Is Love greater than Religion?

[blacktiger057]

Love is one of the greatest things in the world…religion starts to many wars.

I’d rather have love in the world rather than religion…but there is sometimes love in religion, as most religion do teach love. But if it was one or the other, I’d choose love.

 

[justinthemartyr]

Love is not seperate from religion.

God is love and God gave us religion Himself.

Religion(to bind many together again with God)

 

[GandalfTheWhite]

i knew someone was going to give me that line.
what does that mean God is Love?

what need we have of religion if we have love,
which is God. if you followed all the rules of
your religion to a T, but you did not have
love in your heart, do you still go to heaven?

1 Corinthians 13:1-3
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

can you explain that?

religion is love?
i don’t know about that one.
history books tell me otherwise.

If a mathematician makes a mistake does it mean that the math we learned at school is wrong? That perhaps 1+3 isn’t 4?

People are imperfect sinners but those that are striving to follow God and the Church Jesus Christ gave us will achieve wonders. You can point out to many great sinner within the Catholic Church but I will show you a whole history of those who truly took their religion seriously. In their eyes you will see that they are humans but also that God shines through them.

Learn more about people like:
St. Therese of Lisieux
St. Padre Pio
Pier Giorgio Frassati

…and many many others.

religion as in the dogmatic teachings of an organised
church/temple/etc. religious beliefs, books, scriptures,
rules… all that, i say is second to love.

Yeiks, now that’s a terrible religion to follow! That’s not my religion! My religion is Jesus Christ! That is what you find in the Catholic Church.

 

[AgnosTheist]

Love is a meaningless statement apart from religion.

Love is a meaningless statement apart from Christianity.

Love is a meaningless statement apart from Buddhism.

Love is a meaningless statement apart from Islam.

Love is a meaningless statement apart from Wicca.

Makes sense?

 

[GandalfTheWhite]

But I totally disagree what Love is greater than religion, if you understand religion the way we understand it (which you should since you are discussing with us ). Religion isn’t about rules and rituals which you described in this thread, it is about relationship with God and everything stems out of it.

Supposing there is no God then what is so great about love? Why is love so important? Maybe only because it gives us this nice fuzzy feeling inside and it feels good. Other then that there is really nothing special about it and it’s no different than feeling huger. I may feel hungry. I eat a hamburger and feel nice. Great. I feel love towards a person, I live with that person. Nice, it feels great.

Worshiping love or making it some kind of higher end is probably as silly as lifting passion for food to the same level.

Love however acquires a totally different meaning when we understand God. Nothing can be properly understood and appreciated without embracing the Truth about God. This is because love isn’t just another chemical reaction in our brain that ultimately has no meaning. God is love and all love comes from God. It is in union with God that we come to appreciate the real meaning of love. Christ is our path to real love.

 

[GandalfTheWhite]

Love is a meaningless statement apart from Christianity.

Love is a meaningless statement apart from Buddhism.

Love is a meaningless statement apart from Islam.

Love is a meaningless statement apart from Wicca.

Makes sense?

Your point? Because Buddhists, Muslims and Wiccans disagree with Christians then everybody is wrong. I mean, there cannot be truth in if people disagree with the truth, right? Of course we must keep silent about the fact that you are presenting just another view on love, just in case you don’t sound hypocritical.

 

[justinthemartyr]

God gave us religion to bind us to him, therefore love is not seperate from religion because it takes religion to love God more perfectly and deny ourselves.

religion is to bind many together again with God.

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

i think love is a force greater than religion.

That’s not difficult - religion has not exactly been a force for good in the last 3000 or so years.​

 

[blacktiger057]

God gave us religion to bind us to him, therefore love is not seperate from religion because it takes religion to love God more perfectly and deny ourselves.

religion is to bind many together again with God.

Well, I do agree that there is definately love in Christianity, Buddhism, Wicca, Judaism, and Islam, and many more religions. Love is a core part to most religions of the world.

Love and religion are not the same thing. They are parts of each other, but are very different. Atheists don’t have religion, but they do have love.

