morningsong said:

Ok, so this can get very controversial, even among Christians, but not all people are born alive. I believe Prince was speaking to the idea of predestination, who says that not all people on this earth will ever be, or can be saved.

First, the bible tells us that the elect were chosen by God to believe in him and receive salvation through Jesus. Read this carefully:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1:3-6‬ ‭ESV‬‬
http://bible.com/59/eph.1.3-6.esv

Some key words here...
Chose Us = He chose, not us.
Predestined = Our path was set by His will, not our choice.
Adoption = An adopted child does not chose their father. The Father chooses them.

So the hard part of this idea is; If some are chosen, then some ARE NOT chosen, or "Born Dead".

Theologian, Mark Smith does a great job outlining verses that show how not all people are saved and predestined to damnation. He writes...

What matters is what God has revealed in His word. So, are there scriptures in the Bible that plainly state that not all are saved? Yes, there are.

"Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. 14"For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it," (Matt. 7:13-14).

"For many are called, but few are chosen," (Matt. 22:14).

"And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. 23And someone said to Him, "Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?" And He said to them, 24"Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25"Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ 26"Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; 27and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers,'" (Luke 13:22-27).

"And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, "Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved; 28for the Lord will execute His word upon the earth, thoroughly and quickly," (Rom. 9:27).

These verses are plain and clear. Not all are saved; in fact, few are. Whether or not we think this makes God a failure, or that it makes us sad, or upsets us, isn't really that important. If the Bible says it, that settles it. What is left is to make adjustments in our understanding and feelings in order to bring our thinking more in line with what God has stated.

After all, we do not know the mind of God. His ways are higher than our ways. I prefer to accept what it says than feel my way through theology.


So, I believe Prince subscribed to this theory. Remember, that even in The Rainbow Children he called the unsaved "The Banished Ones"

Lastly, I hope everyone understands that I fully recognize this is a very difficult idea to accept and that not everyone believes it. It certainly isn't a new concept and worthy of each of your study and consideration.
[Edited 6/21/16 19:58pm]
[Edited 6/21/16 20:00pm]

jonnymon said:

As a Christian everyone is born into sin without exception, so that ain't it.

I don't think it was really a spiritual thing he was saying. I don't because of other tiny things he's said about himself as a child, fitting them together builds a familiar picture.
[Edited 6/21/16 20:52pm]

jonnymon said:

Lastly, I hope everyone understands that I fully recognize this is a very difficult idea to accept and that not everyone believes it. It certainly isn't a new concept and worthy of each of your study and consideration. [Edited 6/21/16 19:58pm] [Edited 6/21/16 20:00pm]

and its interesting that the climax of affirmationIII is "everything is u" and i wonder how it relates to the idea of predestination.

PURplEMaPLeSyrup said:

jonnymon said:

Lastly, I hope everyone understands that I fully recognize this is a very difficult idea to accept and that not everyone believes it. It certainly isn't a new concept and worthy of each of your study and consideration. [Edited 6/21/16 19:58pm] [Edited 6/21/16 20:00pm]

and its interesting that the climax of affirmationIII is "everything is u" and i wonder how it relates to the idea of predestination.

Moksha

I'll try my best....

The first time I heard this song I cried... it felt so familiar and so...right... I understood the sense of alienation and reflective tone of the song... let's break it down ...

Any person or object whatsoever
That requires your attention
Is something that has veered from its path
And preordained destiny of total enlightenment

He's saying that the purpose of all things is to reach their full potential.. self actualization (which oddly is one of my life goals)...and that when things and people command your attention they've lost their purpose... it could be that he's saying he himself started to do that.. to be a product of his fame instead of just doing what he was put on this earth to do... demonstrate love in the form of music and be self actualized in trying to attain that goal

I never wanted a typical life
Scripted role, huh a trophy wife
All I ever wanted, to be left alone
See my bed's made up at night
'Cause in my dreams I roam
Just trying to find, trying to find
My way back, back home

He never wanted the things that people thought he should have.. the family life.. the house the car the picket fence the wife and kids...but more specifically he didn't want the things people thought should be part and parcel of being a rock star and famous..(scripted role) -being told what to do (could be contractual agreements being referred to here) and listen to how he scoffs at the trophy wife.. like he's saying that trophy wives are usually not what they're cracked up to be. he just wanted to be left alone to create ... to give us his music.. his bed is made up at night because he isn't physically there.. either working hard on his music in his studio and even when he is there he's lying still in one place and not messing the sheets up because his spirit is roaming in his dreams (what people call Astral projection or an out-of -body experience) - which strangely enough came to mind when judith spoke about him saying he had to fight to get BACK into his body after his overdose on the plane so he could have been one of those people who had those experiences as a child.. (also ties in a bit to his epilepsy - brain chemistry etc)
.
So many reasons why
There's so many reasons why
I don't belong here
But now that I am I
Without fear I am
Gonna conquer with no fear
Until I find my way back home
Until I find my way back home
(Find my way back home)

This could be a variety of things... he could be saying that his experiences as a child with the fits could have ended him and he somehow made it through even though he wasn't supposed to be here. Also the sense of alienation and isolation that he experienced as a child could also contribute to his feeling of not belonging ...but now that he is here.. he's going to do what he came here to do... conquer the world through music....until it's time for him to go back to where he came from..... the feeling that I get about his "home" is almost that he is a disconnected soul... some people don't believe we have a soul ..the belief instead is that we are souls housed into the bodies we inhabit for the duration of our lives until we go back to where we came from .. where all souls originate from.. the source. This also ties into the previous paragraphs... if you think of Prince as a soul trying to get back to the original source while housed in the body that we know as "Prince".. unhappy because the soul wants to be free and go home... it makes sense...

