to tout the fact that jesus christ is the head of the congregation is fine... if he was.
a quick glance at the page in the back of the current study wt seems to say otherwise.
if you recall, they print up a page at the end of every year with a quick rundown of the articles for the previous year.. surprise!
I believe it is common in most religions to miss the big picture, every talk, exhortation or lecture should come back to God, Jesus or his teachings
If you believe in the bible like i do, those are the fundamentals, but you can get buried under the subjects (like dress code, songs to sing, etc) which are not leading to our salvation.
my name is stephen and i am new to the forum.
i am a christadelphian and through my discussions with fellow members of my ecclesia it has inspired me to reach out to other religions to find out exactly what others believe to enhance my own faith and further bring me closer to our heavenly father.
in no way do i mean disrespect if it has been caused.
jwfacts, yes there are always questions, unless you follow blindly, there are always questions.
It is impossible for me to know what i will be like in 10 years or 20.
Religion is not perfect, but neither is any part of life.
I believe in God and his Son, despite which writings were chosen. I want to partake in the blessings that were promised despite Gods pacification as you say it.
For the other religions they have there reasons as to why they believe and why they do what they do.
I personally believe that not only one religious group will get Gods promises, how could anyone justify saying that because it does not say that in the Bible.
my name is stephen and i am new to the forum.
i am a christadelphian and through my discussions with fellow members of my ecclesia it has inspired me to reach out to other religions to find out exactly what others believe to enhance my own faith and further bring me closer to our heavenly father.
in no way do i mean disrespect if it has been caused.
Haha; Not quite, just because i believe we don't do everything correctly doesn't mean i don't have my faith.
I still believe in the teachings and i still have love for God, it is also because of my faith that i find it imperative to find where my faith is rooted within me.
It is discussion like this that helps
my name is stephen and i am new to the forum.
i am a christadelphian and through my discussions with fellow members of my ecclesia it has inspired me to reach out to other religions to find out exactly what others believe to enhance my own faith and further bring me closer to our heavenly father.
in no way do i mean disrespect if it has been caused.
atomant - billy was a nickname from my sisters and the 1000 was simply because hotmail had already taken just billy so i added the 1000 onto the end, no scriptural meaning at all.
I think it is impossible not to wonder why we are hear, what is our purpose, were are we heading that is also a natural human response. Many believe the story you mention with the angels is an allegory. Christadelphians don't believe this actually happened or that there is a being in Satan who battles God for our soul.
Some of us turn to religion and others turn each other and some would rather not know. Everyone has to make their own mind up, ad on that note you then can't be angry at each other if you are found out to be incorrect because each of us have made our decision and we need to live by it.
I do not profess to know everything of the world, or even everything about the bible, but i believe from the information i have that i am walking the right path and that is all i can go on
my name is stephen and i am new to the forum.
i am a christadelphian and through my discussions with fellow members of my ecclesia it has inspired me to reach out to other religions to find out exactly what others believe to enhance my own faith and further bring me closer to our heavenly father.
in no way do i mean disrespect if it has been caused.
Hi atomant
I can see your point in regards to the Pharoahs and the Egyptians, and to be honest there is many cases in the bible especially in the Old Testament.
In these cases i have actually been in contact with some of the Jewish faith to try and explain this to me also, when i hear back i will let everyone know.
However in regards to the Garden of Eden... Gods plan and purpose on the earth is to fill the earth with his glory as it says in Numbers 14. However you have to have followers and obedient ones at that.
God puts the tree in the garden to test Adam and Eve, as how can anyone be obedient if there is not rules to obey. Adam and Eve were fresh, innocent like children and the serpent was the carnel mind (i do not believe in the devil). Two sides of the same coin just like we have today a part of us tells us to do good and the other bad it is up to us as to which one we choose.
Eve chose the wrong path and Adam followed suit, and we are told that the price of sin is death.
In the example it says that God always failed as humans kept ignoring his rules, it is all a matter of perspective as i read it we were the ones who failed because we were unable to follow the rules...
That being said i have just read a Jewish topic where they argue whether Genesis (a part of it anyway) is just an allegory.
my name is stephen and i am new to the forum.
i am a christadelphian and through my discussions with fellow members of my ecclesia it has inspired me to reach out to other religions to find out exactly what others believe to enhance my own faith and further bring me closer to our heavenly father.
in no way do i mean disrespect if it has been caused.
