by Deputy Dog 74 Replies latest jw friends
well i havent read all this thread, dont have much time and am too tired lol, but yes i dont fear satan and dont fear Jah....
Aslong as i dont turn against Jehovah i have know reason to fear him, im not in oposition of him. Jah is the most powerful but he uses his power for good. satan uses his power to harm, be evil etc, im too tired cant explain, sorry...but satan is trash and Jehovah is loving :)
Nark
Don't get me wrong "Evangelicals" (if that term means anything any more) are in many ways just as guilty, and I guess it's fair to point out. You have to admit "Evangelicals" (at least the ones I'm familiar with) stress the grace of God over the fear of Satan. I may be wrong but here at least, the fear of Satan may be more of a Catholic thing. I guess the confusion came when you said my "assumption is unfair" I'm not comparing the JWs to any other group.
My thought is more about the conflict for the witnesses, who in my opinion fears Satan far more than their God. I also think the WT fans the flame of the fear of Satan to keep the R&F witness in line. With many JWs Satan is hiding everywhere, but God is only as big as the WT.
angel eyes
well i havent read all this thread, dont have much time and am too tired lol, but yes i dont fear satan and dont fear Jah....
At least read my first post on this thread. And maybe you should read some of your own posts, because you appear to fear Satan far more than God.
DD i dont fear satan more than Jah...i dont fear either of them. I know Jah is MORE powerful and I know Jah wont cause me any harm...thats the basic of it all.
Why would i fear a LOVING God? How could I fear satan?
You have to admit "Evangelicals" (at least the ones I'm familiar with) stress the grace of God over the fear of Satan.
That's true for me anyway. But I guess it all comes down to the individual. I don't sit around worrying about Satan because I know that ultimately, he has no power over me.
I may be wrong but here at least, the fear of Satan may be more of a Catholic thing.
You may be on to something there. Don't Catholics believe that they can be possessed? Most Evangelicals reject the idea that a believer who is indwelt with the Holy Spirit could be demon possessed.
angel eyes
How could I fear satan?
You tell me. You're warning everyone of his "POWER"
Here are your words
sadly many people underestimate the power of the devil and the demons.
Could you please tell us what "POWER" you are refering to?
You also said
Aww sad shes that scared, we do have Jah's protection but we arent to misuse it. How foolish we would be to put ourselfs at risk on purpose. We remain alert at all times because satan will ALWAYS want to attack Jah's people...he wants us all to die.
Is it DEATH that you fear?
Saoirse
Most Evangelicals reject the idea that a believer who is indwelt with the Holy Spirit could be demon possessed.
The reputable ones do.
Then again, we have the nut jobs like Neil Anderson
Then again, we have the nut jobs like Neil Anderson |
I've never heard of him so I had to google his name. Thanks for the warning, I try to stay away from the kooks.
Belief in, and fear of Satan probably culminated in the late middle-ages; Luther's way of recounting his conversations with the devil already show a certain (literary, humoristic) distantiation from it. It is certainly very low among Catholics (at least in traditionally Catholic countries) now.
In a sense JWs are closer to a medieval mindset with the huge difference that it is a subculture, and as a result their mind (like that of all "literalist" or "fundamentalist" believers, more or less) is a mix of two very different worlds. The supernatural understanding is switched off most of the time but it is lurking and can pop up anytime, as soon as there is a problem with the ordinary, "rational" functioning.
Now do JWs fear Satan more than Jehovah? I suppose it depends, but looking back to the fears I remember from my JW period, I personally wouldn't construe it that way. I think what I really feared was rejection, separation from God rather than punishment. And in its essence this fear was very similar to that of "hell" (as I recall from early Catholic childhood). "Satan" and "demons" on the one hand, "Armaggedon" on the other hand, were just names and figures that would fill that void -- but inasmuch as they were "something", they were actually less dreadful than the void itself. And at this point it mixes with very personal, non-religious emotions and fears from infancy. Fear of the dark. Nightmares of the "underworld" and the animal souls there. The unbearable pain of hearing my father say to me: "I don't love you anymore" and me crying "Love me, please." When you search for the roots of fear you may get very far away from theological generalities -- although they can be expressed in theological generalities.
Whats the worst case scenario for a dead JW? I mean seriously. They cease to exist and thats it. POOF. No eternal flames, or clouds or haunting any body or being reborn in someone elses body...
Whats to fear?
