13 Aug 09
Originally posted by galveston751. NO!
Lets see... Does your religion?
1...Use and Worship idols? Ex 20: 4,5.
2...Believe in the Trinity? 1Cor 8: 4-6.
3...Celebrate any pagan holidays? John 15:19. ( See if you get the point of this.)
4...Repeat prayers over and over? Matt 6:7.
Just a few...
2. Yes.
3. NO!
4. Well not just for the sake of doing it.
14 Aug 09
Originally posted by daniel58Doing a little research for you but here's a little thing I found on line about the rosery beads from EHow and written by Will Carpenter as well as other sources:
No.
Earliest Use
Religious scholars have long said that systems for counting the number of times a repetitive prayer was said began in India with the Hindus, about 900 B.C.E. Prayer sticks, strings of beads or carved rocks ensured that the correct sequence of prayers, and the correct number as well, were intoned. Over the centuries, as psalms and prayers were associated with each other in groups of 50, the "fifties" became the standard for both personal prayer and the prayers of the penitent, marking the five decades of the rosary. Beads have long been linked with the act of prayer. The English word bead is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words bidden ("to pray"😉 and bede ("prayer"😉. The use of beads in prayer appears to have originated with Hindu religious practices in India , possibly around the 8th century B.C.E. Buddhism, which developed from a sect of Hinduism, retained the use of prayer beads as it became established in China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet. It is thought that Islam adopted prayer beads through contact with Buddhism and Hinduism. Prayer beads, in the form of the Catholic rosary, were common throughout Europe by the late Middle Ages.
Hinduism, one of the oldest living religions, is the major religion of the Indian subcontinent. The two main branches of modern Hinduism—Shaivism and Vishnuism—employ different types of prayer beads, or mala. Shaivists, who are devotees of the god Siva, carry strings of 32 to 108 rudraksha beads made from the seeds of a tree unique to the island of Java in Indonesia. These rough seeds represent the difficult and rigid life required of the worshippers of Siva. Each seed is segmented into five sections, which represent the five faces and personalities of Siva. Vishnu mala consist of carved wooden beads from the sacred basil shrub, or tulsi, and are usually found in strands of 108.
Buddhist mala also typically consist of strands of 108 beads, reflecting the religion's historical connection to Hinduism. In Buddhism, the 108 beads represent the impurities or lies that one must overcome in order to reach Nirvana. Most monks wear 108 beads for use in counteracting their 108 impurities, whereas lay people tend to wear only 30 or 40 beads. The difference in the number of beads used is a result of the spiritual differences in what different people must overcome or how far they have come on the path to enlightenment. Buddhist prayer beads have traditionally been made from the wood or seeds of the sacred Bodhi tree. As Buddhism spread throughout China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet, it was influenced by the various cultures of those areas and a number of new materials such as bone, amber, and semi-precious stones began to be used for prayer beads.
So the point here is that the use of beads were not ever used by any early Christians. The Bible says not to repeat prayers. The use of beads are from pagan origins as is shown above and even the point that they were not even used by the early Catholic church should ring some very loud warnings as to the use by any Christians.
So would you agree or not that this is of pagan origin that the Catholic church uses?
14 Aug 09
1 edit
Originally posted by galveston75There is Pagan belief that you should position toilets so that your ass is facing either north or south. The reason being that if it is facing east or west your ass is likely to be facing the Sun and thats disrespecting the Sun .. Pagans worshipped the Sun.
.. The use of beads are from pagan origins ...
So if you ever used a North/South toilet you are guilty of a Pagan religious practice.
In other words you are an idiot for trying to identify everything that Pagans did and concluding that we now cannot do it.
14 Aug 09
1 edit
Originally posted by Rajk999he is an idiot for trying to ascertain what is acceptable to God and what is not.? is not that what Bible study and the exercise of the conscience is all about? not according to you, but the scriptures state clearly,
There is Pagan belief that you should position toilets so that your ass is facing either north or south. The reason being that if it is facing east or west your ass is likely to be facing the Sun and thats disrespecting the Sun .. Pagans worshipped the Sun.
So if you ever used a North/South toilet you are guilty of a Pagan religious practice.
In other ...[text shortened]... idiot for trying to identify everything that Pagans did and concluding that we now cannot do it.
(Hebrews 5:14) . . .But solid food belongs to mature people, to those who through use have their perceptive powers trained to distinguish both right and wrong.
i suggest you give up on your dummy tit then perhaps you may be weaned from it and progress to solid food, for mature persons, spiritually speaking of course.
Originally posted by Rajk999if they do not want to celebrate these things because they have evaluated according to their conscience that these things are unacceptable, then what is it to you. why should their freedom of conscience be judged by you? who are you to encroach upon another's freedom?
JWs are the Pharisees of modern Christianity.
Birthdays,
Christmas
Halloween
Now BEADS?
(1 Corinthians 10:29-33) . . .For why should it be that my freedom is judged by another person’s conscience? If I am partaking with thanks, why am I to be spoken of abusively over that for which I give thanks?
why are you speaking abusively Raj if someone else has a different view of these things than you because of their conscience. if you want to celebrate these things then that is up to you, but you must also respect another's conscience, that they may find these objectionable.
They are not judging you, why are you abusively speaking of them, can you not live and let live? by judging another you are putting yourself in a position that does not belong to you, for only God is judge, and it is a position reflecting the utmost arrogance.
14 Aug 09
2 edits
Originally posted by robbie carrobieif they do not want to celebrate these things because they have evaluated according to their conscience that these things are unacceptable, then what is it to you. why should their freedom of conscience be judged by you? who are you to encroach upon another's freedom?
if they do not want to celebrate these things because they have evaluated according to their conscience that these things are unacceptable, then what is it to you. why should their freedom of conscience be judged by you? who are you to encroach upon another's freedom?
[b](1 Corinthians 10:29-33) . . .For why should it be that my freedom is judge ...[text shortened]... belong to you, for only God is judge, and it is a position reflecting the utmost arrogance.[/b]
(1 Corinthians 10:29-33) . . .For why should it be that my freedom is judged by another person’s conscience? If I am partaking with thanks, why am I to be spoken of abusively over that for which I give thanks?
why are you speaking abusively Galveston and Robbie, if someone else has a different view of these things than you because of their conscience. if you want to celebrate these things then that is up to you, but you must also respect another's conscience, that they may find these objectionable.
They are not judging you, why are you abusively speaking of them, can you not live and let live? by judging another you are putting yourself in a position that does not belong to you, for only God is judge, and it is a position reflecting the utmost arrogance.
14 Aug 09
2 edits
what is this, imitation the highest form of praise? no one is speaking abusively RaJ, if you want to celebrate these things then that is up to you, does that sound like anyone encroaching upon your freedom, it doesn't to me? why are you then speaking abusively of others when they do not want to celebrate these things because of their conscience?