Most people in this world (Most people in this world)are born dead
But I was born alive
(I was born with this dream)
With a dream outside my head (outside my head)
That I could find my way back home
My, my, way way back home

This is where it gets interesting .. this can allude to a very deep spiritual meaning.... if you look at the whole concept of reincarnation it is an endless cycle of life and death... we die in our previous lives and are reborn in our current lives and then we die and go on to repeat this cycle over and over again... he is saying that most people are born dead.. as in they are born unaware of their previous lives so their current birth is the only one that gives them "life" per se.. so their physical senses are the only things that they know... this life.. he is saying he was born alive..born with his knowledge from previous lives intact as in he was born knowing he had lived before .. ... and also by being born with this knowledge he's also haunted by the idea that eventually he can return to the source and he wants to get back to that source (note the longing notes of this song...also it would explain why he was so prolific in a real world sense). Also he has many times said in life that he has been here before and has known others before in another capacity..

Is this the way? (Is this the way?)

he's trying to determine if music is the way back for him

Power to the ones who could raise a child like me
The path was set
But if you look the truth will set us free
I've heard about those happy endings
But it's still a mystery
Lemme tell you about me
I'm happiest when I can see
My way back home
Can you see
My way back, my way back home


He's now back to reflection mode and saying that he has been searching for a way back to the source his entire life.. note he says Power to the ones who could raise a child like him... almost as if he is stating his parents were simply his caretakers on this earth... and all his childhood and early years point to the same exact truth...that music has always been his path to getting back to the source.. from his mothers stories about him disappearing to the music section of the dept store at 3 or 4 years old.. to his school years of being in the music room to using music to cope with the things he found himself dealing with... a method he continued to use his entire life... he used the piano and guitar to deal with his parents divorce, father leaving , mother choosing stepfather , being kicked out, being passed over by girls and sports teams, segregation in the civil rights Era, women leaving him, the death of his children , the breakup of his marriages, the death of his friends and colleagues and loves.. he's saying here.. look back.. it is now what it has always been.. a way for him to get back to the source.. the happy endings being mysterious can tie into the first part of the song where it talks about anything that distracts veers from the path... he's basically acknowledging that he has had a rough go at life and the happy ever after has eluded him and he's really happy when he's doing his music and through music he can see his way back to the source and by sharing his music with us he hopes that we can see that he's going back to his source...

So in a nutshell. Prince is telling us that he was born spiritually aware of his past lives and knowing that his music would be the only thing that could carry him closer to getting back to the source of all souls... and he longed to go back there...


The strange thing to me is that Prince in his earliest pics looked very defiant almost sad and as he got older his eyes lost that defiance and seemed almost content ..a bit sad but it was like he knew on some level he was going home.. that's my interpretation...


On another note .. I was just listening to Anotherlove and the first thing I thought was.. this song is about Manuela lol ... the lyrics.. the tone.. just screams mani... and lo and behold who got with Another love after him.. so random

Icequeen, where did you see the statements from Judith Hill about his od on the plane?

Bunsterdk said:

Icequeen, where did you see the statements from Judith Hill about his od on the plane?

An interview in the N.Y. Times that came out yesterday.

Yea that.. it's on the forum

This is also one of my favorite songs

morningsong said:

That makes sense too some people are only getting by in life without really doing much with their lives.

The reason I keep thinking 'spiritually alive' though is because we're all born with a spiritual need to worship but a lot of people ignore this spirituality and go on living for themselves and not give a thought to God or search for meaning and purpose to their life. Living a purely selfish way of living.

But lots to think about.

BobGeorge909 said:

My fave lyric off the whole record is the, 'see my beds made up at night cuz in my dreams I roam' line. Great lyric. And he was...he was ALWAYS working, always moving forward, never stagnant or stationary. Going for the impossible, never resting. This is why I loved him and was OH so jealous of him. And it's all summed up it one beautiful lyric.

.

Yes and that could be what eventually killed him, because he would not, could not, slow down and take a break for treatment, etc. It was just too difficult for him And perhaps an overslimplification but alot of truth there.

wildgoldenhoney said:

I get that but I just think he was a student like all of us, maybe a better student than most but still a student. I don't think he came into the world fully spiritually aware, he's changed up on his spirtual path too many times for that, he had to learn and keep learning like we all do. But I do think he's always known what he's wanted and couldn't be swayed from his detremined path, that's unique in people.