Yes you would be correct in saying that Religion as a whole has held back society due to teachings which are probably more steeped in cultural timing then in actual teachings and lessons to live by.
For example most religions abhor tattoos due to the teachings in the old testament, however in the same passage it tells us that we are not supposed to cut the hair on our temples... and from recollection it is only the Jews that follow that teaching.
Religion does justify to suit their own means, we follow the easy rules... for example no tattoos but then ignore the other more difficult ones.
That being said (for me) the people within the religion is not a reason to give up my faith.
Religion in my belief needs to catch up to the current times, same ideas but presented in a different manner.
A lot of it does come down to conformity, following what your parents or family believe, but i would encourage anyone to doubt there faith and to really think about why they do what they do
Because if you believe in the bible, going along with the crowd does not mean you will definitely get the blessing which were promised, only truly believing will.
my name is stephen and i am new to the forum.
i am a christadelphian and through my discussions with fellow members of my ecclesia it has inspired me to reach out to other religions to find out exactly what others believe to enhance my own faith and further bring me closer to our heavenly father.
in no way do i mean disrespect if it has been caused.
Steve2 i do see your point, i really do. Would i have become a Christadelphian if i was not born into it, probably not. I watched that movie that was put up earlier (Why do you believe) and it really intrigued me.
That being said i was born into this religion so i cannot change that, not that i currently want to.
Yes the Old Testament is bloody, terribly so, but so were the times.
Only up to 200 years ago, the British would send prisoners to a country thousands of kilometers away at times for only stealing a loaf of bread.
If you believe in the timeline that the Bible puts forward, the times were incredibly bloody, for the Jews and against them, but to think that it was all due to God would be very naive. Every nation of the time would of done similar if not worst, the Assyrians to name one. However as time progressed and we make it into the new testament, things have changed.
With the coming of Christ he fulfilled the Law of Moses and those things were to be done away with.
Instead of the Law of Moses, don't do this, do this... it was replaced with the teachings of Christ.
Strong Rules and restrictions were put onto the Jews due to how many times they faltered.
my name is stephen and i am new to the forum.
i am a christadelphian and through my discussions with fellow members of my ecclesia it has inspired me to reach out to other religions to find out exactly what others believe to enhance my own faith and further bring me closer to our heavenly father.
in no way do i mean disrespect if it has been caused.
Is that not what someone does to help prove a point of view, cherry pick the points that prove your point and use them
To say read the bible from cover to cover is a lot easier to say then do.
Reading evilbible.com i can understand why many people believe that God is evil, however that in itself only points out the negative, it does not mention the wonderful things, Israelis from Egypt into the promised land, saving them multiple time through Judges, his promises to David, Abraham and so on.
Then in the New Testament God literally gives his only Son to save us.
However i understand that you could only believe the above if you believe in the Bibles validity
A lot of people in this forum have obviously been hurt/shunned by people who are trying to follow what the bible teaches, so i can understand how people could get a negative view of it, it seems warranted.
However i still read the Bible in a positive light, so my view on it will obviously be a brighter one
my name is stephen and i am new to the forum.
i am a christadelphian and through my discussions with fellow members of my ecclesia it has inspired me to reach out to other religions to find out exactly what others believe to enhance my own faith and further bring me closer to our heavenly father.
in no way do i mean disrespect if it has been caused.
The Bible states that God is love, Christ teaches to love your neighbour and in fact loving God, and loving your neighbour are the first two fundamental teachings of the new testament.
That being said many have twisted the teachings, segregating themselves and abandoning others because of the belief.
The parable of the good samaritan teaches us that all people should be considered as equal (thats how i see it anyway)
However even those in Christadelphia have misconstrued the teachings to justify their own agenda
my name is stephen and i am new to the forum.
i am a christadelphian and through my discussions with fellow members of my ecclesia it has inspired me to reach out to other religions to find out exactly what others believe to enhance my own faith and further bring me closer to our heavenly father.
in no way do i mean disrespect if it has been caused.
It is actually quite saddening how so many can be hurt by teachings which are supposed to be used for good.
The teachings when not used for a personal agenda are supposed to promote love for all not just those that agree with your ideals
I am guessing a lot of people here have family who are still active in the JW.
If it is not to personal, how are they with your personal decision to leave?
