Posts by Christ Alone

132

"Believers" vs. Atheists- Why this formulation?

by Band on the Run in

i believe christ is god.

when i left the witnesses i believed i had to be agnostic.

through a scheduling conflict, i studied the new testament in college.

Christ Alone

IMO, I think the elect were those Christians pre-selected for "special" works, like the apostles for example.

So, then, do you think that God does not know who will and who will not be Christians? Do you still hold to the WT view (and I'm not saying this insultingly) that God CHOOSES not to know certain things, and is thus, NOT omniscient?

132

"Believers" vs. Atheists- Why this formulation?

by Band on the Run in

i believe christ is god.

when i left the witnesses i believed i had to be agnostic.

through a scheduling conflict, i studied the new testament in college.

Christ Alone

Ah, so some were predestined. Interesting. Why bother teaching or trying---it was decided before the foundation of the world. Eat. Drink. Be Merry.

I don't believe it was "decided". I believe it is more of God "foreknew" who would ultimately accept the message and who would not. Free will was never taken away, so people do have control over their destiny. However, it was/is already known what they would decide to do.

132

"Believers" vs. Atheists- Why this formulation?

by Band on the Run in

i believe christ is god.

when i left the witnesses i believed i had to be agnostic.

through a scheduling conflict, i studied the new testament in college.

Christ Alone

The reason why many feel that those that fall away were not true Christians is that the Bible speaks about the "elect"; those that were chosen as Christians from before the foundation of the world. If you have been saved, then that is something that you will never lose. This is based on, among other scriptures, John 3:36 which says: " Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." The key word is "HAS" eternal life. That leads to the doctrine of eternal security.

Eternal security is something that we never had as JWs. According to WT teaching, someone can be a true blue Jehovah's Witness, but lose it all because of falling away. Christianity teaches that if someone accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior, that is something that will never be lost.

This leads to the question, what about those that were "saved" but then fell away? 1 John 2:19 supports what PSac has been saying. It says: " They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us."

546

non believers what if your wrong ?

by unstopableravens in

i do not wish to debate anything here like i have said in the past i have much respect for most on this forum (believers and non believers) i am simply wondering if the atheist or non god believers every worry about what if your wrong?

it seems that many who were jw for so many years attach jehovah/yahweh with the watchtower and since the wt is wrong than god does not exist.

i ask this question only because i care about people and salvation thats why i want to help as many as possable come out of this cult,and since i truly believe in god i dont know what is in the cinscience of those who dont.

Christ Alone

And believers are accused of baseless claims?

If a god or god(s) made the earth in its evolutionary processes, then it doesn't care about humanity or all other living species living past and present.

Therefore...

Wha? If God made the earth using evolutionary processes, then why does one have to automatically assume that it means He doesn't care?

546

non believers what if your wrong ?

by unstopableravens in

i do not wish to debate anything here like i have said in the past i have much respect for most on this forum (believers and non believers) i am simply wondering if the atheist or non god believers every worry about what if your wrong?

it seems that many who were jw for so many years attach jehovah/yahweh with the watchtower and since the wt is wrong than god does not exist.

i ask this question only because i care about people and salvation thats why i want to help as many as possable come out of this cult,and since i truly believe in god i dont know what is in the cinscience of those who dont.

Christ Alone

christ alone how many ex witnesses do you think still believe in a creator vs the amount that dont ? i would guess maybe 80% dont maybe more. just wondering

I've considered this question myself, and I'd guess the same as you. I tried to do a survey here, but it became apparent almost immediately that it was flawed. Beliefs are so different and varied that it cannot be nailed down. For example, some believe in a higher "energy" without a personality is behind the universe and it's cause. Could this person be categorized as a believer since they are not an atheist? Or would they be considered an agnostic? No,there are too many variables to be considered without a structured study.

So I can only go off of experience and say that I agree that at least on JWN the ratio of non believer to believer is 80/20.

