Right here you acknowledge a human leader. If you are a christian you have no need of another leader other than Christ. I find your non chalant attitude toward being led astray almost disturbing.
Well, this 'non chalant' attitude has come to me after the realization that NO form of Christianity in existance today is 100% correct. To assume that all are correct is a contradiction to what God said. To assume that only one is correct is dependent upon faith in your beliefs. To assume that none is correct is also dependent upon faith in your beliefs. I know that I will be judged on my own actions, and as I said before, if *I* am led astray by *MY* own actions in persuing truth as Jehovah God has laid it out due to an error on my *LEADER'S* part, then the error was made by my leader, and *I* was faithfully following God. If God condemns *ME* for following what I truly believed to be *HIM*, then he is not as JUST as he says he is, he is false, and a liar, and this whole Christianity concept is for the birds and I am a mammal that was put here after being bred with aliens and monkeys, and I am nothing, never have been, never will be. Do I believe this? No.
I *KNOW* I am responsible for my spirituality, which is why I choose to study with Jehovah's Witnesses. The JW's mentality (at least in the GB) is to seek truth. You cannot seek 'truth' if you suddenly decide you are WRONG and then you do not change your thinking. Catholics are finding out today that NOT changing and basing themselves on tradition is a road to ruin. This is also why I am not planning on being baptized as a JW, because I do not believe that Christians should write themselves into scripture. I am greatful for them opening up my eyes to what I could not see in regards to trinity, hell-fire, etc. etc. I have done nothing but grown in faith to Jesus and integrity to Almighty Jehovah God since studying with them.
All genuine Christians should test and be careful that they are not led astray.
I agree. I will say, that for someone with an open mind, being suddenly flooded with the controdictions that xtiandomites face leads to two roads:
1. Forget the whole thing, assume 'his thoughts are higher than my thoughts', and go home and sin your way to destruction. My sister, who constantly reminds me of her pagan holy trinity is a prime example of such a path.
2. Seek what is Truth, and what is Just, and more importantly CORRECT! Right now, the DOCTRINES and most teachings of the WTBTS are the closest thing to accuracy that I have come across. The only 'DOGMA' involved is belief that God will live up to his name, and 'Cause it to Become!', which to a TRUE Christian, is fact, and not dogma.
As for passing off your own responsibility toward God on your "leaders", the Bible shows you can do no such thing. YOU will be judged for YOUR own actions on judgement day. And it "they are in error" YOU also will be in error. "If a blind man leads a blind man, BOTH will fall into a pit".By your reasoning, any Christian religion could be considered correct. Sit down and think and use your God-given mind to logically weigh all this out. Once you "sign on" there's no going back.
When the Bible was composed, I imagine that the point was 'Jews and pagans are no more, only Jesus Christ is the way'. I wonder if God ever had imagined that so many 'followers' of Christ would in and OF themselves stray so far away from that WAY.
If Jehovah condemns me for seeking truth and looking for truth because I was following a blind man, and I fell, then that is his problem. I will have done the best I could have in my sinful nature, a nature that I never asked for when I was born. I would be DEAD anyway, and wouldn't be around for any of this to matter at all. Let it be God's will, no matter what we perceive it to be. This is all any Christian can do.
Believe me, I WANTED to turn my head and not listen to what the WT teachings say, and it would have been very easy and to my 'worldly' advandage to do so. I would have many more friends in this 'world' and I would be much more popular. I have chosen a path to seek God. In seeking God, one who is TRULY seeking God does not just 'stick with an idea' if it controdicts THE OTHER HALF OF THE BIBLE! And I am definately NOT catholic, and I do NOT believe that God has one specific channel, except for his Annoited Firstborn of all creation (you know who I mean! ;) ). The problem is, you have a spiritual channel vs. Man's self-made religious channels, and the WTBTS is definately one of those self-made channels to get closer to understanding our mediator with God. Are they inspired by God? Yes, because they think so. Are Catholics inspired by God? Yes, because they think so. Are Mormans inspired by God? Yes, because they think so. God is the common inspiration for all Christian denominations. I look to the denomination (whether they want to admit it or not) that is trying to follow God and use the Bible as a guide, and this is the good ol' JWs.
My old pastor trying to take 10% of my money and explain to me that people who are supposedly already in heaven would rise from the ground to meet Jesus thinks he is inspired by God, even though his VERY TEACHINGS controdict the Bible directly. Should I have listened to him and keep on thinging that God 'shoved them down to earth real quick'? No. Nor should I believe that someone with a Father - Son relationship are the same entity. I get nothing but confusion from everywhere else. From WT, I get clarification. AT LEAST THEY ARE USING THE BIBLE AS A BASE OF KNOWLEDGE!
True Christianity is an answer to all, and I agree is a way of life. Some will say that JWs 'conveiently package everything together', and to that I say that I would rather read a package of honest truth seekers than to duke it out with supposed fellow Christians for another 1,000 years!
Oh, and Path, the search for God is my task. I do NOT delegate that responsibility. With a modern society bent on the world, and no longer at God, it is VERY difficult to totally dedicate oneself to Christ's ideals, let alone God himself. While I research things myself, I leave a great deal of it in the hands of people who have dedicated their lives to such research. My main concern is comprehension and understanding. I've been down the road of trying to learn Greek and researching the origins of manuscripts. You will spend your whole life never understanding God's whole message. You come to a point of YE or NE, and I am tired of holding onto BELIEFS and I am ready to grasp UNDERSTANDING.
Does this make any sense? Hope I haven't rambled too long. I know I seem hypicritical, but dogma has ruined me mentally, and I'm sick of it.
-ianao
