by Schizm 32 Replies latest jw friends
City Fan:Should I replace the star on my tree with a fairy??I hope that you're not thinking of impaling Gretchen. Why not just let her alone, particularly since she decided to be a nice little fairy by going elsewhere.
Skiz
No I haven't gone off elsewhere. But lucky for you I'm a good witch and not a bad witch. LOL
Schizo,
Same old boring WatchTower drivel...gotta be different...don't ya.
The gifts were prophecized....
The Star was from God
Satan will attempt to use anything and anyone to accomplish his goal.
I always have believed what the bible says, but after listening to /reading stories form other religons and just made up stories (like the santa claus story) I am becoming convinced that that is what they all are, just stories and nothing more. It is sort of disheartning, i grew up with all these stories and it is hard to give them up.
Schiz, our discussion was not about the number of Magi but about the main thrust of the story. Let me tell you something: just before being disfellowshipped long ago, I was still a (very) special pioneer. I didn't use WT literature anymore, I just read Bible texts (and especially the Gospels) with very simple people. I remember reading the text we're discussing with an uneducated Portuguese family. Everybody just understood the story as it is: the "pagan" Magi, by their own way of knowledge, had grasped something that the scribes in Jerusalem didn't get in spite of all their "Biblical" science. Their joy at seeing the star again when they left Herod was naturally understood as the joy of the Gospel. To the surprise of my fellow (also pioneer) "publisher", I just agreed with these people's comment. They had got the point, way from the acrobatic reasoning of the WT.
Just remember such stories were not made for scholars, but for simple people. What people get from simple reading is usually just the point the author wants to make.
Schiz, our discussion was not about the number of Magi but about the main thrust of the story.
the supposed number of the Magi is very relevant to the "story". the point had to do with the Magi, didn't it? and if you would care to look back at my initial comments you'll find that I made reference to "the three Magi".
Their joy at seeing the star again when they left Herod was naturally understood as the joy of the Gospel.
I think you're seriously mistaken, but I like your choice of words. their "joy" (excitement) was apparently the result of having gotten a glimpse of this mysterious "star" for a second time ("again").
Skiz
Skiz: I must be dumb, coz I don't get the point. Could you be a little more explicit?
Schiz...you're just plain silly.
You had said:
1) Just remember such stories were not made for scholars, but for simple people. What people get from simple reading is usually just the point the author wants to make.
2) Their joy at seeing the star again when they left Herod was naturally understood as the joy of the Gospel.
To which I simply said:
their "joy" (excitement) was apparently the result of having gotten a glimpse of this mysterious "star" for a second time ("again").
Now you say:
Skiz: I must be dumb, coz I don't get the point. Could you be a little more explicit?
Does it really take a scholar to understand "the point"?
You argued that the "joy" the Magi felt was "the joy of the Gospel". I say that's not true. My point is simply that the Magi felt very elated over the fact that the "star" they originally sighted had reappeared after having disappeared.
Skiz
No, it doesn't take a scholar to understand that the star was a gift from God...that the Magi were the first gentiles to hail Jesus as King...and that Satan will use whatever he can to try to accomplish his purpose. Remember...Satan's greatest "victory" was also his defeat...the Crucifixion of Jesus.
I think another important point that is overlooked in this story is that the magi or astrologers did not arrive at a manger and present the gifts to a new born baby as being believed by millions of people for about no reason because idiots started a tradition that's not even part of the story.
