Posts by Ireneus

12

Holy Spirit

by Sergey Antonov in

jehovah's witnesses say that the holy spirit is inanimate.

but how then can you sin against the holy spirit, if he is not alive ?!

🤔 then it is more correct to say that it is not against the holy spirit, but against god..

Ireneus

Holy spirit is like the expression His Holiness, His Highness, synonym of God

7

Comparing God with Abraham dishonors God

by Ireneus in

abraham was tested by god (genesis 22:1) to know whether he would abandon his attachment towards his son.. attachment is a sign of ego, the fountain head of all vices.

when you ignore all the factors and forces (known and unknown) that are at work behind every happening, you tend to say “i did this and that”thus taking credit for which your part is too negligible.

it is like a farmer taking credit for the agricultural products.

Ireneus

Hi Half banana,

There is guidance, but to know other unreasonable comparisons such as this: Jesus is called “son of David”, “Greater David” …etc.

David was ignorant about the greatest quality of God (impartiality, God never discriminates between His children), according to Moses (Deut 10:17) and Jesus (Mathew 5:44-48; 25:31-46); yet David did (1 Sam 18:27)

When he already had many wives and concubines, he still murdered his faithful friend and robbed his wife (greed, robbery, adultery …) which are all against what Jesus stood for.

Seeing resemblance in Jesus and David, Bible writers highlight how distorted their own vision is, thus proving Jesus own statement: “Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” (Mathew 15:14)

7

Comparing God with Abraham dishonors God

by Ireneus in

abraham was tested by god (genesis 22:1) to know whether he would abandon his attachment towards his son.. attachment is a sign of ego, the fountain head of all vices.

when you ignore all the factors and forces (known and unknown) that are at work behind every happening, you tend to say “i did this and that”thus taking credit for which your part is too negligible.

it is like a farmer taking credit for the agricultural products.

Ireneus

Bible writers simply projected their own view of God. Here is an example of human thinking on how to impress a would be father-in-law: "David took his men with him and went out and killed two hundred Philistines and brought back their foreskins. They counted out the full number to the king so that David might become the king's son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage." (1Samuel 18:27)

Imagine when such writers paint a picture of God, how distorted it would be!

7

Comparing God with Abraham dishonors God

by Ireneus in

abraham was tested by god (genesis 22:1) to know whether he would abandon his attachment towards his son.. attachment is a sign of ego, the fountain head of all vices.

when you ignore all the factors and forces (known and unknown) that are at work behind every happening, you tend to say “i did this and that”thus taking credit for which your part is too negligible.

it is like a farmer taking credit for the agricultural products.

Ireneus

Abraham was tested by God (Genesis 22:1) to know whether he would abandon his attachment towards his son.

Attachment is a sign of ego, the fountain head of all vices. When you ignore all the factors and forces (known and unknown) that are at work behind every happening, you tend to say “I did this and that”thus taking credit for which your part is too negligible. It is like a farmer taking credit for the agricultural products. That means ego arises in ignorance. In ego, you place “the I”in the middle of your garden, your life. Ego tends to think in terms of “good”and “bad”and you want to accumulate what you think as good and hate what you think to be bad. Thus in ego, you have many desires. If desire is not fulfilled, anger (vice) arises. If desire is fulfilled, you develop attachment (vice) toward what is gained and crave for more of it, greed (vice) both of which further reinforce your ego. This causes a vicious circle.

Thus attachment is clearly a product of ego. Abraham’s attachment to his son was put to test. He was asked to sacrifice what is closest to his heart and dearest to him. Abraham showed his love of God is more important than his love toward his son. Thus behind the details, story has a good message—Love the Gift-giver more than the gifts.

