Not going to the meetings anymore, do you still feel the need to read God's word?
Edited by - jh on 5 December 2002 14:52:45
Do you still read the bible?
by JH 22 Replies latest jw friends
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freddi
oh yes! i still read my Bible. i have left the j.w.'s not God. i still believe in a Creator and in His word. as a matter of fact i think that i read the Bible more now so that i can refute any old witness friends that i run into on the street.
peace
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onacruse
You bet!
My interest in and respect for the Bible was NEVER dependent on being a JW. My studies of it went far beyond what the WTS ever promoted.
The big diff now is that my perspective of the Bible is progressively less and less clouded by the twisted interpretations of it that I was raised to believe.
Craig
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Undecided
Hi JH,
Do you really think it is God's word? Do you think it has any benefit for our time, other than it's moral value in some parts of the Greek scriptures? The way it describes the actions of the old tribes in the Hebrew times, it makes me feel like a saint.
The book of Revelations was wrtten by someone that seems to have been on drugs, what value is it to us now? Would some one explain it to me with some explaination that isn't made up from their own imagination?
No I very seldom read it, I'm confused enough with life without adding all those riddles to it.
Ken P.
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onacruse
Undecided: I find the Revelation very interesting historically and interpretively.
Historically, because it represents a huge genre of apocalyptic literature that prevailed at that time, and therefore reflects some of the evolution of the early Christian church occuring in the latter part of the 1st century..
Interpretively, because the wide variety of at least superficially cogent exegesis shows just how foolish it is to assume that one and only one viewpoint is possible. Also, I get a great kick out of seeing how many "new" interpretations (esp those of the WTS, of course) have really been around for centuries, in one mode or another.
Craig
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asortafairytale
No, I don't. I believe the bible was written by a bunch of men, in an effort to control and scare people. I think that God created all of us, and loves us all unconditionally. The bible seems to show that God's love comes with a LOT of conditions. My opinion is that is ridiculous.
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JH
For those who don't believe in the bible, then I guess you don't believe in Jehovah& Jesus, nor the creation, or the devil. Either you believe the bible or you don't.
Edited by - jh on 4 December 2002 16:22:41
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Navigator
JH
Not so! I don't have a great deal of confidence in the bible as the record of God's word, but that doesn't change my view of Jesus as my spiritual master. I don't believe that he was God, but he surely has helped show us the way to God. He came to show us what the possibilites were and that death could be overcome. Most Christians are so intent on giving worship to Jesus that they forget he said.."the things that I do, shall ye do also, and greater things shall ye do..." Jesus cannot do it for us. We have to do it for ourselves. In my opinion, the story of the prodical son tells us everything we need to know..and do..to find our way home to God. I don't believe that the religion of Christianity reflects what Jesus taught.
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Yizuman
Folks, you gotta realize there's cults out there that uses the bible and twist it to fit their particular brand of doctrines.
Jesus already warned us ahead of time to beware of false teachers and false prophets out as raving wolves, seeking to devour whom they may find.
There's only one reliable teacher out there that we all can come to trust and it's not even a man or woman. It's the Holy Spirit.
You all already know that scripture teaches that the word of God is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
John 14:26 tells us this...."But the Counselor, The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my Name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."
This is what the Holy Spirit has always been since the beginning of time. The Holy Spirit helps us learn and understand the word of God. Since after Jesus left to be with the Father, the Father then send us the Holy Spirit to guide us and to help teach us and remind us of what we all have learned.
So the Holy Spirit is your Counselor
The HS is also your teacher.
Man is not reliable when it comes to learning the word of God. The Holy Spirit is far more reliable, the HS will not mislead you.
In fact, lemme ask you this, would God mislead you if you studied the bible alone without using the WT?
I always pray to God that He would send his HS to open my eyes and my mind before I open the bible to start reading and or studying.
You may have a hard time believing that the bible is inspired by the HS because it was penned down by the hand of man. That disbelief is hindering you from the fact that the HS is using man like a secretary, reminding man of what they learned from God so they can write it down.
Same went for the disciples of Jesus. After Jesus left earth, the disciples then began to write down everything they learned during their 3 year journey with Jesus. The HS backs them up by reminding them of everything they had learned from Jesus during that 3 year time.You may think it's much easier if God wrote'em all down himself and handed them to us Himself. But there's always gonna be somebody else out there questioning whether or not it was truely written by the hand of God and not by man.
We were all once a Doubting Thomas, it's up to us now to decide if we're gonna learn to trust God and God alone.
By the way, I absolutely dispise the word, "religion". I hate it with a passion. Jesus hates that word too when he called out on the pharasees, calling them hyprocrites and liars and blind men leading the blind. Yeah, Jesus wasn't always a nice guy when it comes to Him getting seriously pissed off at false doctrines of men, hyprocrites who do not follow their own rules and teachings, etc.
No rather, I use the word "relationship" simply because I am in a relationship with God thru his Son Jesus Christ. I don't need man to tell me what the bible says and what it means. I have the Holy Spirit to do all that for me. 'nuff said.
So the next time you run into a thumper stumper in regarding into a particular passage in the bible, who do you ask for help?
Ask the Holy Spirit.
Oh yeah, the lie of the WTBTS teaches that the HS is not a person. Ignore that lie folks. Because He is a person.
Hope it helps.
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NewYork44M
Interesting discussion. One of the things I discovered about myself during my transition from being a faithful witness to my current status is that I am not now, nor ever was, a spiritual person. In the past mistook obedience to an organization for spirituality. But reflecting back on my live now, I was always very uncomfortable with express my beliefs in spiritual terms.
Thus to answer your question, No, I do not read the bible. Although my belief in God remains, we just arent on speaking terms. I ignore all discussion theads on the trinity, H.S, and etc. Because - I just don't care.