Of the three monotheistic religions of the world, JUDAISM had the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes, and now has Orthodox, Reform, and Conservative, with the mystical Hasidic and Kabbalah denominations; CHRISTIANITY has the following denominations: Roman Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, Anglicans, Independents, and Marginals, each having sects totaling about 33,000 Christian denominations as of the year 2000; and ISLAM has Sunni, Shia, Sufi, Ahmadiyya, Kharijite and other Sects with their respective sub-groups. Plus there are the pantheist Hinduism in India and its other side Buddhism, and many other religions from around the world, not to mention the agnostics and the atheists.
Each of these groups has the sincere belief that their understanding of the universe and of the sacred texts they prefer are the one, true, and correct interpretation of God and His Word or of the cosmos.
How do you love your neighbor as yourself, when he tells you he is right and you are wrong, and so you must follow his understanding?
My limited mind, like that of a blind man touching one part of an elephant or of an artist looking at a sculpture piece from one position, can only appreciate that my perception/my meaning is just one interpretation and can be equally as valid as those in the other parts or positions, and can be equally flawed as theirs; so I must respect him and his views while maintaining my self-respect. Humans are nothing but insignifcant grains of sand in this minute planet earth, which forms part of our solar system that is a small part of the Milky Way Galaxy, which is a very small part of the uncounted galaxies in the ever expanding universe or cosmos that for those who believe were all created by God, and for those who don't, merely resulted from some chance collisions of atoms. Yet, God so loves us that He gave His only-begotten Son as the spotless sacrifice for our sins that we may join Him in heaven. Nonetheless, the Bible says the Creator God’s thoughts are way above the thoughts of humans, and so I accept that my thoughts and the thoughts of all others are not and cannot be equal to those of God's...
I can only ponder on St. Augustine’s approach: "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity...", and I can only submit with the prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas: "Lord, in my zeal for the love of truth, let me not forget the truth about love".
Each of these groups has the sincere belief that their understanding of the universe and of the sacred texts they prefer are the one, true, and correct interpretation of God and His Word or of the cosmos.
How do you love your neighbor as yourself, when he tells you he is right and you are wrong, and so you must follow his understanding?
My limited mind, like that of a blind man touching one part of an elephant or of an artist looking at a sculpture piece from one position, can only appreciate that my perception/my meaning is just one interpretation and can be equally as valid as those in the other parts or positions, and can be equally flawed as theirs; so I must respect him and his views while maintaining my self-respect. Humans are nothing but insignifcant grains of sand in this minute planet earth, which forms part of our solar system that is a small part of the Milky Way Galaxy, which is a very small part of the uncounted galaxies in the ever expanding universe or cosmos that for those who believe were all created by God, and for those who don't, merely resulted from some chance collisions of atoms. Yet, God so loves us that He gave His only-begotten Son as the spotless sacrifice for our sins that we may join Him in heaven. Nonetheless, the Bible says the Creator God’s thoughts are way above the thoughts of humans, and so I accept that my thoughts and the thoughts of all others are not and cannot be equal to those of God's...
I can only ponder on St. Augustine’s approach: "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity...", and I can only submit with the prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas: "Lord, in my zeal for the love of truth, let me not forget the truth about love".
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