What leads a person to think they are inspired by God? (page 4)

cult classic

I lean towards an inflated sense of self as the cause. Except in the case of a skewed brain condition.

<<< Haven't you read Gal 5:20 to stay away from pharmakia? If you gather with 5-6 of your friends and debate an old book over some boooze and a joint (or the medications above), you would probablly think you are Messiah to. So stay of those drugs and seek accurate knowledge about all sides of life>>>

I don't need a book of myths to help me avoid polluting my body.

moshe

This person is obviously delusional- must be the birdie hat--

Cold Steel

God spoke through prophets anciently. Now it's just okay to be "inspired" because it requires no visions, no angels, no witnesses, and no miracles.

William Cullen Bryant, in Picturesque America (1872), writes: "Roger Williams, however, continued to be [pastor of Providence’s first Baptist congregation] for only four years, when he withdrew, not only from his official relations, but also ceased any longer to worship with his brethren, having come to the conclusion that there is 'no regularly-constituted Church on earth, nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance; nor could there be, until new apostles were sent by the great Head of the Church, for whose coming he was seeking.'"

W. Clark Gilpen writes: "In this manner, Williams strongly contrasted the church of his own day, a church scattered in the wilderness, with Christianity in its authentic form. He believed that the glorious church of the latter days would bring the godly out of the wilderness by repristinating the doctrine, discipline, and spiritual authority of ancient, apostolic Christianity. This primitivism constituted a characteristic emphasis of his piety; the goal of God’s providential plan for his church was the precise restoration of its original pattern, and Williams now awaited the apostles whose preaching would bring that plan to realization."

Ellen G. White professed visions and revelations, yet though she was reported to have done miraculous things (like sitting in a chair and challenging the strongest man to pull her up), she had no co-witnesses of her visions. And when she died, she left no successor. Herbert W. Armstrong also claimed inspiration, but nothing else. Catholicism bears no similarity to the ancient church; neither do the Jehovah's Witnesses. The only Christian sects that claims a restoration of apostles is Mormonism and various pentacostals. And Alexander Campbell claimed that the authority of the scriptures was enough to restore pristine Christianity.

The JWs claim inspiration, but deny revelation. How can inspiration come without revelation? Others, like Harold Camping and Ronald Weinland, claim to be prophets, but their set dates for the return of Christ have been consistently off. You can get ordination certificates off the Internet. Just pay a small fee and you can start your own church. And the Bible Students started their own church, but who ordained them?

It's always puzzled me that the Witnesses on my doorstop have always bemoaned the "manmade" churches of the day. In what was was their church not manmade?

binadub

jwfacts:

I think it all depends on one's perception of "inspired". I tend to consider all of what we call "creative" to be inspired. I'm often amazed--even myself--when some kind of a good idea just seems to pop into my head for something good. I think good art, music and writing are inspired, and I tend to think it is something from an inner spirituality. I think jwfacts is inspired.

Of course I differentiate that kind of inspiration from paranoia. Some people are just prone to delusions of grandeur and fundamentalist religion seems to attract them. :-)

~Binadub

3rdgen

Demonz

rip van winkle

1- D elusions

2- I ntelligence (high or otherwise)

3- E go

4- T hey Hear voices and think

5- Y ahweh is speaking

What leads a person to think they are inspired by God?

Mental illness or perhaps a desire for attention. Can't hear, see, or feel god when there is no god.

What leads a person to think they are inspired by God?

cult classic

144001

moshe

Cold Steel

binadub

3rdgen

rip van winkle

wasblind

wasblind

Low-Key Lysmith

Share this