#gnostic

We all ought to understand we're on our own. Believing in Santa Claus doesn't do kids any harm for a few years but it isn't smart for them to continue waiting all their lives for him to come down the chimney with something wonderful. Santa Claus and God are cousins. ↗

— Andy Rooney

#atheism #belief #beliefs #god #gods

The idea that we are to be absorbed into the Deity is Gnostic in its origins and is quite antithetical to Christianity." ~R. Alan Woods [2006] ↗

— R. Alan Woods

#christianity #gnosticism #nihilism #r-alan-woods #r-alan-woods

Scientism is gnosticism wrapped in a post-modern package". ~R. Alan Woods [2009] ↗

— R. Alan Woods

#r-alan-woods #scientism #r-alan-woods

The present life of man upon earth, O King, seems to me in comparison with that time which is unknown to us like the swift flight of a sparrow through the mead-hall where you sit at supper in winter, with your Ealdormen and thanes, while the fire blazes in the midst and the hall is warmed, but the wintry storms of rain or snow are raging abroad. The sparrow, flying in at one door and immediately out at another, whilst he is within, is safe from the wintry tempest, but after a short space of fair weather, he immediately vanishes out of your sight, passing from winter to winter again. So this life of man appears for a little while, but of what is to follow or what went before we know nothing at all. ↗

— St. Bede

#agnosticism #brevity #happiness #life #religion

A few years ago, a priest working in a slum section of a European city was asked why he was doing it, and replied, 'So that the rumor of God may not completely disappear. ↗

— Peter L. Berger

#agnosticism #angel #angels #atheism #atheist

Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear. ↗

— Thomas Jefferson

#inspirational #religion #inspirational

Science is agnostic when it comes to God - not atheistic, as some people prefer to read that laden word wrongly - just agnostic. ↗

— Eric Chaisson

#atheism #belief #religion #science #age

The Internet has given atheists, agnostics, skeptics, the people who like to destroy everything that you and I believe, the almost equal access to your kids as your youth pastor and you have... whether you like it or not. ↗

— Josh McDowell

#agnostics #almost #atheists #believe #destroy

I'd like to ask you more about your ears if I may," I said. "You want to ask whether or not my ears possess some special power?" I nodded. "See what I mean?" She said. She’d become so beautiful, it defied understanding. Never had I feasted my eyes on such beauty. It transcended all concepts within the boundaries of my awareness. She was at one with her ears, gliding down the oblique face of time like a protean beam of light. "You are extraordinary." I said after catching my breath. "I know." she said. "These are my ears in their unblocked state." Several of the other customers were now turned our way, staring agape at her. The waiter who came over with more coffee couldn't pour properly. Not a soul uttered a word, only the reels on the tape deck kept slowly spinning. She retrieved a clove cigarette from her purse and put it to her lips. I hurriedly offered her a light with my lighter. "I want to sleep with you," She said. So we slept together. ↗

— Haruki Murakami

#look-with-thine-ears #beauty

But if subjective pietism is not the real crux of this all-important Gospel, if it is instead belief in the plan of salvation, how are we not dealing with "salvation by (cognitive) works" and Gnosticism (salvation by special knowledge)? Fundamentalists hotly deny it, but isn't it finally a matter of believers in the right religion being saved and everyone else being disqualified? ↗

— Robert M. Price

#gnosticism #salvation #religion