i’ve been reading it for a few of years off and on, but have been a little too ... maybe ... timid to join.
i left the watchtower organization almost 20 years ago but never abandoned my faith and belief in god.
i knew the gb/organization didn’t represent god, so when i lost my faith in them, i managed to keep my faith in an all wise benevolent creator.
Without even stopping to analyze the evidence against a moral god, I find the bible to be completely illogical.
I can't defend everything in the Bible other that to say it was a reflection of how the Jews saw God and the way people have since interpreted those expressions.
But again, my intent here is not to defend religion and religious creeds. I hoped to talk about why people believe in God. Can you see the difference?
i’ve been reading it for a few of years off and on, but have been a little too ... maybe ... timid to join.
i left the watchtower organization almost 20 years ago but never abandoned my faith and belief in god.
i knew the gb/organization didn’t represent god, so when i lost my faith in them, i managed to keep my faith in an all wise benevolent creator.
Bonsai, you said:
Any super being that would be above the problems and bad inclinations that inflict us fleshly beings would step up to the plate and physically and openly help us to see without a doubt that violence, killing and intolerance are not what he is about. A responsible super being would take an active role in clearing up the confusion that we have about this theoretical god. Any god that can't take the time to do that is not worth my time.
But he did. He sent Jesus to address all those issues. Jesus corrected the errors of the Jewish religious system and explained God more fully. He taught the things that God wanted us to know and demonstrated a godly way of living. So the problem is not that the ‘super being’ hasn’t done it, it is that the people aren’t listening. Even in the Christian religion, there are many teachings that did not originate with Jesus. He has been largely ignored.
i’ve been reading it for a few of years off and on, but have been a little too ... maybe ... timid to join.
i left the watchtower organization almost 20 years ago but never abandoned my faith and belief in god.
i knew the gb/organization didn’t represent god, so when i lost my faith in them, i managed to keep my faith in an all wise benevolent creator.
Coffy, I was a JW for about 20 years, and a serious student of the Bible. So I know basically what it says, and so do most ex-JW’s. So its a way of having common ground. But there are other books that talk about God and Jesus. Probably hundreds. The Bible is the most widely accepted one, but not the only one. And yes, I agree with many things in the Bible. But as Paul wrote, the Old Testament is just partial knowledge, a shadow and a type of the reality, so it can’t be the infallible world of God. But I think it is a good tutor.
And yes, Jesus believed in the God worshipped by the Jews, but he did not see God the same way as the Jews. He gave a new expression and a new revelation of God. Jesus’ revelation of God is how I view God.
But I did not want to make this thread about doctrines. Perhaps in another thread. I just want to see what the ex-JW community thinks about God.
i’ve been reading it for a few of years off and on, but have been a little too ... maybe ... timid to join.
i left the watchtower organization almost 20 years ago but never abandoned my faith and belief in god.
i knew the gb/organization didn’t represent god, so when i lost my faith in them, i managed to keep my faith in an all wise benevolent creator.
Bonsai, What do you think God should do to people who do such things in his name?
i’ve been reading it for a few of years off and on, but have been a little too ... maybe ... timid to join.
i left the watchtower organization almost 20 years ago but never abandoned my faith and belief in god.
i knew the gb/organization didn’t represent god, so when i lost my faith in them, i managed to keep my faith in an all wise benevolent creator.
intellectual dishonesty would be accepting things that are inconsistent with what I know and what I believe to be true. Being true to ourselves is the first virtue.
i’ve been reading it for a few of years off and on, but have been a little too ... maybe ... timid to join.
i left the watchtower organization almost 20 years ago but never abandoned my faith and belief in god.
i knew the gb/organization didn’t represent god, so when i lost my faith in them, i managed to keep my faith in an all wise benevolent creator.
Coffy, why would that be intellectually dishonest?
i’ve been reading it for a few of years off and on, but have been a little too ... maybe ... timid to join.
i left the watchtower organization almost 20 years ago but never abandoned my faith and belief in god.
i knew the gb/organization didn’t represent god, so when i lost my faith in them, i managed to keep my faith in an all wise benevolent creator.
Coffy, as I said, we can get a lot of information from books, but I accept only what resonates with me. In the New Testament, its referred to as the spirit of truth. It is a kind of knowing. Secularly it might be called ‘the ring of truth.’ Of course, it works based on our own knowledge base. If we don’t have a lot of knowledge or information, there won’t be much for new information to resonate with. That’s why its good to keep an open and agile mind.
Frankly, there are many things in the Bible that don’t resonate with me. I am comfortable setting those things aside and taking the things that do resonate. For example, I imagine what a loving wise Creator would be like and I reject anything that is not consistent with that view. I know strict Bible readers would object to that method, but the method I use to find truth its not up to them.
P.S. – I keep referring to the Bible because its something we all as ex-JWs have a commonality with, and the religious book I am most familiar with.
i’ve been reading it for a few of years off and on, but have been a little too ... maybe ... timid to join.
i left the watchtower organization almost 20 years ago but never abandoned my faith and belief in god.
i knew the gb/organization didn’t represent god, so when i lost my faith in them, i managed to keep my faith in an all wise benevolent creator.
Xanthippe, you said:
I just know the universe is huge and I don't know what the hell is going on out there so I keep an open mind.
Great! Closed minds are small minds.
i’ve been reading it for a few of years off and on, but have been a little too ... maybe ... timid to join.
i left the watchtower organization almost 20 years ago but never abandoned my faith and belief in god.
i knew the gb/organization didn’t represent god, so when i lost my faith in them, i managed to keep my faith in an all wise benevolent creator.
Coffy, point taken. I will just view you as an atheist who is open always open to new evidence.
i’ve been reading it for a few of years off and on, but have been a little too ... maybe ... timid to join.
i left the watchtower organization almost 20 years ago but never abandoned my faith and belief in god.
i knew the gb/organization didn’t represent god, so when i lost my faith in them, i managed to keep my faith in an all wise benevolent creator.
Prologos, it can be confusing when we start labeling ourselves and each other – atheist, deist, theist, etc. I really don’t know which definition fits me. I am definitely a believer in God, but perhaps not the typical believer. And I am definitely not an atheist or an agnostic, but I appreciate the work of atheism because it helps us believers purify our beliefs by exposing error and superstition.
AnonVet, I don’t think a belief in God requires a belief in the Old Testament, the New Testament or any writing. Those books can help, as can any book that offers an interesting and informative perspective of God and his dealings. Contrary to what I used to think (and what many probably still think), the Bible is inspired by God (God was the inspiration and the muse), but it is not the infallible word of God. The teachings of the apostle Paul show that to be the case. But we can take what resonates with us and leave the rest, just like we can do with any writing, sacred or not. If, as many believe, we are God’s temple and the spirit of the living God resides in us, then we already have within us the capacity to find God and believe in him, even if we never knew about any sacred writings.
Tornapart, I was hoping to find that kind of ‘spirit’ here – a spirit of freedom of expression and freedom of belief, and freedom of thought. It does feel good having an outlet for the things I think about.
