Posts by economy

12

Why does the Almighty need a mediator?

by economy in

god is alike to all of his children, hence cannot elevate one child above all others just because one was brought into existence before others.

(ezekiel 18:4) someone has to be first-born which does not give him any superiority over others!

interestingly, jesus simply dismissed the whole idea of one being placed over the others as pagan.

Why does the Almighty need a mediator?

by economy in

god is alike to all of his children, hence cannot elevate one child above all others just because one was brought into existence before others.

(ezekiel 18:4) someone has to be first-born which does not give him any superiority over others!

interestingly, jesus simply dismissed the whole idea of one being placed over the others as pagan.

economy

davidmitchell16 hours ago

You ask: Where is any proof for “When a communication is from God, it will be absolutely simple and will be impossible to be misunderstood by readers and for saying God is a person?”

The primary purpose of my post is to trigger a thought in those who believe God and His supposed mediators that their belief does not hold out under scrutiny. I have no problem with those who do not believe in the existence of God—because atheists are always born as atheists and theists are always born as theists, yet their beliefs are their choice, and both the group are happy with their choice. You can find the PRINCIPLE beneath details of two verses Jesus made. (Mathew 11:14 & 12:35)

12

Why does the Almighty need a mediator?

by economy in

god is alike to all of his children, hence cannot elevate one child above all others just because one was brought into existence before others.

(ezekiel 18:4) someone has to be first-born which does not give him any superiority over others!

interestingly, jesus simply dismissed the whole idea of one being placed over the others as pagan.

economy

God is alike to all of His children, hence cannot elevate one child above all others just because one was brought into existence before others. (Ezekiel 18:4) Someone has to be first-born which does not give him any superiority over others! Interestingly, Jesus simply dismissed the whole idea of one being placed over the others as “pagan.” (Luke 22:25) He even encouraged everyone to have direct relationship with God (Mathew 5:44-48; 6:9-13)—a concept that is found throughout the scriptures (Psalm 84:11; Hebrew 11:6; James 4:6-10; 1 John 1:9; Revelation 14:7 ….) In principle a mediator has no role to play between God Almighty and humans as “Father knows what you need even before you ask him.” (Mathew 6:8) That means question of Almighty feeling the need of a mediator doesn’t arise at all. Even if we assume that Almighty does need a mediator, it would necessarily require that another mediator is needed between humans and the primary mediator as this one is less than Almighty. This notion will only create an endless chain of mediators.

Then how come we find contradictory verses in the Bible such as these: “No one comes to the Father except through me.” “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” (John 14:6; 3:36) Could these verses be uninspired? For example, a statement which Jesus could have rightly uttered only after reaching heaven is given as having been spoken by him while he was yet on earth—that too at the very outset of his ministry. (‘no one has ascended into heaven except me,’ John 3:13). If one verse is interpolated, why not some concepts or even the whole book itself?

Take for example the very first verse of Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” What a confusion this verse has caused! Virtually every Christian sect has its own interpretation on this verse. God would not inspire a book that starts with a word (logos — the cosmic Mediator between God and the world) that means different thing to different cultures of that time (from spokesperson to the impersonal principle of Stoicism). When a communication is from God, it will be absolutely simple and will be impossible to be misunderstood by readers. The root concept of this verse can be seen in the East where it is taught that God first created sound, and from these sound frequencies came the phenomenal world; and AUM is said to be the most sacred of all sounds and the syllable which preceded the universe and from which the gods were created; AUM is god in the form of sound! Interestingly, the concept of logos as god is considered to be a later interpolation even in the Eastern Scriptures (Gita 7:8 where it says God is omnipresent, and exists even in “the sacred syllable AUM in all the Vedas”) which obviously contradict with many unambiguous statements showing God as a person! Thus it is strange that a notion that even the pagans consider to be interpolation into their scriptures found its way into the Bible! Thus concept of a mediator is pagan (so its greater application—appointment of a Faithful and Discreet Slave as God’s channel on earth). (Compare the apocryphal book WISDOM OF SOLOMON, the whole chapter 7 in general, and verse 22 in particular, plus Chapter 9).