I also believe that love originates from the Divine. But God is not religion. The Divine is beyond religion. Religion just helps us understand the Divine a little bit.

Besides, religion in general has had a very unloving past…so that is why I choose love.

 

[East_and_West]

i knew someone was going to give me that line.
what does that mean God is Love?

what need we have of religion if we have love,
which is God. if you followed all the rules of
your religion to a T, but you did not have
love in your heart, do you still go to heaven?

Can you have love (a gift from God) if you refuse to follow the path he has given us through the Church he has established?

 

[tomarin]

i think love is a force greater than religion.

as i understand the matter, God is infinite in all His qualities, so if you believe in Him (an essentially religious proposition) then you believe not only that He is infinitely loving, but that He is the ultimate source of all love. i think that the story of Christ’s ministry on earth as told in the gospels bears this out.

 

[jimmy]

Love is a meaningless statement apart from Christianity.

Love is a meaningless statement apart from Buddhism.

Love is a meaningless statement apart from Islam.

Love is a meaningless statement apart from Wicca.

Makes sense?

You have completely missed the logic. Show me love without a god. If there is no god then love is a meaningless concept that is superfluous. It has absolutely zero meaning. If God has not revealed Himself then there is still no reason to say love has any meaning because you can’t say God exists and you can’t say what He is like. Religion is necessary for there to be any concept of love. Love is meaningless without it.

 

[WindyHair]

love and religion are not the same thing.
one can say love is a part of “god”.
i’m fine with that. but religion and love
are not equal. love can exist within
religion but so can hate. so do not
equate love with religion.

sometimes, i think there are conflicts
of interest between love and religion.
that is when you must choose wisely.
that is when you must choose between
god or religion.

 

[peary]

i think love is a force greater than religion.

Depends on what kind you are referring to.

 

[WindyHair]

You have completely missed the logic. Show me love without a god. If there is no god then love is a meaningless concept that is superfluous. It has absolutely zero meaning. If God has not revealed Himself then there is still no reason to say love has any meaning because you can’t say God exists and you can’t say what He is like. Religion is necessary for there to be any concept of love. Love is meaningless without it.

are you saying only catholics
have meaningful love?

 

[jimmy]

are you saying only catholics
have meaningful love?

It is a philosophical fact. If there is no God then love is superfluous. If there is no God then love is meaningless. You say love is above religion but the only way you could know there is such an idea of love as a transendental value is if there is a God who is willing to reveal Himself.

No, I did not say that only Catholics have meaningful love. What I said is that truth and love go hand in hand. If as you have said in your posts, there is no truth then there is no love either.

I would say that Christians have a far greater form of love than any other group of people on the planet.

 

[WindyHair]

It is a philosophical fact. If there is no God then love is superfluous. If there is no God then love is meaningless. You say love is above religion but the only way you could know there is such an idea of love as a transendental value is if there is a God who is willing to reveal Himself.

No, I did not say that only Catholics have meaningful love. What I said is that truth and love go hand in hand. If as you have said in your posts, there is no truth then there is no love either.

I would say that Christians have a far greater form of love than any other group of people on the planet.

imo, the only truth humans are capable
of knowing lies in math. as far as truth in religion?..
to me, your guess is as good as the next guy’s.

you said you knew ABSOLUTE truth in your religion,
yet when i asked you who goes to heaven and who
goes to hell, you didn’t know. you said only god knows.
i agree. only god knows.

 

[jimmy]

imo, the only truth humans are capable
of knowing lies in math. as far as truth in religion?..
to me, your guess is as good as the next guy’s.

you said you knew ABSOLUTE truth in your religion,
yet when i asked you who goes to heaven and who
goes to hell, you didn’t know. you said only god knows.
i agree. only god knows.

Who goes to heaven and who does not is not absolute truth. God is absolute truth. Who goes to heaven and who does not is a matter of Gods will. I do not claim to know all things about God or what He wills. I claim to have some knowledge of God but God is far beyond what I know. He is infinite, so I can not say what His will is.

