Posts by alfmel

45

Honest Question..........

by thraxer68 in

well, first off, iam new to the forum here, i registered maybe a week ago???

sometime around there, but anyway, i do have an honest question.

i guess a little background about me might be helpful and if not, at least therapeutic.

I've never been a JW, have heard their message and though about it, but never joined. I have found a good doctrine in an unlikely source, and I attend church regularly. I find some good fellowship there (although some people are jerks), I don't have to go door to door, and I feel close to God when I go to church or study the scriptures. Contact me if you want to know more. alf at mypals dot org.

15

A few questions about Adam and Eve, Death, and the Resurrection

by alfmel in

i am not a jw, but they often come to my door.

i listen to them, formulate questions, but they can never answer them to my satisfaction.

that's why i've never become a jw.

alfmel

EndofMysteries, I have found my answers. My reason for being here is trying to understand what the JWs believe to be the answers. When they come to my door, most of them are rude to me and intollerant towards my beliefs. I would like to understand their doctrine enough to know where they are coming from, know where we have common ground, and hope to engage in constructive dialog about each others' belief. Yes, I know, that's a lofty goal. I've been able to do it with one JW, and both of us have been enlightened. But there are still too many things I don't understand about their doctrine, and that's why I'm here.

15

A few questions about Adam and Eve, Death, and the Resurrection

by alfmel in

i am not a jw, but they often come to my door.

i listen to them, formulate questions, but they can never answer them to my satisfaction.

that's why i've never become a jw.

alfmel

Rufus, your post made perfect sense. I really enjoyed it. It explains Christianity in a very concise, logical way. However, I don't know how much that aligns with the JW view of this life, or better put, with my interpretation of the JW view. It seems every time the JWs come to my door, they tell me how miserable and lotheful this world is. I agree with your view. Yes, it's bad, but it's all for the ultimate glory of God. I choose to rejoice in my existence and my knowledge of God and the grace of Jesus. But, it seems the JWs in my neighborhood just whine and complain about the stupidity of Eve and how she screwed us all up. Is it just me that thinks JWs put too much blame on Eve? I read the story in Genesis, find Adam blaming Eve, Eve blames the serpent (Satan), and the JWs continue the blaming and curse Eve.

15

A few questions about Adam and Eve, Death, and the Resurrection

by alfmel in

i am not a jw, but they often come to my door.

i listen to them, formulate questions, but they can never answer them to my satisfaction.

that's why i've never become a jw.

alfmel

frigginconfused, that was a good theory. I like discussion things outside of the "official stance" and that did it. Thank you. Very enjoyable post.

15

A few questions about Adam and Eve, Death, and the Resurrection

by alfmel in

i am not a jw, but they often come to my door.

i listen to them, formulate questions, but they can never answer them to my satisfaction.

that's why i've never become a jw.

alfmel

Sapphy wrote: "I'm sure you'll get a few answers but I don't think anyone on here will try and persuade you to become a Witness!"

That's OK. I've decided the JW doctrine is not for me. I'm just trying to understand some of the points of doctrine that always eluded me and no JW can answer to my satisfaction. The last answer I received to my first question is that God does everything for the good of his children. So putting the tree in the garden was for our good. If that be the case, then why is this world so bad?

It seems to me (and I could be wrong) that the JW doctrine leaves many questions unaswered. That's not bad, since the entire world is filled with unaswered questions. But, it seems JWs don't like to admit they don't know and must answer any question with partially unrelated scriptures. Am I correct in my assessment?

15

A few questions about Adam and Eve, Death, and the Resurrection

by alfmel in

i am not a jw, but they often come to my door.

i listen to them, formulate questions, but they can never answer them to my satisfaction.

that's why i've never become a jw.

alfmel

From shamus100:

They will live forever in paradise on earth, living in real bodies only 144,000 will rule with Jesus Christ

from Sapphy:

God will resurrect the vast majority to everlasting life in paradise on earth with physical bodies. Only a small number will be resurected to heaven to rule in the kingdom with Jesus.

So most will resurrect with a physical body in live in paradise, but Jesus and 144,000 will resurrect with spiritual bodies and live with God? If this is correct, then I misunderstood the JW view of the resurrection thinking everyone would resurrect with a spiritual body.

15

A few questions about Adam and Eve, Death, and the Resurrection

by alfmel in

i am not a jw, but they often come to my door.

i listen to them, formulate questions, but they can never answer them to my satisfaction.

that's why i've never become a jw.

alfmel

The tree was a loving provision enabling a physical means by which Adam and Eve could demonstrate their wholehearted obedience and loyalty.

So why is their disobedience affecting us, especially when others' obedience does not affect us? Because of them I am punished, but because of me I am saved.

Also, how does the JW doctrine explain 1 Cor 15:22

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

17

Garden of Eden, Tree of Knowledge, not quite literal

by EndofMysteries in

i share this hoping motivates some into some bible reading, and stimulating your critical thinking.

is the concept of the tree of life and knowledge of good and bad anywhere in the bible?

read ezekiel chapter 31, the entire chapter.

alfmel

Mall Cop said:

First you are using scripture to get your points across. I would recommend that you read two very good eye-openining books.

Are you saying the Bible is not a solid foundation because other books say it's not? Exactly what makes any book infallible? What backs up your position that your books are better sources of truth than the Bible? If the anwer is "read and find out" then wouldn't the fallacy of a book be based on the opinions of the reader? And if so, what makes your opinion any better than EndofMysteries' opinion?

15

A few questions about Adam and Eve, Death, and the Resurrection

by alfmel in

i am not a jw, but they often come to my door.

i listen to them, formulate questions, but they can never answer them to my satisfaction.

that's why i've never become a jw.

alfmel

I am not a JW, but they often come to my door. I listen to them, formulate questions, but they can never answer them to my satisfaction. That's why I've never become a JW. Hopefully someone here can answer my questions.

First question: if God's intentions were to create man and place him and her in a paradaise garden, why did God place the tree of knowledege of good and evil in the garden, therefore allowing man to destroy the original plan of God?

Second question: Because Eve ate the fruit, they were cast out of the garden to this dreadful world we live in. Thanks to Jesus, the faithful will resurrect and live again in the paradise. However, Adam and Eve had bodies of flesh and bones, but we will resurrect with spiritual bodies. If God will restore the original paradise, how come we won't resurrect with physical bodies like the ones Adam and Eve have? Why the change in body type?

66

The Bible: God's Word or Man's?

by Doug Mason in

my jw visitor left me a copy of the 2006 print of the book "the bible: god's word or man's?

", and i intend to provide him with my analysis of it.. i notice that the book was written in 1989, and the dates of the references suggest the book has not been updated since then.

am i correct?.

alfmel

I like what the Bible has to say about that:

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt... (James 1:5-6)

I like that verse because God should be the source of wisdom. James didn't say "If any of you lacks wisdom, read the Bible" (or the equivalent at the time). Plenty have read the Bible and never believed in God. We should read the Bible and ask God if what we are reading is his word and how it applies to our lives. That, in my opinion, is how we obtain true wisdom.