Posts by anointed1

21

Serpent in the Garden of Eden is not Satan

by anointed1 in

many interpret serpent in the garden of eden as the satan hence miss the whole point because satan himself does not exist.

he is a fictional character [for example, in the temptation account, satan is shown as reflecting the erroneous belief of ancient time that shape of earth is flat, thus taking jesus to the top of “a very high mountain” and showed him “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.” (mathew 4:8, 9) the fact that jesus did not correct the mistaken view of satan shows the account of temptation is allegorical.

further, jesus knew that satan was only a personification of evil (mathew 16:23; john 6:70) and categorically declared that “all evil thoughts proceed from one’s heart,” not from satan.

anointed1

Many interpret serpent in the garden of Eden as the Satan hence miss the whole point because Satan himself does not exist. He is a fictional character [For example, in the temptation account, Satan is shown as reflecting the erroneous belief of ancient time that shape of earth is flat, thus taking Jesus to the top of “a very high mountain” and showed him “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.” (Mathew 4:8, 9) The fact that Jesus did not correct the mistaken view of Satan shows the account of temptation is allegorical. Further, Jesus knew that Satan was only a personification of evil (Mathew 16:23; John 6:70) and categorically declared that “all evil thoughts proceed from one’s heart,” not from Satan. (Mark 7:21; James 1:14). There is nothing unusual with personification as Bible personifies even material riches. (Mathew 6:24)] Hence one has to look for the truth behind the Edenic details. Truth is that for a period, there was no sin; then sin entered. Sin means to wander away from God. Sin would invite trouble (as though bruising of the heel) which would ultimately motivate the practitioner to crush the head of serpent (sin). This sequence is nicely brought out by Jesus in the illustration of prodigal son who sought sin which resulted in misery (as though bruising the heel) which in turn motivated him to return to his father (as though head of the sin crushed).

Interestingly, Ecclesiasticus 21:2, 3 present serpent as the ‘symbol of sin and as two-edged sword’ because effect of sin is like venom of the serpent, and again effect is on two people—on the doer and the recipient of the action (as in theft, lie, rape ….you weaken your own soul first and make other person suffer too). Sin happens when one forgets the truth that all are children of God. Hence antidote to sin is remembering the truth that all are children of God, hence to be treated accordingly. Such a remembrance is within everyone’s power. Hence we find expression such as ‘conquer sin and earn your inheritance.’ (Ecclesiasticus 15:15; Proverbs 11:18; Revelation 22:11, 12, 14, 15; Mathew 7:21-23) Thus original idea is all about earning the right—not grace (Habakuk 2:4; Hebrews 10:38; Luke 18:14; Revelation 21:7) by being “meek” which means imitation of God’s attitude of treating everyone alike. (Mathew 5:5, 44-48; 1 Pet 5:6) To be meek, one doesn’t have to possess a perfect body—even when one is bodily weak, he can be perfect in manifesting unconditional love because many have done that in history.

45

put youir thinking caps on.

by zeb in

this was sent to me from doug shields blog.

for those who like stats and numbers may find this of interest.. 1914 – recognizing the ”the elephant in the room”.

the problem with the date ”1914 ad” lays with the two calendars that are involved – jewish and gregorian.

anointed1

Calendar calculation has its problem. Gregorian Calendar is actually a refinement of Julian calendar involving a 0.002% correction in the length of the year. According to Latin, September (9th), October (10th), November (11th), and December (12th) are, respectively, the names of the 7th (“sept…”), 8th (“oct…”), 9th (“nov…”) and 10th (“dec…”) months – which is what they were, in the 10-month early-Roman year (which started at the spring Equinox, in “March”)… Subsequently, Julius Caesar switched to the 12-month/year calendar (invented at least a thousand years earlier by the Egyptians), adding the two additional months where we now have January (named after the two-headed Roman “god of beginnings, guardian of gates and doors, custodian of the universe”, Janus) and February (named after the Roman festival Februa, remnants of which are now in our Valentine’s day, basically a fertility festival “sanitized” by Christian “moralists”). Unfortunately, however, by adding the two months at the beginning of the year, then the numbered months 5 through 12 were “misnumbered”.

23

God’s silence teaches more than what the “revealed scriptures” do!

by anointed1 in

objective reading of scriptures can see many human thoughts in them.

objective analysis of religions would show that they exist primarily for their own benefit.

is science too travelling in the same direction?

anointed1

cofty,

I will not make a comment about any organization until and unless I personally examine them, and I am going to make a first hand examination.

23

God’s silence teaches more than what the “revealed scriptures” do!

by anointed1 in

objective reading of scriptures can see many human thoughts in them.

objective analysis of religions would show that they exist primarily for their own benefit.

is science too travelling in the same direction?

anointed1

Cofty,

I also want to add the following:

People who have been deceived by those who pretended to be God’s friends would prefer to talk about materialism.

However, I have never been deceived by any falsely called friends of God—hence I see a prism as prism, not as colored by the things behind the prism. Materialism cannot satisfy everyone because humans are not satisfied by mere survival. Survival is what animals seek; man is more than animal; man seeks freedom, pleasure,

art, ingenuity, ….. and on and on. Moreover, he has thirsts for justice and unconditional love—which cannot be fulfilled by any amount of material accomplishments. Superficial though, Spinoza called it confused thought. Make a list of all your pleasures. Then, maybe you’ll see even farther than Spinoza saw: pleasure (happiness) is just a signal telling you that you and the species are surviving; pain is signal that tells you to avoid further/future harm which of course is a mechanism that serves a good purpose.

