intact flesh (lahm), and then produced it as another creation. So blessed be Allaah, the Best of creators!
Qur’an - Surah al-Mu`minoon (The Cleaving) 23:12-14 See also 39:6 and 77:20-22.

When the first spermatozoon penetrates the human egg, the egg envelopes play a crucial role in fertilization. The egg envelopes are the outermost layers of the egg cell that surround the plasma membrane. They are made up of two layers: the zona pellucida and the corona radiata. The zona pellucida is a glycoprotein layer that surrounds the oocyte and is essential for sperm binding and penetration. The corona radiata is a layer of follicle cells that surrounds the zona pellucida and helps to protect the oocyte from damage. After the spermatozoon penetrates the zona pellucida, the cortical granules in the egg release their contents, which cause the zona pellucida to harden and become impenetrable to other sperm. This process is called the fertilization envelope and is the slow block to polyspermy (if more than one spermatozoon should penetrate the egg, the fertilised egg goes to waste). Refer to Qur’an 23:13.

The human fertilised egg, eventually implants itself to the lining of the uterus. Only when this attachment occurs does the pregnancy begins. Without the implantation, the fertilised egg goes to waste. Refer to Qur’an 23:14.

45. “[God] fashioned the two of a pair, the male and the female,
46. from a small quantity of sperm (nutfah) when it is poured out.”
Qur’an – Surah an-Najm (The Star) 53:45-6

“The male fertilizing agent, the spermatozoon, contains the hemichromosome that is to determine the sex of the future individual.” (What is the Origin of Man by Dr. Maurice Bucaille)

 

[Mike Krailo]

Joh 14:1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
Joh 14:2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
Joh 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
Joh 14:4 And you know the way to where I am going.”
Joh 14:5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
Joh 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Joh 14:7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Joh 14:8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
Joh 14:9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Joh 14:10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
Joh 14:11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
Joh 14:12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
Joh 14:13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Joh 14:14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

 

[Galaxiom]

Religion is is a form of mass hysteria based on holding beliefs without question. It is indistinguishable from mental illness.

 

[ebs17]

Lenin said religion is the opium of the people.

Everyone knows that you can live very well without opium or other intoxicants, but that means you have to take complete responsibility for your own actions.

On the social role of a religion: I don't need a priest, no commandments and no temple to know
- not to kill other people,
- that you don't steal,
- that you shouldn't lie,
- honoring your parents, etc.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Religion is is a form of mass hysteria based on holding beliefs without question. It is indistinguishable from mental illness.

Not true. Statistically, you can determine the cause of the illness when it was caused by religion. You look for holy symbols, listen for prayers to a known deity, and watch for frequent kneeling, bowing, or gestures of supplication. For Christianity, occasionally making the sign of the cross, though for Jews... they don't have time for the sign of the Star of David. For Muslims, prayer rugs are solid giveaway.

On the social role of a religion: I don't need a priest, no commandments and no temple to know
- not to kill other people,
- that you don't steal,
- that you shouldn't lie,
- honoring your parents, etc.

I hope you realize that the "I don't need a priest" statement marks you as one of the near-heretics. Only a joint ruling from the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church prevents that from being a full-blown heresy. (It IS counted, however, as a schism.)

 

[AccessBlaster]

Lenin said religion is the opium of the people.

On the social role of a religion: I don't need a priest, no commandments and no temple to know
- not to kill other people,
- that you don't steal,
- that you shouldn't lie,
- honoring your parents, etc.

And your quoting Lenin

Leninism is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary vanguard party as the political prelude to the establishment of communism.

 

[Galaxiom]

Lenin said religion is the opium of the people.

Lennon asked us to imagine a world with no religion.