Are Faith and Reason Compatible? Jan Awake

by DanaBug 23 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • DanaBug
    DanaBug

    Here's some quotes from that article:

    The Bible says, for example, that if your worship is to be “acceptable to God,” it must be “a sacred service with your power of reason.” In other words, you must worship God “in a way that is worthy of thinking beings.” (Romans 12:1; The Jerusalem Bible) So the faith described in the Bible is not something blind and irrational, or a leap of faith, as some have called it. And it is not credulity. Rather, it is something you have thought through carefully—resulting in trust in God and his Word, which is firmly based on reason.
    Of course, if you are to reason properly, you need accurate information. Even the most powerful computer programs designed on solid principles of logic will come up with some very strange conclusions if they are fed inaccurate data. Likewise, the quality of your faith will depend greatly on what you hear or on how dependable the information you feed your mind proves to be. Appropriately, the Bible says that “faith follows the thing heard.” —Romans 10:17.
    A fundamental requirement for faith is “an accurate knowledge of truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4) Only “the truth,” says the Bible, “will set you free,” free from misleading beliefs, whether they are scientific or religious. (John 8:32) The Bible warns you not to put faith “in every word.” (Proverbs 14:15) Rather, it says that you should “make sure of all things”—or test out the things you hear before believing them. (1 Thessalonians 5:21) Why should you do research and test out your beliefs? Because faith based on falsehood is only a delusion. Some noble-minded people from the ancient city of Beroea set a fine example in acquiring proper faith. Even though these individuals really wanted to believe what Christian missionaries taught them, they made a point of “carefully examining the Scriptures daily as to whether these things were so." --Acts17:11.
    The Bible describes true faith as “the assured expectation of things hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld.” (Hebrews 11:1) Clearly, far from being naive, a person with real faith has based his beliefs on a careful scrutiny of all available data. Reasoning on such information produces the conviction that even things that cannot be seen with the literal eye are, nonetheless, realities.
    What, though, if what you learn seems to contradict some of your deeply held beliefs? Should you just ignore it? Of course not. There may well be times when it is eminently reasonable to consider powerful evidence that appears to contradict what you believe. In the Bible, God promises to reward sincere individuals who search for truth by granting them knowledge, discernment, and thinkng ability. -- Proverbs 2:1-12.
    The kind of faith built on what the Bible teaches is compatible with reason. What kind of faith do you have? Many people have “inherited” their religious beliefs and have never seriously examined them in the light of reason. Yet, it is not a sign of disrespect to examine what you believe so as to ‘prove to yourself’ that your thinking is in harmony with God’s Word. (Romans 12:2) The Bible admonishes us to “test the inspired expressions to see whether they originate with God.” (1 John 4:1) If you do that, you will be in a position, even when your beliefs are challenged, to “make a defense before everyone that demands of you a reason for the hope in you.” —1 Peter 3:15.

    Now leaving aside the claim that the Bible will set you free from misleading scientific beliefs (seriously? ) This is right in front of them. How many JW's have checked the reliability of the information they receive? Are they aware that they're allowed to?

    I'm planning on showing this to my dad, not expecting much though. But that last paragraph is especially true for me. I inherited my religious beliefs and after a careful examination, found them to be false. No disrespect at all. They're not in harmony with God's Word.

    I'd love any input on how to present this without alarm bells going off.

  • leavingwt
  • Mad Sweeney
    Mad Sweeney

    DanaBug, one thing you may be surprised to discover is that JWs do not read the Awake! and those that do, view it as it truly is: a Public Relations tool to show the public that JWs are normal and reasonable people. The "us versus them" indoctrination allows them to alleviate any cognitive dissonance an article such as this would bring out in a rational person by compartmentalizing the information. 'The "examine your faith" counsel applies to the "worldly" people who will be reading this magazine after I leave it at the coin-laundry. I have already examined my faith by comparing it with the counsel in the WT magazine.'

    Good luck but don't hold your breath on an active JW seeing anything instantly. But you will plant seeds that could sprout at a later time, so don't give up just because results don't seem to be happening. Every bit of cognitive dissonance you can create is another burden on the indoctrination.

  • Found Sheep
    Found Sheep

    they are such hypocrites... they say test your faith but don't read anything that is negative about the Org, or writen by an ex-jw... test your faith but only read what we write and only the new stuff cuz we change our minds a lot...

  • Lore
    Lore
    http://youtube.com/v/q2SJgAdpCVQ

    Funny how Shermer lets the priest go through his whole 2 minute routine at the beginning without so much as a peep. But the priest interupts Shermer in his very first sentence and doesn't let him talk from then on out.

    Not that the inabilty to be civil in a discussion proves that there is no god. But it does prove that the priest is a jerk.

  • DanaBug
    DanaBug

    Mad Sweeney

    'The "examine your faith" counsel applies to the "worldly" people who will be reading this magazine after I leave it at the coin-laundry. I have already examined my faith by comparing it with the counsel in the WT magazine.'

    This is what I was thinking too. I've already seen this from my dad. He said you don't have to experience other religions to know that only JW's have true unity, as an example the International we went to in Mexico. Maybe if I turn it on me, as in I've never examined this against the Bible really and this is what I've found so why was I taught this?

    I don't know. I'm really anxious not to out myself as an apostate because I know what will happen. But I still feel like I should try with him. Of course, already being df'd makes it that much harder. It helps to bounce this off other people though, and any input is greatly appreciated!

  • zoiks
    zoiks

    Lore-

    It was mentioned that the priest was a Fox News contributor. That probably explains his interrupt-y nature. Shermer is a polite guy; there are no such requirements placed upon Fox News' talking heads.

  • baltar447
    baltar447

    I fear this will only get worse. It's theocratic warfare on the public. They haven't studied so they aren't entitled to know what we REALLY teach.

  • pirata
    pirata
    one thing you may be surprised to discover is that JWs do not read the Awake!

    I have to disagree here. A lot in my hall talk with each other about what they read in the Awake! Therefore they must read it. The mental filters however tend to not raise any red flags at the discrepancies between how JWs should test their faith and how everyone else should test their faith.

  • garyneal
    garyneal

    As much as I would love to show this to my wife, I'm so done with trying to help her see these things.

    Funny thing is, though, is that the article makes a lot of the same arguments I make when it came to my examining this religion back when I was considering joining the witnesses. She tries to dance around it when she tries to refute it, but her arguments aren't that valid.

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