If you still have some belief in a God - what are your thoughts on these articles, and the similarities?

by Fernando 8 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Fernando

  • George Barna of the Barna Group (51% of "Christians" more like Pharisees than like Jesus, in attitudes and in actions)
  • Morgan Guyton of the Huffington Post ("Two Christianities" - a concept with 2,810 hits on Google)

  What are your views on the concept of two distinct "Christianities" and/or these articles?

  (law versus grace, or legalism versus the gospel, CoC versus ISOCF)
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  designs

  Barna seems to take as a definition of the Pharisees the portrayal of them in the Gospels which is really very skewered.
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  Fernando

  @designs

  That would then make the "ruling religious clergy class" in my last and final Watchtower KH "really very skewered", although I would hasten to add skewed, crooked and twisted. My exact experience.
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  designs

  Does 'the cross' really make holistic justice as Morgan asserts.
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  Larsinger58

  i really didn't have time to look at the articles.

  BUT... I'm the Christ. Christ was supposed to arrive in an imperfect body 2520 years after the fall of Jerusalem. The Persians revised their timeline so the current dates are ridiculous and erroneous. The true date for the 2nd coming is 1992, which is when I became the Christ.

  But because of that, I see all the Bible prophecies being fulfilled!! So my response is that I'm more or less "out of the loop" as far as guessing what the Bible means. I actually know. I'm the fulfillment of many things....

  Those are my thoughts.
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  Fernando

  This concept also has 191,000 hits on Google when searching "law vs grace".
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  Cold Steel

  Unless the articles are written by religious scholars, I pay absolutely no attention to them. Journalists tend to study a certain topic for days or weeks, then publish. Then they move on. They know a lot about everything, but they're not experts on anything, and quite frequently when writing on historical, social or theological issues, they miss a lot, use discredited sources, misinterpret existing source materials, and draw jaw dropping conclusions that defy logic. (Especially on the Huffington Post, where every article has an agenda.)
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  jgnat

  Barna used these criteria in the questionnaire:

  Actions like Jesus:

  • I listen to others to learn their story before telling them about my faith.
  • In recent years, I have influenced multiple people to consider following Christ.
  • I regularly choose to have meals with people with very different faith or morals from me.
  • I try to discover the needs of non-Christians rather than waiting for them to come to me.
  • I am personally spending time with non-believers to help them follow Jesus.

  Attitudes like Jesus:

  • I see God-given value in every person, regardless of their past or present condition.
  • I believe God is for everyone.
  • I see God working in people’s lives, even when they are not following him.
  • It is more important to help people know God is for them than to make sure they know they are sinners.
  • I feel compassion for people who are not following God and doing immoral things.

  The 10 statements used to assess self-righteousness (like the Pharisees), included the following research items:

  Self-Righteous Actions:

  • I tell others the most important thing in my life is following God’s rules.
  • I don’t talk about my sins or struggles. That’s between me and God.
  • I try to avoid spending time with people who are openly gay or lesbian.
  • I like to point out those who do not have the right theology or doctrine.
  • I prefer to serve people who attend my church rather than those outside the church.

  Self-Righteous Attitudes:

  • I find it hard to be friends with people who seem to constantly do the wrong things.
  • It’s not my responsibility to help people who won’t help themselves.
  • I feel grateful to be a Christian when I see other people’s failures and flaws.
  • I believe we should stand against those who are opposed to Christian values.
  • People who follow God’s rules are better than those who do not.

  I'm not surprised at the results. Do you see flaws in the questions?
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  Fernando

  @jgnat

  My personal experience of the Pharisees (ruling religious clergy class), of Jesus, and of the radical faith fuelled changes in my own life and worldview, maps very well to the above.

  I'd be interested to know what flaws you see.