How Many XJWs Who's Christianity Is Now Progressive In Nature?

Eden

From my observation of walking away from the org eight years ago..it seems..that most XJW's are either Fundamental Protestants...or on left side as Athiests.....So, I was wondering, Any XJWs here who's Christianity is now Progressive (non-Fundamentalists) in nature?

Atilla

No, not a chance. Agnostic and increasingly athiest by the day. Sorry, there isn't enough time to waste it like that.

Satanus

When i left wt, i went straight into standard christianity, but leaning into pentacostalism. As i studied christianity, i gradually shed the fundamentalism/apocalyptacism. Eventually, after 2 yrs, i progressed to dropping the bible totally from the classification of god's word. However, i am not atheist at this time. I think there is a ~~higher~~ lower power.

S

DanTheMan

I attended a number of services at the local Evangelical Lutheran Church after I left the Johos. Very liberal/progressive protestantism, the complete opposite of fundy JWism. I enjoyed the services, and may return someday, even though I haven't been in a year at least.

I'm also reading Paul Tillich's The Courage To Be. Can't say I understand all of it, I'm not versed enough in theology or philosphy. But I'm enjoying it.

Atheism leaves me cold.

cyber-sista

Agnositic and leaning towards atheist (used to believe in God before I became a JW) but presently have a bad taste in my mouth for most things religious. I do now enjoy reading/listening to some inspirational "feel good" literature and tapes. JWs were always opposed to "feel good" self help stuff and I would always have to feel guilty when I was a JW if I was looking at things of this sort. Deepak Chopra is someone I have been reading and listening to as of late. I take it all with a grain of salt now, but some of it I find intersting and inspiring in a postive direction. I would say I am religiously confused, but still interested in humanity and being a positive influence and helpful person to others I encounter in my life.

Country Girl

I would consider myself to be a very moderate Christian, but leaned toward fundy when I first investigated it. At this present time, I am a believer in God, and feel that one must have a personal relationship, be saved, and do two things as required by the New Covenant: Love thy neighbor and love God. As far as organized religion, who knows. I don't think one must have a ritualistic practice to have a relationship with God, however it's always nice to meet with fellow believers and participate in a community. But I am always interested and searching for new insights and perceptions.... I even like to read about Buddhism, Wicca, Hinduism, and all sorts of isms... heheheh.

Country Girl

Markfromcali

While you might consider progressive as non-fundamentalist, what do you mean by fundamentalist though? I understand there is a set of doctrinal beliefs called "the fundamentals", but often the word is used to describe an attitude more than anything. Is this what you mean?

If thats the case it really doesn't so much depend on beliefs as it does on the individual's attitude, I mean they may hold some progressive beliefs, but their self concept may not match up with how they actually are in their interaction with other people and such. One does not even have to be argumentative or very outspoken about their views, you can just hang on to a belief structure with that mindless rigidity.

GentlyFeral

A fairly common paths for XJWs looking for a church is the Unitarian Universalists. Mind you, about half of UU's identify as atheist or agnostic, hence the common joke about UU as "the church for atheists with children." But it was originally two liberal Christian denominations; in fact, about 20 percent of UU's still identify as Christian - but of a very liberal kind.

http://www.uua.org

GentlyFeral

mustang

I very much like the "flavor of study" of the early JW's as I knew them. You have to remember that that was in the early 50's!!!!!

They appear to have changed; but then again, I have limited info, as I left 30 years ago!!!

Now that "flavor of study", as I term it, turns out to be a limited view, "pseudo-scholastic" thing. They just genuflect, hammer you for a "witch" and throw you on the fiery stakes if you discover something truly interesting and question any more.

So, I look at a variety of places.

The most interesting is Dr. Gene Scott, AOG (Assemblies Of God) preacher. He cusses and smokes cigars in his sermons. He is a rootin'-tootin' snortnin' TV Evangelist, by cracky!!!

But he is a scholar!!!! He points out that he has taken the butt of scholastic discrimination by not falling to the modern requirement to push a "secular scientism" into Church teachings: he accepts the possibility of miraculous events in the Bible. If you do that you are committing "academic suicide" in modern Church circles. He does it and to Hell with the barstards!!!

And he has gotten his Church to buy many manuscripts; he is to the point of his "Room of the Book" being as powerful a reference library as the Vatican and King James had when the did their things in 1610/1611.

And he points out that the Catholic Church, by declaring the early Syrian and Ethioptic Churches to be heretics, ignored a great number of very early manuscripts!!!

He shows that there is still study and research and even new developments going on in the realm of Biblical research. This is unlike the dead-ass JW's. They are stuck in a rut and wrong to boot.

Well, I don't sign up with the gentleman, but he is available on TV, WITHOUT MY LEAVING MY LIVING ROOM. He is interesting and is moving on where JW's left off. He tears things apart in a dozen languages at a time, for study. It is his practice to learn "a language a year", dead or currently in use.

And yes, he used the DIVINE NAME frequently. It is there, there is no doubt, as he says.

So, he answers my need for a studious version of things. But I will read others and come and go as I please. Try doing that in the "stick-in-the-mud" JW's; they have lost their way, decades ago.

BTW, I know a personal student of Scott's; I asked him if Scott was "into chronology". He replied that he had asked about this, himself. (The guy is the son of a fellow preacher of Scott's AOG Church; they knew each other, closely.) The basic thought was that Scott felt that there was too much "doubt" and open-ended business involved in picking a date. This is from a man who has personally handled more manuscripts that almost anyone else on earth.

He also said that the "no man knows the day nor the hour" principle takes it in the end, anyway. So the heck with chronology and predictions, is his thought, as I understand it.

The AOG is too close to "fundy" origins for my taste, but I will listen to this very unique man. I believe he is one of the few really PROGRESSIVE individuals left in the Church business. Still, I don't choose this Church as mine or the final answer.

Viewed from the perspective of the concept of PROGRESSIVE, JW's are totally STAGNANT.

Mustang

What I watch on TV is my Business Class

mustang

BTW, since I left JW's BEFORE the "crackdown of the 80's" and the changing of the Baptismal Vows into a "pledge of allegiance to Brooklyn", I have looked closely at those Vows. I have read the Vows of several dozen other Churches.

Two things stand out:

1) As was pointed out by a relative, the pre-80's Vows are basically a "generic Christian Baptism". There is little doubt of that; and that is why they changed them, no doubt.

2) But I personally didn't change them: I DIDN'T RATIFY THE CHANGES. I haven't attended a meeting or done FS or any of those JW'izing things in 30 years.

So, I am basically some sort of "INDEPENDENT CHRISTIAN". And that is just fine with me. This allows me to be what the title mentions: PROGRESSIVE!!!!

Mustang

How Many XJWs Who's Christianity Is Now Progressive In Nature?

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