by garyneal 35 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I once said to someone:
If God can't be understood, of what God is God?
If there are things that are above our knowledge, then why did Jesus come to us and try to explain them? why would God not reveal these things to us? Love has no secrets.
Faith should never fear intellect or reason or questions, God doesn't fear these things, why should our faith fear them?
ACTS 13:41 ‘Behold it, YOU scorners, and wonder at it, and vanish away, because I am working a work in YOUR days, a work that YOU will by no means believe even if anyone relates it to YOU in detail.’"
So God excludes some from some knowledge and secrets. It has little to do with intellect. It has to do with being called and chosen. You cannot come to Christ unless God calls you.
Plus Satan's area of expertise is propaganda. I think intellectuals are more subject to propaganda from Satan than non-intellectuals.
LS
Satan is a master of numbers too....
It is not all or nothing or all just simply black&white. I think that a person being an intellectual is more likely not going to believe in a God but never will it be a 100% certainty.
Now as to the belief in the biblical God with all his human traits of vengeance, love, hate, and pettiness I'm sure the % of unbelievers is much higher as apposed to those that just don't believe in any God like deity all together.
Intellectuals do not believe in gods because they have used their intelligence to determine if there are gods.
Being that the only evidence of gods comes from the ignorant hearsay and imagination from ancient men the conclusion is drawn.
<Quote:It is not all or nothing or all just simply black&white. I think that a person being an intellectual is more likely not going to believe in a God but never will it be a 100% certainty.
Now as to the belief in the biblical God with all his human traits of vengeance, love, hate, and pettiness I'm sure the % of unbelievers is much higher as apposed to those that just don't believe in any God like deity all together. UNQUOTE>
I agree on this.
I have to add though that I find it insulting in some regards that people think that only "unintellectuals" believe in God, that is not the case.
I myself am an educated man, a degree in business and engineering, I graduated in the top 5% of my class in University, I have been around the block quite a bit and served my country as a peacekeeper.
And I believe in God and my Lord Jesus and I have NO issues with people who don't nor do I call into question THEIR intelligence.
A good measure of intellectualism might be when a individual listens to a talk by one of the representatives of the WTS.
and does not draw the conclusion that what is being said is about the proliferation of their published literature,
which inadvertently gives financial support to the organization.
Sac,
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As far as intellect and believing in god:
I myself am an educated man, a degree in business and engineering, I graduated in the top 5% of my class in University, I have been around the block quite a bit and served my country as a peacekeeper. And I believe in God and my Lord Jesus and I have NO issues with people who don't nor do I call into question THEIR intelligence.
I think you make a valid point, but I would like you to say in addition to intellect, we also have to include the fact that some rather nonintellectual types of people don't believe in god, so belief and non belief don't just rely on intellect but also so the type of indoctrination one has received from his/her parents or religion especially during formative years.
Say one was born into a religion or culture and these formed the basis for certain types of reasoning's. These ideas or beliefs often were taught when our powers of reason were not that sharp and we didn't have time or inclination to test out every belief we were taught and so our base for believing or nonbelieving may be very faulty and taken for granted as true. So that with this faulty base or frame work a person may be very intellectual in certain areas but not in others especially when it comes to deeply ingrained religious indoctrination.
If one could just intellectually look at the the subject more objectively with the knowledge that one has been indoctrinated from an earlier time during ones youth and perhaps overcome the indoctrinated fear of punishment for disbelief a different picture of reality immerges. which is what has happened to me after years of belief.
Indoctrination from youth cultural&religious have a very strong bearing on beleif:
I think you make a valid point, but I would like you to say in addition to intellect, we also have to include the fact that some rather nonintellectual types of people don't believe in god, so belief and non belief don't just rely on intellect but also so the type of indoctrination one has received from his/her parents or religion especially during formative years.
Say one was born into a religion or culture and these formed the basis for certain types of reasoning's. These ideas or beliefs often were taught when our powers of reason were not that sharp and we didn't have time or inclination to test out every belief we were taught and so our base for believing or nonbelieving may be very faulty and taken for granted as true. So that with this faulty base or frame work a person may be very intellectual in certain areas but not in others especially when it comes to deeply ingrained religious indoctrination.
If one could just intellectually look at the the subject more objectively with the knowledge that one has been indoctrinated from an earlier time during ones youth and perhaps overcome the indoctrinated fear of punishment for disbelief a different picture of reality immerges. which is what has happened to me after years of belief.
That may be the case for some, but not for all, I myself was not brought up in a strict belief system, before my folks became JW's they were very lackdaisacal RC's and I was not religious at all.
