1) ananias “sold a piece of property… and kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.” (acts 5:1, 2) peter interpreted the whole incident as unbecoming of believers as they created the impression that they are giving full amount received from the sale of their property, and told the wife of ananias: “the feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” (acts 5:9).
death sentence for slightly exaggerating one’s generosity?.
2) in this incident, peter seems to be over-righteous!
Please note the typographical error in point no 3
3) Ananias & Sapphira did not commit a serious crime as to invoke death-sentence on them—Even David who murdered his faithful soldier and stole his wife at a time when he had many wives and concubines was not given death-sentence but he is even presented in good light in the Bible. (Revelation 22:16)
1) ananias “sold a piece of property… and kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.” (acts 5:1, 2) peter interpreted the whole incident as unbecoming of believers as they created the impression that they are giving full amount received from the sale of their property, and told the wife of ananias: “the feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” (acts 5:9).
death sentence for slightly exaggerating one’s generosity?.
2) in this incident, peter seems to be over-righteous!
1) Ananias “sold a piece of property… and kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.” (Acts 5:1, 2) Peter interpreted the whole incident as unbecoming of believers as they created the impression that they are giving full amount received from the sale of their property, and told the wife of Ananias: “The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” (Acts 5:9). Death sentence for slightly exaggerating one’s generosity?
2) In this incident, Peter seems to be over-righteous! Peter forgot his own use of exaggeration—“Peter said: “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will” and yet he fell away repeatedly! (Mathew 26:33)
3) Ananias & Sapphira did not commit a serious crime as to invoke death-sentence on them—Even David who murdered his faithful soldier and stole his wife at a time when he had many wives and concubines was not only given death-sentence but also is presented in good light in the Bible. (Revelation 22:16)
4) When one sells his property and gives the bulk of it for religious cause, the whole spirit behind such an action is commendably good. Keeping a portion with the donor himself for his need is part of being practical—a course of action Jesus himself advocated through his famous parable of Shrewd Manager (Luke 16:1-9) and through direct commandment to his apostles (Luke 22:35, 36)
In view of the above, do you think the account of Ananias and Sapphira is genuine? Or could it be a cooked up story to steal the money from the gullible?
i got up today to listen to the shocking news that russia’s ambassador to turkey was assassinated at an ankara art exhibit, and assassin was acting in the name of god.. it seems things have evolved to the other extreme that atheists are doing the work of religionists and vice versa.
while religionists take delight in killing fellow humans in the name of god, there were many atheists who followed very elevated morality.
the french existentialists and writers jean-paul sartre and albert camus were some of them.
The Rebel,
I agree with you. The point is:
when atheist behaves better than religionist, it becomes a news
and when a religionist behaves goes inconsiderate, it too becomes a news
i got up today to listen to the shocking news that russia’s ambassador to turkey was assassinated at an ankara art exhibit, and assassin was acting in the name of god.. it seems things have evolved to the other extreme that atheists are doing the work of religionists and vice versa.
while religionists take delight in killing fellow humans in the name of god, there were many atheists who followed very elevated morality.
the french existentialists and writers jean-paul sartre and albert camus were some of them.
Viviane,
Let Buddha’s silence mean whatever, it has nothing to do with my subject. I was just contrasting two groups. A person who does not believe in God has no obligation to care for anyone whereas a person who believes in God feels obliged to care for others. In this context one can ask: How can atheists care for others whereas religionists go in opposite direction? Situation is similar to Fire-force personnel who shy away from putting out fire on somebody else’s property whereas the passersby [in this context atheists ]venture into and put off the fire.
i got up today to listen to the shocking news that russia’s ambassador to turkey was assassinated at an ankara art exhibit, and assassin was acting in the name of god.. it seems things have evolved to the other extreme that atheists are doing the work of religionists and vice versa.
while religionists take delight in killing fellow humans in the name of god, there were many atheists who followed very elevated morality.
the french existentialists and writers jean-paul sartre and albert camus were some of them.
viviane,
Have you ever asked any Buddhist: "who is your God?" [I have asked as I have worked in a Buddhist country]
If not, here is the question in their website:
Do Buddhists believe in a god?