However, this story makes sense only in connection with those who have ego problem. In all cultures sacrifice of ego (the brute within) was symbolized by sacrifice of some animal. Many call God as ‘greater Abraham’and say Abraham’s test foreshadowed what God would do in the future sending his son to die for the sins of the world. When the Bible writers say ‘God so loved the world that He was even willing to forego His attachment with His only begotten son and sent him to die for us’they indirectly mean God has attachment, which is one of the manifestation of having ego, the source of all evils.

23

How To Become Who You Are

by Brokeback Watchtower in

being a jehovah's witness for many years has a very damaging effect on becoming who he really are, many of the drives we were born with get subverted to corporation's directives, and we stuff lots of ourselves into our shadow(jungian), as we take on the "new personality" we become an easy to manipulate corporate drone.

in other words we really loose contact with authentic self, and to some extent a little hollow.. a search for our true self will require some alone time and can be scary and filled with some perils.

i did it for some time and it can make you a little odd, and you could wind up doing some crazy shit but over all i will say it was necessary and eventually rewarding, and i gotten quite used to it and now a days i have people around but value my time alone when every i can get it.. anyway this video interest me and i thought i would share.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfyczlbcavk.

Ireneus

Happiness is your decision. Mind is such a wonderful instrument that if you think you have never been a JW, then you are not. If you think, you have been a victim, then you are a victim. What is gone is gone and what is to come will come. Life is the moment between those two. There is no difficulty to take control of that moment and to get involved in what we are doing now.

14

The people who decided the Scriptures

by Doug Mason in

many people over many centuries have been involved in deciding which documents were scripture.

there has never been unanimous agreement, including today.

only the church of rome took a vote on the canon.

Ireneus

Those who decided canon obviously looked for convenient teachings. In most of the apocryphal books, we can see teaching of immortality of soul which poses problem for the teaching of Jesus’ ransom sacrifice. Hence they had to weed out all books which speak of immortality of soul directly or indirectly. Thus they replaced truth with some human philosophy. Immortality of soul was a scientific truth for Wernher von Braun (the father of rocket technology and space science in the United States) who is famous for this quote: “I believe in an immortal soul. Science has proved that nothing disintegrates into nothingness. Life and soul, therefore, cannot disintegrate into nothingness, and so are immortal. Everything science has taught me and continues to teach me-strengthens my belief in the continuity of our spiritual existence after death. Nothing disappears without a trace.” This is true in the case of nobel Laureate Max Planck [Father of Quantum Theory which revolutionized physicsand opened the way for Albert Einstein's theory of relativity] who wrote: “I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.”(The Observer, 25 January 1931)

This understanding is the basis for ‘loving one’s neighbor as himself’ which can make this earth a heaven, as Carl Gustav Jung, beautifully put it: “Know all the theories, master all the techniques, but as you touch a human soul be just another human soul.”

Thus those who determined canon brought a list in disservice to what Jesus said in John 8:31: Truth will set you free.” What really happened was: "The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear." (Herbert Agar)

In his book The Text of the New Testament, Dr. Vincent Taylor writes that "The manuscripts of the New Testament preserve traces of two kinds of dogmatic alterations: those which involve the elimination or alteration of what was regarded as doctrinally unacceptable or inconvenient, and those which introduce into the Scriptures proof for a favorite theological tenet or practice". (http://BibleCorruption.com ).

9

Heaven, Hell and the Afterlife

by JW Answers in

salvation : "heaven, hell and the afterlife.

"the jehovah's witnesses believe only 144,000 will make it to heaven, they dismiss the concept of a literal hell, and do not believe in the afterlife.

in this new video, i explain from the scriptures who go to heaven, who go to hell and is the afterlife proven in the bible?

Ireneus

What the Bible says cannot often be taken as truth. Writers have put their own thoughts also into the Bible. For example,

1)Moses wrote “no would live after seeing the face of the Almighty,” hence no one should come close to the mountain where God comes to him to give ten commandment. This is his own concept of Almighty. Almighty should be able to show his power in full or in part, and would be able to offer a tender kiss to an infant without burning him to death. Then only He will be called Almighty.

