hi...i have come across the jw text that says that "the word was a god" john 1:1...who is that "god"?
another god?
is him jesus?...
I would like to add to my above comments;
The doctrine of the trinity was developed not only to explain the nature of God (one that is triune) but also to combat heresies in the church such as Arianism, which is the belief that Jesus is the highest of God's created beings and thus is referred to as god but not the God.
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*** jv chap.
5 pp.
43-44 proclaiming the lords return (1870-1914) ***the twig, though, had been trained by god-fearing parents; it was inclined "in the direction of the lord.
Thanks Blondie for posting that. I often confuse the two myself.
hi...i have come across the jw text that says that "the word was a god" john 1:1...who is that "god"?
another god?
is him jesus?...
Javig,
The word trinity does not appear in the scriptures. It was coined by the early church fathers to help explain a very difficult concept which is exactly what the nature of God is.
We have God the father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Each of these three are clearly mentioned in scripture. The trinity is used to show that they are all in complete union with one another and are part of what makes up the one God. God's very nature and essense is that he is 3 persons (for lack of a better word) that equal the sum total of one God. Just like we humans have three parts according to scripture, mind, body and soul, that make up our one self.
But the fact is that the exact word trinity does not appear in the text. And even with this teaching, it is still difficult for us to grasp the concept of God and his nature. He is infinite in his wisdom but we are not.
Its ok if we do not fully grasp the idea of the trinity because Jesus never said we must understand this in order to be saved. Our faith is in Christ and his attoning sacrifice for our sins, not in the trinity doctrine. So it is not essential to our faith in Christ. You know even Paul struggled with areas of understanding, for instance he stated that we (including himself) could not fully understand the breadth, or depth or length or God's love for us. But he knew God loves us and loves us greatly.
So understanding every point of scripture or doctrine of the church is not what is important or essential to our salvation. What is, is that we know and believe that Christ died for our sins. Like Paul said he preached "Christ cruxified", that is what is foremost of importance for Christians. Not a doctrine that was developed much later. Peace, Lilly
once again the extremely controlling measures taken by the wt society are evident in the "witness only " nov.15th wt article " treasure your place in the congregation ".
as time goes on the governing body keeps pushing the thought into witnesses minds that the " faithful & discreet slave " is the boss , god, main enchilada , the one through whom rank and file witnesses must answer to in order for jehovah to approve them.
so strap your seat belts on: this should be interesting.. under the subheading " cherish our place- how ?
Outlaw,
I agree. The WT kicked Jesus out the door a long time ago. By the way, your doggie is soooo cute. Lilly
hi...i have come across the jw text that says that "the word was a god" john 1:1...who is that "god"?
another god?
is him jesus?...
excuse me but even though Paul is correcting a wrong teaching, I do not see where he is telling his brothers that they do not have the Holy Spirit in them?
That was my point that we may disagree on certain aspects of doctrine but who are we in Christ to tell another spiritual brother or sister that they apparently do not have Holy Spirit or listen to that spirit because we do not see things their way. Go back to the comments and you will see exactly who and what I am referring to.
Our faith is in Christ and his sacrifice for our sins, we do not have to worry about whether or not we are in agreement on the trinity doctrine because it is not essential to our faith. This is mind, we do not want to be judging who does or does not really have God's spirit on them as WE are not the ones controlling that spirit now are we??
Boldness yes, being puffed up with pride and feeling we are superior because of a belief we believe to be correct, no. That is not Christlike. That is all I am saying. Peace, Lilly
hi...i have come across the jw text that says that "the word was a god" john 1:1...who is that "god"?
another god?
is him jesus?...
Inkie,
I tend to be bold speaking myself when it comes to my faith. Do not get me wrong I am not against boldness at all.
What I refer to as pompous is when one Christian tries to tell another one that they do not have Holy Spirit because they do not see things the same way they do. And all because they cannot fathom the possiblity that THEY could be the ones who are in error. Thus they label their brothers and sisters in Christ as spiritually lacking, not faithful or not having Holy Spirit.
Maybe we (Christians) need a refresher in how to tell if someone does have God's spirit. See Galatians 5. You may be surprised to see that correct bible interpretation is not evidence of Holy Spirit. Peace Lilly
when we were jw's we 'volunteered' our time to help others learn the 'truth'.. in what ways do you volunteer your time now that you are out and are free to help others as you see fit?.
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I recently started an outreach ministry to provide encouragement, friendship and spiritual support to elderly people in nursing homes. I go visit, along with a few others and we ask the residents if they would like us to read the bible to them. IF not, we ask what else we can do for them. We read the newspaper, books, their mail to them as well as just sit and listen to their stories of their families and life when they were growing up. This ministry springs out of my genuine love for older people. I also work as a Nurse Assistant in an assisted living facility and have been working with elderly for over 15 years now. This is a segment of society that often gets forgotten by others.
