i think sometimes we may be over analyzing. I think deep inside us, we know truth and we know good and we know evil. I think to know what good is, is to know what love is. Complete selflessness. the opposite of love...hate and selfishness I think would be the path toward evil. I think it's ridiculous to want a book that spells out doctrine to you because not everything is so black and white. I think to look for this, is to look for burden. I think the Bible tells us essentially that we need to love. Love God and love each other and love ourselves. Yet being imperfect, we fail at this time and time again....But if we believe that the Lord suffered and died for our imperfections, we can be made perfect by accepting the sacrifice he has made.
Why is truth is so hard to find in Bible
by The Dragon 48 Replies latest watchtower bible
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drew sagan
I tend to think of it this way.
Think about the Bibles own account of Jesus and the people he came across in his ministry. He guided them along, but in a basic way. When did he come out and say 'read your Bible daily', or 'Bible Study is the Key to God'.
JWs teach that everything spiritual has something to do with sitting down and finding out every little thing you need to know about life in a book.
When it came down to it Jesus said that the two most important things where to love God and to love your fellow man. How many people in the gospel accounts had available to them the amount of 'Study' aids and other things that people spend hours and hours with today.
Most of this 'study' attitude comes not even from the Books themselves, but from the reformation.
Sometimes things are much simpiler than they appear to be. Look for the spiritual outside the ordinary. -
Stealth453
The bible is a fairy tale.
Sorry...
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Perry
I used to get so mad because there wasn't more information about Jesus in the NT. I reasoned that if he was all he said he was, then why don't we have more information about him? Like a good JW I wanted to know more about God instead of knowing God in an experiental way.
Jesus said, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life". Before you accept Christ, all you can learn from the bible is certain facts, like what is good and what is bad. Even without the bible, there is a certain notion of right and wrong hard wired within. In either instance, eventually you realize that you cannot live up to God's standards, nor even the ones we have hard wired. I noticed that in my own case that my personal morality progressed to less not more, the more I learned.
After I accepted Christ and believed God, the scriptures took on a completely different role and appeared completely different. I couldn't believe I was reading the same book. But, I could never mistake the Source of Truth again. I knew that it was the Spirit and the" Living Word" instructing me and not just head knowledge. I'm embarrassed to admit that my ego was hurt believe it or not. I always prided myself as an educated and well read person.
Later on I asked God to confirm to me that I really was part of his family and was completely accepted. I asked him for the baptism of the Holy Spirit if there was such a thing. Within a few days I started praying and speaking in tongues every night for a whole week! And it was all night long.... eight to ten hours each night. My normal prayers just naturally turned into the tongue of angels as I slipped off to sleep. Only, I was fully aware all night. I could feel the information leaving my spirit and I was surprised that I was not reading from a manuscript because of the sheer volume of information. I reacted in peaceful surprise that I had all this stuff "memorized" although I had never memorized anything.
When I awoke each morning, I felt completely refreshed although I knew that I had been "awake" all night. I didn't think anything about this for the first few nights, because as I mentioned it was all very natural and peaceful. However, after the third or fourth night my mind started really analyzing the uniqueness of it all and it started to unnerve me a little that this was happening. So, I told my wife what was going on and she said that she heard me too. She said that I woke her up because I was speaking out loud in a language she couldn't understand and that it sounded very emotional.
I then asked God that if this was from him I wanted to skip a night and then do it again. I prayed the same as before when I went to sleep that night, mainly praising God and then went to sleep. Nothing happened. The next night we went on vacation to visit some friends and I prayed in the Spirit all night as before. This confimed for me that it was from God. But then a starnge thing happened. I got mad at God because I felt like I was "not in control" .
I bought me a fancy cigar and just sat on my porch for a good long while saying good-bye to the old Perry. I was pouting. I realized that he would never be back. I realized that God was confirming three things to me. One was that I really was in his family now. The other thing He wanted me to understand was that I no longer was the boss. I loved the first message and was a little shocked by the second. Being that I have almost always been my own boss in business with employees, this new role was needed to be impressed on me. And it hurt. The third thing I realized was my purpose. My purpose is to give God praise and credit. Before Christ, whatever I acquired never filled me. I was never satisfied with enough, money, girlfriends, attention, or anything else. The glass always needed re-filling. Now, I am filled and enjoy all the "things" in life as never before. I don't need to keep going to the well for a tempoorary fix.
I eventually got over my hurt pride and got used to my new role and to God's new role in my life. That was 18 months ago. And, whatever I might have "lost" I have gained many times more. I have never spoke in tongues again. However, recently during study God "spoke" my new name to me he has given me in heaven. It brought me to tears because God's name for me means the exact opposite of the opinion that my Jehovah's Witness father has of me. I did not want to know the name and resisted it. But, it welled up in me like a bubble and when it gently burst their was God's new name for me. I cried like I never cried before.
