Whilst Christians like to portray Jesus as the supreme example of love and mercy ( as opposed to a supposedly wicked 'Watchtower god' ), does the Bible's presentation of Jesus cast him in quite the same flattering light that Christians like to believe? For instance, at Revelation 19:15 Jesus is described as 'smiting the nations and ruling them with a rod of iron and treading the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.' Does Jesus sound just as bad as the 'wicked Watchtower god'? Would you want Jesus as a friend?
scout575
JoinedPosts by scout575
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Would you want Jesus as a friend?
by scout575 inwhilst christians like to portray jesus as the supreme example of love and mercy ( as opposed to a supposedly wicked 'watchtower god' ), does the bible's presentation of jesus cast him in quite the same flattering light that christians like to believe?
for instance, at revelation 19:15 jesus is described as 'smiting the nations and ruling them with a rod of iron and treading the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of almighty god.
' does jesus sound just as bad as the 'wicked watchtower god'?
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2 Samuel chapter 24 - Don't mess with God!
by nicolaou ingod tells david, "don't count my people".
david counts the people.. god tells david, "'cos you were naughty you gotta pick your punishment, will it be 'a' 7 years of famine, 'b' 3 months of national humiliation or 'c' 3 days of pestilence?
choose davey boy!".
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scout575
Nicolaou: Faced with such a depraved portrayal of the 'god of love' Christians have a choice of: A - God is psychopathic B - the account is fictitious C - the 70,000 Israelites who were executed just happened to be 'wicked' anyway and deserved to to be killed by god. What a heartwarming choice that is.
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I did it
by Shazard inand not i but god.
i got one jw out of the borg.
atleast today he admitted that borg is sect.
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scout575
Shazard: Whilst I'm no longer a JW ( and would never go back ) I have to say that your view of JWs is distorted to say the least. As a JW I ( and all other JWs ) had total faith in Christ and in the redeeming power of his sacrifice. The life of a JW who is a true believer in the Bible is a very happy one, as mine was. The view presented by many people on this site that the JW religion is some kind of nightmare cult is simply wrong. It is a sincere group of genuine Christians who love God, Christ and their fellowman. The idea that they need to be rescued to 'true Christianity' is misplaced.
The reason that I left JWs is that I gradually came to realize that the Bible is the work of man rather than God. A quick look at the many chat forums for ex-born again Christians shows how countless born again Christians are coming to the same conclusion as I did regarding the man-made nature of the Bible, and turning their backs on Christianity. Maybe you'd benefit by checking these websites for yourself?
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Are caricatured portrayals of JWs counterproductive?
by scout575 inyears before i stopped being a jehovah's witness i came onto sites like this one, out of curiosity.
i found that alot of the postings were depicting the jw organization as a harsh, unloving, brainwashing cult.
i found this portrayal to be completely opposite to my long years of experience as a jw ( and still do ).
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scout575
Years before I stopped being a Jehovah's Witness I came onto sites like this one, out of curiosity. I found that alot of the postings were depicting the JW organization as a harsh, unloving, brainwashing cult. I found this portrayal to be completely opposite to my long years of experience as a JW ( and still do ). I remember thinking at the time that it was if if these postings were describing a religion other than Jehovah's Witnesses. This meant that I just couldn't take seriously what the postings said, and therefore they never made me call into question whether I should continue as a JW.
Whilst I don't want to minimize the very real trauma that many ex-JWs have experienced, if one of the main aims of this site is get JWs to question whether they should continue 'in the truth' would it be better ( As many already do ) to use more measured language in our postings and to have a more forensic approach to our criticisms of the Bible and the WTS? Had that been the case years ago, I suspect I would have left JWs much earlier than I did.
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scout575
I consider myself very privileged to have have spent many years as a JW. Many, many of the brothers and sisters were such outstanding examples of Christianity, that my memory of them will inspire me to my dying day. Whilst of course there were varying levels of spirituallity within the congregation, the vast majority of people treated me with kindness and respect. I have no complaints.
There were football matches, get togethers, alot of laughter together whilst out in the ministry. I enjoyed all of this, as did the majority of people in the congregation. I certainly don't consider my years as a Witness as a waste of time, after all I, along with the others in the congregation tried hard to be kind and helpful to people ( both inside and outside the congregation ) and that is the way that I intend to continue living my life now that I'm no longer a Witness.
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Is the Bible's description of Nineveh correct?
by scout575 injonah 3:3 says: "now nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days journey.
