the way i see it faith; as used in the bible and specifically in the book of hebrews is a powerful tool used to encourage gullibility, and strongly discourages critical examination.. "and without faith it is impossible to please god, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.".
it is of course true that when those words were first put down in writing there wasn't the vast accumulation of scientific knowledge we have in our modern times, there wasn't any telescopes, microscopes, atomic accelerators, satellites, or serious studies in anthropology & archeology.
and so faith in an unseen biblical deity was not met with the huge amounts of critical data, in fact for a sizable portion it was forced upon them with the threat of torture or loss of life(such as inquisitions,& being put to the question).. back in the days proceeding from when the official cannon was sanctified by both the politically&religiously minded early church fathers with the states approval or support "faith" as described in the book of hebrews became not only a necessity for future benefits, but became a life or death matter as the church through its political maneuverings became more and more powerful.. so as i see it "faith" or uncritical acceptance of a jealous and murderous and contradictorally loving deity is losing ground as a mind controlling device, but is still being used by those of the who preach the word for a livelihood but with less and less success on the more informed.. .
loosie,
you can certianly choose to focus on that, yes, or you can see what he does through us:
Habitat for humanity
Doctors without borders
Social groups that help those in need
Christian groups helping rape victims, homeless shelters, food and medicne for those that have nothing, etc, etc.
Lots of bad yes, but lots of good too.
i only have the nwt.
i went to the bookstore and picked up the scofield study bible iii version of the niv.
i have 2 weeks to return or exchange it.
Interlinears are crucial if you will be comparing translations, for example:
in Acts chapter 2:46, 5:42 and 20:20, we have the passage "house to house", I am sure everyone is familar with this one ;)
Not all translations translate them the same, some even translate the words differently from chapter to chapter, even though the words are the same in all 3 passages.
the way i see it faith; as used in the bible and specifically in the book of hebrews is a powerful tool used to encourage gullibility, and strongly discourages critical examination.. "and without faith it is impossible to please god, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.".
it is of course true that when those words were first put down in writing there wasn't the vast accumulation of scientific knowledge we have in our modern times, there wasn't any telescopes, microscopes, atomic accelerators, satellites, or serious studies in anthropology & archeology.
and so faith in an unseen biblical deity was not met with the huge amounts of critical data, in fact for a sizable portion it was forced upon them with the threat of torture or loss of life(such as inquisitions,& being put to the question).. back in the days proceeding from when the official cannon was sanctified by both the politically&religiously minded early church fathers with the states approval or support "faith" as described in the book of hebrews became not only a necessity for future benefits, but became a life or death matter as the church through its political maneuverings became more and more powerful.. so as i see it "faith" or uncritical acceptance of a jealous and murderous and contradictorally loving deity is losing ground as a mind controlling device, but is still being used by those of the who preach the word for a livelihood but with less and less success on the more informed.. .
Daniel-P,
I have, more than once too :D
the way i see it faith; as used in the bible and specifically in the book of hebrews is a powerful tool used to encourage gullibility, and strongly discourages critical examination.. "and without faith it is impossible to please god, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.".
it is of course true that when those words were first put down in writing there wasn't the vast accumulation of scientific knowledge we have in our modern times, there wasn't any telescopes, microscopes, atomic accelerators, satellites, or serious studies in anthropology & archeology.
and so faith in an unseen biblical deity was not met with the huge amounts of critical data, in fact for a sizable portion it was forced upon them with the threat of torture or loss of life(such as inquisitions,& being put to the question).. back in the days proceeding from when the official cannon was sanctified by both the politically&religiously minded early church fathers with the states approval or support "faith" as described in the book of hebrews became not only a necessity for future benefits, but became a life or death matter as the church through its political maneuverings became more and more powerful.. so as i see it "faith" or uncritical acceptance of a jealous and murderous and contradictorally loving deity is losing ground as a mind controlling device, but is still being used by those of the who preach the word for a livelihood but with less and less success on the more informed.. .
Daniel-p,
I disagree, those that faith have have no issues in questioning or being questioned.
Frankiespeakin,
If you are looking for emperical evidence in regards to questions of spirituality, good luck with that, I gave up long time ago, LOL !
I am not sure what the author of Hebrews had in mind when hw wrote that passahe, or any passage, even the authorship of Hebrews is in question, but if we are to believe that it was Paul, well, Paul had no faith in Jesus untill he was shown Jesus and his faith came from, what you may call evidence ( he saw and heard Jesus with his own eyes and ears, being blinde din the process).
