To those of Faith on here, a question.

by wobble 21 Replies latest jw experiences

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  wobble

  Those of you on here who are still believers in God or Gods, do you feel that it is better to be like our dear Shelby (aka A. Guest) and others on here, and simply believe without reference to a religion or to a holy book ?

  Or do you think we need to find a Church and some holy writings ?

  The reason I ask is because I can accept and appreciate a pure faith position, belief without proof, apart from your personal experience, but I cannot see that any "Religion" or Church, or holy writings, has any claim to truth.
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  Viv

  Well, I think religion is something between you and your God, it should come from the hearth and not through an organisation with ceremony etc.

  Vivamus
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  acolytes

  Hej Wobbles

  The pure faith position you refer too (I believe) is not communitable by words.

  Iam a man of "Faith".....I beleive that Jesus invitation to follow is an invitation to my non existence. The love of God is so powerful little me(My thoughts music ,likes and dislikes ceases to exit when I give my life to God/Jesus.

  This is why when Jesus disiples arsked "Who sinned the man or his father that he was born blind" Jesus did not say how can you be born blind and be a sinner. So Jesus taught reincarnation. And maybe that is why we reject Jesus. The church members "give lip service"The muslims worship "Allah"But blindness starvation,and even going up in the holocaust chimney,or being a SS officer is better than non-existence. That is why we reject Jesus our being is better than our not being.

  I hope my words have relevence to your question. I felt they did, so I replyd to your post.

  Acolytes
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  PSacramento

  I don't have issues with any relgion ( unless it advocates harming oneself or another) and Ilove reading the bible and think that the bible is an excellent introductory to God and his Son.

  I do think that personal revelation is needed to go to the "next level" but I am not sure that everyone is "capable" of that, it cna be too big a step for some people.

  There is no proof or evidence that can prove the existence of God or that Christianity is THE right religion, there just isn't any and as such, THAT part of one's faith must be just that, faith.

  But faith should be tempered with reason and rational, though humans are NOT very rational at all, LOL !
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  Mad Sweeney

  Wobble, I am of the belief that the only revelation that can be trusted is the one you've experienced yourself (and even that is WIDE OPEN to personal bias and interpretation). Nobody's holy book is any more "from God" than anyone else's. All should be approached with a skeptical eye. As for organizing into a religion, I feel it is worse than unnecessary; it is detrimental.
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  peacefulpete

  Religious faith without religion is impossible. People define themselves as people of Faith have unconsciously adopted vestiges of doctrine from religions. The very notion of a personal deity is the creation of deist religions that have been influential to Western culture. There are nondeist religions. Belief in an afterlife is the product of the religions that created the doctrine and have again left an deep impression on our culture. There are, after all, religions that do not teach an afterlife. All elements that define a person as a "person of faith" were at one time the identifying property of some religion. What I saying is that if a person were truly to abandon the religions of the world, he/she would of necessity have to abandon the teachings/superstitions of those religions. The person who believs the doctrines of a religion is an adherent of that religion. Ex JWs who persist in believing in stuff like Paradise, Armagedon and fear of demons are actually just inactive/estranged JWs.
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  VoidEater

  Those of you on here who are still believers in God or Gods, do you feel that it is better to be like our dear Shelby (aka A. Guest) and others on here, and simply believe without reference to a religion or to a holy book ?

  You do not need a religion or holy book. I find the most authentic belief can only come from a "personal creativity", as opposed to the adoption of someone else's dogma.
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  tec

  I respect the bible for what it is. A book that contains some inspired scripture (though I don't know which ones, necessarily), the history and culture and laws of the Jewish faith - and Jesus was a Jew - and the writings we have of the people who were closest to Him, containing his teachings and his deeds. I consider the bible a guide that can teach us about Christ. I care most about the writings about Christ then any other book.

  I would, however, rather have the Holy Spirit than religion or doctrines, or even dependancy on a book that I believe contains errors - and is most certainly misunderstood by many.

  I don't have a religion now, except to follow Christ. If that makes me a Christian, then I am one... but it does not necessarily make me anointed by the Holy Spirit. And it is the Holy Spirit who will teach us all things. Not a book, not a religion and not other men (though all of these things can try their flawed best)

  Tammy
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  truthlover

  Now your getting into a Stargate Atlantis position -- no gods, no Ori , world and creation operates on its own..

  Yet: there is a myriad of evidence that it all started by something/someone and I can only think it was a creator-I am amazed at the programs on the universe, the star factory, the hubble telescope showing us limitless universes, 100 billion with 100 billion stars -- how does that happen without a mastermind to bring gravity into the picture balancing out the planets and stars, etc... and why not have a book that puts forth a way to live -- looks like mankind has not done too well on his own -- the old argument is that we cant see the wind but we can feel the devasting effects if it goes awry even Darwin knew there was something that started all this, as does Stephen Hawkings, they just dont know what.. call it the God Factor....

  We need books to folllow directions in everyday life, DIY books and tv programs, classes to teach specific arts and tech jobs - why not a book on the origin of the world - God doesn't ask much - not like religions ask of their followers -- all he asks is that we love him and want to do his will... simple -- it is man who have concocted and twisted all the rules and laws to suit their needs, turning off the majority of the population, altho there are so many who want to help and many give their lives to do so.. it seems to be inherent to do so, it makes you feel GOOD!

  Maybe I am hedging my bets, but I would rather believe in a creator than not!

  So yes I do think we need the Book...
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  Ding

  The only way we can know God is through what He chooses to reveal to us.

  I doubt that He is going to reveal Himself to me and to no one else, so the experiences and writings of others is important.

  The Bible makes many claims.

  Many of them aren't verifiable through the five senses, so they must be accepted by faith if they are to be accepted at all.

  However, that doesn't mean faith has to be completely blind.

  There are or were cities in Palestine located where the Bible claims, for example.

  This is in contrast to the North American cities written about in the Book of Mormon, for which their is no archaeological evidence at all.

  This gives a person greater reason to have faith in the Bible than in the Book of Mormon.

  Likewise, we can choose to put our faith in the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, but their false prophecies and doctrinal flip-flops give us solid reason to reject their claims to be God's spirit-directed channel of communication.