No, we do not.
when people like ananias and sapphire tried to take the honor that did not belong to them, they were instantly struck with death-penalty.
(acts 5:1-11) when jws did the same taking the glory of being god’s spokesperson on earth (by proclaiming to the world something as though god revealed to them—eg “generation that saw the events of 1914 would not pass away”) god did not respond.
in the same vein, when moses and aaron said “they were going to bring water from the rock” (instead of jehovah), god punished them instantly.
Thank you nicolaou
when people like ananias and sapphire tried to take the honor that did not belong to them, they were instantly struck with death-penalty.
(acts 5:1-11) when jws did the same taking the glory of being god’s spokesperson on earth (by proclaiming to the world something as though god revealed to them—eg “generation that saw the events of 1914 would not pass away”) god did not respond.
in the same vein, when moses and aaron said “they were going to bring water from the rock” (instead of jehovah), god punished them instantly.
When people like Ananias and Sapphire tried to take the honor that did not belong to them, they were instantly struck with death-penalty. (Acts 5:1-11) When JWs did the same taking the glory of being God’s spokesperson on earth (by proclaiming to the world something as though God revealed to them—eg “Generation that saw the events of 1914 would not pass away”) God did not respond. In the same vein, when Moses and Aaron said “They were going to bring water from the rock” (instead of Jehovah), God punished them instantly. This would mean either the Bible account of Ananias & Sapphire and Moses & Aaron are wrong, or JWs are in for a big surprise.
Jehovah has in the past blocked ill-happening coming on His people. When Balaam went to curse His people, Jehovah blocked the curse by using his angel and a donkey. When JWs proceeded to travel in the direction of a cursed destination of non-fulfillment of their biggest prophecy about “the generation of 1914” (which Newsweek magazine described as the “lie of the century”), why did not Jehovah block it from happening?
jesus taught a surviving generation, a group inhering everlasting life, an escape route to avoid a global disaster worse than the flood, a generation that "will not pass away--" an infinite generation.
wt teaches a generation that dies, ends, passes away, at the first sign of real trouble, the great tribulation.. what do you believe about this wt assertion?
(apart from that there is no talking snake, it is all irrelevant).
They easy way is to take the date of 586 BEC as the fall of Jerusalem (as the Jews themselves take) not 607 BCE. This will give them enough time to prove "this generation" that was on hand in 1935 CE will not pass away.
However, this would mean they abandon their prestige year of 1914. If they are really God's people, they can do it--taking a corrective course will only add to their beauty.
i got up today to listen to the shocking news that russia’s ambassador to turkey was assassinated at an ankara art exhibit, and assassin was acting in the name of god.. it seems things have evolved to the other extreme that atheists are doing the work of religionists and vice versa.
while religionists take delight in killing fellow humans in the name of god, there were many atheists who followed very elevated morality.
the french existentialists and writers jean-paul sartre and albert camus were some of them.
You say “People with no religion are just as capable of decapitating, gutting, and denying what they do to humans as people who claim to believe in God can … No suit will make you more moral or less violent or more enlightened than any other.”
I was just contrasting [not about labels]. A person who does not believe in God has no obligation to care for anyone whereas a person who believes in God feels obliged to care for others. In this context one can ask: How can atheists care for others whereas religionists go in opposite direction? Situation is similar to Fire-force personnel who shy away from putting out fire on somebody else’s property whereas the passersby venture into and put off the fire.
i got up today to listen to the shocking news that russia’s ambassador to turkey was assassinated at an ankara art exhibit, and assassin was acting in the name of god.. it seems things have evolved to the other extreme that atheists are doing the work of religionists and vice versa.
while religionists take delight in killing fellow humans in the name of god, there were many atheists who followed very elevated morality.
the french existentialists and writers jean-paul sartre and albert camus were some of them.
I agree with you: Everything is a joke.
See what believers in God do--they make God feel USED (just like carpet), not loved saying I want this, that ...etc. Some people praise Him as though he is in need of their validation.
