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How does a religion arise? The case of Christianity.
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Robert
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September 29, 2026 - 4:09 pm
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Helen Young

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September 29, 2026 - 4:28 pm

Robert said
But is that exclusively or even specifically Christian? For me it’s very smokey and rather expensive peaty Scotch. And vintage sports cars … 
  

Is this the post of yours that you are referring to?

Thing is, there is a kind of peace of mind and energy flow that is exclusively Christian or from Christ.

There are other states of peace and positive energy that aren’t Christian, or aren’t necessarily Christian. But at the same time, there are.

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Robert
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September 29, 2026 - 4:36 pm
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Helen Young

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September 29, 2026 - 4:52 pm

Robert said

Helen Young said

Robert said
But is that exclusively or even specifically Christian? For me it’s very smokey and rather expensive peaty Scotch. And vintage sports cars …   

Is this the post of yours that you are referring to?
Thing is, there is a kind of peace of mind and energy flow that is exclusively Christian or from Christ.
There are other states of peace and positive energy that aren’t Christian, or aren’t necessarily Christian. But at the same time, there are.  

How do know that? And how is made manifest without necessarily having any relation to the Christian culture, tradition, and scriptures?
  

One just does. One just knows that this is Christ in me, or the Spirit of Christ working for me or with me. It can be in relation to a wish or a prayer to Christ. Other times it just happens, or just manifests.

I feel like it doesn’t have much relation to tradition or scriptures because I’m coming at it from the outside. I’m coming at it from my own personal standpoint and not from anything I’ve been taught or told to think. I’m not looking at scripture or tradition. Possibly I’m even putting aside all the scripture and tradition. They seem to get in my way and even be a kind of roadblock as much as anything else.

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Helen Young

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September 29, 2026 - 5:06 pm

There’s been a ton of words put on Christ. Perhaps more than anyone in history.

This is not about words, unless you are counting my silly little prayers like, “Jesus please help me”, or “Jesus please show me what your true spirit is like”, or something like that. Sometimes these prayers actually get me somewhere. It’s almost like I go, or am taken into another dimension or reality or something. My perspective on everything changes and becomes much better and clearer.

Don’t know how else to explain it. Sorry if this seems a bit corny or foo-fooy or something. It is corny when it’s put into words, but the experience is not.

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Robert
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September 29, 2026 - 5:20 pm
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Helen Young

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September 29, 2026 - 5:25 pm

Robert said
Please don’t apologize for describing your experience. It sounds like you’re describing or defending the validity of something that has traditionally been called private revelation. Revelation occuring outside of and apart from scripture or tradition as defined by church authoritative teaching. To the extent that you claim that it isn’t mediated by the Christian tradition and scriptures or human imagination, it would seem like you’re claiming some sort of direct connection to God. Is that not how you see it? 
  

I think it’s more to Christ. God is kind of too vast and overwhelming to me, though perhaps I’m getting better with this; Idk.

Do you think this is something unusual or something that doesn’t happen to many people?

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Robert
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September 29, 2026 - 5:38 pm
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Helen Young

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September 29, 2026 - 6:05 pm

Robert said

Helen Young said 
I think it’s more to Christ. God is kind of too vast and overwhelming to me, though perhaps I’m getting better with this; Idk.

Do you not believe in the Trinity, that Jesus Christ is fully God, the second person of the Trinity (also fully human, by the way)?

  

I believe in all three of them: Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God. What their exact relationship is Idk. Do I think Jesus is God and all of God? Idk, God seems a lot bigger and vaster than Jesus is to me. That doesn’t mean Jesus isn’t the savior and the Christ and all that. I think God is in Jesus, and Jesus is in God in the Spiritual sense. I kind of think of it like when a person feels like they are one with another person. It can be a best friend, a partner, a family member, or perhaps even an acquaintance or a stranger. It can be for a few seconds, a few minutes, hours, days, or a lifetime. They are two separate people, but at the same time they are one.

I kind of see this as how Jesus and God are one. They are two separate people or beings, but at the same time they are one. One in spirit and in mind and consciousness, one might say.

Helen Young said 
Robert said

Do you think this is something unusual or something that doesn’t happen to many people?  

I think it is extremely common but that it is mediated through human culture, Christian tradition, scripture, and human imagination.
  

I think it can happen both ways. Both through culture and traditions, and independently, with or for or through the individual. Perhaps some other ways as well.

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