confusedalot,
I admire your deep sense of humor. Looking forward to more of it.
Posts by venus
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11Big events/developments which Bible failed to foresee!
by venus inthough bible made prophecies about “wars and rumors of war, famines and earthquakes, and persecution, hatred …” as signs of “last days” (mathew 24:6-11) which are neither specific nor extra-ordinary given the history of such events, it failed to foresee the positive development such as communication revolution (e.g.
tv, internet, mobile phone …) which is also favorable to preaching activity—the whole world can be preached to within a matter of hours.
[bible writers thought it would take at least 21 centuries for the whole world to be preached to.—mathew 24:14].
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judgement and resurrection
by inbetween09 inanother inconsistency in wt theology:.
jw believe, when armegeddon comes, only jw will survive.
good news was preached in most areas and people could decide for or against god.
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venus
inbetween09,
Yes, it is really an inconsistency which I never thought of.
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Big events/developments which Bible failed to foresee!
by venus inthough bible made prophecies about “wars and rumors of war, famines and earthquakes, and persecution, hatred …” as signs of “last days” (mathew 24:6-11) which are neither specific nor extra-ordinary given the history of such events, it failed to foresee the positive development such as communication revolution (e.g.
tv, internet, mobile phone …) which is also favorable to preaching activity—the whole world can be preached to within a matter of hours.
[bible writers thought it would take at least 21 centuries for the whole world to be preached to.—mathew 24:14].
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venus
Though Bible made prophecies about “wars and rumors of war, famines and earthquakes, and persecution, hatred …” as signs of “Last Days” (Mathew 24:6-11) which are neither specific nor extra-ordinary given the history of such events, it failed to foresee the positive development such as communication revolution (e.g. TV, Internet, mobile phone …) which is also favorable to preaching activity—the whole world can be preached to within a matter of hours. [Bible writers thought it would take at least 21 centuries for the whole world to be preached to.—Mathew 24:14]
Even though global warming and subsequent sea-level rise are extremely favorable to eschatology which is one of the key subjects of Bible, still they find no mention in the Bible. Interestingly, more details are coming up with regard to this subject such as danger to the fishes in the sea: “Warmer waters increase fish's need for oxygen but climate change will result in less oxygen in the oceans. This means that gills have less oxygen to supply to a body that already grows faster than them. The researchers say this forces fish to stop growing at a smaller size to be able to fulfill their needs with the little oxygen available to them. Some species may be more affected by this combination of factors. Tuna, which are fast moving and require more energy and oxygen, may shrink even more when temperatures increase.”
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Miracles and responses—both are not explicable
by venus ina miracle is an event not explicable by natural or scientific laws.
bible reports many such miracles.
interestingly, responses to these reported miracles could be even labeled as a greater miracle which cannot be explained by any known law, logic or experience.
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venus
Drearyweather,
People who were really witnesses of miracles such as resurrection cannot be influenced against the performer of those miracles by things such as indoctrination, money, or threat ...
If people were indoctrinated against Jesus, then it would mean such great miracles have never taken place.
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New book on early Christianity
by careful ini'm not quite sure that this post fits under jws/wts since they do not keep up with real biblical scholarship, but i don't know where else to post it.. thomas a. robinson (university of lethbridge) has just published a book through oxford university press on the earliest christians, entitled who were the first christians?
: dismantling the urban thesis.
for some years the idea has dominated scholarship that christianity grew strongly at first in ancient cities like rome, alexandria, and corinth; the notion has been largely influenced by wayne meeks' (of yale) thinking in his book the first urban christians (1986).. i once saw a member here cite meeks' idea of how many christians existed in the roman empire.
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venus
Rome was the world power at that time, hence was in a position to influence history and even Bible writing. For example, The Greeks had named the days week after the sun, the moon and the five known planets, which were in turn named after the gods Ares, Hermes, Zeus, Aphrodite, and Cronus, and had called the days of the week the Theon hemerai "days of the Gods". But Romans substituted their equivalent gods for the Greek gods, Mars, Mercury, Jove (Jupiter), Venus, and Saturn. (The two pantheons are very similar.)
Rome wanted a Christianity that should be submissive to it, hence used name of Jesus (who could have been known as a great teacher by then) to their advantage. Hence they ensured a Bible writing in which Jesus is seen as giving pro-Roman commands such as:
* “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you” (Mathew 5:11)
* “do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also; if anyone wants to … take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles (Mathew 5:39-41) …
Hence actual history of early Christianity may never be known!
