When I carefully read the whole Bible I could easily reach this inescapable conclusion:
Its first chapter says “God made mankind in His image” whereas the rest of the Bible shows “man made God in his own image.”
for an all powerful, all knowing god it seems most of his plans go awry, so why assume that armageddon/ new system will work?
look at the track record.
... adam and eve... went wrong.
When I carefully read the whole Bible I could easily reach this inescapable conclusion:
Its first chapter says “God made mankind in His image” whereas the rest of the Bible shows “man made God in his own image.”
we have the account of god changing our languages and thus we all separated all over the world.. i wonder how different, maybe even peaceful if god didn't do that.. looking at the story now it seems pathetic that he needed to do this to stop men wanting to reach the heavens to take a sneaky peek at him.
we've been much further than mankind back then could have ever imagined and god isn't visible.. but yeah how different would history have been if this account never happened..
Noah’s flood and the way God put more hardship on Noah’s family by building an ark that took care of over 84 million species (than on the wicked who just got drowned and died in a matter of seconds), and commanding Noah to kill and eat animal flesh—the very animals he commanded him to save … all go to show account doesn’t fit divine inspiration.
Nimrod’s account is an offshoot of Noah’s flood, and with such a memory of global destruction still burning in their mind, it is unlikely that anyone would rebel like the way Nimrod did. It means the whole account including confusing of language is fictional. If such a rebellion really took place, God would naturally deal with it differently--never through confusing of languages which would naturally bring difficulties for billions of unrelated parties.
i know this thread has probably been covered in the past but i thought it would be nice for newbies and lurkers and just a reminder to those that left a while ago.. how has your life improved since leaving the cult?
are you happy?
have you made some amazing friends or maybe met an amazing partner in the world?.
Marcus Aurelius said “Life is flux; all is opinion.” So is the case with religion. Since each religion is the offspring of the time, it served some purpose for specific people for their time. Hence established religions are not the way whereas one can follow spiritual laws which are unchangeable. I have found from my experience if I do things that make me happy, and make me feel good they bring the results I want. If I send out the fruits of the spirit (Gal 5:22) they bring back fruits befitting them. It is like we try to learn a new soft ware or to master the use of a smart-phone for the first time. Only when we operate according to the instruction it performs magic for us. These laws work whether we are associating with any religions or not.
After leaving JWs org I am now double conscious of following spiritual laws; and I fully benefit from them.
wow, now this is interesting.. in another interview with his longtime atheist friend, eugenio scalfari, pope francis claims that hell does not exist and that condemned souls just "disappear.
" this is a denial of the 2,000-year-old teaching of the catholic church about the reality of hell and the eternal existence of the soul.. https://www.cnsnews.com/blog/michael-w-chapman/pope-francis-there-no-hell.
Pope Francis is all set to undo certain unproductive concepts. He already declared a portion of Lord’s Prayer is not sensible. May be Prophet Malachi is right about this Pope:
in revelation 17:18 we read: "and the woman whom you saw means the great city that has a kingdom over the kings of the earth.”.
the watchtower's official position is that babylon the great is the worldwide false religion and nothing else but we never really think of babylon the great as a real country with physical borders and citizens?
i just finished writing an article on that, let me know what you think.how can babylon be a kingdom over other kingdoms in the last days?.
Good guess!
Here is an interesting book I read which would help you to think also in another angle.
https://www.amazon.com/FALL-Babylon-Great-America-Expanded-ebook/dp/B00X30HA4S
just thought a review the following material many have contributed to might be helpful .
you know you are in the wrong religion:1. when the all important question is not: "do you believe in the lord jesus christ?"....but....
"do you believe in the "faithful and discreet slave" appointed in 1919?"2.
From my association with JWs convinced me another point. Their spirituality remains stagnant—with the same spirituality level they had when they were associating with their former religion. This is because, once they are inside JW organization, they find that the focus of JWs are on the negative side of other religions—especially of the Christendom. It has its inevitable results: The more one dwells on what he doesn't want to see in others, the more of it he creates. What one puts his attention on grows. Thus they become more and more like the very organizations they publicly denounce!