Even death serves a good purpose. Ecclesiasticus 14:12, 13 says “remembering death enables one to perform good acts.” This fact has been discerned by many people such as Steve Jobs (the Father of the Digital Revolution & the cofounder of APPLE) declared: “Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”

Just because you were bitten by a dog on your way, why stop the journey? Try big picture—everything will fall in place.

23

God’s silence teaches more than what the “revealed scriptures” do!

by anointed1 in

objective reading of scriptures can see many human thoughts in them.

objective analysis of religions would show that they exist primarily for their own benefit.

is science too travelling in the same direction?

anointed1

Cofty,

If you and punkofnice felt that the profound reasoning I made in the OP reminded you of Brahmakumaris, then I should examine who they are and what their teachings. Thank you for informing that such an organization exists!

23

God’s silence teaches more than what the “revealed scriptures” do!

by anointed1 in

objective reading of scriptures can see many human thoughts in them.

objective analysis of religions would show that they exist primarily for their own benefit.

is science too travelling in the same direction?

anointed1

punkofnic, I appreciate your responsible response.

8

Jehovah God and Jesus Christ the difference in the "Old Testament " and the "New Testament"

by smiddy in

when you compare all the communications jehovah god had with humans whether it was by angels ,dreams ,or prophets as well as his intervention in human affairs when it suited him and their are many examples in the old testament to look at for about 4000 years .

the same cannot be said for jesus christ as king of kings to sit on the throne to rule over the earth for a thousand years.

in one sense he was king of christians 2000 years ago in another sense according to jw`s he was enthroned in 1914-18 for the next 1000 years.. whether you believe he was king over christians on his ascencion to heaven or his enthronement in 1914-18 for 2000 + years we have not had any communication from either god jehovah or christ jesus in any form one way or another.for the past 2000 years.. for the first 4000 years you couldnt shut jehovah up ,and the next 2000 years you dont here a beep out of jehovah or christ jesus.. for jw apologists when god gave a ruling/decree in the old testament how many times did he adjust /redefine/change what he said using the excuse "the light gets brighter and brighter" ?

anointed1

Even the 1st Century communication is attributed to him. If he had really communicated with his people, he would not have used phrase such as "Look, I am coming soon!” (Revelation 22:7). If one knew he was not going to come even after 2000 years, his original wording should have been very different. That means wordings, concepts were all put into his mouth by human writers.

23

God’s silence teaches more than what the “revealed scriptures” do!

by anointed1 in

objective reading of scriptures can see many human thoughts in them.

objective analysis of religions would show that they exist primarily for their own benefit.

is science too travelling in the same direction?

anointed1

Cold Steel

God communicating with father of John the Baptist, or mother Mary … could be of human origin because if God had really communicated to Mary about Jesus as His only begotten son to be sent to earth through her, such a great event should surely match with her later response. She did not care for the child even like an ordinary woman having mentally retarded child. See what happened when they went to temple when Jesus was only 12 years of age: “After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it [but why?]. Thinking he was in their company [impossible for any parents to behave this way], they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him [something they should have done before the return journey] among their relatives and friends.” (Luke 2:43, 44)

23

God’s silence teaches more than what the “revealed scriptures” do!

by anointed1 in

objective reading of scriptures can see many human thoughts in them.

objective analysis of religions would show that they exist primarily for their own benefit.

is science too travelling in the same direction?

anointed1

God is silent because He doesn't want worship as religions teach. Whoever acts beneficially looking at experiences (own or of others') benefits himself whereas others who act wastefully reap accordingly--this what I could discern from my study of history and reading of stories.

23

God’s silence teaches more than what the “revealed scriptures” do!

by anointed1 in

objective reading of scriptures can see many human thoughts in them.

objective analysis of religions would show that they exist primarily for their own benefit.

is science too travelling in the same direction?

anointed1

punkofnice

Your question has been answered by scratchme1010

The only difference is that I believe God exists, yet He is silent because there are laws put in place by Him and everything that happens are governed by them. What I read in some apocryphal book makes an interesting point: ‘He that sins shall offend against his own soul (not against God) because he will reap its bitter consequences sooner or later which will motivate him to love himself avoiding things that lead to bitter consequences. Thus suffering serves a good purpose. If this benefit is not noticed, then suffering would be viewed as a proof for the non-existence of a God who cares—just like silence is the sign of both—one does not have knowledge and one does have knowledge, who waits for appropriate moment to speak out.

Besides order, we can sometimes find disorder also in the universe. In big picture even this apparent disorder too happen because of Laws. Many people have had a fall in their bath room—yet everyone does not have same injury, it varies—from no injury to serious injury—because it depends on various factors (Laws decide them). That means even disorder proves laws, and laws prove Law-Giver. Looking at apparent disorder we cannot say there no God just like one swallow doesn’t make a summer, one drop isn’t a stream; one feather isn’t a bird, one tile is no roof; one tree doesn’t make a forest …Some people may have disease, or may be born with disabilities. That is understandable because each body is designed by the soul (not God). Yoshinori Ohsumi (Nobel Laureate in Physiology and Medicine, 2016) said in his acceptance lecture: “Life is an equilibrium state between synthesis and degradation of proteins.” According to French physiologist, Claude Bernard, “Stability of internal environment (in the body) is the condition for free and independent life.”

Now pause for a moment, and get the spirit of what they: As long as vital organs are in equilibrium, there is life. Once these organs are stressed, there is deviation from the equilibrium state and life becomes endangered. Synthesis implies creation. Degradation implies annihilation. Together, they can contribute to equilibrium. Creation requires input of higher energy that should obviously come from something immaterial that exists before body. Hence quality of the creation would be dependent on the quality of the soul. This points to the fact one needs to be careful before he acts because of quality of soul and quality of thoughts are related.