The Quiet One Aguest never claimed to 'hear voices', she stated that she doesn't..
According to my memory Aguest has claimed to hear voices, or at least a voice, in many other posts. This voice guides her and is the basis of her faith.The Bible is just an aside. She even knows the name of the being that talks to her but the name is too long for me to spell. No doubt she will fill you in, though it may take a few pages.
well just what is samadhi?.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/samadhi.
It's good to see James Thomas, Poppers, Talesin and other like minded people examining spirituality in such an adult way.
The 'Power of Now' by Eckhart Tolle is a well known book which I have found helpful. I now have the audio version which I have put on my ipod. It's very relaxing to listen to on long walks.
Faith is the assured belief that whatever exists in our imagination must be real, otherwise it wouldn't be there.
I understand New Jerusalem and the other things mentioned, but I wonder if you still miss my point. All of these things, including Moses, you are again quoting from the Bible to prove the Bible.
Very well put.
Using anything from the Bible as evidence puts an even greater burden of proof on the believer.
In the real world this obvious rule of thumb would apply but in the imaginary world of unseen beings, beliefs can be conjured up as required. As there is no accountability in the invisible world of the imagination, anything is possible. Ask for consistency and you will be accused of having have a JW mentality.
You guys really need to re-think your "either / or" attitude that you had as Jw's.
Certainty is not a necessarily a hangover from being a JW but an essential survival tool. You have criticized an all or nothing attitude in non-Christians a number of times over the months but when it come to belief in a living Jesus you yourself have an absolute certainty. There is no grey area in your mind or doubt. No room for the Thomas syndrome.
That most duplicitous of books the Bible warns its readers not to lean on their own understanding but to obey what is written. Once everything in the Bible become optional, there is nothing left to lean on except guesswork.
The thing is that the bible is not a linerar teling of the history of the world, it is a story of a people and of God's dealings with those people and the only way to prove the bible wrong in THAT regard is to prove that God never dealt with them, at all.
Am I alone in concluding that the onus is on Israelites and Christians to prove that there is a god as described in the ‘Holy Bible’ and that god has, at various times, chosen various nations and individuals to be his chosen ones?
Without a reliable record of those dealings, can we be forgiven for assuming that the whole biblical tale is a romping fictional yarn?
The Bible as we know it is a collection of hearsay, visions and offerings from many different people. There are thousands of other letters and documents that could have been included but weren’t. What has been included could have jus as easily been omitted.
It has been edited and altered to a point where it contains less substance than Dan Brown’s Davinci Code novel. What we have is a dubious book that is so contradictory and unscientific, that even most Christians have had to declare it to be the work of men and not their god, to avoid appearing ridiculous.
We really do need to go back to the drawing board and start again. This is just a wild hunch but I am inclined to take the findings of 21 st century scientists, philosophers, mathematicians and engineers, more seriously than the ramblings of shepherds, fishermen and wanderers from 2000 years ago.
Apart from the Bible’s historical accounts, it dwells on things unseen that happen in an invisible spirit realm. Holy Spirit pervades and achieves. The promises are to be fulfilled in a spirit realm. God is the bid invisible Daddy in the sky.
How can one prove or disprove such assertions?
wikipedia has an article on rudeness.. rudeness (also called impudence or effrontery) is a display of disrespectfulness by not complying with the social "laws" or etiquette of a group or culture.
these laws have been established as the essential boundaries of normally accepted behavior.
i have noticed a high level of rudeness in this forum ... i was wondering the why.. what do others consider "rude" behaviour wrt this forum?do others have any thoughts about the obvious rude behaviour?do others have any thoughts if the aggressively rude posters have this personality as a by-product of watchtower indoctrination?if no, what could be causing this aggresion?
I swing both ways and can be rude or kind, depending on whether I have a hang-over, how my wife is treating me, how the stock market is doing, and many other other of life's imponderables. Or it may just be that I feel the need to take a swipe at some ignoramus.
This forum is great therapy – I hope it never changes. Thank you for letting me share.
