From Jw to born again .................

by vitty 35 Replies latest jw friends

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  LittleToe

  West:
  Welcome to the board

  James:

  If I may i would like to ask: does this "Holy Spirit" - of which you speak - present itself as totally all inclusive, unconditional with no beginning and no end, or is it somehow circumscribed and contingent upon specific conditions and/or beliefs? In what ways is it limited, if any?

  What about someone like myself who does not accept Jesus as my Saviour, and who does not believe or give worship to a personal god out there?

  I would concur with his comments and answer as follows:

  "totally all inclusive, unconditional with no beginning and no end"

  Bearing in mind I was a contented JW, I had no concept of "accepting Jesus as my Saviour" in the sense that Christians would put it.

  IQuit!:
  "Born again" in contrast to "nominal Christians" who talk the talk, go to church on Sunday, but don't walk the walk.

  Ken:
  

  Tetra:

  are you saying what i think you're saying?!

  Probably.

  Let's be candid, for a lot of people religion is a crutch. They genuinely need such a paradigm to function. Especially when they are aged, I have to question ripping this away from them.

  Cygnus:
  While a number of Fundamentalist groups have commandeered the phrase "born again", this abuse isn't as prevalent over this side of the pond. It generally refers (though not exclusively) to someone who has had some kind of spiritual experience, which they attribute to the Holy Spirit and involving Christ.

  I would add, for Tetra's benefit, that such an attributation may be conjecture, however it usually fit's well into that paradigm and finds itself continually re-substantiated.
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  LittleToe

  Didier:

  Yet -- and this is equally important to me -- I could feel exactly the same kind of intimacy with non-Christian writings (e.g. from Buddhism, Taoism, or Sufism). It was apparent to me that they were actually describing the same experience in a different cultural context.

  ...and it became very clear that this was not where I was heading (or, should I say, where the Spirit was leading me).

  Just a couple of comments that caught my interest
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  defd

  would add, for Tetra's benefit, that such an attributation may be conjecture, however it usually fit's well into that paradigm and finds itself continually re-substantiated.

  Huh?
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  LittleToe

  Derrick:
  I was throwing in a "falsifiable" for Tetra's benefit. Ya know how pedantic he gets about such things

  As for me "I know my redeemer liveth" (Job 19:25-27).
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  tfsm

  I don't have a hard time believing that many ex-jws go on to find other equally ridiculous beliefs. These people are optimists - maybe being a witness didn't scratch the itch but becoming a different brand of fundamentalist whackjob might do it.
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  jwfacts

  It was an interesting comment from Narkissos.
  I am reading The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley. It shows that all religions have the same core teachings and experiences underlying them. Reading the book I would have to say JWs are one of the most simple religions, dumbing God down to the simplest level and also in regards to their teaching of the soul. In this regards they miss out on understanding true spirituality.
  In regards to the comment on born agains being a cult, thanks for the answers. I understand that it is not advocating being born again that makes a religion a cult, but rather the fundamentalism of certain Born Again organisations.