This is in contrast to what Jesus said as of paramount importance which all the prophets summed up: “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Mathew 7:12) Violation of this most important law which is the very foundation of all prophets means they flout all laws which means they fulfill the requirement of becoming the number 666 themselves.
Interestingly, context of this verse says: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Mathew 7:1, 2) In other words, don’t focus on the negatives of others; and if you do so, you will reap the same from others.
just thought a review the following material many have contributed to might be helpful .
you know you are in the wrong religion:1. when the all important question is not: "do you believe in the lord jesus christ?"....but....
"do you believe in the "faithful and discreet slave" appointed in 1919?"2.
Excellent summation!
if we eliminate all the controversial and confusing verses attributed to jesus we will get the crystal clear truth from him because his source was (1) god which can be seen from his habit of early morning talking to god in prayer (mark 1:35; john 8:1, 2) which would not have been for material blessings (mathew 6:8; 16:24), and (2) also observance of people.. 1) jesus who said judgment is based on whether we acted humanely or not (mathew 25:31-46) would not have spoken about god’s people and pagans (which means bulk of the things found in gospel had not been spoken/done by jesus).. 2) another important truth he said was about the real key to our happiness which he said is with each one of us.
(luke 17:21).
from his observance of history, he knew there are people from adversities who made great contribution to the world; and there are people from all abundance who lived a life of wastage accomplishing nothing; and there are people who are mixed in varying degree.
I agree with Finkelstein
What Jesus really taught was beneficial to the true seeker. Unfortunately, his name was used by commercially minded people. Even the ship that was used to bring slaves from Africa was named Jesus.(https://www.pinterest.com/pin/311170655488138101/)
if we eliminate all the controversial and confusing verses attributed to jesus we will get the crystal clear truth from him because his source was (1) god which can be seen from his habit of early morning talking to god in prayer (mark 1:35; john 8:1, 2) which would not have been for material blessings (mathew 6:8; 16:24), and (2) also observance of people.. 1) jesus who said judgment is based on whether we acted humanely or not (mathew 25:31-46) would not have spoken about god’s people and pagans (which means bulk of the things found in gospel had not been spoken/done by jesus).. 2) another important truth he said was about the real key to our happiness which he said is with each one of us.
(luke 17:21).
from his observance of history, he knew there are people from adversities who made great contribution to the world; and there are people from all abundance who lived a life of wastage accomplishing nothing; and there are people who are mixed in varying degree.
DATA-DOG, You could be right because Lao-tzu used to say:
“Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny. Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream. At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.
He who knows much about others may be learned, but he who understands himself is more intelligent. He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still. Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. Who acts in stillness finds stillness in his life. If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never be truly fulfilled. Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner. Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.If you realise that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. Rejoice in the way things are. When you realise there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. If you are not afraid of dying, there is nothing you cannot achieve. Stop pushing yourself and feel gratitude and awe for what is. Your life is controlled by something far bigger and more significant than the petty details of your lofty aspirations.
In dwelling, be close to the land. In meditation, go deep in the heart. In dealing with others, be gentle and kind. In speech, be true. In ruling, be just. In business, be competent. In action, watch the timing. To attain knowledge, add things everyday. To attain wisdom, remove things every day. If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present. Peace is our original state.”
if we eliminate all the controversial and confusing verses attributed to jesus we will get the crystal clear truth from him because his source was (1) god which can be seen from his habit of early morning talking to god in prayer (mark 1:35; john 8:1, 2) which would not have been for material blessings (mathew 6:8; 16:24), and (2) also observance of people.. 1) jesus who said judgment is based on whether we acted humanely or not (mathew 25:31-46) would not have spoken about god’s people and pagans (which means bulk of the things found in gospel had not been spoken/done by jesus).. 2) another important truth he said was about the real key to our happiness which he said is with each one of us.
(luke 17:21).
from his observance of history, he knew there are people from adversities who made great contribution to the world; and there are people from all abundance who lived a life of wastage accomplishing nothing; and there are people who are mixed in varying degree.