Bonjour! It's me

[Unchanging Truths]

Well, I am introducing myself in the most generic sense of the word in this post. As with some others on this forum, I will not give out any detailed personal information. I am a Christian, I am a mother and wife, and a full-time student. That should suffice for now. I am eager to debate and discuss various topics regarding spiritual journeys in general. My background is diverse and unique just as everyone else. I hope to not offend some, but I do come at things from an unusual perspective sometimes. I hope to learn and stretch and share a lot here.

A small comment about my username. I believe there are a lot of doctrines and philosophies that change over time and through various cultures and generations, but I have a strong conviction that there are some principles that never change or go out of fashion. That said, I think that HOW we go about making a difference and acting as Christians or religious followers in general makes all the difference in the world. I find too many fellow Christians to be quick to judge and slow to teach. I am, of course, not perfect in this area, but it is my goal to become less this way.

Thank you! I'm excited to be here!

[otseng]

Welcome to the forum!

[Vladd44]

Exactly what are some of those unchanging principles?

[OnceConvinced]

Welcome UT! You have unusual perspectives? Well you'll fit right in here, because there's all sorts of perspectives held here.

[justifyothers]

Hi
Welcome to the forum. So nice to see another wife & mother around. There's so many stinkin men here

Look forward to reading some of your thoughts.
Karen

[Unchanging Truths]

Hi all,

I've noticed there's lots of men on here, too! Good question (What truth is unchanging?). There are many principles that I seek out and find to be eternal. The list would be long so I'll stick to a couple that mean the most to me.

1. God our Father is a perfect being, a perfect father of our spirits, and He has a perfect plan for our happiness, fitted to each of us with great care and respect for our individual tastes, desires, and capacities.

2. Jesus Christ is the literal son (both body and spirit) of our Father in Heaven. He is our creator and also our brother. He is one in purpose with God the Father and the Holy Ghost. He knew that we needed Him and His Atonement and fulfilled his mission with our individual needs and fears and wants in mind. Therefore, he is my Savior.

Everything else I hold dear and true stems from these two unchanging truths. Some might consider it all simplistic, unsophisticated, etc. Others might beg to know how anyone could know these things and call me a little brazen, or crazy, or naive. And yet, I know it. There's reasons...there's proof all about me that God is there and I cannot deny it.

[Thought Criminal]

Hi all,

I've noticed there's lots of men on here, too! Good question (What truth is unchanging?). There are many principles that I seek out and find to be eternal. The list would be long so I'll stick to a couple that mean the most to me.

1. God our Father is a perfect being, a perfect father of our spirits, and He has a perfect plan for our happiness, fitted to each of us with great care and respect for our individual tastes, desires, and capacities.

2. Jesus Christ is the literal son (both body and spirit) of our Father in Heaven. He is our creator and also our brother. He is one in purpose with God the Father and the Holy Ghost. He knew that we needed Him and His Atonement and fulfilled his mission with our individual needs and fears and wants in mind. Therefore, he is my Savior.

Everything else I hold dear and true stems from these two unchanging truths. Some might consider it all simplistic, unsophisticated, etc. Others might beg to know how anyone could know these things and call me a little brazen, or crazy, or naive. And yet, I know it. There's reasons...there's proof all about me that God is there and I cannot deny it.

There are two problems here.
1) These ideas are not unchanging.
2) They're not true.

TC

[Beto]

Everything else I hold dear and true stems from these two unchanging truths. Some might consider it all simplistic, unsophisticated, etc.

Well... yes. I'll wager we hold many things dear in common, but I have knowledge of objective empirical experience, that I can convey to other people, and that are debatable, to support the existence of these things without "God" ever being required to explain them.

Others might beg to know how anyone could know these things and call me a little brazen, or crazy, or naive.

I only ask if you can transmit this knowledge. "I feel like this" or "I feel like that" doesn't help anyone understand your perspective. If it's not debatable, what purpose does it serve here?

And yet, I know it. There's reasons...there's proof all about me that God is there and I cannot deny it.

There are definitely reasons for your perception that "God" exists, but I can't usually consider them logical or rational. Perhaps you have something objective and debatable to share with us.

[Unchanging Truths]

See that's just it. First of all, where is your objective proof there is no God? Second of all, what is debatable is the fact that all truth must stem from use of the scientific method approach. I am not the first one to question this method or rather the order of the elements use in it (please consider the methods of various classical thinkers here). That being said, I value the scientific method. Even in such a thing as religion, it has merit. In discovering ALL truth there are several elements necessary: 1) Faith (even in science) 2) Study 3) Experimentation 4) Evaluation. Not all religious knowledge or belief stems on feelings. That was an assumption you made.

While we're on the subject of feelings, I would value a debate on the following questions as well: "How does science/religion explain the phenomenon of feelings, emotions, and the deeper cognitive thought processes of the human mind? Do feelings and emotions specifically help or harm a person in achieving enlightenment and spiritual progression? Which of these experiences should inform us most in learning new truths; our feelings (perceptions), our emotions, or our conscious thought ?

[Beto]

See that's just it. First of all, where is your objective proof there is no God?

I don't claim to have any. Just as I don't claim to have objective proof unicorns or the Flying Spaghetti Monster don't exist. Aren't you the one making positive claims?

Second of all, what is debatable is the fact that all truth must stem from use of the scientific method approach.

Perhaps not all truth. But certainly objective truth, the one relevant to other people other than yourself. That is the issue. Your truth is just that... yours. If you expect other people to accept your truth as logically valid, it must have something objective about it that can experienced by someone else.

In discovering ALL truth there are several elements necessary: 1) Faith (even in science)

There is no "faith" required in science. Anything you may find questionable you can experience by yourself. It's objective empirical knowledge available to anyone. You can take the scientists word for it, but you don't have to.

Not all religious knowledge or belief stems on feelings. That was an assumption you made.

Do you think you have objective knowledge of "God" that I can learn? If so, I would be interested in reading it.

While we're on the subject of feelings, I would value a debate on the following questions as well: "How does science/religion explain the phenomenon of feelings, emotions, and the deeper cognitive thought processes of the human mind? Do feelings and emotions specifically help or harm a person in achieving enlightenment and spiritual progression? Which of these experiences should inform us most in learning new truths; our feelings (perceptions), our emotions, or our conscious thought ?

Religion tends to ignore modern scientific knowledge on the biochemistry of emotions and feelings, and attributes a completely out-dated and unwarranted "transcendental quality" to them.