If Abraham had gone to Kingdom of Heaven, why not John the Baptist?

by anointed1 in

jesus rated john the baptist as the greatest “among those born of women” (luke 7:28) hence after his death he should naturally go to heaven—especially so lesser ones like enoch, abraham are already in the kingdom of heaven.

(hebrews 11: 5, 6; 13-16).

in view of the direct statement of jesus: “i say to you that many will come from the east and the west to share the banquet with abraham, isaac, and jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (mathew 8:11), people like abraham are definitely in heaven.

anointed1

Jesus rated John the Baptist as the greatest “among those born of women” (Luke 7:28) hence after his death he should naturally go to heaven—especially so lesser ones like Enoch, Abraham are already in the Kingdom of Heaven. (Hebrews 11: 5, 6; 13-16)

In view of the direct statement of Jesus: “I say to you that many will come from the east and the west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Mathew 8:11), people like Abraham are definitely in heaven. Hence it is obvious that ‘the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than John’ must be a later adoption to project Jesus as the first-fruit (which is again meaningless as Jesus was already from heaven, and was only to return to heaven)

The verse in Luke 7:28: “I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” is like Nobel Prize committee saying: “We tell you, among all those living on earth there is no one who has contributed to world-peace as much like Juan Manuel Santos; yet there is no Nobel Prize for Peace for him this year or in any years to come.” Latter part of the sentence makes no sense.

Interestingly, the writer of Hebrews had a clear understanding of life and what happens after life. For him it was like children coming out from their house on to play-ground, and returning to house from where they came. (Hebrew 11:13-16) Such a simple view of life was clouded by complicated teaching of grace or undeserved kindness through faith in the sacrificial death of Jesus (which is again meaningless as it is linked to some ancient myth borrowed from other cultures).

67

What is life?

by punkofnice in

when i was a jobo, i used to thing of 'life without end at laaaasssssst'.. having been on my journey out of the wbt$ slaveholdery, i have found that something that makes sense is that life doesn't owe us a meaning.

psalms 146:4 was actually bangeth on the money-eth 'his breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.'.

although i am now very atheist, and really do not even think there is the remotest possibility of a god, that bible passage is correct.

anointed1

punkofnice

We can find answer through the fact of death.

“It is IMPOSSIBLE that anything so natural, so necessary, and so universal as death, should ever have been designed by providence as an evil to mankind.” (Jonathan Swift, English satirist) “Let death be daily before your eyes, and you will never entertain any abject thought, nor too eagerly covet anything.” (Epictetus, Greek philosopher) Socrates had absolute clarity on this subject, hence described death as “the greatest of all human blessings” and “the greatest good that can happen” to us because it prevents one’s feeling of self-importance from growing eternally.

Thus humans have something as universal as death, and also the too vast size of universe itself [in which our earth itself would look smaller than a tiny dot making humans feel too insignificant] that can help an individual not to develop self-importance which makes life a hell for himself and others! Now try going egoless—it would make life a heaven for yourself and those around you.

1

If preachers were serious and open-minded

by anointed1 in

if preachers were serious and open-minded, they could have seen themselves as the object of mathew 7:22-23 “many will say to me on that day, ‘lord, lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ then i will tell them plainly, ‘i never knew you.

away from me, you men of lawlessness!”.

people who operate in the name of jesus doing things such as preaching, casting out demons, or performing many miracles are called “men of lawlessness” (or “evildoers” in other translations) by jesus himself.

anointed1

If preachers were serious and open-minded, they could have seen themselves as the object of Mathew 7:22-23 “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you men of lawlessness!”

People who operate in the name of Jesus doing things such as preaching, casting out demons, or performing many miracles are called “men of lawlessness” (or “evildoers” in other translations) by Jesus himself.

Why? May be their motive is at fault (from God’s stand point of view)

But even from human point of view, miracle is needed when the message itself is too weak. That means if the message is true, it can stand on its own merit. Miracles actually do a disservice to the message itself.

This would also imply that Jesus too did not perform any miracles. Proof for this is not only what Jesus himself says in Mathew 7:22-23, but also results which the miracles produced. Jesus who said “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw pearls before swine” would not have given miraculous cures (what is holy) to unappreciative people. If he had given, it is natural that recipients of miraculous cures would have come in defense of Jesus when he was in trouble, or come for preaching work after his death. Yet none of them came!!!

13

Was the ransom premature? Shouldn't the effects of Adamic sin have been reversed at the time of Jesus' death?

by deegee in

if the ransom was paid at the time of jesus' death (mark 15:45, matthew 20:28, 1 timothy 2:6, hebrews 2:9), then why weren't the effects of adamic sin (sickness & death) reversed at that time?.

it seems to me that either:- the payment of the ransom was premature.

- god was not satisfied with the payment of the ransom; it was not sufficient to make up for adam's & eve's so-called "sin".hasn't god extracted enough from mankind as payment for adam's & eve's "sin" given the billions of persons who have lived and died?.

anointed1

deegee

Your question is very sensible. If the effects of Adam’s sin was mechanically transferred to mankind, effect of its antidote too should have been mechanically transferred. It did not happen because ransom teaching did not originate with Jesus nor with God. Jesus had no idea of such a sacrificial death that could remove sins of the world because at the very start of his ministry he declared: “I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” (Mark 2:10) This he said before his death.

