the bible is designed to be understood by those who are humble and willing to learn.
jesus said to his father: “i publicly praise you, father, lord of heaven and earth, because you have carefully hidden these things from wise and intellectual ones and have revealed them to young children.” (luke 10:21) the bible is written in such a way that only those with the right attitude would understand its message.
people with a proud attitude—a common trait of “wise and intellectual ones”—tend to misunderstand the bible.
Ah, one more thing.
If it was true that the ones that don't understand the Bible are proud: Do they even have the chance to "change their heart" into not being proud?
If yes: So they didn't need the Bible to better them, right? Because as they are proud they can't understand the Bible anyway.
If not: Is that fair?
the bible is designed to be understood by those who are humble and willing to learn.
jesus said to his father: “i publicly praise you, father, lord of heaven and earth, because you have carefully hidden these things from wise and intellectual ones and have revealed them to young children.” (luke 10:21) the bible is written in such a way that only those with the right attitude would understand its message.
people with a proud attitude—a common trait of “wise and intellectual ones”—tend to misunderstand the bible.
The Bible is designed to be understood by those who are humble and willing to learn. Jesus said to his Father: “I publicly praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have carefully hidden these things from wise and intellectual ones and have revealed them to young children.” (Luke 10:21) The Bible is written in such a way that only those with the right attitude would understand its message. People with a proud attitude—a common trait of “wise and intellectual ones”—tend to misunderstand the Bible. But people who read the Bible with the attitude of “young children”—humble and eager to learn—are rewarded with a better understanding of God’s message. How skillfully God has designed the Bible!
Am I wrong or didn't Jesus mean in Luke 10:21 that "these things are hidden from wise and intellectual ones" because his message was easy to understand?
If the Bible is written so that only those with the right attitude would understand its message - why does there even have to be a Bible? In that case, the ones with the right attitude needn't read the Bible because they are already saved. And all the others don't have a chance!
If a placebo helps you with your headache, it doesn't mean the placebo was effective. It helped just because you believe in it. You see what you believe.
What would you say to JWs as an answer to the claims in that article?
less than 5 hours ago my great dad fell asleep the last time :( still in a bit of a shock and sad that i will not see him again...i promised myself that once he is here no more, i will somehow make my move out of this organisation who kept us all captive believing in a fantasy of an everlasting life :( i am in a tricky situation, since raised as jw, still in, married to an active jw, and pretty sure that all in my social and family circle will turn their backs on me if i finally say goodbye to a fairytail ;(.
I am sorry to read that. How old was he?
Do not be afraid. For there are more who are with you than those who are with them.
many bible believers accept the genesis documents explanations of human origins.
but the modern science of genomics is making that a very difficult intellectual position to hold.. increasingly, to believe the bible, is to accept superstition over rationality.. three papers published in the scientific journal nature demonstrate the point:.
1. the ancestors of australia aboriginal and papuan peoples left africa around 72,000 years ago.. 2. they arrived in the geological locations we now identify as australia and papua around 50,000 years ago.
When I was still in, this made me doubt the bible most. How could mankind be only 6000 years old when science and aerchology prove wrong? I sincerely wanted to solve my doubts and asked other JWs how I could explain this to a householder. This is what they answered:
"I wouldn't go into this. Just discuss with the householder what you have in common." - a regular pioneer
"There are other things that prove the bible is God's word." - a young sister
"Science can be wrong. When they dig out things from the earth, it could be full with radiation and that changes everything." - my mother-in-law
(So that it is not 100,000 years old but only 20,000, but it's still older than 6,000 years.)
*rolls with eyes* "Do you believe that this is the truth?" - an elder
i’ve noticed many people posting on this site seem to have completely given up on religion/spirituality.. but some have attended services at another religion, or just follow their own heart regarding what to believe.. my question is how does anyone deal after leaving with all of the witness crap that we believed about babylon the great, the great harlot, spiritual prostitute, etc., etc.
i’m finding out that i seem to have built myself a pretty solid wall regarding religion.. some people can just chuck all beliefs into one basket saying that they are all basically garbage,,, and that is ok, no problem i respect that.. but for myself there is a certain part of my personality that needs a spiritual belief not like the witnesses in any way, but something to meditate on, and contemplate.. being a witness taught me how bad it is to actually think of god in any other way besides what the jw’s believe.
and now when i attend any other service, the dark jw side seems to pop out and seriously makes me believe that everything i see/do/say is wrong.
The thought that I and all my relatives will get old and die without any return is hard for me. Also that mankind will be gone one day and that the earth will no longer exist. And I didn't like the idea that there is no god I can thank for all these beautiful things in nature.
But I just don't want to force myself anymore to believe something I'm not convinced of. I suppressed logical reasoning for all my life, now it's time I base my beliefs on that. As far as I have researched (I have only started) I'd consider myself as agnostic. I think that religion came up because it gives hope. It is a comforting idea that we don't stop existing one day, that there is someone that is able to help us and that bad happenings make sense.
I'm getting used to the concept that we all have the same ending. We are extremely lucky to know what life is like. Someday there will be just silence and the earth with its mankind will be gone and noone will remember us. That is depressing on the one hand, but on the other hand I like people more than before. I'm more motivated to be kind and supportive to strangers. My new spirituality is possibly the idea that we are all in the same boat.
has anyone else noticed how alarm bells go off inside a jw mind as soon as they hear someone that "is out" refer to the leaders of this org as "watchtower"?
i've chatted with a few friends now about my doubts and each and every time i've started using phrases such as "watchtower said this" or "watchtower did that", i can almost see their heads about to explode in anger, as if they've just realized they are talking to the lucifer himself.
some have even interrupted and corrected me by reminding me that it's not "watchtower", it's "god's organization".
Thanks Giordano and Vidiot.
has anyone else noticed how alarm bells go off inside a jw mind as soon as they hear someone that "is out" refer to the leaders of this org as "watchtower"?
i've chatted with a few friends now about my doubts and each and every time i've started using phrases such as "watchtower said this" or "watchtower did that", i can almost see their heads about to explode in anger, as if they've just realized they are talking to the lucifer himself.
some have even interrupted and corrected me by reminding me that it's not "watchtower", it's "god's organization".
lets try to think about this "logically", and i use that term loosely, because we are going to use jw "logic".. so, they say that satan is real.
these are the last days.
satan is "roaring about", like a lion, with him and his demons "trapped" within the confines of earth.
That's an interesting point.
The thought that Satan was "roaring" and wanted to destroy as much as possible before he gets destroyed has never been very logical to me.
If Satan was real, why would he want to damage his own system? If he had really said "I can rule the world better than Jehovah", he would make the world as peaceful and happy as possible.
After all, even Jesus said: "If Satan expels Satan, he has become divided against himself; how, then, will his kingdom stand?" (Matthew 12:26)
If Satan was as smart as JW describe him, he would make the best out of his kingdom.
the work of john lennon best fit my situation.
first, i found out.
i found out.
You dress up for Armageddon - The Hives
"You dress up for Armageddon
I dress up for summer"
if you could go back in time and tell yourself one thing about jws would you do it?
and what would you choose to say to yourself?
do you think you could have convinced yourself not to get baptised if you chose the right thing to say?
"If you have to die for your faith, you need to be 100% convinced of what you believe. The blood card in your wallet could kill you for nothing. So please research.
Always check both sides of arguments. Don't be afraid to research outside of WT publications. There is no counter-evidence against the truth. If it is the truth, you will be even more convinced."
