by UnDisfellowshipped 21 Replies latest watchtower bible
Fear Not:
1st John 4: 18: There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
2nd Timothy 1: 7: For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Either I'm stoned or this sounds like circular reasoning... what is "love"? What kind of love? Sexual, Agape, Relationship....
It sounds like an old wisetale to me, written by crazy old men.
You need to prove the bible is real before you can believe in that stuff. I still do not believe in the bible. Yeah, there's some good side stories in there, but lots of weird nonsense like blathering about unclean women having periods, or pages upon pages of nonsense of some family tree.
I am sorry that we disagree.... and I'm not trying to attack you, at least I hope I'm not.
Derek
Fear can be a restraint over love - I believe that is true in my own case. If I fear, I hold back.
For instance, to break a barrier between friends sometimes means revealing vulnerability within oneself. So yes, within relationships fear does inhibit a loving expression at times.
That is a basic truth, so in that respect I believe the Bible to be correct.
yes
Of what?
No.
everything
to answer the topic question:
Afraid of what? The ultimate condemnation of Jehovahs Witnesses due to my rejecting their beliefs and waving the Bible at me?
No ; I am not afraid.
Certainly not of ancient writings that some people choose to view as sublime and "almighty inspired". They have no more bearing on my life or world than the writings etched onto the Colliseum walls in Rome.
What I AM AFRAID of is some incurable illness striking any of my loved ones; losing the ability to support myself; another terrorist attack that will claim lives and damage the economy. Another war.
Life has enough issues to work through without having to create more in the name of a "loving " benovolent creator.
fear to me is anticipation of pain.
experience has taught me that there is a high probability that pain will follow certain actions and that causes me to wisely pause and calculate the odds and benefit risk factors...
when I believe become too certain over the future.... when I have CONviNcED myself that I have some sort of psychic ability to know what WILL happen, I can become so fearful as to be crippled or panicked.
I have to remind myself at times, even now, years after learning these things, that I do not have the ability to KNOW the future and no matter how certain some outcomes seem, I have been wrong more times than not.
I have learned to pay attention to what is going on and to make my gamble from experiences but know it is always still a gamble.
Certainly not of ancient writings that some people choose to view as sublime and "almighty inspired". They have no more bearing on my life or world than the writings etched onto the Colliseum walls in Rome.
What is wrong with gaining inspiration from ancient texts claimed to be inspired ?
Are you attacking ancient texts, or your former association with the WTBS?
