I'm going to have to take some time to read a few of the posts here as they are fairly heavy. Thanks to everyone for your responses.
I have another comment tho. I really should have called this thread "I'm struggling with Christianity”. Because I named it “struggling with god” shows that I have a subconscious connection with Christianity being the only representative. That, I know, is dangerous to the way of fairness. I should really say that I am struggling with Christianity and its idea of God plus the existence of God in all other forms – but this particular thread is directed toward Christianity.
Having said that let me add one more thing. The idea that Yahweh is trying to communicate through a book, to me, is again proving itself highly unlikely simply because the explanation or interpretation of the book is so difficult. These ancient documents are so full of errors that perhaps the miracle isn't that they are complete, true, or inerrant – but that anything from our past exists at all.
If the Christian God wanted to use writing to aid us in the future, why did He give us the enormously incomplete hodgepodge of texts that we have to spend lifetimes to simply piece together and translate? And it's not the scholarly work to decipher the languages that is the problem – it's the fact that people that work with these documents, like Bart Erhman, say that there are more errors in the bible than there are words in the New Testament! If we don't even know some of the original words and placements of those words, how in the world are we supposed to trust that any interpretation is accurate? There shouldn't even be an interpretation if it's truth from God!
The very fact that the book is so hard to understand, so incomplete, and that there are so many differing factions of Christianity is evidence, to me, that Yahweh either doesn't exist, has nothing to do with Christianity, or has failed at keeping the “message” true. We can go in circles all day long, but there is, and has never been, a clear answer. Because of that I can't help but feel that maybe we make our own answers and, at the very least, the Christian God (or maybe all others) just simply don't exist. And if they do, they can't or won't communicate with us.
Morocco
JoinedPosts by Morocco
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24
I'm struggling with God's existence -- and here is why.
by Morocco inin mark 13:30, matt.
24:34, and matt.
23:36 the bible makes the following statement: .
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Morocco
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I'm struggling with God's existence -- and here is why.
by Morocco inin mark 13:30, matt.
24:34, and matt.
23:36 the bible makes the following statement: .
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Morocco
In Mark 13:30, Matt. 24:34, and Matt. 23:36 the bible makes the following statement:
“I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”
Christians have used these scriptures for years to explain questions about the End Times. The current explanation is that “this generation” is some future generation. (It's not just the Jehovah's Witnesses who use this explanation, I found a similar one on gotquestions.org) Various official explanations state that it will be the generation that sees the things spoken about (the “Signs of the Times”) that hasn't happened yet. The problem is there are other scriptures, ones which officials don't seem to addresses, that are in support of the fact that Jesus was speaking about his own generation – the generation of the apostles.
“This generation” is just vague enough to be subjective speech. If you subject that phrase it very well could be understood as some future generation. But consider the following scriptures:
Luke 9:27, Mark 9:1, Matt. 16:28
“I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God."
Now in these scriptures Jesus is speaking of the people “standing here” or those listening to him speak. That's pretty hard to subject to a future tense. Perhaps, though, it could be understood in a different light. It said “before they see the kingdom”, maybe that was speaking about seeing it in a vision or having prophetic dreams. Perhaps it meant something other than seeing the kingdom coming to earth.
Unfortunately for believers the most damming of all the scriptures should put a stop to this erroneous theology. This scripture is when Jesus was sending out his disciples to preach:
Matthew 10:23
“When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”
So, here you have a scripture saying that the disciples (who lived in Jesus time) will not finish preaching to the cities of Israel (cities that existed in Jesus time) before the Son of Man comes. You have the previous three scriptures speaking about people standing with Jesus listening to him speak that would not taste death before they saw the kingdom. There is too much evidence that the bible writers honestly believed that the end of the world was going to happen before they died. That may have been part of the reason the first bits of the New Testament weren't written down until well after the apostle's death. They saw no need in writing, passing it orally was well enough. The bible indicates that those who propagated Jesus teachings really believed that the End was coming in their generation; to the people standing there; before they could even finish telling the cities about their Lord.
