You simply collect the data but always avoid firm conclusions until they're proven accurate. You don't accept fact because man says it or because any construct of man says it. Shut your mind, open your soul, and you find truth.
In the end it doesn't matter what any holy book says. God is God and you have a built in spiritual core capable of processing that without the work of men.
What can be proven accurate? How? Is it really proven? What if it isn't?
Proven accurate by whom? Man? Yourself (i.e. Man)?
And we are not a spirit. We are mind, body, and spirit. To only address one is to miss the fullness and Truth of God's creation.
You can't find truth by shutting your mind and opening your soul, because then you aren't discerning what you are encountering. You're also rejecting the basis of the way God created us. At that point, truth is eluding you from the beginning, so you certainly won't find it later down the line.
In the end, it matters what God says. And if He says it in one holy book, then that book is His True Word. And since we are demonstrably fallible and incapable of attaining perfect truth, the only logical conclusion is that He would put His Word in an objective, external source that we can look to for guidance.
At that point, we only need have faith in Him and his Revelation, and not have faith in ourselves to try and figure out every little aspect of truth.
It isn't the work of men, it's the Gift of God. This is clearly a faith issue for many, and nothing else.
I can take a Bible, a Quran, a Torah and I can mistranslate it. Nothing would stop me from doing so because to do so would violate my free will.
It's a logic issue. When I say shut your mind that does not mean stop being discerning. It means discern with your soul instead of having to have every word translated for you.
I would know God without ever having read a book. He's right there to ask when I have questions and he's never led me wrong even if it felt wrong at the time. I'm saying, instead of not having faith, to instead take the biggest leap of faith there is.
My personal view is that no holy book is perfect. We know there's translation errors. My view is that every religion has a piece of the larger puzzle, split and disseminated through humanity so we could only find the truth when we are able to reconcile our human instincts of violence, greed, love, faith, and shared humanity. I also believe that Christians are the closest thing to the truth.
I trust God to understand why I refuse to follow any given books understanding 100% without viewing it as potentially flawed. I trust God to lead me to the truth. Thou shalt have no other God before me. Yet every major religion from Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, to Jewry all put someone in front of God as a stand in.
I don't know the truth. But I personally feel it's not worth my soul to be wrong and trust God to understand when I direct my praise, adoration, and worship directly to Him. I want my energy flowing to Him. I see the forces of evil and they are stronger then I ever thought possible. That leads me to believe that our energy is being misdirected.
So even when my brain says, this might be stupid. If my soul says it's what I must do, that's what I do. Regardless of the apparent consequences. That way I know my energy is flowing in a positive manner. And instead of God pushing back on me, I get pastors thanking me for the conversation because they found a closer connection through it. I get random strangers talking to me at the gas station about random topics I'd been chewing on without provocation. Things always point the way to further illumination of the truth and furthering my understanding.
It's that simple for me. When I am on the wrong path God will let me know. I simply shut down the part of my brain that says it doesn't make sense. And lean on the part of my soul that whispers "Maybe you just don't understand yet".
You simply collect the data but always avoid firm conclusions until they're proven accurate. You don't accept fact because man says it or because any construct of man says it. Shut your mind, open your soul, and you find truth.
In the end it doesn't matter what any holy book says. God is God and you have a built in spiritual core capable of processing that without the work of men.
What can be proven accurate? How? Is it really proven? What if it isn't?
Proven accurate by whom? Man? Yourself (i.e. Man)?
And we are not a spirit. We are mind, body, and spirit. To only address one is to miss the fullness and Truth of God's creation.
You can't find truth by shutting your mind and opening your soul, because then you aren't discerning what you are encountering. You're also rejecting the basis of the way God created us. At that point, truth is eluding you from the beginning, so you certainly won't find it later down the line.
In the end, it matters what God says. And if He says it in one holy book, then that book is His True Word. And since we are demonstrably fallible and incapable of attaining perfect truth, the only logical conclusion is that He would put His Word in an objective, external source that we can look to for guidance.
At that point, we only need have faith in Him and his Revelation, and not have faith in ourselves to try and figure out every little aspect of truth.
It isn't the work of men, it's the Gift of God. This is clearly a faith issue for many, and nothing else.
I can take a Bible, a Quran, a Torah and I can mistranslate it. Nothing would stop me from doing so because to do so would violate my free will.
It's a logic issue. When I say shut your mind that does not mean stop being discerning. It means discern with your soul instead of having to have every word translated for you.
I would know God without ever having read a book. He's right there to ask when I have questions and he's never led me wrong even if it felt wrong at the time. I'm saying, instead of not having faith, to instead take the biggest leap of faith there is.
My personal view is that no holy book is perfect. We know there's translation errors. My view is that every religion has a piece of the larger puzzle, split and disseminated through humanity so we could only find the truth when we are able to reconcile our human instincts of violence, greed, love, faith, and shared humanity. I also believe that Christians are the closest thing to the truth.
I trust God to understand why I refuse to follow any given books understanding 100% without viewing it as potentially flawed. I trust God to lead me to the truth. Thou shalt have no other God before me. Yet every major religion from Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, to Jewry all put someone in front of God as a stand in.
I don't know the truth. But I personally feel it's not worth my soul to be wrong and trust God to understand when I direct my praise, adoration, and worship directly to Him. I want my energy flowing to Him. I see the forces of evil and they are stronger then I ever thought possible. That leads me to believe that our energy is being misdirected.
So even when my brain says, this might be stupid. If my soul says it's what I must do, that's what I do. Regardless of the apparent consequences. That way I know my energy is flowing in a positive manner. And instead of God pushing back on me, I get pastors thanking me for the conversation because they found a closer connection through it. I get random strangers talking to me at the gas station about random topics I'd been chewing on without provocation. Things always point the way to further illumination of the truth and furthering my understanding.
It's that simple for me. When I am on the wrong path God will let me know. I simply shut down the part of my brain that says it doesn't make sense. And lean on the part of my soul that whispers "Maybe you just don't understand yet".