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The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)
by venus injws advise that we should not take this illustration as literal saying things such as heaven and hell are not in close proximity so that both the inmates can speak to each other, dipping the tip of one’s finger in water would not be enough to put off one’s thirst …etc.. interestingly, jesus himself did not want his listeners to take this illustration literally or figuratively because he mixed both, hence wanted to get the message typical of any story.
if we were to take the illustration figuratively, who do “dogs that came and licked sores of lazar” symbolize?
also, the rich man in the story makes a powerful point when he says: ‘if someone from the dead is resurrected and speaks his surviving family members on earth, they will repent.’ (luke 16:27-31) the powerful logic used in this argument is to be literal, can’t be figurative because it concerns about literal death of a person and his resurrection.. those who are concerned about determining whether this illustration is literal or figurative miss the simple message of this story: god plays no role in the affairs of man and everyone can learn from experience (own or from others) that there is sowing and reaping, hence everyone is free to choose his destiny..
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venus
Religious founders leave behind simple truths which the religious leaders would complicate so that the readers miss the essence.
This has been the case with most of the religions. In the case of Bible, it started with Paul who openly admits: "I give this command (not I, but the Lord)"; "I think that I too have the Spirit of God." (1Cor 7:10, 40)
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Romans 4:5
by NJ501 inromans 4:5new international version (niv).
5 however, to the one who does not work but trusts god who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.. .
i need help to understand this scripture.
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venus
NJ5011,
It is Paul’s word, not God’s word (1 Cor 7:10, 40); hence there is no benefit trying to understand it.
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Forced to Choose Between Beliefs and Family
by Roger Kirkpatrick in[please feel free to share.].
forced to choose between beliefs and family.
“no one should be forced to worship in a way that he finds objectionable or be made to choose between his beliefs and his family.” that statement appeared in an article entitled “is it wrong to change your religion?” in the july 2009 awake magazine, published and distributed widely by jehovah’s witnesses.. nearly everyone reading that statement would consider it to be mere common sense.
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venus
Anyone who believes shunning is right can never see anything right because that is the rock-bottom one can go in distorted view.
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The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)
by venus injws advise that we should not take this illustration as literal saying things such as heaven and hell are not in close proximity so that both the inmates can speak to each other, dipping the tip of one’s finger in water would not be enough to put off one’s thirst …etc.. interestingly, jesus himself did not want his listeners to take this illustration literally or figuratively because he mixed both, hence wanted to get the message typical of any story.
if we were to take the illustration figuratively, who do “dogs that came and licked sores of lazar” symbolize?
also, the rich man in the story makes a powerful point when he says: ‘if someone from the dead is resurrected and speaks his surviving family members on earth, they will repent.’ (luke 16:27-31) the powerful logic used in this argument is to be literal, can’t be figurative because it concerns about literal death of a person and his resurrection.. those who are concerned about determining whether this illustration is literal or figurative miss the simple message of this story: god plays no role in the affairs of man and everyone can learn from experience (own or from others) that there is sowing and reaping, hence everyone is free to choose his destiny..
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venus
punkofnice,
You are right--convenience determines which parable is to be taken literally and figuratively.
When I first read the explanation of this parable in "Is this life all there is?" book, I told myself: 'this can't be, this nothing but mere intellectual exercise. If it were to be taken figuratively, Jesus would have explained it clearly without the possibility for anyone to grapple with with later.
Going for the details and trying to establish figurative uses is like "throwing the baby and keeping the bathing water."
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The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)
by venus injws advise that we should not take this illustration as literal saying things such as heaven and hell are not in close proximity so that both the inmates can speak to each other, dipping the tip of one’s finger in water would not be enough to put off one’s thirst …etc.. interestingly, jesus himself did not want his listeners to take this illustration literally or figuratively because he mixed both, hence wanted to get the message typical of any story.
if we were to take the illustration figuratively, who do “dogs that came and licked sores of lazar” symbolize?
also, the rich man in the story makes a powerful point when he says: ‘if someone from the dead is resurrected and speaks his surviving family members on earth, they will repent.’ (luke 16:27-31) the powerful logic used in this argument is to be literal, can’t be figurative because it concerns about literal death of a person and his resurrection.. those who are concerned about determining whether this illustration is literal or figurative miss the simple message of this story: god plays no role in the affairs of man and everyone can learn from experience (own or from others) that there is sowing and reaping, hence everyone is free to choose his destiny..
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venus
Confusedalot,
Listening to prophets means “whatever you desire for men to do to you, you. shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.” (Mathew 7:12) Such altruistic attitude and action means doing good to others and refraining from doing harm to others! Working for the welfare of others with no thought of reciprocation would also bring gratitude and reciprocation from others. Even if that doesn’t happen in some cases, still it is beneficial because our very make-up is such that doing something nice for another person produces a pleasant feeling that behavioral economists call a warm glow and strengthens your immunity. University of Zurich researchers investigated how areas in the brain communicated to produce this feeling. (http://www.media.uzh.ch/en/Press-Releases/2017/Generosity.html) One’s attitude and action affect his body and mind, and even others who will respond accordingly; hence reaping happens without the intervention of God.