Posts by Sea Breeze

18

A problem, a provision, a promise

by JW Answers in

short message of help showing forth the correct gospel for today.. the problem with mankind, the provision for mankind, and a promise to mankind.. jws teach that works save.

the bible says that only christ saves if we believe / trust upon him..

A problem, a provision, a promise

by JW Answers in

short message of help showing forth the correct gospel for today.. the problem with mankind, the provision for mankind, and a promise to mankind.. jws teach that works save.

the bible says that only christ saves if we believe / trust upon him..

Sea Breeze

There was no agreed cannon for centuries after the life of Jesus.

Cofty, with all due respect, this is simply not true.

The apostles reviewed the writings of each other and approved them collectively as authoratative; meaning that they agreed that the writings were not a matter of private interpretation, but bore the stamp of writings that were "moved by the Holy Spirit" or in other words, spoken from God. (2 Peter 1: 20-21)

The process becomes clear when we read 2 Pet. 3:15-16 and discover that the Apostle Peter gave approval to Paul’s writings. We also discover that Paul endorsed Luke in 1 Tim 5:17-18 when he quoted Luke 10:7. It is clear from Luke 1:1-4; Col. 4:16 and 1 Thess 5:27 that the writings of the apostles were distributed and read by the various churches.

In short, the New Testament books were approved by the apostles and were complete by the end of the first century.

By the end of the second century, church leaders (fathers) had quoted from ALL of the New Testament books.

The reason that the early church leaders quoted so much scripture in writing to each other was because like today, there were many "antichrists" in the world distorting facts. These writings make it fairly easy to determine what was sound doctrine, who were the trouble makers, and the authoratative scriptures that were used to refute their lies. It is not rocket science.

Additionally, the Muratorian Fragment (A.D. 150-170) listed all the New Testament books, except for Matthew, Mark, Hebrews, James, 1-2 Peter and 3 John. The document is called a fragment because portions of the document have been torn off. The well known biblical scholar Westcott states that the missing books were probably included initially because the document is torn where they should have been listed.

How is it possible for you to consistently get your facts so wrong? Are you an atheist?

18

A problem, a provision, a promise

by JW Answers in

short message of help showing forth the correct gospel for today.. the problem with mankind, the provision for mankind, and a promise to mankind.. jws teach that works save.

the bible says that only christ saves if we believe / trust upon him..

Sea Breeze

I didn't suggest ignoring any passages in the bible.

Cofty,

Thanks for clearing that up. Because it looked like you are reccommending that people ignore scriptures penned by Paul when you said "without the lens of Pauline theology."

Like I said previously:

The message today is to be reconciled to God and accept his New Blood Covenant "for the forgiveness of sins" that Jesus offered in Mt. 26: 27-28.

Why would Jesus offer this if a person could work their way into God's favor? It makes no sense.

18

A problem, a provision, a promise

by JW Answers in

short message of help showing forth the correct gospel for today.. the problem with mankind, the provision for mankind, and a promise to mankind.. jws teach that works save.

the bible says that only christ saves if we believe / trust upon him..

Sea Breeze

Read the synoptic gospels and let them speak for themselves without the lens of Pauline theology.

Cofty,

Why would anyone seeking truth want to eliminate some scriptures and not others? That doesn't make any sense. Scripture says that all of it is inspired. All of it is "beneficial". The other apostles were just fine with Paul's message. In Galatians, after preaching to the Gentiles for 14 years, Paul went back to Jerusalem to see if his efforts were in vain. The other apostels "added noting to me" and "extended the right hand of fellowship".

Sea Breeze - If christians are removed before the GT how can the sheep be saved on the basis of their actions towards them?

I didn't say that. Christians are evacuated before the GT. New Christians are created during the reign of terror of the AntiChrist but are also killed by the AntiChrist during the GT. These Christians are not Jesus' "brothers" that he is referring to.

Christ's brothers (Israel) are protected during the entire conflict. The Jews still have a national contract in force that guarantees the survival of the nation as a whole. God promised a certain land to the seed of Abraham, saying that it would be theirs “forever” (Gen. 13:15). I believe he meant what he said without any need to reinterpret what he said.