" if we assume that about 20 miles can be covered in a day's walk, that would make nineveh about 60 miles wide.
was nineveh really that big?
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scout575
Jonah 3:3 Says: "Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days journey." If we assume that about 20 miles can be covered in a day's walk, that would make Nineveh about 60 miles wide. Was Nineveh really that big? This would make it far bigger than modern day Greater London. Can this Bible account be trusted?
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Is this prophecy by Jesus trustworthy?
by scout575 inin the last chapter of the bible jesus is three times portrayed as saying: "i come quickly.
" the last of these three statements actually reads: "surely i come quickly.
" ( rev 22:7, 12, 20 ) does the passage of nearly 2000 years since those words were written indicate that this bible prophecy is trustworthy?
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scout575
Hi Jaffacake. I think that we both agree that the Bible is a deeply flawed ancient document. It clearly contains contradictions, absurdities, 'god'-ordained barbarities, agonizing ambiguities, scientific inaccuracies, failed prophecies and extreme punishments for so-called sins. Faced with this, we each have a choice: Either we try to reconcile all of this to the Bible's statement that "God is love" or we don't. You'll forgive me if I don't.
Like you, I'm not making any bold claims that I'M RIGHT and everyone else is wrong, after all I have a long history of being a great believer in God, Christ and the Bible, which I now recognise as myths. It would be a bit rich if I, having been wrong all these years, now started to proclaim myself as right ( my track record of being RIGHT is clearly poor ).
As you know, my questions on this site aren't directed at the type of Christianity that you represent. I have no great problem with people viewing the Bible in the way that you do, after all it does seem completely harmless. My questions are aimed at Christians who feel that they have to: Abstain from blood, shun disfellowshipped relatives, view women as having a secondary role to men in the congregation, view homosexuality as abhorrent, view sex before marriage as sinful, view non-Christians as under the spell of Satan and on their way to a violent execution at the 'end of the world.'
I didn't expect anyone to reply to my questions. All I want people who believe the above things to do, is read my questions and think about them. Maybe that will make a small contribution to their leaving born again Christianity or Jehovah's Witnesses sooner than they otherwise would.
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Is this prophecy by Jesus trustworthy?
by scout575 inin the last chapter of the bible jesus is three times portrayed as saying: "i come quickly.
" the last of these three statements actually reads: "surely i come quickly.
" ( rev 22:7, 12, 20 ) does the passage of nearly 2000 years since those words were written indicate that this bible prophecy is trustworthy?
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scout575
Thanks Jaffacake. You say that by the time Paul writes Romans he is changing his mind about the imminence of the 'end'. However, what does he say at Romans 16:20? "The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet SHORTLY." Not much change of mind there. Clearly he's wrong in making that prediction. It does make me wonder: What else of what he said was wrong? When he says in Romans 5:8: "Christ died for us." maybe thats wrong too? When the Bible says: "God is love." ( 1John 4:8 ) maybe thats also wrong. Maybe the reality is: "God ISN'T love."? Or to be less facetious, maybe the reality is: "God is love, but he isn't very good at showing it." Looking at the countless tragedies of history over the last 2000 years, many would choose to re-interpret the Bible in that way. Why should people be expected to accept 1John 4:8 as being true, if they're not expected to accept Romans 16:20 as being true?
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Is Jesus a false prophet?
by scout575 inat matthew !6: 28 jesus is portrayed as prophesying: "verily i say unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see the son of man coming in his kingdom.
" did some of jesus' listeners live to see him coming in his kingdom?
is jesus a false prophet?
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scout575
At Matthew !6: 28 Jesus is portrayed as prophesying: "Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." Did some of Jesus' listeners live to see him coming in his kingdom? Is Jesus a false prophet?
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Is this Bible warning a valid one?
by scout575 inat hebrews 10: 26,27 the bible warns those who would consider leaving christianity: "for if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgement and a fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
" is the bible trustworthy in saying that those who leave christianity are certain to experience a dread of judgement by god?
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scout575
Thanks Narkissos, I bow to your superior linguistic skills. Even allowing for your clarification, I have to say that upon leaving Christianity I didn't even have 'a KIND of' "fearful looking for of judgement." The bubble of Christianity had burst and I had no fear of judgement whatsoever. The same is true of others that I know who have done the same. Maybe the Bible's stark warning at Heb 10:26,27 ( like my question ) needs some clarification too?