2)Many Bible writers have the notion that woman is inferior, yet we know that they are not. Look at the CIA Director who is a woman.

Hence what the Bible says about a burning hell cannot be literally true. After life is definite as present life is definite. If present life is true, then it is a continuation from the past life as Wernher von Braun (the father of rocket technology and space science in the United States) puts it: “I believe in an immortal soul. Science has proved that nothing disintegrates into nothingness. Life and soul, therefore, cannot disintegrate into nothingness, and so are immortal. Everything science has taught me and continues to teach me-strengthens my belief in the continuity of our spiritual existence after death. Nothing disappears without a trace.”

After quantum physics, subject of soul is no more a difficult one to grapple with. Nobel Laureate Max Planck [Father of Quantum Theory which revolutionized physics and opened the way for Albert Einstein's theory of relativity] said: “I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.” (The Observer, 25 January 1931)

Many people don’t have time to ponder about matters pertaining to the deeper reality, the invisible and eternal reality wearing the visible and ephemeral body as they are busy with “here and now.” Yet in many parts of the world, Governments are secretly involved in tapping the heather-to unknown powers of the soul, hence information about soul and its amazing powers remain as a secret kept from the eyes of the mainstream public world.

For example, government-sponsored program to investigate ESP and its potential use within the Intelligence Community which is named STAR GATE.

(http://www.fas.org/sgp/eprint/teleport.pdf

http://www.lfr.org/lfr/csl/media/air_mayresponse.html

http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_10_1_puthoff.pdf

http://www.princeton.edu/~pear/pdfs/1979-precognitive-remote-viewing-stanford.pdf

http://www.lfr.org/lfr/csl/library/AirReport.pdf)

This shows, there is after-life, but we do not know what type of after life it is and where it would be. Let it be a surprise. What charm is there if you go for watching a cricket match if you already knew the result?

21

Two Gods seen in the Bible

by Ireneus in

a careful reader of the bible can see depiction of two gods in the bible—one that of a loving father figure, and the other an impulsive sort of who has been copied thoughtlessly from other cultures.. 1) god of love (as seen in genesis chapter 1) who creates humans (men and woman simultaneously) “in his image” (which means he gave the best he can to his children, the potential to become like him) as a crown of creation with a command to take care of all species, and goes into silence unconcerned of mankind’s response [gratitude or worship] to him, yet with a presupposition to “renew” in case humans deplete/destroy the resources (mathew 19:28; revelation 21:1-5).

thus god’s action defines him as “the servant of humanity.” (luke 22:26, 27) this is in contrast to the second god (as seen in genesis chapter 2 and 3 and throughout other books) who makes the planning for suffering and death for humans in co-operation with his adversary.. 2) god of impartiality (deut 10:17; mathew 5:44-48) who asks us to love/greet everyone.

this is in contrast to the second god who commands his worshippers not even to greet those who do not share their beliefs.

Ireneus

The very fact that God allowed some Bible writers to present Him correctly and other to misrepresent Him shows that He has no message to people both wrote on their own. Also, the design of universe is such that anyone can draw any conclusion. Even among physicists, one group believe universe is expanding, other group say it is rotating, another group says it is neither but directionless. (https://www.space.com/34189-universe-is-directionless-study-finds.html) Atheists can see enough proof for their belief and theists can also see enough proof for their belief. This is because people always see what they want to see. And knowledge also often doesn’t help hence we find both good and bad people among both the groups—atheists and theists.

Yet our common sense says peaceful dealing with others is the greatest worship (Mathew 5:9), yet there is no compulsion from God (Revelation 22:11). One has to find his own purpose in life which is very easy if he looks at his own body. If you give a soft, disciplined, and nourishing treatment to your body, it gives you back health, and vice versa. If you give the same to other bodies, the same would return to you. If you examine history of nations (individuals collective) you will find this happening in large scale. It means if we want, we can bring meaning, depth and beauty into our lives. In the case of some, this happens any time during their life-time, and in the case of others it would happen when they near their death, as one scientist put it: “I spent my whole life with particles, and now I find that life has slipped out of my fingers.”