This is a very important matter. If the bible writers believed that the end was coming in their time, in a matter of years, then there are only a few explanations for this. Either Jesus was delusional and believed the End was close, he purposefully lied about the End, the bible writers misunderstood him, or they put those words in later (perhaps as the result of attempting to clarify a teaching further along in the time-line of the ancient documents of the bible.)
If Jesus was delusional or if he deliberately lied about the End, then he wasn't who he said he was and he should be of no concern to theologians but of more concern to sociologists. If the bible writers were mistaken, or if this information was added in later, then God has failed in communicating, with a book, factual and correct information that will help save our lives. If one thing was misunderstood or changed the entire thing can be misunderstood or changed. But I believe that if God did something, he wouldn't fail at it. So God either didn't try because he doesn't exist or because he does exist but couldn't or wouldn't. Thoughts? -
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"Knocking" Documentary on JWs?
by Gayle inmaybe this isn't a new topic.
http:www.knocking.org/on_the_big_screen.html.
the clips i saw only gives a very "positive" biased message for jws, not the through & through facts.. pbs will be showing this in may.
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Morocco
Garybuss -- I would think you are bias if you made a video or some piece of information in support of the Witnesses even though you may not be a member.
Besides, no one has to read all of the article in a Watchtower magazine before knowing what it's about. I could be wrong about the Knocking video because I'm just guessing. -
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"Knocking" Documentary on JWs?
by Gayle inmaybe this isn't a new topic.
http:www.knocking.org/on_the_big_screen.html.
the clips i saw only gives a very "positive" biased message for jws, not the through & through facts.. pbs will be showing this in may.
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Morocco
P.S. Think about it -- if the video wasn't completely in favor of the Watchtower the Knocking staff would have their pants sued off just like the Quotes website. That's why, without having seen all of it, I would venture to say that it gives a positive PR spin on ye ole Org
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"Knocking" Documentary on JWs?
by Gayle inmaybe this isn't a new topic.
http:www.knocking.org/on_the_big_screen.html.
the clips i saw only gives a very "positive" biased message for jws, not the through & through facts.. pbs will be showing this in may.
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Morocco
You can do a YouTube search for it and watch a few clips from the documentary. From everything I've seen it is basically Watchtower propaganda. It seems, from what they've released on YouTube, that it is speaking supportively of the Watchtower.
The Knocking documentary claims complete neutrality, that is one of the persuasive arguments of the video. The problem is that the director's mother is a witness. So you can immediately throw into suspicion the idea of the video being neutral.
I think this project must have Watchtower sanction, especially when you understand the extreme controlling nature of the GB. Even if this video talks about some of their "faults" it will probably talk about less controversial faults and will definitely play them down and focus on their achievements. On a page at freeminds.org you can read some of the letters the staff from Knocking left on Randy Watter's guest list.
http://www.freeminds.org/women/knockingresponse.htm -
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Need Help: A good Greek New Testament?
by lovelylil inhi friends,.
i am taking a short course to learn new testament greek and i need my own copy of a greek new testament.
i thought i could use the kit book from the wt but bible scholars say there are too many errors in it.
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Morocco
There is an interlinear greek/hebrew bible you can download online. It's a small program with somewhat of a learning curve. It's free and I use it a lot. I know it isn't a physical book -- but you may like it anyways. For being free it's quite a helpful resource.
http://www.scripture4all.org/ -
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MySpace sued over sexual abuse cases
by Morocco inmyspace sued over sexual abuse cases .
january 18, 2007 .
associated press .
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Morocco
hear hear
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MySpace sued over sexual abuse cases
by Morocco inmyspace sued over sexual abuse cases .
january 18, 2007 .
associated press .
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Morocco
can i sue god?
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MySpace sued over sexual abuse cases
by Morocco inmyspace sued over sexual abuse cases .
january 18, 2007 .
associated press .
