I didn't re-evaluate who Jesus Christ is when I left. I re-evaluated it before I left and it was the reason why I did.
I decided I was a christian and yet as a dub I could only be a Jehovist or an Arian. No thanks.
Did you re-evaluate who Jesus Christ is when you left?
by hooberus 18 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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DanTheMan
JWism kinda ruined the whole Christianity thing for me. They show you how shaky a lot of the beliefs are mainline churches are, but then you realize what a sham they have going. When I first left, I read Reasoning from the Scriptures with Jehovah's Witnesses by Ron Rhodes. It helped me to see that Watchtower theology wasn't as biblically sound as I thought it was, which was liberating. But evangelicals like Ron Rhodes are pups from the same litter as JW's as far as I'm concerned. I learned quickly that evangelical/fundamentalist Christianity was, in spirit, very similar to JWism. So I tried some more liberal churches, but it seemed like more of a social affair. For now, I'm done with belief in unprovable and invisible deities.
It's been 2000 years since you promised to come back, where are ya Jesus?
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ozziepost
evangelical/fundamentalist Christianity
That's quite a mix! Things must be different in the States.
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Eyebrow2
I certainly did. Growing up I was in the JW faith...so I never believed the Trinity, and have never seen any balanced evidence after leaving to believe it. But I guess that does not matter, because my understanding of Jesus has gone from son of god to just a very wonderful teacher and humanitarian.
He was a great guy, whose teachings changed the world for the better I think, but the misapplication of his ideas has done a lot of harm as well. I think one of the greatest examples he set was his compassion and empathy for others. He was a strong personality who was not afraid to show his emotions. Did he really turn water into wine? Heal all those people? 7 or 8 years ago I would have said definately, but now, I don't think it really matters. His lessons on how to treat other people and give of yourself were more important than any alleged healings he did.
He have great respect for him, but I do not believe he is the son of god any more than other good men, such as Ghandi or Jimmy Carter. (I am refer to POST presidential years of course)
Thats what I have come to so far...Good topic..thanks for bringing it up.
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elamona
Isaiah 40:26. I am not sure if Jesus has an awareness of ever being created since He technically wasn't created, being God and not God at the same time. I really don't know. Just trying to comprehend the nature of a Being or Entity that created our universe is mind numbing. I'm not sure that any human being can ever come to a full understanding of our Creator. Light travels @1.7 trillion miles a year, our universe is @15 billion miles across, so multiply 1.7x15 and you get a number that is so large that it is hard to imagine. There may be other universes, we don't know, and if so,they are all creations of God, who exists OUTSIDE of His creations. All of that matter (energy) had to come from somewhere since matter can neither be created nor can it be destroyed.
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Eyebrow2
I sometimes want to liken the whole Trinity thing to something that Mojo Jojo from Powerful Girls would come up with.
"I am the Son, the son am I, but the father, who is god, although I am also the son, and the holy ghost, but not that of the son nor the father since I am alive as both, and as both also the holy ghost"
If Jesus is in fact God, his own father, does he buy himself Father's day cards?
The whole thing really sounds like it was thought up in an Arkansas trailer park.
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CruithneLaLuna
Was Jesus a historical person? We were certainly conditioned to think so by the bOrg, and most Christians definitely think he was. It is a long-standing tradition in the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Chistianity, Islam) to think that "our Scriptures give us historical accounts of the truth." (Some also believe that the Vedas are literal accounts of true history. I'm interested in reading a scholarly book or two on that subject.) Yet, some possibly cogent challenges to such assumptions have been raised.
Recently, I had the opportunity to read the first 3 or 4 chapters of the book The Jesus Mysteries : Was the "Original Jesus" a Pagan God? The authors do a good job (an amazingly good job, for some no doubt a disturbingly good job) of correlating the events of Jesus' life, and his teachings, as reported in the Bible, with the myths and mysteries of Paganism that were vital, well-known, and compelling for many people in the Middle East in Biblical times. The point is well made, and well documented, that educated Pagans of the early Christian period were incensed because they saw Christianity as offering absolutely nothing new, except the conviction that their peculiar repackaging of well-known myths and doctrines was literal, historical truth; the belief that those who persisted in their adherence to other religions or spiritual paths would unquestionably be eternally destroyed by their God; and a fanatical and warped desire to die as martyrs. (It was quite amazing to me, in reading The Gnostic Gospels a few months ago, to learn - by reading their own words - how ardently many early Christians desired to be tortured and killed for Christ.)
The authors make it clear that they did not begin their research with a bias toward their final conclusion, or even a glimmering of it, but they claim that their research ultimately led them to conclude that when one subtracts out everything about Christianity that was "obviously" plagiarized from Paganism and grafted onto Jewish roots, one is left with ... nothing. I.e. no historical Jesus, and nothing (of a positive nature) in Christianity that was religiously innovative.
I want to read the rest of the book, and re-read the early part more critically.
I have over time come across other material of similar nature: Achraya S's The Christ Conspiracy : The Greatest Story Ever Sold, [separate link:] The Bible Fraud, and jesuspuzzle.com. While I do not sense within myself a need or desire to "prove Christianity false," I am ready to entertain such information and arguments open-mindedly.
George
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Mulan
Achraya S's The Christ Conspiracy : The Greatest Story Ever Sold,
I read that book a year ago. It is absolutely fascinating, very compelling, and mostly believable. Her sources are not all credible though, and many are difficult to research for accuracy, but it was a good book.
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hooberus
Here is a response to the Christ Conspiracy book:
http://www.risenjesus.com/articles/index.asp?pagea=acharya-s&pagea2=website
Here is the Crucifixion in History thread where the historicity of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is shown. There is there also a discussion of the falacies of the theory of the so-called pre-christian "crucified god-men"