re: Are religious questions allowed here?

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Bob has never set foot in church and has never prayed his entire life.

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Bro, you didn't know? Down here, if you tell someone that you don't go to church nor pray, people will look at you very differently. If you tell them you don't believe in God, you are the spawn of Satan. No if's, and's or but's about it. You could be the most generous, do everything by the book person but you are scum of the earth because you don't believe.

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Why does it seem like most religions have a transactional relationship with their faith? For example, they say "I have to be saved and become a Christian so I can get into Heaven". Seems like they are doing one thing to get the benefits. On the other hand, these same people will tell you that good actions won't get you into Heaven.

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There is a superficial paradox between the idea that you have to check certain boxes to get to heaven, yet there is no box you can check to get to heaven.

The paradox might be resolved if you understand the word "metanoia" a little better. When John the Baptist and Jesus both implored people to repent, the greek word they used was "metanoia", which has a deeper, richer meaning than just saying sorry (for your sins). It is a call to change your mind in a transformational way... effectively becomimg a new person.

To the extent you can understand this it starts making sense how the Bible might be critical of people who make a public act of their prayers compared to someone who prays privately (in their closet in one passage). Or how a donation to the church or temple by a rich person might not be as valued as that of a poor old woman who gives her last coin in a selfless, heartfelt act.

In either case above, neither the act of praying nor tithing itself guarantees getting closer to salvation (a successful transaction, to use your language). The value of such acts depends on the inner state of the person performing the act. Have they undergone genuine metanoia such that they are performing the act from a transformed perspective, where the act is done in true reverence, love, sincerity, and humility? If so, what appears to be an identical act by two different people may, in fact, be ontologically different... thus leading to different results.

Salvation, or what it takes to be "saved" or in a sufficient state of grace to matriculate into some form of heaven and not hell may be defined in slightly different ways by different factions and denominations, but I think the principle I suggest above must be true regardless. Words or acts alone won't do it. The words and acts must be sincere in a way that you and God know they are being done by a new man, so to speak.

So it appears transactional, yet isn't-- if you are acting from your very being.

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8. Leviticus says don’t eat owls (Lev. 11:16–17) — but seriously, who was out there grilling owls in the first place?

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