Welcome home Carmen!
Acts 4:12
New International Version (NIV)
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Blessing in Christ,
Stephen xx
by bohm 54 Replies latest watchtower bible
Welcome home Carmen!
New International Version (NIV)
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Blessing in Christ,
Stephen xx
Shades- Study Judaism, study the Jewish community of the Essenes then you might understand what I meant.
Others have handled the bible interpretation handily. So I'll tackle another angle. As an athiest, I assume you view the worship to an unknown god to be inherently illogical. You might enjoy considering how gods were viewed when this text was written. National leaders were gods. They had temples dedicated to their worship, and were to be considered infallible and absolute in their authority. Ceasar was declared a god. Hence the persecution of the early Christians, as their worship was seen as a direct threat to the state religion.
So there were lots of gods to choose from. Hence the introduction of the idea that there is ony one God, and only one to worship.
So I would ask, how many gods are rivals for our attention these days? Is there more than one god? If regular Christians are reading the same bible, which god does your study leader think they are worshipping?
He might say satan. Which would lead to another interesting discussion. Is satan equivalent in power to the One God? What powers, exactly, are attributed to satan? Can he create? See the hearts and minds of men?
Thank you Stephen! I am so encouraged by your reply. :)
Shades- Study Judaism, study the Jewish community of the Essenes then you might understand what I meant.
They will tell me about Christian's literary conceit?
Carmen
Shades- Yes, most people who profess to be Christians have very little understanding of Judaism (except for its misrepresentation in the New Testament). The study of the Essenes will give you the background of where the Jesus character of the Gospels got many of his ideas.