Our “power of reason” (Romans 12:1) would make us think: “If I am a person, my heavenly Father (my source) is also a person who must be like me in all respects (yet differing naturally only in degree), and hence can have a relationship with Him. The sentiment expressed in the ancient, famous phrase, ‘O God, wherever I am, you are with me', indicates the closeness of the soul and God. It expresses the experience of the presence of God, in a similar way to two lovers who carry each other in their hearts. In this way God's presence is a spiritual experience that one can have wherever he is. Image of God in each one’s mind may differ. Many people cherish a relationship with Eosope (famous ancient Greek fabulist) as a practical guide in coping with the challenges of day-to-day life, yet the mental picture of Eosope each one carries in his heart may differ from person to person if they have not seen his picture or sculptor. However everyone benefits from Eosope whether he really did exist or not!

114

Why do religious people make claims and then refuse to back them up?

by Viviane in

several times over the past few months i have had conversations, both here and in real life, with religious people making all sorts of interesting and conflicting claims.

i like to know how things work, so generally i will ask questions to net out what i am being told and see if it can be explained and make sense.. for instance, if someone said 2+2=4 and i asked how, there are a variety of ways that could be shown to me, a number line, physical objects being put together, counting on fingers and toes, etc.

indeed, in my personal life, i often have to explain how certain technologies work, sometimes planned, sometimes off the cuff, from a variety of group sizes to a varying degree of technical expertise.

economy

Viviane

Good questions. Even Jesus avoided replying to some of the important questions put to him. One classic example: 'I will tell you who I am--if you tell me whether the baptism performed by John the Baptist from God or from himself' (something like this--I don't remember the words exactly)

13

Confusion over the parable of the prodigal son

by economy in

though parable of prodigal son is superlative in quality as it graphically picturizes the scientific law of cause and consequence, its conclusion defames god.

when the prodigal son returned repentant, his father showed his delight saying: let us celebrate this by killing a fattened calf.

(luke 15:23) such a concept (let us rejoice by giving maximum pain to another innocent living being) seems to be interpolation for the following reason:.

economy

OnTheWayOut

You got me correctly when you said: “This parable appears only in the Gospel of Luke. It is made up by the author.” This is exactly what I wanted to highlight—parable is not from Jesus. Veg or non-veg became just a medium (not the subject-matter) I used.

13

Confusion over the parable of the prodigal son

by economy in

though parable of prodigal son is superlative in quality as it graphically picturizes the scientific law of cause and consequence, its conclusion defames god.

when the prodigal son returned repentant, his father showed his delight saying: let us celebrate this by killing a fattened calf.

(luke 15:23) such a concept (let us rejoice by giving maximum pain to another innocent living being) seems to be interpolation for the following reason:.

economy

Though parable of prodigal son is superlative in quality as it graphically picturizes the scientific Law of Cause and Consequence, its conclusion defames God. When the prodigal son returned repentant, his father showed his delight saying: Let us celebrate this by killing a “fattened calf.” (Luke 15:23) Such a concept (let us rejoice by giving maximum pain to another innocent living being) seems to be interpolation for the following reason:

1) Jesus knows every life is precious and every living being cherishes their lives (Mathew 9:13)

2) In the previous chapter, Jesus had already said one can break the Law of Sabbath to save a cow that has fallen into a pit on Sabbath (Luke 14:5).

3) Above all, father in the parable represents God himself who would not say “let us celebrate this by killing a fattened calf” as He had already made it clear ‘killing a bull is equal to killing a man, and is nothing but abomination’ (the root of which carries the notion of terror, horror, repugnance, disgust).—Isaiah 66:3.

On the contrary, when a village girl offered rice pudding to Buddha, he enjoyed it so much that he realized the noble middle path—proper food properly cooked gives energy to one’s brain and solace to his tortured soul—especially so if it is prepared love towards the prospective eater. You may have heard some saying: “the food my mother cooks carries a special taste, and is a delight to my heart’ If one really enjoys the taste and aroma of food while eating it slowly with proper chewing and relishing it, and taking it silently with the person being immersed in the experience, then it allows the other senses to kick in and provides the wholeness of experience, and helps focus the attention on the eating experience—something that forms the part of even the true worship (Compare Mark 12:30). Hence in some cultures eating is considered as part of worship!