5

Where is Antichrist?

by anointed1 in

it is true that bible has at times fallen at odds with proven science (e.g.

joshua stopping the sun, star being stopped over jesus’s house of birth …etc), .

however, when it comes to entropy (moving from order to disorder) it is in harmony with science—especially with the spirit of what the second law of thermodynamics that says that energy of all kinds in our material world disperses or spreads out if it is not hindered from doing so …... .

anointed1

It is true that Bible has at times fallen at odds with proven science (e.g. Joshua stopping the sun, star being stopped over Jesus’s house of birth …etc),

However, when it comes to entropy (moving from order to disorder) it is in harmony with science—especially with the spirit of what the second law of thermodynamics that says that energy of all kinds in our material world disperses or spreads out if it is not hindered from doing so …..

When the Gospel writer Luke “carefully investigated” all scrolls, he found the need of weeding them out as copyists were trying to bring in corruption (or entropy) into the scriptures (Luke 1:3)

1) When Jesus spoke about the rulers of the nations who “lord it over others” and said: “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” However Luke removed reference of Jesus’ sacrificial death on behalf of sinners (found in Mathew 20:25-28) when he wrote the same account in Luke 22:24-27.

2) When Jesus asked “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Peter gave correct answer saying “You are is the Christ.” Then Jesus added: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Mathew 16:13-19) However Luke removed Peter being made the rock… being given the keys of Kingdom of heaven ..etc. from his gospel. (Luke 9:18-20)

Entropy could not be stopped! What Luke tried to prevent became the norm in the later centuries!

3) Jesus declared faith in the Father (John 5:24) and salvation as coming through our works of becoming like Father (Mathew 5:44-48; 7:21). This simple teaching was degraded into a complicated teaching of having faith in the son as the basis of salvation which is also described as grace—not as something that could be earned (for which virtually the whole of apostolic writings were dedicated).

Those writers who presented a degraded version of what Jesus actually preached were proved wrong when God’s kingdgom did not come in the first century (They had taught end would come in their life-time—1Cor 10:11; Heb 10:25 …) Still the entropy those writers introduced continued unabated!

A cautious reader can see plenty of examples of entropy (antithesis to what Christ taught) in the Bible—something that Bible itself admit in 1 John 2:18

193

Great Tribulation and Trump

by TakeOffTheCrown in

please, let's discuss this subject without attacking one another.. it appears that trump has won a victory that no one expected.

is it possible that trump may play a part in the great tribulation?.

there are some who believe trump is one of the most unqualified of men to ever be elected president of the united states.

anointed1

Trump is the creation of democrats, fallout of their short-sighted policies. No divine hand playing behind Trump

12

What does Trump Win mean for JWs?

by anointed1 in

trump’s son-in-law buys watchtower hq, has big, beautiful plans for it.

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/39/33/dtg-kushner-watchtower-deal-2016-08-12-bk.html.

anointed1

I agree with you

No longer a Babe

It reminds me of this incident:

At a distance, Jesus sees a fig tree with leaves, and being hungry, He approaches it hoping to find some fruit, since a fig tree often produces figs earlier than it produces foliage. Upon reaching the tree, all He finds are leaves; the tree had produced no fruit. Mark, the author of the book, adds the comment that "it was not the season for figs" (Mark 11:13).

12

What does Trump Win mean for JWs?

by anointed1 in

trump’s son-in-law buys watchtower hq, has big, beautiful plans for it.

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/39/33/dtg-kushner-watchtower-deal-2016-08-12-bk.html.

anointed1

Trump’s son-in-law buys Watchtower HQ, has big, beautiful plans for it

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/39/33/dtg-kushner-watchtower-deal-2016-08-12-bk.html

9

"Faithful slave" can you READ the Bible - let alone EXPLAIN it?

by The Searcher in

an org myth debunked - by the book they claim to have a better understanding of, than other religions.wt14 11/15 p. 30 - who are the two witnesses mentioned in revelation chapter 11?.

"......the account refers to god’s anointed ones who took the lead during a difficult time of testing.. so in the fulfillment of revelation chapter 11, the anointed brothers who took the lead at the time of the establishment of god’s kingdom in heaven in 1914 preached "in sackcloth" for three and a half years.

at the end of their preaching in sackcloth, these anointed ones were symbolically killed when they were thrown into prison for a comparatively shorter period of time, a symbolic three and a half days.

anointed1

The Searcher

You must be very keen to notice what the whole JWs missed collectively

18

Christians made me stop believing in the Bible

by jws in

i'm agnostic.

there could be a god, but i don't believe it's the god described in the bible.i grew up a jw believing in the bible.

after i left, i didn't want religion but was determined to be a christian on my own.. but things started to unravel.

anointed1

I too had problems with understanding Noah's flood. How did Noah load over 8.7 millions species (some as pairs and others as pairs of seven) into such a small ark, in such short span of seven days? Seven days would mean 604800 seconds. That means in one second, how many species did they load?

Other things I could not digest was: Joshua could stop the sun, a star could come and stay over the house where Jesus was born ...

anointed1

Posts by anointed1

Trump’s son-in-law buys Watchtower HQ, has big, beautiful plans for it