Oh look! A lot of people saying religion sucks. Shockers. I’d love some original though sometime. Not that my comment is any better.
IMO Islam that grew out of the Qur’an ceased to exist around 12th century when the trend of the “perfect 10” started up, complete with a Papal style infallibility.
I’d call what followed: Islam 2.0 but it wasn’t the same Islam at all.
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Also, imo, it’s ridiculous to apply Protestant style “back to the book”, pull up quotes, prove/disprove a religion. Sola Scriptura is a novel Christian Protestant idea. It’s bad enough when ppl do it to the Bible, conveniently ignoring things like… I dunno… history, a people, the organic growth of religious ideas and their effects that go beyond the holy writ, where they went right, where they went wrong, etc.
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I was a convert to Eastern Orthodoxy for a few years in my 20s. They have a similar concept to Spinoza’s God: God’s Essence vs God’s Energies.
Basically, God’s unknowable, uncontained, un-a bunch of things.
Yet, God’s energies are a process of continual creation, and it’s God’s energies that humans and nature can participate in and transform.
So in Orthodox Christendom, the goal is to literally “save the world” – to be a part of God’s energies, becoming “like God” in order to transform the Universe. That kind of thing.
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We’re also a part of nature, making us a part of God and yet God’s more than nature – a level that’s unreachable in its totality (just as we can’t see all things happening in the Universe at once – humans have limitations) – yet we still participate in it all.
I consider myself agnostic but still find theology fascinating.
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