Carl Sagan: one of the brightest minds and greatest communicators ever - I just love his Cosmos series.
Fernando
JoinedPosts by Fernando
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30
Contradictory geneology of Jesus
by rebel8 inso i'm reading another carl sagan book and he seems to invariably find a way to slam j-dubs in each one.
(i can't say i blame him.).
anyway, in this one he discusses the fact that the gospels give contradictory geneologies of jesus--differing lines back to david from joseph, and a different number of generations.
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40
Is God evil, just because he fails to prevent suffering?
by defender of truth ina poster on another thread made the following comment, that really made me think.. it is about god: .
"imo i would say [god is] not evil but just indifferent.
apathy allows it.
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Fernando
Designs, I accept that our views of Paul's message are opposite.
For me his position against any and all religion is clear in his expounding law vs grace, and faith vs works, especially in Romans and Galatians.
The introduction to Galatians, and Galatians itself, makes for interesting reading in the Message Bible for those so inclined.
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40
Is God evil, just because he fails to prevent suffering?
by defender of truth ina poster on another thread made the following comment, that really made me think.. it is about god: .
"imo i would say [god is] not evil but just indifferent.
apathy allows it.
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Fernando
Of course your point is valid defender of truth.
And I'm asserting that the Kingdom will benefit humans and animals alike, in ways we may find hard to imagine until we are more familiar with the solution/medicine/map.
How can we know if we are making headway against the obstacles?
When we can personally read, understand and explain Romans and Galatians (without human "help").
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40
Is God evil, just because he fails to prevent suffering?
by defender of truth ina poster on another thread made the following comment, that really made me think.. it is about god: .
"imo i would say [god is] not evil but just indifferent.
apathy allows it.
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Fernando
Hey defender of truth!
No, a different point is being made.
The phrase "the gospels" is not really Biblical either and creates confusion as to what "the gospel" is.
"The gospels" is obviously a reference to the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
However "the gospel" is a composite message, map, medicine, framework and blueprint which is detailed throughout scripture.
Therefore one can speak of the gospel according to Paul, Moses, Isaiah, Psalms, and/or the apostles.
Whilst we are rejecting, or ignorant of, God's ultimate solution and map, the Kingdom cannot come to pass in full on earth without in some way overriding legal impediments, human autonomy, and our free will.
I believe God has put his solution forward and wants us each to individually and personally examine it and make an informed and free choice for or against.
I have personally experienced significant transformation as a result of embracing this solution and map (despite threats from the Watchtower hierarchy).
Therefore I believe it would be game changing if we humans devoted just as much time to this solution and map as we have to its nemesis religion.
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Is God evil, just because he fails to prevent suffering?
by defender of truth ina poster on another thread made the following comment, that really made me think.. it is about god: .
"imo i would say [god is] not evil but just indifferent.
apathy allows it.
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Fernando
The majority of us humans are indifferent to God's ultimate blueprint and generous solution for all evil, namely his liberating, composite, integrative, and transformative gospel message hidden in plain sight throughout scripture.
Yet many of us humans have instead gladly devoted thousands of hours to the common enemy of God and man, namely religion (which drives toxic radicalism, clericalism, hypocrisy, and ignorance; all fuelled by apostate legalism, moralism, and ethnocentrism).
Proof?
Just ask any Christian to explain what the gospel is in one word.
Just ask any Jew to explain what bissar is in one word.
Just ask any Muslim to explain what the injeel/injil is in one word.
The answer is as deafening as it is unanimous: ignorance.
Irony?
Christians, Jews and Muslims have at least 15 prophets in common that they esteem. Yet nothing was more important to these prophets than the gospel/bissar/injeel/injil.
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how to survive a three day assembly?
by purrpurr inhi i have to go to one of these soon.
i find it difficult enough to sit through a meeting knowing what i now know.
how to survive a whole three days???!!!
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Fernando
Headphones and awesome music?
Awesome book, movie or website on iPad, while in your car and "tuned in" to the talks on your car radio?
Volunteering and meeting interesting people?
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It's True: You Never Really Know What A Person Is Going Through
by minimus inpeople like robin williams can make you laugh.
we might think that they have it all but we really know nothing about their demons, their problems, their issues.
someone might be funny on the outside but be totally depressed from within..
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Fernando
And the more judgmental, self-centred, or self-righteous we are, the more wrong we can be about another person.
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46
You should meet Brother Smart Engineer
by garyneal inmy wife, who now thinks i am not competent enough to discuss spiritual matters with the kids, thinks that i could really benefit from discussing matters of the bible with this nasa engineer who attends meetings at her kingdom hall.
apparently, he is quite knowledgeable in the bible and has a good grasp of their doctrines.
at least according to her as i never actually spoken with the man at length but i do know that he is an elder.
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Fernando
If I had the chance, and since he is an intelligent problem solver, I'd really love to ask him:
"Is legalism apostasy?"
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33
Just Curious About Something
by EmptyInside insorry,couldn't think of a better title for this post,without it being long.. i was thinking this morning,if ex-jws, who were born into the group less likely to join another religion after leaving.
vs. the witnesses who belonged to a church before joining the religion.. from my own prespective,being raised a witness,i have no intention of joining any religion.
and it seems that born-ins are less likely to join a religion after leaving the cult.. in my own experience,i think it's religious burn-out to tell the truth.
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Fernando
The Watchtower organisation provides one of the most powerful contrasts between religion and the liberating gospel hidden in plain sight throughout scripture.
Kind of what the RCC did for Luther nearly 500 years ago.
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94
just what am I supposed to believe now??
by purrpurr inwhile i'm glad i found this site, it has also crumbled to bits everything i've believed in my whole life.
i feel like the certainty, magic and wonder has gone out of my life.
this has left a huge hole in my soul.
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Fernando
"The endeavor to compel all men to think alike on all subjects, culminated in the great apostasy and the development of the great papal system, and thereby the gospel, the one faith that Paul and the other apostles set forth, was lost - buried under the mass of uninspired decrees of popes and councils. The unity of the early church, based upon the simple gospel and bound only by love, gave place to the bondage of the church of Rome ... Each new reform movement (like Protestantism) has made the failure of attempting to make a creed just large enough for its prime movers ." --WT, Sep. 1893, p. 1572