We do not limit visits to anyone because of their religion. We visit and offer encouragment to everyone no matter what their beliefs are.
In the next few months I will be expanding and seeking more volunteers to do this. I am very picky about whom I choose to represent this ministry. It doesn't matter what church they attend or denomination but my ministry is stictly non denominational and I do not want any volunteers trying to convert anyone to their church or to christianity in general. The spiritual support is only one help given we are there for anyone who needs encouragment. I make volunteers sign a code of conduct agreeing not to push their beliefs on the elderly.
We have not been in effect that long but hope to grow this ministry in the future. Right now we visit a local nursing home twice a month.
In addition to this I also volunteer to give elderly people in my nieghborhood rides to the doctor, free of charge of course, if they need it. And I help out each month at my local food pantry. Lilly
i can't.
i can't even bring myself to pick up the book anymore but i'm still a christian.. not sure why, just this feeling of guilt when i read it, and guilt if i don't.. anyone else have an aversion to the good book?.
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I do read the bible daily.
I would suggest for anyone newly out of the WT who still has an interest in the bible, to purchase another version of the Bible, one that is written in modern english and is easy to understand. I like the New International Version, NIV although I do own several other translations as well. The NWT is biased to WT teachings and has 200 errors in the New testament.
Reading the New Testament is a good start to really see what Christianity is all about. The chapters that helped me the most to break down WT thinking are these; Hebrews, Romans and Galatians.
I would suggest that you pray first and ask God to open your heart and mind to what is true. Then be ready to accept what the bible actually says as compared to the way the WT interprets it. Read each scripture in its context to get the proper meaning. Only after you decide what the verse is saying then by all means look at a bible commentary for another opinion if you wish. I like the Nelson Compact Bible Commentary.
Take your time and re-read the passages over again. Do not worry if you do not understand the meaning at first. You will eventually get the understanding. You will see what true simple Christian teachings are all about and learn the importance of Jesus Christ in a believers life. Good luck and I'll be praying for you too. Peace, Lilly
just found out that there is a sex offender in my hall.
the "brother" that i was with said " the brothers will make sure that he is not put with any kids in service".
wtf !!!!
After I left my congregation I was in for 10 years because of the child molestor in it, we had a convention a few months later. One of the young brothers at our old hall told my husband that he saw the child molestor in the bathroom at the convention staring down little boys. He went up to him and told him to leave. Then he informed the local elders - nothing happened of course.
The following week the molestor goes to one of the elders and tells him that he hears Satan speaking to him and telling him to do bad things.........hmmm what do you think he meant by this? The elder's wife who was a nieghbor actually told this to me.
Anyway, eventually the guy just left that hall and showed up at another. I was told from long time JW's that this was his pattern. He is not allowed to go door to door but he does it anyway.
Just a note for those still in the org. NEVER leave your young child unattended either in the hall, at conventions or at fellowhip gatherings. Also do not allow any young MS or pioneers, etc. to study ALONE with any of your children.
All JW's need to be on the lookout to for inapproprate touching, hugging or caressing of young children by people that are not their parents.
If enough Witnesses speak up, the elders would not be able to hide these molestors. What are they going to do, Df the entire congregation?
hi...i have come across the jw text that says that "the word was a god" john 1:1...who is that "god"?
another god?
is him jesus?...
Javig,
Good points. Also The name Elohim in the Hebrew Text is plural.
Aguest;
The Jews in Jesus day tried to stone Jesus because they said he made himself EQUAL to God, by claiming to be God's son. Why did they feel he was making himself equal? One reason is because they knew that God could only beget God. Just like a human can only beget another human. Jesus as the Son of God is Equal to God in his very nature. While on earth he was lower than his father in position because he willingly gave up the glory he had with the father and became a man, so he could die on the cross for us. But upon his resurrection he received the glory he had previous with the father. (John 17:5)
In addition to the three in one comment that javig made; the bible says we humans are spirit, soul and body (3 parts) and yet we are still one human being. 1Thessalonians 5:23
Read these texts below in several bible versions to get the essense of what they are saying regarding the diety of Christ;
John 5:17,18
17 But Jesus said, "My Father has never stopped working, and that is why I keep on working." 18 Now the leaders wanted to kill Jesus for two reasons. First, he had broken the law of the Sabbath. But even worse, he had said that God was his Father, which made him equal with God.
John 10:30-33
30I and the Father are one." 31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"
33 "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."
In verse 33 when Jesus stated "I and the Father are one", the Jews correctly understood him as using a word for "one" that meant "one kind", meaning he was equal in nature to the father and thus he was God himself. That is why they said Jesus claimed to be God.
Peace, Lilly
