Posts by Sad emo

118

Really, There Is A Lot To Learn About Your Faith

by AllTimeJeff in

in ak - jeffs thread "did jesus ever claim to be the messiah", narkissos said the following that i think, and have learned, is rather profound:.

a better approach to this discussion might start with questioning the presupposition that there was one concept of "messiahship" common to all or even most 1st-century ad jews.. the idea is, we assume that the faith and religion we have now, is as it was way back then... clearly, it isn't.. i haven't devoted a great deal of my time to this subject, but i have read enough to realize that there is a lot more to the history of our churches and religions then we think.

jw history is pretty easy, as they started in the late 19th century.

Sad emo

Mad Dawg's quote is from this:

http://www.tektonics.org/books/ehrqurvw.html

This is a proper critique which the author of the above references!:

http://bible.org/article/gospel-according-bart

Quite lengthy but an interesting read if you're into scholarly stuff lol!

Personally, I think this quote from Wallace's conclusion (in the second link) rings true for me:

Second, what I tell my students every year is that it is imperative that they pursue truth rather than protect their presuppositions. And they need to have a doctrinal taxonomy that distinguishes core beliefs from peripheral beliefs. When they place more peripheral doctrines such as inerrancy and verbal inspiration at the core, then when belief in these doctrines starts to erode, it creates a domino effect: One falls down, they all fall down.

The first time I tried proper theological study of the Bible, I couldn't accept what I was hearing because I believed that the Bible was literal and the books were written by the 'historical' authors - the first whiff of Documentary Hypothesis and JEDP sent me absolutely crazy with my tutors! I gave up the course after a couple of semesters!

The second time was in recent years as I studied for my theology degree. I'm now not so literal with the Bible and I find my faith is much stronger, strangely because it is more flexible.

I dunno, maybe this is exactly what Jesus was trying to say when he taught about not putting new wine into old wineskins - a life of faith needs flexibility not rigid rules

We simply cannot rely on a literal reading of the Bible alone as the entire basis of our faith, faith requires some thinking and insight - hopefully Holy Spirit guided!

81

Did Jesus ever claim Messiahship?

by AK - Jeff in

in her book, introduction to christianity, mary jo weaver says this:.

"some christians think that jesus was so clearly the messiah that no one could fail to recognize him as such...... christians who see jews as a 'problem' might be surprised to learn that jesus has been a continual puzzle for the jews.

medieval jews tended to picture jesus as an apostate jew, a man who had lost his faith; 19th century jewish scholars had an image of jesus as a great ethical teacher.

Sad emo

Keep on walking Lillith

The Holy Spirit guides us into truth, truth rarely 'just appears' in our lives!

22

JWs still working for their salvation?

by sacolton in

if so, i guess jesus died in vain.

when does a jw know he/she has performed enough works to have eternal life?

do the elders let them know?.

Sad emo

JWs aren't working for their salvation. They're working for the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.

True - especially since Christ allegedly isn't their mediator anyway, not that many of them realise the 'fact'! Don't they only get saved by associating with the FDS?

10

WTF!! They haven't buried Michael Jackson yet?

by Gregor in

holy moly.

it's been over two months!

i suppose they have decided to pour the big bucket of stinky soup in the ground.

Sad emo

Maybe they can't bury him yet because of a potential murder investigation. They might still have to do more tests to discover exactly how he died.

7

Resurrection of the dead, JWs and 1 Corinthians 15

by Chalam in

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/181048/4/did-jesus-ever-claim-messiahship.

stephen, i really enjoy seeing different interpretations of the scriptures.

keep on doing what you do, man.. i want to know what you mean by your post.

Sad emo

I asked the JWs if they were "in Christ". I got a blank look. Strange as the term appears over 100 times in the New Testament.

Probably because the NWT translates these instances as "in union with Christ" - a completely different concept grammatically. In Christ suggests oneness/intimacy/being a part of, whereas in union with Christ merely suggests being in agreement with but a seperate entity. Hence the confused looks!

81

Did Jesus ever claim Messiahship?

by AK - Jeff in

in her book, introduction to christianity, mary jo weaver says this:.

"some christians think that jesus was so clearly the messiah that no one could fail to recognize him as such...... christians who see jews as a 'problem' might be surprised to learn that jesus has been a continual puzzle for the jews.

medieval jews tended to picture jesus as an apostate jew, a man who had lost his faith; 19th century jewish scholars had an image of jesus as a great ethical teacher.

Sad emo

Since all the good passages seem to have been used, I'll leave you with another little bit of information - even Muslims believe that Jesus was the Messiah - however, only to the Jews, not the whole world.

I guess this goes along the line of questioning; define 'Messiah'

Was it to be someone with a special message from God - either for a specific group or the whole of humanity? A God appointed king? Priest and sacrifice?

Or any combination of the above?

Maybe, Jesus' claims about himself to be the Messiah were true - but even he may have misunderstood his own mission.

Perhaps how we see Jesus' (or anyone elses?) Messiahship depends on how we receive him in faith (or lack thereof!) - just like when Jesus asked his disciples "Who do YOU say I am?" we are called to make an individual, personal response to who we see before us.

79

A Question Ex-Jws and Atheist On This Site

by Blue Grass in

i have a question for the regulars on this site which are mainly ex-jws and atheist.

my first question is just for the atheist.

why do you guys spend so much time discussing and researching a book you believe to be fiction?

Sad emo

For you Keyser!

29

A Question for Blue Grass

by marmot in

since i noticed you seem to take particular offense at atheism or anything that contradicts a literal interpretation of the bible, could you explain to me your view of noah's flood?.

.

because that's the fable that made me stop believing in the god of the bible..