Even math though can not be absolutely certain. If you doubt truth in an absolute sense as in God and say that all people believe something different and therefore there is no truth then it is just as logical for me to say that your whole conception of reality is screwed up or for you to say the same about me. If I doubt absolute truth, then that means that all things come down to subjective opinion, even math. The only reason we say that math is conclusive is because it makes sense to us. But if you have someone who it does not make sense to then they will not say it is conclusive. That persons subjective opinion is just as valid as mine or yours or even Stephen Hawkings subjective opinion regarding math. Just because your logic and mine and Stephen Hawkings logic has led us to believe that 5 + 5 = 10 that does not actually mean that that is a true statement. What if someone comes along and says, ‘on the contrary, I say that 5 + 5 = 15.’ Who are we to say he is wrong? His subjective logic has led him to a different conclusion than our subjective logic. So math comes down to convincing all that it is true. If you do not convince all that it is true then you still have the justifiable statement that it is false.

We could also make the leap of the ultimate skeptic who says that I can’t even prove that you exist. You might just be a figment of my imagination.

So really, does it get us any where to deny absolute truth? I say no. I does not free us, it only confuses everything.

 

[WindyHair]

Who goes to heaven and who does not is not absolute truth. God is absolute truth. Who goes to heaven and who does not is a matter of Gods will. I do not claim to know all things about God or what He wills. I claim to have some knowledge of God but God is far beyond what I know. He is infinite, so I can not say what His will is.

Even math though can not be absolutely certain. If you doubt truth in an absolute sense as in God and say that all people believe something different and therefore there is no truth then it is just as logical for me to say that your whole conception of reality is screwed up or for you to say the same about me. If I doubt absolute truth, then that means that all things come down to subjective opinion, even math. The only reason we say that math is conclusive is because it makes sense to us. But if you have someone who it does not make sense to then they will not say it is conclusive. That persons subjective opinion is just as valid as mine or yours or even Stephen Hawkings subjective opinion regarding math. Just because your logic and mine and Stephen Hawkings logic has led us to believe that 5 + 5 = 10 that does not actually mean that that is a true statement. What if someone comes along and says, ‘on the contrary, I say that 5 + 5 = 15.’ Who are we to say he is wrong? His subjective logic has led him to a different conclusion than our subjective logic. So math comes down to convincing all that it is true. If you do not convince all that it is true then you still have the justifiable statement that it is false.

We could also make the leap of the ultimate skeptic who says that I can’t even prove that you exist. You might just be a figment of my imagination.

So really, does it get us any where to deny absolute truth? I say no. I does not free us, it only confuses everything.

exactly my point. humans should not claim
to know god’s will.

we are human.

we are not angels or gods. math is the only
truth we are capable of, for now. math is not
subjective. not at all.

 

[jimmy]

exactly my point. humans should not claim
to know god’s will.

we are human.

we are not angels or gods. math is the only
truth we are capable of, for now. math is not
subjective. not at all.

I do not claim to know Gods will, I claim to know some absolute truths about God that He has revealed to me. God has revealed Himself to a certain degree to all mankind. So there are certain things I can say of God.

Yes, math most definitely is subjective. Just because it makes sense to you or me does not make it any less subjective. If you want to say math is not subjective then the fact of Gods existence is not subjective either. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it is not fact or it is not known by others.

Math is absolutely subjective. If I say that 2 + 2 = 5 then who is anyone to say that it doesn’t? If my logic has proved to me that it is 5 then that is just as valid as you saying it is 4. It is one mans logic against another mans logic. As you said, we all see things differently. Who is to say that you have not missed some fact or that you have simply over analyzed the situation? It is your opinion against mine. Add to this that you can’t even prove to me that you exist, you think you can prove to me that 2 + 2 = 4?

But then again, everything that I have said and you have said and even this sentence itself is subjective. Is there any point in even speaking? It becomes complete insanity. All reality is insanity without absolute truth.