Posts by hmike

88

Paul's Letters: Part of "All Scripture ..." ?

by compound complex in

greetings, friends:.

a friend - a former jw - gave me thomas paine's the age of reason: being an investigation of true and fabulous theology.

the mind boggles as i begin, haltingly, to fathom what many of you have already learned and shared here on jwd: the authenticity of the bible is seriously in question.

hmike

Coco,

Did I overlook it, or has anyone mentioned 2 Peter 3:15-16?

15 Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

That's what's used to put Paul's writings on a par with the OT.

75

I went to the doctor today and was told I'm going to hell!!!!!!!!!!

by changeling in

jw
friends

i went to my gp today.

i go there quite often since he's also my parent's doctor and i bring them to all their appointments.. i take my dad there at least once a month for blood work since he is on blood thinners, so i'm very familiar with the lady who draws blood.. today i had to have blood drawn myself, and the lady inquired about my parents.

she asked if they had had a nice christmas.

hmike

changeling,

I understand. However, for some people, their religion is so much a part of who they are that it naturally comes out in normal daily activities.

Suppose I practiced a religion that disapproved of music, or electronic technology? What would I do—isolate myself from the world? What would I have a right to expect from others? I think we all have to tolerate some things in order to reasonably live in this world.

Sadly, it sometimes becomes a battle of "in your face": I'm ____________ and I'm beautiful! (Fill in the blank with whatever.) Personal rights and the consideration of others should be balanced, shouldn't they?

75

I went to the doctor today and was told I'm going to hell!!!!!!!!!!

by changeling in

jw
friends

i went to my gp today.

i go there quite often since he's also my parent's doctor and i bring them to all their appointments.. i take my dad there at least once a month for blood work since he is on blood thinners, so i'm very familiar with the lady who draws blood.. today i had to have blood drawn myself, and the lady inquired about my parents.

she asked if they had had a nice christmas.

hmike

changeling,

I agree that her statement was not appropriate for the job she was there to do. I wonder, though, if she had said something you felt helpful or encouraging related to God or faith, would that have been a problem?

32

Without using the Bible.........

by searcher in

.

.......prove that the bible is true.. .

hmike

But what is the proof that the prophecies were written before the events came to pass?
The Bible was written over a very long time, so someone later could well have believed they were written before and so would have continued the belief by their writings.

For example, the New Testament claims that Jesus of Nazareth is the fulfillment of Isaiah 53, among other OT passages. We know that these OT scriptures predated Jesus, so it's a question of whether the applicable events recorded in the NT really happened, and if they did, were they correctly understood? I'm sure that even if some Jewish and Roman historians had affirmed that they personally witnessed Jesus was dead from crucifixion, and they later saw him alive, that would not prevent the controversy.

There is no proof of any position—that's why it's controversial. We don't have access to the kind of information we need to verify it, so it becomes a matter of probability and how it correlates with what we already believe and feel.

24

Does your belief system make you nicer

by Satanus in

jw
friends

or, does your nature help determine the belief system that you choose?

if you lose your belief system, do you become worse, better, stay the same, happier, sadder?

is it better to have a system imposed on you in order to control you, or is it better to be yourself?

hmike

Maybe we have to ask, "What's the purpose of a belief system?"

25

Most people would say that practising any religion is better than not......

by JH in

most believers think that it's better to practise any religion than to act like an animal and not practise any.. even my dad who used to dislike the jw's when he was alive, told me once, "you're better off going back to that religion, than not practising any religion at all".

i'm a believer like he was, but it's funny how most believers will say that practising any religion is better than not practising any.. jw's wouldn't agree, because they think that only their religion is the right one, even though a wrong religion may have a postive influence on somebody's behavior and happiness.. the only thing a jw looks at is the carrot "eternal life".

they won't look at the good that may come out of practising another religion.. after my jw experience, i won't go to any other religion.

hmike

You could always make up your own religion, and don't call it a "religion."

32

Without using the Bible.........

by searcher in

.

.......prove that the bible is true.. .

hmike

The books of the Bible contain prophecies about events in the future of when it was written. The test was always, "Did it come to pass?" The fulfillment of some of those prophecies is recored in other books of the Bible written at a later time. So, somewhere along the line, you would have to use the Bible. Even if a source outside the Bible recorded the occurance of an event in history, whether or not it was a fulfillment of a prophecy would be open to speculation, and some skeptics would likely claim the historical account was altered anyway. So, yes, I agree with others that you can't "prove" it.

If Jesus comes back and raises the dead, then we'll know it was true. If that doesn't ever happen, then we'll know it wasn't true, at least not the way we interpreted it.

75

I went to the doctor today and was told I'm going to hell!!!!!!!!!!

by changeling in

jw
friends

i went to my gp today.

i go there quite often since he's also my parent's doctor and i bring them to all their appointments.. i take my dad there at least once a month for blood work since he is on blood thinners, so i'm very familiar with the lady who draws blood.. today i had to have blood drawn myself, and the lady inquired about my parents.

she asked if they had had a nice christmas.

hmike

This lady's problem was that she was insensitive to your situation. "Fundies"—as you call them—sometimes make the same mistake as anyone else: they give out advice or opinions to someone without really listening and reading between the lines to discern what a person really needs. You are in recovery/healing mode, and how she acted didn't contribute to that. The result was counterproductive to what should have been her intent. Sometimes, simply a kind or encouraging word is what's most appropriate. Sometimes, just being there to listen is enough.

I think that's what bothered you—that she ignored what was really going on with you and made a "scripted, standard" comment.

75

I went to the doctor today and was told I'm going to hell!!!!!!!!!!

by changeling in

jw
friends

i went to my gp today.

i go there quite often since he's also my parent's doctor and i bring them to all their appointments.. i take my dad there at least once a month for blood work since he is on blood thinners, so i'm very familiar with the lady who draws blood.. today i had to have blood drawn myself, and the lady inquired about my parents.

she asked if they had had a nice christmas.

hmike

did this lady send me straight to hell????

No.

What is it with these fundies??? Where do they get off being so judgemental???

That was not judgemental.

Besides, if you don't believe hell exists, why would it bother you anyway?

27

New Experience: I went to a Christmas service at a church Monday night....

by WingCommander in

it was my wife's sister's church, a lutheran church.

i wanted to see my neice's sing in the choir and also just to take in the whole experience.

i have been married for 4 years (to non-jw woman) and have only participated in christmas activities breifly.

hmike

This may be the most wonderful, uplifting thread I've ever read here!