I'm not sure why this forum dies down, I think that it might be that DEBATE is not always well distinguished from CONFRONTATION because of the INTENSE (almost militant) rejection of the Christian message as it is taught in the INSTITUTIONS of Christianity. Excluding unbelievers from this forum in order to prevent heated debate and periodic burnout is not the Christian objective, but being a better example of tolerance, self control and orderly, productive discussion might keep the peace better. The unbelievers who visit this forum already feel defensive because of way Christianity is taught in the institutions of man, we have to be a new evangelism. I found a topic from an older forum that is not polarized or partisan (probably naive of me). I would like to think that not many people in the world are creative enough to be confrontational about this topic, but since my attitude is that evil is illogical, I am very often NAIVE.
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I wrote this in response to the topic in the other forum.

The INSTITUTIONS of Christianity teach that our devotion should be based on the fact that God chose us, but some of us who "carry a flame" in our hearts for our true heritage, have developed the strongest courage on earth,...to explore knowledge in pursuit of the proverbial "Holy Grail" because our minds control our hearts (Romans 12:2, "...be transformed by the renewal of your mind") and our devotion is based on the fact that we chose Him.

For countless years, the traditional teachings of the institutions have taught that God is an ICON that we should sware allegiance to in order to be granted salvation, and if we become "partisan" and "vote" for Him, we automatically become a "good person". The two principles ("...first principles of God's word...", Hebrews 5:12) of Godliness that have been conveniently ignored by the institutions (because they cannot be put on paper) are CONSCIENCE and RIGHTEOUSNESS(genuine righteousness,...humble to conscience, NOT self-righteousness).

God (if you use it as a generic term) is simply the origin of natural man (I hesitate to use the terms "primal" or "primordial man" to avoid needless controversy about evolution right now). Adam and Eve DID NOT eat of the tree of good and evil, they ate of the tree of THE KNOWLEDGE of good and evil (tree of CONSCIENCE). If we live according to conscience, we will be able to stand before Him EVERY DAY with a clear conscience, but by rejecting conscience, we will make shipwreck of our personal relationship with Him. By learning this principle of God, we will move on to maturity (Hebrews 6:1). Now, the only thing I have done so far is let scripture prove that what I am saying about being human (governed by conscience),...IS GODLY. Being GENUINELY righteous (humble to conscience) does not mean that we should not also be humble to God.

We have to go to work every day to get money to pay the bills in order pay for the needs of our body (THE FLESH, our "...NATURAL LIMITATIONS" Romans 12:2). Human nature (God says that human nature is human folly,-foolishness) is a result of our natural limitations and why human language cannot express or fathom God. Words (and our careless use of them) are very important because we don't just say them, we LIVE them. The god of confusion (enemy of creation/satan/flesh) has been ENABLED by our careless use of words since the beginning of time. Adam and Eve did not commit "ORIGINAL" sin, they were the first members of the human race to actively disobey God, so they committed INITIAL sin. We are accountable INITIALLY to CONSCIENCE and ULTIMATELY to God (we are SOVEREIGN before The Lord),...for how could I be a living sacrifice to The Lord if there is no "I", (SELF) and am not conscious of WHO I AM. The Lord identified Himself to Moses as "I am WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14), that's the only way we can be the "real" human being we were meant to be,...by each of us knowing who we are (after all, we are God's offspring, we have to be a "chip off the old block").

The word "ORIGINAL" was not necessarily chosen with sinister intent (who knows, maybe it was chosen to keep people in line). "ORIGINAL" suggests that it is still in effect and must be accounted for. It is not, Jesus PURIFIED our FLESH on the cross and then left us The spirit of God to teach us how to be Godly in order to purify our CONSCIENCE (Hebrews 9:14).

I have made a serious effort here to present God in a generic (non partisan) manner. I realize that Adam and Eve must be used as the EARTHLY reference point, but there always must be a reference point for all earthly knowledge, and each person who has ever been able to develop a conscience (eg.- infants have not yet formed a conscience) is responsible for their own beliefs. The heavenly reference point (God, THE absolute of all absolutes, the ORIGIN) has two main requirements for drawing near to Him (Hebrews 11:6). They are:
1) believe that He exists.
2) believe that He REWARDS those who seek Him.

The reward is that THE truth (John 14:6) will be found because The Lord will draw near to those who seek Him (James 4:8). The institutions have taught (in effect) that God is a book and we should be "bookworms" pursuing the words of the scholars in the commentaries and that our priority should be avoiding the violations of codes (sins against conduct codes, etc.) in order to recieve a "Christian of the year award" instead of relieving the suffering and pain of the poor (as in The Sermon On The Mount). Sorrow (GENUINE compassion) for the afflicted people (fellow human beings) will cause rivers of living waters to flow from our hearts (tears, John 7:38, James 4:9).

Christianity has done alot to scare away those who seek God by promoting a rigor of devotion and self-abasement (self persecution, calling SELF bad, only the excess selfISH is bad/wrong, Colossians 2:23).