Since the original question in the post concerned prayer...
here's all you need to know about prayer: http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/
What do you make of the Alpha Course?
by boyzone 88 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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LouBelle
Hi boyzone - your experience brings something very similar that happend to me when I was in an Alpha course with the Apostolics. I had just left ""the truth"" and was invited to attend one of these - which I did do. The subject I chose to debate with them when it came up was about tithing. They firmly stated that it was a mandate from God - of course I didn't buy that .... any way pretty much the same thing happend with you.
At the end of it all I stayed a whole 3 months with them. I decided that the best path to walk is my own. I don't need to be taught what to believe by some minister. If I want a relationship with God, I can do that, on my own. I will fellowship if the occassion crops up, but I don't need to be converted into another man run organisation thanks.
All the best.
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besty
I apologize to to the OP for the tangent I went on here.
its not completely irrelevant to consider the 'Afghanistan Dilemma' anytime a Christian specially pleads the case for god being their particular definition of imaginary friend
unless J-Dough reverts with an answer to my question it appears he is just_another_evangelical_on_the_long_list with no reasonable reply to the infamous 'Afghanistan Dilemma'
don't hold yer breath folks - nothing to see here....
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jonathan dough
he (paul) effectively converted to the religion he started
Paul started Christianity? Didn't Jesus Christ and the 12 have something to do with that?
Paul was a cult leader, and that entailed a conversion. Much like CT Russell and other cult leaders - they weren't born that way - left to their own devices they would have been atheists ;-)
Are you saying that the Pharisee Paul, the good Jew, would have been an atheist if left to his own devices?
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besty
*notes refusal to answer simple question
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PSacramento
AH, the alpha course...
About 10 years ago I took it to get confirmed in the RCC, my mom took it with me because she had already began getting visitis from JW's.
I enjoyed it and enjoyed the group discussion afterwards, My mom felt that the people there were not qualified to answer he questions as much as the JW's where, which as we know, is a very common statement from people like my mom who were bgrought up to not question the church and when they do ( being influenced to do so by the JW's in thei case) they are not happy with the answers.
No matter what, we have to admit, the JW's have the answers to all their questions ( even if they are the wrong ones).
The Alpha course showed my Mom that the WT is right and that mainstream christianity was wrong according to her.
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besty
Paul started Christianity? Didn't Jesus Christ and the 12 have something to do with that?
Notwithstanding that the existence of Jesus is without evidence and therefore mythical, but yes - you can make a reasonable argument for the belief system known as Christianity to be essentially Pauline in nature.
Are you saying that the Pharisee Paul, the good Jew, would have been an atheist if left to his own devices?
Yes - him and the rest of the human race are born atheists. The outcome is environmental. See the 'Afghanistan Dilemma' for further details.
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PSacramento
Being exposed to a religion VIA location of birth does not equate being of the religion, much less for all your life, though it does tend to be the defing factor on what religions we are exposed to initially.
I think that, strength of will and desire to question aside, the main issue of staying with one religion oever another is how will someone can convince us that "they" have the "truth".
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jonathan dough
Notwithstanding that the existence of Jesus is without evidence and therefore mythical, but yes - you can make a reasonable argument for the belief system known as Christianity to be essentially Pauline in nature.
You believe Paul existed but not Jesus? Is that part of your reasonable argument? If you believe Paul existed, and he believed in Christ, why would you not believe Christ also existed?
Yes - him and the rest of the human race are born atheists.
How can a newborn infant have any belief system at all, and how do you prove that? Adam was born an atheist? How did prehistoric man, if there is such a thing and/or however that might be defined, start to believe in a higher being if there was no one there to teach him about that superior being? I'm talking about the first one, the one left to his own devices.
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boyzone
Hi all and thank you for your varied responses. I must admit that the "it was a coincidence" option still sits as the most logical for me but I also take on board what Snowbird and Chalam have stated. It could be God allowing the Witnesses to call just at that moment as a way of leading me to this point, but the affects of that knock on the door didn't just adversely influence me but also my husband, our 4 kids, the relationship with my siblings, my in-laws and my parents. Would God really have manouvered such a long-winded lesson involving so many people just so I can learn from the experience and help others?
Somehow it just doens't sit right that God would do that especially as the whole experience has turned my hubby and kids completely away from religion. They won't touch it with a bargepole.
So I'm now thinking, if the coincidence option is the right one, why didn't God answer my prayer at all? If He wasn't involved in the fateful knock on the door, why not? After all, I had prayed for help and support, I was already a christian and had faith and I needed Him right then. Why didn't God answer me?
I guess I'm really having trouble with my faith until I can get some straight answers. As Alltimejeff aptly said recently on another thread, " God better start showing up!".
Judge Dread: You really think Satan can hear prayers? Do you think the bad guy sent them to my door? Can you give me any scriptures that show this as a possibility as I can't think of any myself.
Nelly136: Hiya. Yep we eat before the video and discussion. I still haven't made up my mind whether to go tomorrow night or not.