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Guide to Questions Answered
The following list of questions is a guide to the many issues raised throughout the previous chapters. Each question encapsulates the by Tolle via his writings, lectures, and interviews. Hopefully, this subjects of the most interest. main point that is addressed in my responses to the statements made list will help the reader to more quickly find information on the Chapter One: My Truth Is Your Truth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Response #1 Is belief an obstacle? Response #2 Is claiming to have sole possession of truth wrong? Response #3 Are all religions equally false/true? Response #4 Is it always wrong to say you are right about truth, and what did Jesus say about that? Response #5 How do you differentiate between fact and opinion? Response #6 Did Jesus say that Martha needed spiritual awakening? Response #7 Should we ever label anything as good or bad? Response #8 Was Jesus just one of many enlightened teachers, such as Buddha or Lao Tzu?
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Response #9 Is there a single “truth” at the core of every religion, especially with regard to salvation? Response #10 Do the world’s religions conflict in any real way at their deepest level? Response #11 Is Christian history an example of the insanity caused by claiming to have truth? Response #12 Were the witch hunts caused by people having a narrow interpretation of scripture/doctrine? Response #13 How many people were murdered during the witch hunts, and did the church kill them?
Chapter Two: God Is, You Are, I Am . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Response #14 Is everyone, in essence, actually one with all that exists—and if so, what about evil? Response #15 Do human beings have a spirit? Response #16 Did we exist in eternity before being born? Response #17 Who or what is God—and is God separate from us? Response #18 Where is God if he is not our own inner essence? Response #19 Is there any separation at all between God and humanity? Response #20 Can we take the divine name “I AM” for ourselves? Response #21 Isn’t God simply that life force that underlies everything? Response #22 Hasn’t the word God been misused to the point of being meaningless? Response #23 Is it delusional to make distinctions, such as “my God,” “our God,” “true God,” or “false god”? Response #24 Does coming to know God through faith amount to belief in a God that is “not truly God”? Response #25 How can you pray to an impersonal inner consciousness? Response #26 Can an impersonal “God” within the self (i.e., a universal energy) actually guide anyone? Response #27 What is our purpose, according to Eckhart Tolle? Response #28 On what should we be focused to fulfill our purpose: ourselves or others?
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Response #29 Can anyone truly “love your neighbor” without believing what Tolle teaches? Response #30 What sets us free?
Chapter Three: Bible Abuse—When Words Fail . . . . . . 77 Response #31 Did God make man in his image (Gen. 1:27), or is it the other way around? Response #32 What happened in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve disobeyed God? (Gen. 3:4–7). Response #33 Does “All things are full of weariness” (Eccl. 1:8) refer to living unenlightened? Response #34 What does “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10) mean? Response #35 Who are the “poor in spirit” and what is “the kingdom of heaven”? (Matt. 5:3). Response #36 What does “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5 kjv) mean? Response #37 What does “You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14) mean? Response #38 How should we understand Jesus’ words: “Take no thought for your life”? (Matt. 6:25 kjv). Response #39 What does it mean to “love your neighbor as yourself ”? (Matt. 22:39). Response #40 When Jesus said, “Deny thyself ” (see Mark 8:34), what did he mean? Response #41 According to Jesus’ teachings on prayer (Mark 11:24), can we really create our own reality? Response #42 What was Jesus talking about in Luke 12:35? Response #43 How should we interpret the parable of the prodigal son? (Luke 15:11–32). Response #44 What did Jesus mean when he said “the kingdom of God is within you”? (Luke 17:20–21). Response #45 How should the phrase “branch cut off from the vine” (see John 15:1–6) be understood? Response #46 Is creation waiting for human enlightenment and universal redemption? (Rom. 8:19).
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Response #47 Is “the wisdom of the world” (1 Cor. 3:19) the “movement of thought”? Response #48 What is “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding”? (Phil. 4:7 kjv). Response #49 Is God love? (1 John 4:8). Response #50 What is the new heaven and the new earth? (Rev. 21:1).
Chapter Four: A New Earth Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Response #51 Did Jesus have to “realize” his divine nature just as we need to realize it? Response #52 Do people today have more knowledge/information than Jesus possessed? Response #53 What did Jesus mean when he said “Before Abraham was, I am”? (John 8:58 kjv). Response #54 What does the language and grammar of John 8:58 tell us about Jesus? Response #55 Can all of us take the name “I AM” and apply it to our own “self ”? Response #56 What exactly is “the Christ,” and is it something or someone that we ourselves can possess? Response #57 Did Jesus become the Christ or did he always exist as the Christ? Response #58 Is there any difference between “Christ” and our own nature? Response #59 What did Jesus mean when he said, “I am the way and the truth and the life”? (John 14:6). Response #60 What does the cross symbolize? Response #61 Does the “man on the cross” represent every man and woman? Response #62 When Jesus said, “Not my will, but your will be done” (see Luke 22:42), what did he mean? Response #63 Did Jesus literally come back to life—i.e., rise bodily from the dead? Response #64 Will “the second coming of Christ” be a literal event, or is it a symbolic figure of speech?
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Response #65 What would Jesus say if he were to return to earth?
Chapter Five: No Suffering, No Sin, No Salvation . . .129 Response #66 Was Jesus promising an end to suffering when he said, “The kingdom of heaven is here”? (see Luke 17:20–21). Response #67 What actually causes human suffering? Response #68 What is at the core of human suffering? Response #69 Is there any purpose to the suffering we endure? Response #70 Are we slaves of our minds or slaves of sin? Response #71 What does the word sin mean? Response #72 Are all of us basically good inside? Response #73 Is evil real, or do we only perceive it as real? Response #74 Are we guilty when we do something evil or sinful? Response #75 If someone commits a crime while feeling extreme emotional pain, are they responsible for that crime? Response #76 What is the essence of true forgiveness? Response #77 Is salvation in Christianity the same thing as enlightenment in Buddhism? Response #78 What is the “Good News”? Response #79 What is the “narrow gate” (Matt. 7:13) about which Jesus spoke? Response #80 According to Jesus, what is “eternal life”?
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