546

non believers what if your wrong ?

by unstopableravens in

i do not wish to debate anything here like i have said in the past i have much respect for most on this forum (believers and non believers) i am simply wondering if the atheist or non god believers every worry about what if your wrong?

it seems that many who were jw for so many years attach jehovah/yahweh with the watchtower and since the wt is wrong than god does not exist.

i ask this question only because i care about people and salvation thats why i want to help as many as possable come out of this cult,and since i truly believe in god i dont know what is in the cinscience of those who dont.

Christ Alone

Cofty, I believe this to mean that while there is truth to Darwins theories regarding common ancestry, Dawinism is the attempt to use his understandings to explain away the apparent design in nature, and that Darwin's ideas are only compatible with atheism.

546

non believers what if your wrong ?

by unstopableravens in

i do not wish to debate anything here like i have said in the past i have much respect for most on this forum (believers and non believers) i am simply wondering if the atheist or non god believers every worry about what if your wrong?

it seems that many who were jw for so many years attach jehovah/yahweh with the watchtower and since the wt is wrong than god does not exist.

i ask this question only because i care about people and salvation thats why i want to help as many as possable come out of this cult,and since i truly believe in god i dont know what is in the cinscience of those who dont.

Christ Alone

Here is the statement of belief from biologos, and I agree almost fully with it:

What We Believe

We believe the Bible is the inspired and authoritative word of God. By the Holy Spirit it is the “living and active” means through which God speaks to the church today, bearing witness to God’s Son, Jesus, as the divine Logos, or Word of God.
We believe that God also reveals himself in and through the natural world he created, which displays his glory, eternal power, and divine nature. Properly interpreted, Scripture and nature are complementary and faithful witnesses to their common Author.
We believe that all people have sinned against God and are in need of salvation.
We believe in the historical incarnation of Jesus Christ as fully God and fully man. We believe in the historical death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, by which we are saved and reconciled to God.
We believe that God is directly involved in the lives of people today through acts of redemption, personal transformation, and answers to prayer.
We believe that God typically sustains the world using faithful, consistent processes that humans describe as "natural laws." Yet we also affirm that God works outside of natural law in supernatural events, including the miracles described in Scripture. In both natural and supernatural ways, God continues to be directly involved in creation and in human history.
We believe that the methods of science are an important and reliable means to investigate and describe the world God has made. In this, we stand with a long tradition of Christians for whom Christian faith and science are mutually hospitable. Therefore, we reject ideologies such as Materialism and Scientism that claim science is the sole source of knowledge and truth, that science has debunked God and religion, or that the physical world constitutes the whole of reality.
We believe that God created the universe, the earth, and all life over billions of years. God continues to sustain the existence and functioning of the natural world, and the cosmos continues to declare the glory of God. Therefore, we reject ideologies such as Deism that claim the universe is self-sustaining, that God is no longer active in the natural world, or that God is not active in human history.
We believe that the diversity and interrelation of all life on earth are best explained by the God-ordained process of evolution with common descent. Thus, evolution is not in opposition to God, but a means by which God providentially achieves his purposes. Therefore, we reject ideologies such as Darwinism and Evolutionism that claim that evolution is a purposeless process or that evolution replaces God.
We believe that God created humans in biological continuity with all life on earth, but also as spiritual beings. God established a unique relationship with humanity by endowing us with his image and calling us to an elevated position within the created order.
We believe that conversations among Christians about controversial issues of science and faith can and must be conducted with humility, grace, honesty, and compassion as a visible sign of the Spirit’s presence in Christ’s body, the Church.

546

non believers what if your wrong ?

by unstopableravens in

i do not wish to debate anything here like i have said in the past i have much respect for most on this forum (believers and non believers) i am simply wondering if the atheist or non god believers every worry about what if your wrong?

it seems that many who were jw for so many years attach jehovah/yahweh with the watchtower and since the wt is wrong than god does not exist.

i ask this question only because i care about people and salvation thats why i want to help as many as possable come out of this cult,and since i truly believe in god i dont know what is in the cinscience of those who dont.