Posts by Believer

240

Introduction - Any Believers?

by Believer in

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.

Believer

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.

240

Introduction - Any Believers?

by Believer in

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.

Believer

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.

240

Introduction - Any Believers?

by Believer in

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.

Believer

Bonsai, What do you think God should do to people who do such things in his name?

240

Introduction - Any Believers?

by Believer in

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.

Believer

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.

240

Introduction - Any Believers?

by Believer in

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.

Believer

Coffy, why would that be intellectually dishonest?

240

Introduction - Any Believers?

by Believer in

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.

Believer

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.

240

Introduction - Any Believers?

by Believer in

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.

Believer

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.

240

Introduction - Any Believers?

by Believer in

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.

Believer

Coffy, point taken. I will just view you as an atheist who is open always open to new evidence.

240

Introduction - Any Believers?

by Believer in

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.

Believer

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.

240

Introduction - Any Believers?

by Believer in

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.

Believer

Great Teacher, you said:

Why do people believe in the Christian God?
The likelihood depends upon the continent on which you were born.
North America? Europe? Your likelihood is much higher than if you were born in Asia.
Is god so selective that he favors certain continents over others?

You make a good point. But I think only Christians believe in the Christian God. Non-Christians believe in non-Christian Gods. But isn’t it possible that rather than being different Gods, these are just different expressions of the same God? The Jews had their experience, the Christians had their experience, Muslims have their experience, etc. I think God is greater than all these expressions.

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Giordano, you said:

Unfortunately the only proof we have about a creator is through the writings found in the holy books. These are only speculations about beliefs that have an uncanny way of mirroring the culture that evolved their religion.

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Thank you TimeBandit for the welcome.
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And DJS, thank you as well. I assumed your initial post was a preemptive strike in anticipation of something you are truly tired of. I don’t intent to impose, promote, preach, pontificate or proselytize. A fair interchange is all I’m interested in. And I hope it goes both ways. I have no problem responding to the ideas of atheism, as long as it can be done respectfully.