"All Israel will be Saved"

Both groups (sheep and goats) seem confused as to why they received the judgment that they did. Both groups question when they did or did not do certain things to Jesus. Jesus explains that what they did to Israel was the same as doing it to him.

God hasn't changed his original promise to Abraham in Genesis: I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you.

During this time, those who blessed Israel, are blessed themselves by being allowed into the Kingdom Reign on earth.

But, all this is a future time. The message today is to be reconciled to God and accept his New Blood Covenant "for the forgiveness of sins" that Jesus offered in Mt. 26: 27-28.

Why would Jesus offer this if a person could work their way into God's favor? It makes no sense.

"by the works of the Law shall no flesh be Justified" - Gal. 2: 16

18

A problem, a provision, a promise

by JW Answers in

short message of help showing forth the correct gospel for today.. the problem with mankind, the provision for mankind, and a promise to mankind.. jws teach that works save.

the bible says that only christ saves if we believe / trust upon him..

Sea Breeze

The sheep and the goats judgment occurs after the age of grace has ended.

The Sheep and Goat Judgment

Works flow from our beliefs, not the other way around. Tribulation saints are saved because of their attitude and works toward the object of the Anti-Chirsts hatred during the GT - literal Jews (Christs' Brothers). They do this because they believe God.

It wouldn't be right to let people in who wanted the Jews dead since Isreal will be the lead country on planet earth during the millinium reign, with Jeus sitting on the throne .... a throne that no one has sat on since Zedekiah was dethroned and carted off to Babylon over 2500 years ago. It will shortly be occupied again by earth's new owner, the 2nd Adam.

This is really just a military mop-up operation after the Great Tribulation has ended. It separates the believers still on earth from the unbelievers still on earth that need to be removed.

Man has always been saved by faith in every dispensation.

Genesis 15:6

Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Ephesians 2:9

“Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

29

Police confirm homicide at Jehovah’s witness center in Colorado after shooter 'threw Molotov cocktail into building'

by TakeOffTheCrown in

jw
friends

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11573103/active-shooter-throws-molotov-cocktail-jehovahs-witness-center-colorado.html?ito=amp_twitter_share-top.

.

Sea Breeze

The elders are no doubt forming a committee as we speak to deal with the serious sin of bringing reproach upon the organization.

"A few years ago an elder committed adultery with a spiritual sister who had an unbelieving husband. On the evening that the disfellowshipping of the former elder was announced, the infuriated husband strode into the Kingdom Hall with a shotgun and fired shots at the two guilty individuals. Neither of them was killed, but the next day this was front-page news in the largest newspaper in the United States! Truly, wrongdoing brings reproach.—Proverbs 6:32."

- w88 3/15 p. 16-17

98

Who raised Jesus from the dead?

by Blotty in

i have seen arguments surrounding jesus' resurrection being proof of "the trinity" - now while in some cases it's a good argument the evidence for it remains very weak.

(bible quotes are from the nwt but other bibles are referenced, use whichever you please) this following version of it is a good example.. "the bible indicates that all [persons] of the trinity was involved in jesus’ resurrection.

galatians[1:1] says that the father raised jesus from the dead.

Sea Breeze

you ruled out any other potential (natural or supernatural) explanations.

Jeffro, with all due respect I haven't "ruled out any explanations". You have not provided any serious natural explanations have you? I'm still waiting for an opinion from you.

Please explain these facts from a material naturalistic view:

1. The case of Anna in the video I posted on page 2 of this thread

2. Cases of NDE's wjere people see things while out of their body later verified to be accurate

3. Cases of verified brain dead patients acting and speaking completely normally shortly before death

Couldn't your worldview provide even a stab in the dark at these facts which are from credible sources? These facts are not going away no matter how much you pretend they are superstitions. This is why I asked if your were an atheist/materialist/naturalism/ adherent, because that changes everything.

I believe that the reason that you cannot even decide if the above simple facts are a better fit in a materialist worldview or a biblical worldview is BECAUSE YOU CAN'T. Simply put, you don't have permission to do so.

