I'm thrilled to learn that I'll never die.
Why I'm going to burn in Hell for eternity.
by Open mind 46 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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PSacramento
I'm thrilled to learn that I'll never die.
Yeah? thrilled?
One word: Taxes.
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BurnTheShips
Burns, you painted a beautiful word picture, but that picture doesn't match up to what Jesus purportedly said in Matthew.
Jesus was asked which were the greatest commandments given to Israel. These are the two greatest. He also said that only God is truly Good. To love God, is to love Good. To love Good, is to love God--even though it might not be mentally constructed that way in the lover. Even for a person that finds it impossible to believe in God (such as someone damaged by the JWs), it is possible for them to love what is good--I firmly believe that is enough for that person. When their soul makes its final choice, it will choose what it loves most. And in that place, the truth is not veiled as it is here.
He loved first, even as he knew he would be executed.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
BTS
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BurnTheShips
One word: Taxes.
At least death doesn't get worse when Congress is in session.
BTS
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AK - Jeff
This is not a critique mind you, I am just stating that I don't think there is an external way to change a doubters mind about God.
True. Probably not. But with god it should be easy - he doesn't seem too interested in so doing however. That's my point.
At this moment on this planet, there are collectively more 'souls to save' then there ever were. There is also technology that could assure absolute preservation of anything god said or did. No guessing. No old manuscripts. No church to sort them and make them into a canon that fits their convictions. No one in future generations would have to doubt - it could be proven.
Still, god does not act. He, I guess, expects us to have 'faith' - when he could assure us of his existence, his purpose, his intentions, his will, his regulations. But he does not.
I was not always faithless - though what I write these days might lead some to make that conclusion. I was a man of deep faith, for a very long time. The illusion shattered. I saw the man behind the curtain. I refused to drink the koolaid.
But if god were really there, he could change all that for me and billions of other doubters instantly. By way of example: If I woke, looked into the sky and saw a large spacecraft hovering over my city, with smaller crafts coming and going, I would not doubt it's existence. If doubters were allowed to fly helicopters up, photograph it, do scientific tests on it, and then reported that it was real, not a hologram, I would not doubt it's existence. It would change my paradigm of the world - but I would not doubt it any longer.
God, if he put his mind to it, if he is real, could do something far more spectacular to assuage doubt. He seems less interested in so doing than the doubters.
Jeff
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PSacramento
Even for a person that finds it impossible to believe in God (such as someone damaged by the JWs), it is possible for them to love what is good--I firmly believe that is enough for that person. When their soul makes its final choice, it will choose what it loves most. And in that place, the truth is not veiled as it is here.
Very well said.
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Open mind
First off, I apologize for abandoning my thread for so long.
BTS said:
Jesus was asked which were the greatest commandments given to Israel.
So since they were given to Israel, are you implying that Jesus was not repeating them so that all humans should be bound by them? If the commands apply to everyone, we're back to my original question:
Commanding love creates an impossible Catch-22.
Again you construct a very comforting picture of God's love and, if it's true, well I think my inner good guy is at least 1% bigger than my inner a$$hole so maybe God will let me squeak through.
Thanks again for your thoughts Burns, PSac and everyone else who contributed.
om