Paul was certainly not the example of "unquestioning faith".
the way i see it faith; as used in the bible and specifically in the book of hebrews is a powerful tool used to encourage gullibility, and strongly discourages critical examination.. "and without faith it is impossible to please god, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.".
it is of course true that when those words were first put down in writing there wasn't the vast accumulation of scientific knowledge we have in our modern times, there wasn't any telescopes, microscopes, atomic accelerators, satellites, or serious studies in anthropology & archeology.
and so faith in an unseen biblical deity was not met with the huge amounts of critical data, in fact for a sizable portion it was forced upon them with the threat of torture or loss of life(such as inquisitions,& being put to the question).. back in the days proceeding from when the official cannon was sanctified by both the politically&religiously minded early church fathers with the states approval or support "faith" as described in the book of hebrews became not only a necessity for future benefits, but became a life or death matter as the church through its political maneuverings became more and more powerful.. so as i see it "faith" or uncritical acceptance of a jealous and murderous and contradictorally loving deity is losing ground as a mind controlling device, but is still being used by those of the who preach the word for a livelihood but with less and less success on the more informed.. .
Megs,
I don't think that faith negates asking questions, on the contrary, because we have faith in our serach for the truth we know that, when we find the answers, the truth will be there.
People with "weak" faith don't liek questions because not having the answers cause them to question their faith.
How can we know the truth if we can't measure it?
Excellent question, do realize that, truth is subjective to the individual, at least to a certain extent.
The truth is I can run the 100 meters in less than 11 seconds, Bolt can do it in less than 10, far less, his truth is not mine, nor mine his.
Some tend to believe that truth is absolute and perhaps in regards to somethings it is, but in regards to spiritual matters, the truth becomes something very personal and indeed, that is,perhaps, how it shoudl be.
i only have the nwt.
i went to the bookstore and picked up the scofield study bible iii version of the niv.
i have 2 weeks to return or exchange it.
By the way, the website www.blueletterbible.org allows you to compare 16 different bible translation passage by passage if you wish, very cool.
i had a huge light bulb on moment as i wasy in therapy dealing with a nasty anxiety disorder for many years and having a huge trigger in my life finally silenced.
it was almost the last thing that i thought i would end up doing expecially if you asked my wife and myself even a year before our decision to " live " thats how i view it not decision to leave...........it was a decision to live.. .
my therapist psychiatrist asked me who are you?
While I was never in it, my personal A-Ha to never join was how the WT says the Jesus is Michael and the Trinity isn't biblical, but use the same mode of interpretation that Trinitarians use to justify the Trinity, to justify Michael being Jesus.
The whole "billions will die" thing didn't when me over either.
i only have the nwt.
i went to the bookstore and picked up the scofield study bible iii version of the niv.
i have 2 weeks to return or exchange it.
A good interlinear is a must for any bible student.
In regards to the NT I suggest:
The New Greek-English Interlienar NT by Tyndale.
the way i see it faith; as used in the bible and specifically in the book of hebrews is a powerful tool used to encourage gullibility, and strongly discourages critical examination.. "and without faith it is impossible to please god, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.".
it is of course true that when those words were first put down in writing there wasn't the vast accumulation of scientific knowledge we have in our modern times, there wasn't any telescopes, microscopes, atomic accelerators, satellites, or serious studies in anthropology & archeology.
and so faith in an unseen biblical deity was not met with the huge amounts of critical data, in fact for a sizable portion it was forced upon them with the threat of torture or loss of life(such as inquisitions,& being put to the question).. back in the days proceeding from when the official cannon was sanctified by both the politically&religiously minded early church fathers with the states approval or support "faith" as described in the book of hebrews became not only a necessity for future benefits, but became a life or death matter as the church through its political maneuverings became more and more powerful.. so as i see it "faith" or uncritical acceptance of a jealous and murderous and contradictorally loving deity is losing ground as a mind controlling device, but is still being used by those of the who preach the word for a livelihood but with less and less success on the more informed.. .
Actually, if you read Hebrews 11:1
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain in what we don't see.
This is not about "blind faith", hardly, we don't see gravity, but it is there.
No, Faith is NOT about taking something based on "its too hard for you to udersatnd, have faith" or about "you are not ready, when you are it will be clear, have faith".
Faith is what allows us to question and leads us to truth, we have faith and it is because we have faith that we have questions and we can ask them without fear.
just afew points....jack ruby who killed ozwald before a trial is often shown on tape talking about..."you'll never know the real truth..." etc.
but on the net i found the whole transcript.
jack ruby was very mentally ill. he goes on to explain that these "forces at work" are the john birch society, anti-communist anti-jew club.
Thanks Chris, appreciate it.