For the atheist, it isn't about the evidence at all is it? As atheist Professor Richard Lewontin says:

1. we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism.

2. we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive

3. materialism is an absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door.

These are the shackles of your worldview. Notice the use of the word "forced". These are all assumptions and self-imposed restrictive rules. You have no way of knowing if they are true or useful or not, you just assume they are. Then, you criticize others if they haven't adopted your assumptions/religion. I use the word religion becuase I believe that is exactly what it is. It requires way more faith than other worldviews in my opinion.

Aside from the amount of faith that you must generate, your worldview inherently breaks the Law of Non Contradiction. Something cannot be both true and not true. Everything is ether all physical or not. It cannot be both.

You never answered my question on how you know if your reasoning is true or not? If we are a random sack of chemicals and copying mistakes as atheists claim, what basis is there to assume that your reasoning is sound?

If your assumptions are just ideas, and they are, then they are not physical are they? Why rely on anything non-physical if that is your desire?

The fact that you attempt to form an argument is a non-material process that you ironically use in an attempt to generate ONLY materialist causes. You assume your strategy, something immeterial as well is useful and thus... real.

The computer you are using in an attempt to support a materialist worldview requires the tremendous use of codes. Codes are not material are they? If I give you a memory stick full of information, it weighes exactly the same as an empty memory stick doesn't it? It has no mass. Yet it is very real.

But, you rely on them to support the idea that only material things exist. Ironic isn't it?

Math isn't physical, haphazard, or situational. You assume 2 + 2 = 4 on earth. Why wouldn't it be something else in a different place if everything is just a product of unguided explosions and random chemical reactions? Who wrote the rules of math & logic? No one you say? So, do you have any examples of math and logic arising from rocks and chemical reactions?

I say your that your worldview is based on arbitrary and inconsistent assumptions. You assume that these non physical things are reliable and true, even while you use them to argue against other non-physical possibilities. Very inconsistent. It supports the biblical view that atheists don't exist and that everyone knows in their heart of hearts that God is obviouslyt real. Furthermore, the bbile declares that people who say to themselves "there is no God" are "without excse".

Christians don't have these inconsistencies. We believe that the source of all things, material and non material originate in the mind of God.

Billions are geting ready to celebrate his birthday in a day or two. His name is Jesus. He loves you and desires an imtimate relationship with you. Isn't there room in your heart for you to accept just one more non material thing?

Merry Christmas Jeffro.

98

Who raised Jesus from the dead?

by Blotty in

i have seen arguments surrounding jesus' resurrection being proof of "the trinity" - now while in some cases it's a good argument the evidence for it remains very weak.

(bible quotes are from the nwt but other bibles are referenced, use whichever you please) this following version of it is a good example.. "the bible indicates that all [persons] of the trinity was involved in jesus’ resurrection.

galatians[1:1] says that the father raised jesus from the dead.

Sea Breeze

@ Jeffro,

You made the following claims on this thread:

1."No one raised Jesus from the Dead

2. the 'gospels' are widely regarded by scholars as historical, are simply false

3. None of that has any basis in reality whatsoever. (conscious soul)

4. Beliefs about consciousness independent of a functioning physical body are just made up nonsense

experiences that are no more ‘real’ than a dream

5. This is a plain old argument from ignorance.

6. I don’t need to offer any speculative alternatives to your superstitions.

7. claims...that the 'gospels' are widely regarded by scholars as historical, are simply false.

Many of these claims are demonstratably false. On the consciousness issue - when offfered strong circumstantial evidence of consciousness existing outside the body you refuse to even consider it. I am not attacking you here, just describing in a nutshell your position.

You seem to mock and hold in disdain anything that is not material or physical. I think that is a fair assessment of your position.

A prominent atheist evolutionary biologist describes the position of materialists:

“We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism.

It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is an absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door.”1

– Richard Lewontin

When talking to committed atheists, it is obvious that this is the template their mind works within. Again, I'm not being derogatory, just stating an observation. Many atheists have no trouble openly stating their philosophical position.