21

Two Gods seen in the Bible

by Ireneus in

a careful reader of the bible can see depiction of two gods in the bible—one that of a loving father figure, and the other an impulsive sort of who has been copied thoughtlessly from other cultures.. 1) god of love (as seen in genesis chapter 1) who creates humans (men and woman simultaneously) “in his image” (which means he gave the best he can to his children, the potential to become like him) as a crown of creation with a command to take care of all species, and goes into silence unconcerned of mankind’s response [gratitude or worship] to him, yet with a presupposition to “renew” in case humans deplete/destroy the resources (mathew 19:28; revelation 21:1-5).

thus god’s action defines him as “the servant of humanity.” (luke 22:26, 27) this is in contrast to the second god (as seen in genesis chapter 2 and 3 and throughout other books) who makes the planning for suffering and death for humans in co-operation with his adversary.. 2) god of impartiality (deut 10:17; mathew 5:44-48) who asks us to love/greet everyone.

this is in contrast to the second god who commands his worshippers not even to greet those who do not share their beliefs.

Ireneus

DATA-DOG,

There was one study I read somewhere regarding the history of scientists of last 500 years. If you take the earliest among them, you will find 50 out of 52 were believers in God. I can quote any one of them, or from the prominent ones of this lists:

http://www.adherents.com/people/100_scientists.html http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/sciencefaith.html

The reason why I quoted J.R.R. Tolkien is that what he said perfectly matched with the point I was trying to highlight.

Everyone knows that no Science is possible without applying mental power. But, what is the source of this mental power? Nikola Telsa ( best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current electricity supply system) had this to say: “The gift of mental power comes from God, Divine Being, and if we concentrate our minds on that truth, we become in tune with this great power.….The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.”

21

Two Gods seen in the Bible

by Ireneus in

a careful reader of the bible can see depiction of two gods in the bible—one that of a loving father figure, and the other an impulsive sort of who has been copied thoughtlessly from other cultures.. 1) god of love (as seen in genesis chapter 1) who creates humans (men and woman simultaneously) “in his image” (which means he gave the best he can to his children, the potential to become like him) as a crown of creation with a command to take care of all species, and goes into silence unconcerned of mankind’s response [gratitude or worship] to him, yet with a presupposition to “renew” in case humans deplete/destroy the resources (mathew 19:28; revelation 21:1-5).

thus god’s action defines him as “the servant of humanity.” (luke 22:26, 27) this is in contrast to the second god (as seen in genesis chapter 2 and 3 and throughout other books) who makes the planning for suffering and death for humans in co-operation with his adversary.. 2) god of impartiality (deut 10:17; mathew 5:44-48) who asks us to love/greet everyone.

this is in contrast to the second god who commands his worshippers not even to greet those who do not share their beliefs.

Ireneus

Yes I agree with you, Crazyguy

We have only myths. If we don’t like one myth, then we end up replacing it with another myth. If religious stories are myth, then materialism is also a myth. If one says thread turned itself and made his cloth, another would say it is a myth. In the same vein, we can say chemicals turned themselves into DNA and finally into this greater cloth called body, that’s also a myth.

“We have come from God, and inevitably the myths woven by us, though they contain error, will also reflect a splintered fragment of the true light, the eternal truth that is with God. Indeed only by myth-making, only by becoming 'sub-creator' and inventing stories, can Man aspire to the state of perfection that he knew before the Fall. Our myths may be misguided, but they steer however shakily towards the true harbour, while materialistic 'progress' leads only to a yawning abyss and the Iron Crown of the power of evil.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien

Of all the myths I find the scanty details about the first God found in the Bible makes more sense than second one elaborately depicted in the Bible.