Various foods have varying effects on body. Soldiers say certain foods help them to remain in fighting mood. Interestingly, we even have a branch of nutritional genomics—Nutrigenomics—that looks at how different foods may interact with specific genes to modify the risk of certain common diseases. (http://www.nutritionandgenetics.org/). Conversely, certain food can interact with specific genes to strengthen our health—physical and spiritual!

So ignoring all these aspects, how could Jesus put into the mouth of the father in the parable: ‘Let us celebrate this by killing a fattened calf (Luke 15:23)?

14

God's supposedly chosen earthly organization (WTS/JWS) doesn't pronounce or spell god's name correctly !!!

by Finkelstein in

this came up on terry walstrom thread topic recently and i thought it would be good to explore this further.

the jws are quite boisterous and arrogant that they use the proper name of jehovah as the divine name of god.

but a little investigation discovers something quite different.

economy

It is noticeable that Jesus did not use his skill removing the confusion regarding God's name, its pronunciation ...

22

Who exactly is an apostate?

by SonoftheTrinity in

if you are a non-believing relative or spouse who is hostile to their doctrine are you an apostate?

if you studied with them and rang the logical fallacy buzzer for chits and giggles to see how they would react does this make you an apostate?.

if you are a born in who never got baptised does this make you an apostate?.

economy

Primary meaning of apostasy for JWs is: "standing away from truth as taught by the faithful and discreet slave" which means only a JW-member can become an apostate

7

JEHOVAH A Partial / Selective GOD

by smiddy in

jehovah only dealt with a patriarchal family after adam sinned .he then only turned his attention to the 12 tribes of what was to become the nation of israel .. apparently he did not give two hoots about the rest of mankind outside of this small group of people compared to the rest of humanity.. 4000 years later he declares his love for the world and had his son sacrificed , setting up a system ( christianity ) starting off with jews and then allowing gentiles to enter., again neglecting the rest of humanity / nations on the earth , leaving them to their own desires.. during the first 4000 years he spent a helluva lot of time and energy trying to convince the jews he was almighty god .. performing miracles ,raising the dead ,slaughtering opponents with angelic intervention ,committing genocide on israels behalf ,etc.etc.

you know the drill.. no such effort was made trying to convince other nations or blessing them for their achievements advancing civilization , they were left to their own device , no direction ,no help , or instruction was given to them whatsoever .

and nothing has changed this past 2000 years , it started out as a small group who by "divine providence" were to be called " christian" according to the bible , and again he is only acting on behalf of this group , neglecting all other nations who now cover most of this earth.. so my question is : if jehovah really did love the "world" humanity , why did he not act in behalf of all humanity instead of singling out a minority group of people 6000 years ago and continuing on with that policy till today ?.

economy

I would rather blame the writers, not God. Jehovah is not correctly depicted in the Bible.

4

Teachings of Jesus—some are good whereas some are not

by economy in

1) his blunt reply to a young man spoiled his interest in spirituality.

(mathew 19:16-22) this does not match the majesty of jesus.

what he said in mathew 16:21: if you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven contradicts what he said earlier in mathew 5:44-48 where he says if you want to be perfect, be like your heavenly father who loves both the saints and the sinners alikewhich obviously require that you need some material possessions with you.

economy

1) His blunt reply to a young man spoiled his interest in spirituality. (Mathew 19:16-22) This does not match the majesty of Jesus. What he said in Mathew 16:21: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven” contradicts what he said earlier in Mathew 5:44-48 where he says ‘If you want to be perfect, be like your heavenly Father who loves both the saints and the sinners alike—which obviously require that you need some material possessions with you. On the contrary, if you become poor by disposing all your wealth, who will take care of you? Hence Mathew 19:16-22 could be an interpolation by someone thoughtless!

2) Another controversial statement found in Mathew 5:39 (“whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also”) too could be interpolation. Because this is something Jesus himself did not practice: When he was smitten, he did not show the other cheek, instead asked boldly: “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why do you smite me?(John 18:23). In practice, he had a very practical and manly style: “Everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.” (Mathew 10:33) If someone provokes you, you should defuse the issue through unilateral avoidance. Showing other cheek encourage others to continue to sin!