Oral traditions, letters, etc. did exist in the first century. How is this relevant to us now that we have a closed canon? The inspiration, transmission, canonicity, etc. of Scripture is defensible. Look to the Word now since we are not in the first century.
Aguest: what is your faith background in relation to JWs and where are you at now?
i am new to this site, just finding my way around.. i've been studying with jw's for about 15 months.
i'm an unbaptised publisher, and until recently never missed a meeting, have been out "on the service" quite a lot.
i've been having difficulties with one of the jw's studying with me and something happened which was just unacceptable.
I agree that a big problem is the semantical barriers with the kingdom of the cults. When a Christian talks about God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Bible, salvation, grace, etc., we mean different things than Mormons and JWs. The answer is not to avoid using biblical terms, but defining them in the right way. Just because there are pseudo-Christians is not a reason not to use the word (though with Muslims, it would be wiser to use follower of Jesus in addition to properly defining Christian apart from sinful Westerners). If a JW wants to talk about God's active force, I will talk about the person of the Holy Spirit. If they talk about Michael-Jesus, I will be clear that Michael is not Jesus (not avoid mentioning the Archangel). We should watch for JW buzzwords, but we don't have to learn them all if we clarify what we mean by terms to avoid misunderstanding. JW disfellowshipping is not biblical, but there is a biblical counterpart we could connect to the word.
everyone has different views about life after death and whether or not it is a possibility.. as jehovah's witnesses, we were always taught that there is no life after death, that this is the only life we have now and that the wages of sin is death.. .
what are your views on life after death?.
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If Christ has not risen from the dead, we are fools with no hope (read I Cor. 15). We should eat, drink, be merry, for tomorrow we die instead. Thankfully, the Deity and resurrection of Christ is historical and makes Christianity unique, the only way to eternal life.
it seems to me that most, if not all christians are really hung up on sin and redemption from sin and how naturally evil we all are.. my question, and observation is this : i had nothing to do with whatever you say adam and eve did wrong, i have always, throughout my life, treated whoever i came into contact with compassion, respect and love.. i have lived by the golden rule.. not many people, hand on heart, can say that, i can.. so, is your god going to judge me for the "sin" of some mythical forebears of mine ?
is he going to say that , because i did not believe in him, i willl be judged adversely, even though i lived by the precepts he is supposed to support ?.
all i can say is, if your god is like that, i refuse to worship or acknowledge him.. and i certainly do not want to get to know him.
The responsibility of individual believers to know truth from the Word, the autonomy of local churches, the Spirit's providence in Church history, etc. allow us to have unity on the essentials, despite diversity on non-essentials. Cults have uniformity, but it is not based on truth (simplistic).
*sigh* i have been noticing lately there are a number of groups of "christians" signing up as members of this forum, with the obvious agenda of gaining converts for their own cult-like religions.
i have been wondering things like:.
hmmm...maybe i'll try ignoring them.. thank you simon for the space to vent.. satinka.
The original autographs are fully inspired, infallible, authoritative. They are no longer extant, but we have a wealth of manuscript evidence to restore them to great accuracy (with no significant doctrine/practice affected by any variant).
it seems to me that most, if not all christians are really hung up on sin and redemption from sin and how naturally evil we all are.. my question, and observation is this : i had nothing to do with whatever you say adam and eve did wrong, i have always, throughout my life, treated whoever i came into contact with compassion, respect and love.. i have lived by the golden rule.. not many people, hand on heart, can say that, i can.. so, is your god going to judge me for the "sin" of some mythical forebears of mine ?
is he going to say that , because i did not believe in him, i willl be judged adversely, even though i lived by the precepts he is supposed to support ?.
all i can say is, if your god is like that, i refuse to worship or acknowledge him.. and i certainly do not want to get to know him.
Yes, men come up with extra/contrabiblical beliefs and practices, even in Christian churches. Denominational walls reflect man's imperfection, not God's will/perfection. These are also not salvific issues in God's sight. Despite differing on open vs closed communion, forms of church government, etc., they can still know and serve the same King. The Spirit supersedes denominational walls. Billy Graham crusades also show how numerous, divergent denominations can work together based on the simplicity of the gospel.
*sigh* i have been noticing lately there are a number of groups of "christians" signing up as members of this forum, with the obvious agenda of gaining converts for their own cult-like religions.
i have been wondering things like:.
hmmm...maybe i'll try ignoring them.. thank you simon for the space to vent.. satinka.
He is not doing so. The problem is with the individuals, not with God or the Bible. The Spirit leads into one truth, but cults, denominations, etc. are evidence of the fallibility, fallenness of men, not the infallibility of God and His Word which must be correctly translated and interpreted (see more detailed answer to your lame assumption on the other thread). Is that the best that you got?
it seems to me that most, if not all christians are really hung up on sin and redemption from sin and how naturally evil we all are.. my question, and observation is this : i had nothing to do with whatever you say adam and eve did wrong, i have always, throughout my life, treated whoever i came into contact with compassion, respect and love.. i have lived by the golden rule.. not many people, hand on heart, can say that, i can.. so, is your god going to judge me for the "sin" of some mythical forebears of mine ?
is he going to say that , because i did not believe in him, i willl be judged adversely, even though i lived by the precepts he is supposed to support ?.
all i can say is, if your god is like that, i refuse to worship or acknowledge him.. and i certainly do not want to get to know him.
Jesus/Holy Spirit/Bible did NOT reveal contradictory things to men. The obvious problem is the fallibility and bias of men (especially GB who claim direct revelation from God, but obviously not at all). The Bible must be properly translated and interpreted. There is one correct way to interpret Scripture. If mere men break hermeneutical principles, they may come up with wrong conclusions. If they have a Calvinistic assumption (deductive), they may import it on the text (eisegesis vs exegesis). The noetic effects of sin (our minds are duller after the Fall) also explains why equally capable, godly believers come to different conclusions on some peripheral issues (despite agreement on the essentials of the faith). Since Scripture is not a systematic theology book, it also takes some piecing together to formulate sound doctrine/interpretation. Sometimes manuscript variants, original language issues, etc. create issues that are ambiguous. We are not infallible, but why would you be so myopic to assume God is the problem, not us.
*sigh* i have been noticing lately there are a number of groups of "christians" signing up as members of this forum, with the obvious agenda of gaining converts for their own cult-like religions.
i have been wondering things like:.
hmmm...maybe i'll try ignoring them.. thank you simon for the space to vent.. satinka.
Pika: Show me a better way to say that the Bible teaches that Jesus is Lord God and that it matters whether we follow Him or a fake?
PSac: Reviewers say his commentary is hard to follow, secular, not spiritual. What is his eschatological view (preterist, futurist, post-mill, amill, pre-mill, etc.). Dwight Pentecost's 'Things to Come (eschatology)' and John Walvoord's Revelation Commentary take a normative literal approach leading to a pre-trib, pre-mill. position (futurist).
Not all of us lived in the first century and walked with Jesus. The primary source for knowing and knowing about Jesus is still Scripture illuminated by the Spirit. This is how we test orthodoxy vs heterodoxy (jgnat, better than true vs false Christian?!).