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Morocco
MySpace sued over sexual abuse cases
January 18, 2007
Associated press
NEW YORK — Four families have sued News Corp. and its MySpace social-networking site after their underage daughters were sexually abused by adults they met on the site, lawyers for the families said Thursday.
The law firms, Barry & Loewy LLP of Austin, Texas, and Arnold & Itkin LLP of Houston, said families from New York, Texas, Pennsylvania and South Carolina filed separate suits Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging negligence, recklessness, fraud and negligent misrepresentation by the companies.
“In our view, MySpace waited entirely too long to attempt to institute meaningful security measures that effectively increase the safety of their underage users,” said Jason A. Itkin, an Arnold & Itkin lawyer.
The families are seeking monetary damages “in the millions of dollars,” Itkin said.
“Hopefully these lawsuits can spur MySpace into action and prevent this from happening to another child somewhere,” he said.
MySpace, based in Los Angeles, did not immediately return calls for comment.
Critics including parents, school officials and police have been increasingly warning of online predators at sites like MySpace, where youth-oriented visitors are encouraged to expand their circles of friends using free messaging tools and personal profile pages.
MySpace has responded with added educational efforts and partnerships with law enforcement. The company has also placed restrictions on how adults may contact younger users on MySpace, while developing technologies such as one announced Wednesday to let parents see some aspects of their child’s online profile, including the stated age. That tool is expected this summer.
The lawyers who filed the latest lawsuits said the plaintiffs include a 15-year-old girl from Texas who was lured to a meeting, drugged and assaulted in 2006 by an adult MySpace user, who is currently serving a 10-year sentence in Texas after pleading guilty to sexual assault.
The others are a 15-year-old girl from Pennsylvania, a 14-year-old from upstate New York and two South Carolina sisters, ages 14 and 15.
Last June, the mother of a 14-year-old who says she was sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old user sued MySpace and News Corp., seeking $30 million in damages. That lawsuit, pending in a Texas state court, claims the 19-year-old lied about being a senior in high school to gain her trust and phone number.
News Corp. shares hit a new 52-week high of $24.07 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange before slipping back to $23.98, up 28 cents.
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I watch dateline, so I am fully aware of the "internet predator" problem out there. Apparently these unintelligent, primitive, horney old farts can't control themselves from abusing young girls. It's wrong, sure, but what about the responsibility of the god forsaken parents?! Where the heck are the parents? Why aren't they restricting their daughter's usage? Why aren't they teaching her not to meet people online, or at least screening her friends? This isn't myspace's fault, you can trick the system, this is the parent's fault. And if the parents did all they could to prevent it, but their child was rebellious, then it's the child's fault AND the parent's for the inability to get through to the kid. If my kid was kidnapped in the mall, I would be trying to find the person who took them and beat the life from them, but I sure as heck wouldn't sue the mall. That would be MY fault. God, stuff like this makes me so mad because it seems like everyone is blind to where responsibility should be in matters like this. It's not like myspace was ENCOURAGING this, shit happens, make sure you know what the heck your kids are doing. -
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If Jesus could talk to Satan...
by AuldSoul inconsider the scene: jesus has just been baptized and immediately leaves for an extended stay in the wilderness all on his lonesome.
now ... already this is something the governing body would discourage any jw from doing, but i digress.. along comes satan.
jesus knows it is satan, because of how satany he is.
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Morocco
I actually had a similar conversation with a witness friend. I was asking her why "bad association" is so bad. I made the point that, if you have faith in God, and God won't let you be "tested beyond what you can bear", then what exactly is the probelm? Doesn't this line of logic basically say that with faith you are immune? Satan will "flee from you"? She argued the point that Jesus wasn't making friends, he was preaching. As long as you are preaching it's okay to talk to worldly people. Then she resorted to "you need to talk to the elders because they will surely have the correct answers." Basically she didn't answer my question and her brain froze like a deer in headlights. Hm.