by Terry 47 Replies latest jw friends
All true Christians should love their enemies. Absolutely True.
Jesus commanded his followers to love their enemies. To not do this amounts to a rejection of Jesus. A no-no for Christians.
As a gladiator, I can do what the hell I want with mine. Oh, the freedom!
All true Christians should love their enemies. Absolutely True.
Jesus commanded his followers to love their enemies. To not do this amounts to a rejection of Jesus. A no-no for Christians.
But how can someone be a true Christian if we can never know if the Christ really said that? We guess he did, but what if he didnt? then you would be following the writter of that story or the editor scribe rather than the actual Jesus.
"All true Christians should love their enemies. Absolutely True."
Does this mean that JW's have to love so-called apostates?
LeavingWT - It is circular. I don't think there is any way around that, at least not for me.
I learned about God through instruction as a child, at some Sunday school lessons - my mother was not religious, and certainly not outspoken about faith. I do not ever remember having a conversation about it with her as a child.
My brother had the same upbringing as me; the same minimal exposure. He's an atheist/agnostic. I'm a believer.
*shrugs*
From that bit of instruction, I always believed. I got strength from it. Had prayers answered as a teenager. That's pretty powerful to a young person.
I fell away from it all as I moved into my twenties. Then a few years ago (once I started thinking about my children's spiritual needs), I decided to read the bible myself, to make sure no one could tell me something was a command when it actually wasn't. So no one could swindle me, and so I could teach my children correctly.
Then the JW's offered to conduct a completely unbiased study with me, and I accepted.
After two years, I got away from them too. Started searching for truth elsewhere - and then just stopped searching altogether. Just decided to take a breather... and then I put my faith and fate in God's hands.
Here I am.
I've never lost my faith. When I have doubts, I think about Jesus and his teachings, and the doubts fade away.
Believe me, I question everything in my life. I read all fine print. I never believe anyone when they say something that is too good to be true. I never believe anything anyone says anyway, without looking it up for myself.
But I don't doubt God. My faith is always there.
I think I consider that a miracle in itself. I think that's my personal revelation. I don't have anything like what PSac says happened to him. I don't have the contact that Shelby says she has.
I just have my undying faith.
I don't expect that to convince anyone. But that's as honest as I think I can be.
Tammy
But how can someone be a true Christian if we can never know if the Christ really said that?
Faith - cyberjesus - faith.
Tammy -- I always enjoy your honest and thoughtful comments. Thank you.
Tammy -- I always enjoy your honest and thoughtful comments. Thank you
You're welcome, and thank you.
Tammy
Faith - cyberjesus - faith.
yes but if I have faith then I dont need to self-test anything. So I am back to where I started.
So to any Statement allegedly said by Jesus, I would give an "allegedly true" answer since I can not know for sure if he did. Unless I have faith. but if I do then I dont need to test anything because I have Faith. :-D
This goes both ways. A person can evaluate any belief structure he buys into by a few well chosen questions and his responses to them. Try the following.
There is no God this is a fact. true, somewhat true, maybe true, false.
Did you pause to think about this? did you consider the alternatives? Would you ask people to accept this statement as a fact and not analyse the alternatives for themselves?
Complete sexual freedom is beneficial for society. true, somewhat true, maybe true, false.
Did you pause to think about this? Do you think the question encompasses a lot more issues than one simple statement can express? Do cultural demands drive our viewpoints?
Disbanding all religions will end war. true, somewhat true, maybe true, false.
Enough people blame religion for wars totally as a cultural norm and promote this viewpoint. If you believe this did you think this statement completely correct without a pause? If you think war is more complex than this did you think this statement a false one straight away?
A person can look at road rules and see the benefit to them by personal analyse. But this equally applies to the bible and what it teaches. It can also be measured and evaluated.
If I look at a road sign saying "children crossing" indicating I slow down. I immediately see the benefit of it for both myself and the children. In future I program myself to obey this sign and no longer think about it since it has already been processed.
We can do the same with bible teachings seeing the benefit of teachings on morality etc obviously evaluating them initially to see whether we accept them. Do we then keep evaluating our original decisions so as to reasure ourselves?
Are you saying we cannot have confidence in a biblical setting without it being a cult mindset?
Jehovah's Witnesses under Russell and JW's under Rutherford went from one end to the other.
please expand on this
Russell had things he believed. Rutherford had things he disbelieved.
Russell promoted dissemination of what he considered knowledge (all his brand, of course). Rutherford disseminated hatred for things.
Both were extremists. Russell fostered a proprietory Armageddon calendar and Pyramid proofology. Rutherfurd fostered anti-Catholicism, anti-government and anti-Christendom.