We all have the same evidence. However it is apparent that atheists have somehow attempted to restrict their brains from reasoning on things that might lead to a supernatural conclusion.

Is this where you are at Jeffro? You cannot consider evidence that might leads to a supernatural conclusion because it violates your ideology or belief system? I think so.

I have some questions for you: If you are nothing more that a sack of chemicals and copying mistakes as atheists claim:

1.. How can you be sure that you are reasoning correctly?

2. Since brain chemistry is different for each person, how can you be sure that logic is the same for you as well as someone from China who lives on a different diet?

The certitude that your logic is a reliable guide has no basis in happenstance materialism (your worldview) as far as I can tell. Maybe you could tell me why you have so much faith in your reasoning?

Christians have reasoning rooted in the God of Truth. Truth is what reasoning is. And, truth is important and does exist. Becuse God is true, reasonable and "changeth not" , I can be certain that my logic would be the same in the United States as it would in other countries, palnets, solar systems etc.

But if your logic is a product of accidents, explosions and and copying mistakes, how can you be sure of anyting?

Again, this is not an attack on your person. Christians have been debating with unbelievers for 2000 years. It has a very long and historical tradition. We conquored the greatest empire in the world with noting more than reason and the power of our testimony.

You should consider the atheist / christian book club I mentioned earlier. There, Christians and Atheists get along great and try to refute each others' position. They have a lot of fun and truly like each other.

Recently they completed a segment called "Christianity on Trial". They just completed a segment called "Atheism on Trial".

In this segment, Mark Lanier is a Trial Lawyer who speaks on the topic of the nature of evidence. To avoid the lenghty introduction, go to time stamp 32:30 on the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj6LNDlFUz8

98

Who raised Jesus from the dead?

by Blotty in

i have seen arguments surrounding jesus' resurrection being proof of "the trinity" - now while in some cases it's a good argument the evidence for it remains very weak.

(bible quotes are from the nwt but other bibles are referenced, use whichever you please) this following version of it is a good example.. "the bible indicates that all [persons] of the trinity was involved in jesus’ resurrection.

galatians[1:1] says that the father raised jesus from the dead.

Sea Breeze

No circles. I've been on point consistently. Why is it so hard for you to just admit that these facts just don't fit in a materialist naturalistic paradigmn? Or, as you orginally put it, "has no basis in reality whatsoever".

Hand waving and telling people to just go away when they ask uncomfortable questions and present you with uncomfortable evidence can't be very satisfying.

This is what I did as a kid growing up in the "Truth". I broke the rules concerning which topics I was allowed to explore or not. I still do it. It is part of my love of freedom. Isn't it true that materialism & naturalism have some pretty tight mental rules that adherents must follow as well in order to stay within the atheist fold so to speak? I can't see where it would hurt you to wander off the plantation a little bit from time to time.

The rules you are adhering to seem self-imposed and unnecessary. It certainly looks like this apparatus prevents you from examinng even the simpliest of questions if they do not fall within your scope of allowed thinking. Can you at least admit that?

16

Am I being unreasonable in this ?

by smiddy3 in

hi friend`s ,i have my son and dil living with us ,which has been ok,overall ,quite a few years now ,however ,a few months ago they decided they wanted a dog ok ?

we had one a toy poodle for about 16-17 years and i just loved her as did my wife.. a few months ago my son wanted a dog and got a french bulldog as a pup ,which was ok by us .. however to cut a long story short, yesterday i was out in the back yard and the dog lunged at me and started attacking me in such a way as i can only describe as being frenetic in his attack ,in trying to ward off his attack and getting away from him i fell over and i believe if my son hadn`t finlly restrained him he would have mauled me .

i am 83 years old and my wife has just turned 80. and i dont want that to happen to her .. i don`t know the dog is what 4-5-6 months old i`m not sure , and been living with us all this time ,however i`m going to tell them to get that dog out of my house by the week and and a half or i will one way or another .. i am not going to tolerate that in my household and if he don`t like it he can go also .. i`m not being unreasonable am i ?

Sea Breeze

Sounds like the dog is "mentally diseased". Has he been around apostates lately?