by tenyearsafter 43 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Jonath,
So what do you understand the phrase "to know god" to mean?
I know it is off topic but related just the same to our discussion.
I don't know.
But I know what it does not mean. It doesn't mean sitting around like a robot reading the Watchtower and other literature, memorizing it and spitting it back.
Jonath,
Thanks for being honest :)
FS - Thanks for your insight. I agree that the WT way of accurate knowledge being required for salvation doesn't jive with the Bible...if accurate knowledge was required, how did the thief crucified next to Jesus qualify for being with Jesus in Paradise? Escaping WT circular reasoning is a difficult journey, but one worth taking. Wherever it ultimately leads is how we experience freedom!
JD - I appreciate what you are saying and can see your point and being a force and a person. I still struggle with why it has to be complex. Physics and math are complex, and only a certain few truly grasp the full workings of their theory. In the 1st century, very few of the people that heard the Good News were educated...most were illiterate. I would be surprised if they typically could grasp and accept even the simplest form of the Trinity's complex Godhead. Not arguing validity, but rather the logic behind the complexity versus simplicity argument. You will get no disagreement from me regarding the WT explanation...it always seemed to convenient for my taste.
TYA
the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. I belive God has a physical being with a face that one could see, and God has a spiritual side his Holy Spirit that is unseen. The purpose for mankind is to give God a permanent, clean dwelling place for His Holy Spirit. A temple of the living filled with God's life force. I belive the Holy spirit is in everything God created linking all his Kingdom together; God blesses those he wants with more and others with less. We all have a soul and the spirit activating our soul to be alive (life) is God's spirit and returns to God when our soul returns to dust -- Ecc12:7. God's Holy Spirit is God's Holy spirit and we do not have a spirit ourselves; but its God Spirit that gives us life and is in us. I belive God's Spirit is in every atom in existence, letting God know and control (if wills) everything in existence. Only God controlles His Spirit, according to God's own will. The spirit is truth, no lie is a part of God or His Spirit.
Ezekiel 37:12-14, Psalms146:4, 104:29,30
God's holy spirit does many things and is more powerful than we can comprehend or fully understand in this life. It is an unseen secret, to be revealed when we are ready. Like we have a soul and God's spirit, God has a soul and His own Spirit. Jesus is filled with Holy Spirit to the max 99.999...%. Satan is filled with God's spirit to the extreme low end .00000000001% but still has life given to him by God untill his due time. Dead have no life or spirit, spirit goes back to God and the rest of us (dust) goes back to the ground.
Jeremiahjs - Are you saying that the Holy Spirit is a life force that powers all other beings including Jesus and Satan? I am having a bit of trouble understanding what you are saying. Were you ever a JW? Are you Trinitarian or non-Trinitarian? I look forward to your response...
TYA
Nice thread TYA :)
Take a listen here God The Holy Spirit
Some teaching IMHO.
That said, I do not agree with everything Mark says, for example Spirit Baptism and speaking in tongues but a great resource none the less.
Blessings,
Stephen
Thanks Stephen...I appreciate your posts!
bttt - jeremiahjs?
I would be surprised if they typically could grasp and accept even the simplest form of the Trinity's complex Godhead.
They might bnot have grasped it in all of its complexity, but they accepted it as they accept it today.
The HS is the Spirit of God and also the spirit of Jesus (after Jesus returned to God).
As such, the HS is everything and anything God "says" it is and it has all the qualities that God has/has given it.
Is it an impersonal force? Only if God is an impoersonal force.
Does it feel? does it have emotions? As much as God has since it is God's spirit.