I now know why there is so little in the NT about Jesus. He desires a relationship with us and not just have you sit down and read dry laws and information. He wants to head off into the unknown with you as an adventure and to keep your company simply because he appreciates your uniqueness. Like Honesty already quoted but here it is again from John in "The Message"
- 5:39
- "You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you'll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me!
- 5:40
- And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren't willing to receive from me the life you say you want. - Jesus
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Morocco
I hear a lot of people talking about muddy concepts, and admittedly I am now at the point in my life where I ask myself why can people use the Bible for damn near anything they want to use it for? Why is there no clear-cut end-all interpretation or understanding of what is being said? My answer, for me, is that is the point. IF there is a God and he is indeed a good being looking for people with good hearts then wouldn't it be interesting to see what we did with his power? Wouldn't it show our true character and what is at the core of our hearts if the Bible, or religion, were set up in such a way that it provided people with the power to destroy or heal, believe or give up? The power to CHOOSE, for others or ourselves, is the only thing that can determine who we are, if we are either good or bad. I have been studying the Bible for a time and see that sometimes there is no answer to questions. WE have to make the answer, and that, to me, is the point. What kind of conclusion will we come to? How will we treat others? WHAT KIND of picture will we portray God as? The Christians who scream condemnation at the atheists may be punished for not showing love and tolerance, the atheists who shout there is no God may be punished for not believing, who knows? All I know is that it can't hurt to be tolerant, kind, forgiving, and try your best to be a good person in your heart and that if there is a God he will see it and not forget HOW you have behaved about the ever increasing confusion that is life.
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poppers
The truth that I am pointing to is that which is found in the stillness of the eye, the silence of the mind, and the fullness of the heart.
From gumby
Without being poetic, please explain these words like you were talking to a kid and maybe others would have a clue. I'm serious. I'd like to hear what exactly you mean and I ain't bein a smartelic either.
What I am trying to say about "truth" cannot be put into words because truth itself is beyond words, that's why it's confusing. We think "truth" is something the mind can understand, but the mind is limited to the conceptual only.
"Stillness of the eye" - the mind can't wrap itself around that, but there can be the realization of a stillness beneath every movement that arises out of one's very being. What you are in actuality is stillness itself, and that stillness can be felt no matter what sort of activity one is engaged in. We tend to focus on activity in the outside world, all the while ignoring the stillness that is at our very core, that IS our very core. To be consciously aware of the stillness is to be anchored in such a way that no activity can overshadow that stillness. In that stillness is profound and unconditional peace.
"Silence of the mind" is a bit easier to grasp, though difficult if only thought about. People are for the most part identified with their minds, and mind generates nothing but noise. Thoughts = noise. However, between each thought is a gap, and if one is very alert they can begin to recognize those gaps. While "in the gap" there is no inner noise because there is no thought. Without thought there is nothing recognizable as "me", for the "me" is also made up of thought. When one stays in the "gap" the sense of separation evaporates because separation is created by the "me" - when there is "me" all else becomes "other". It is this sense of separation that creates fear, for one will tend to fear "other" as a possible thread to existence. Being aware of silence amidst "outside" noise is peaceful and deeply satisfying. Knowing that "you" are not the mind frees you from the tyranny of the mind.
"Fullness of heart" - this is another way of saying that when one consciously recognizes one's real nature there is nothing more that needs to be sought. There is a sense of fullness, a sense of completion that is totally satisfying. People tend to look outside themselves to find something which will "complete" them, be it in another person, in "god", in knowledge, in wealth, power or whatever. Achieving any goal outside oneself only provides a momentary sense of completion. At some point a new goal will be pursued because a sense of lack eventually creeps in after the initial goal has been reached. The truth is, all sense of completion is here now within you as your very being. What we seek we already have, only we don't know it so we look for it "out there" somewhere - we seek "truth", but the path of seeking only covers up the already existing truth of our very being.
I'm not sure how much of this a kid will grasp, but I have confidence in you. Actually, a kid is probably closer to truth than most adults for they aren't yet full of ideas. It is ideas that get in the way. Truth is outside the provence of every idea.
poppers
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the dreamer dreaming
words do not contain meaning, they trigger experiences within you... yours, not the authors.
any book is a mirror to your own soul, no monkey reading the bible will find a god staring back
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JamesThomas
Poppers,
Your above explanation is truly beautiful. A very open and clear narration.
j
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kid-A
However, recently during study God "spoke" my new name to me he has given me in heaven. It brought me to tears because God's name for me means the exact opposite of the opinion that my Jehovah's Witness father has of me. I did not want to know the name and resisted it. But, it welled up in me like a bubble and when it gently burst their was God's new name for me. I cried like I never cried before.
Dude, with all due respect, this just sounds completely and utterly whacko. Surely you dont think the JWs sound any more "far out" than this?
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skeptic2
Within a few days I started praying and speaking in tongues every night for a whole week! And it was all night long.... eight to ten hours each night.
Woah.
Quick, get the net - they're all coming out.