dear son of mary,.
i do not know if mary and joseph were your parents.
i do not know if you performed miracles, i do not know if you picked 12 apostles.
D wiltshire,
For me, yes!!! He was a fine man, a great man, a loving man, but just a man. Now, this truly is greatness: To be just a man and yet to rise above others in his love for his fellows! He saw injustice and was willing to give his life to rectify it! Yes, this is greatness!!!
IW
the watchtower society dates noah's flood to 2370 b.c.e.
they do this by following bible chronology quite closely, counting backwards from 607 b.c.e., their date for babylon's destruction of jerusalem.
however, as we know, the society's date for that event is in error.
"I was surprised to see you write this. From some things you wrote earlier I thought you were a believer."
aChristian,
I am not a believer in the miracles reported in the NT. I do respect the man who is reported to have said the words of his Father, words that have enlightened and freed so many. In this I believe, for someone DID teach these things, the rest though is suspect IMO.
What appeared to you as belief was merely an attempt to show Clash that his beliefs concerning women's place in the congregation is contrary to the place that Jesus(in the writings of the Apostle John) gave women, as opposed to Paul's writings.
As a side thought, I believe Paul went right back to his Pharisaical roots, he established rules, procedures, acceptable behavior etc., he IMO never really came to know Jesus' teachings, which would help to explain the fact that Jesus' teachings, illustrations, parables, etc., are not referred to by Paul. He really is silent on these things.
He did not spread the word of his Master. If the Gospels had been lost and only Paul's letters remained we would never have known what Jesus taught, his love, his magnificence! The early congregations did not have the Gospels in hand, they had Paul's letters, letters which do not explain or remind them of the words of Jesus, Paul's Lord!!
While claiming Jesus as the foundation, Paul chose to complete the building according to his own design!
IW
dear son of mary,.
i do not know if mary and joseph were your parents.
i do not know if you performed miracles, i do not know if you picked 12 apostles.
D wiltshire,
Someone who was identified as a man named Jesus spoke good things, these things, these principles, I believe in.
The reported miracles are not verifiable, the truth of the teachings of love and fairness are. Our hearts verify them! In other words the teachings of love remain and are recognized as good, the miracles do not remain and therefore the reports of them cannot be verified.
Tyydyy,
Would you also say that the GB are not hypocrites if they continue to act as if they are of the anointed when they know they are not?
When the world itself openly acknowledges that Christmas is just a fun festival, one which has nothing to do with religion, then I will agree with you. But so long as society recognizes that participation in Christmas is a recognition of the birth of the Christ by those participating, it is then a hypocritical participation for those who do not believe.
Personal convictions are irrelevant, participation in the Christmas ritual MARKS individuals as Christian just as participating in Ramadan marks individuals as Muslim in their respective societies.
IW
dear son of mary,.
i do not know if mary and joseph were your parents.
i do not know if you performed miracles, i do not know if you picked 12 apostles.
D wiltshire,
I have more love for his words than for the reported record of his miracles recorded in the Gospels.
I believe that someone who deeply loved God and his fellow man existed and did all he could to help and teach his disciples what was right. I cannot though put great confidence in the reported miracles declared in the Gospels, books that were picked by and in the hands of, the early Catholic Church.
I believe Jesus was what every man could ever hope to be: someone who loved God, loved others, spoke truth and gave his life for that truth.
IW
my younger sister ran up to me in the yard, tears running down her cheeks.
"it's mum .. come quick" she pleaded.
i ran inside and there was mum spread out on the bed, pills and empty tablet bottles all around her.
UncleBruce,
Thank You!
IW
dear son of mary,.
i do not know if mary and joseph were your parents.
i do not know if you performed miracles, i do not know if you picked 12 apostles.
UncleBruce,
Hi, unable to respond earlier, on the road you know.
Religious hypocrisy, religious kissing up, religious kowtowing is the name of the game for anyone who while declaring they do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God still celebrates Christmas! They rape Christianity for the thrill of it! They trade their conscience for a momentary "joining" with Christendom! Happy liars who mimic Christians while at the same time denegrating them!!
Sorry, just speaking my mind such as it is!
COMF,
I must presume by your post that you are a Christian! A devout man you are no doubt! I am not a Christian in the popular sense of the term.
IW
the watchtower society dates noah's flood to 2370 b.c.e.
they do this by following bible chronology quite closely, counting backwards from 607 b.c.e., their date for babylon's destruction of jerusalem.
however, as we know, the society's date for that event is in error.
D wiltshire,
What did I mean? I feel that sincerity is a valuable thing but truth an elusive thing, a thing which at times masquerades as what seems to be sound reasoning but in reality is based on false beliefs.
IW
the watchtower society dates noah's flood to 2370 b.c.e.
they do this by following bible chronology quite closely, counting backwards from 607 b.c.e., their date for babylon's destruction of jerusalem.
however, as we know, the society's date for that event is in error.
"I just want to promote a strong doctrinal bible believing Christianity that has a high view of prepositional nature of scripture."
Clash,
If you are sincere I applaud you, if aChristian is sincere I applaud him also.
But truly, it is my firm belief that even though you both may be sincere, you will without a doubt both be deeply disappointed. I do not say that with glee, I say it with sadness, heartfelt sadness.
Sincerely,
IW
dear son of mary,.
i do not know if mary and joseph were your parents.
i do not know if you performed miracles, i do not know if you picked 12 apostles.
Unclebruce,
To put it another way; have all those xJWs who have accused the Tower of hypocrisy rid themselves of hypocrisy?
Do they live their life true to themselves with no hypocritical lambing to anyone? not even the religions of the world?
Or are they followers now just as much as they were before, with the unsual caveat of course; it feels good! Which is also the reason why they became JWs, it felt good!
IW
dear son of mary,.
i do not know if mary and joseph were your parents.
i do not know if you performed miracles, i do not know if you picked 12 apostles.
Greetings O Great Unclebruce!
I presume you inquire of my point, I will herewith comply.
Now, there has been some discussion of late on culpability. My point is that some here who claim not to believe in the Jesus of the Bible still celebrate his birth for their own reasons. If now the general society around them should begin to condemn such celebrations, would those same people then say they had celebrated because others did so, because that was the prevailing mode in their community, because the commercial society in which we live encouraged them? Therefore they themselves were not to blame!
I think they would, because they are unable to accept responsibility for their own actions, they insist on putting the blame on others.
That's the first point, the second is.....well nevermind, I think you would understand but can't say it here.
IW
