I admire the perfect understanding of Bernard Shaw with regard to the qualification of Bible to be God's word:
“No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says: He is always convinced that it says what he means.” --Bernard Shaw
i find three categories of people according to the way they display their human qualities—(1) more than humans, (2) less than humans and (3) mixed in those qualities in varying degrees.. when i observe how they are all faring with their choices, it tells me what i should do and what i should not do.
hence my scripture is the mankind and letters are living human beings—present and past.
though it is not possible to see beyond an individual’s birth, i can see the history of nations (collective individuals) beyond their present generation into their past, through many generations which shows how their past deeds contributed to their present reality.
I admire the perfect understanding of Bernard Shaw with regard to the qualification of Bible to be God's word:
“No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says: He is always convinced that it says what he means.” --Bernard Shaw
here are some tough questions designed to determine honesty of the witnesses you meet.. 1. is post secondary education currently discouraged by your religion?
2. does your religion teach, that with rare exceptions, only baptised jws will survive armageddon?.
do you believe jehovah will completely destroy billions of people at armageddon?.
JW claim of being the only true organization on earth reminds me of what Bernard Shaw wrote about patriotism:
“Patriotism is, fundamentally, a conviction that a particular country is the best in the world because you were born in it....”
i find three categories of people according to the way they display their human qualities—(1) more than humans, (2) less than humans and (3) mixed in those qualities in varying degrees.. when i observe how they are all faring with their choices, it tells me what i should do and what i should not do.
hence my scripture is the mankind and letters are living human beings—present and past.
though it is not possible to see beyond an individual’s birth, i can see the history of nations (collective individuals) beyond their present generation into their past, through many generations which shows how their past deeds contributed to their present reality.
Here is another example of one who is more than a human (Mother Teresa) who used to read daily this inscription on the wall of her bed room:
"People are often unreasonable,
illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind,
people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are
successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest
and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend
years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find
serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do
today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the
best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the
final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway."
i find three categories of people according to the way they display their human qualities—(1) more than humans, (2) less than humans and (3) mixed in those qualities in varying degrees.. when i observe how they are all faring with their choices, it tells me what i should do and what i should not do.
hence my scripture is the mankind and letters are living human beings—present and past.
though it is not possible to see beyond an individual’s birth, i can see the history of nations (collective individuals) beyond their present generation into their past, through many generations which shows how their past deeds contributed to their present reality.
I don't dismiss serious subjects saying "I like turtles."
I pay serious attention when people say things and try to read in between the lines. Here is one that shocked me from toe to head:
My professor related an experience which he encountered when his team made an expedition to Mali. They saw a woman living in a cave; yet taking care of 20 orphan children. She herself is an orphan. She has no facilities (even no light in the cave) which we are all familiar with, no income, no relatives and no outside support whatsoever. She is human in form, yet more than a human.
i find three categories of people according to the way they display their human qualities—(1) more than humans, (2) less than humans and (3) mixed in those qualities in varying degrees.. when i observe how they are all faring with their choices, it tells me what i should do and what i should not do.
hence my scripture is the mankind and letters are living human beings—present and past.
though it is not possible to see beyond an individual’s birth, i can see the history of nations (collective individuals) beyond their present generation into their past, through many generations which shows how their past deeds contributed to their present reality.
I
find three categories of people according to the way they display their human qualities—(1)
more than humans, (2) less than humans and (3) mixed
in those qualities in varying degrees.
When I observe how they are all faring with their choices, it tells me what I should do and what I should not do. Hence my Scripture is the mankind and letters are living human beings—present and past. Though it is not possible to see beyond an individual’s birth, I can see the history of nations (collective individuals) beyond their present generation into their past, through many generations which shows how their past deeds contributed to their present reality. What is true of collective individuals is true of each individual. Each one’s thinking creates his reality—hence everyone receives what he deserves.
Written scriptures contain both—good and confusing things
Written scriptures can be tampered with, or writers could be unwittingly serving the interests of their sponsors. For example, Bible reports on Go’s communication—one time even through a donkey to avert a disaster that was looming over Israel. (Numbers 22:21-39) It means God can communicate with anyone, anytime, anywhere and through any medium. Yet He is often depicted as communicating with the wrong people!
1) God did not give advance information to Abel, the innocent, saying ‘You should not go when Cain invite you because he wants to murder you using deception.’ Yet we find God speaking to Cain after he had murdered his innocent brother and even offering His help and support to him: “’anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.’ Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.” (Genesis 4:15)
2) God did not alert Uriah, the innocent one, saying ‘beware of David who is scheming to murder you so that he can steal your wife.’ (2 Samuel 11) Yet God has only full of mercy and praise for David which is spread throughout the Bible (Psalm 89:3, 28; Jeremiah 23:5, 6; Luke 1:31, 32; Revelation 22:16)
3) When He sent Jesus, God assured him ‘people would respect him’ (Mathew 21:37) rather than telling him he would be killed. Yet we find God making last minute patch-up work communicating with the wife of Pontius Pilate, Roman Governor. (Mathew 27:19)
4) God is depicted as supporter of slavery. (Mathew 5:41; 24:45; Ephesians 6:5; Colossians 3:22 ….)
It shows Bible writers were unwittingly serving the interest of the mighty ones of the earth rather than the Almighty of the heavens. First they wrote, and later they attributed to it inspiration from God, just like Jacob did. Jacob (who was renamed Israel by God) presumptuously went ahead and robbed Laban, his father-in-law and employer (30:33-42), an act Laban described as “deception” (Genesis 31:26, 27); yet Jacob later attributes God’s direction in whole episode (31:9-13).
Thus written scriptures can leave us more confused. However, when we look at the living Scripture or living drama that is going on earth we find how each one fares with his choices which would show what we should do and what we should not.
[First para is Inspired by the householder in FS experience narrated by Ireneus-A Field Service that gave a shock to the CO]
i woke up this morning thinking about when my mom died about 10 years ago.
she was an avid jdub and was confident that she would be resurrected to an earthly paradise petting zoo.
if i would today go to my mom's house and because god brought her back to life, saw her sitting in her favorite chair, would she really be my mom?
What DATA DOG wrote makes sense. Resurrection is possible only by ‘uploading soul into the new body.’
However, the implied truth of this is that soul is immortal and immutable taking charge of another body. This is what reincarnation means.
i woke up this morning thinking about when my mom died about 10 years ago.
she was an avid jdub and was confident that she would be resurrected to an earthly paradise petting zoo.
if i would today go to my mom's house and because god brought her back to life, saw her sitting in her favorite chair, would she really be my mom?
Sour Grape
You wrote: "There is not one shred of evidence that there has even been one resurrection on earth."
This is true. If there was one resurrection at any time in the history, that would have marked the end of all religions because that is the absolute proof the one who performed it is God, and everybody on earth would have abandoned his religion and followed Him.
during one co visit to our congregation, i was asked to work with co as i was a new publisher.
after some ordinary visits, we entered a house where there was only a lady who proved be well-educated.
though it was my turn, i told co to present the good news.
Thanks for sharing this!
She is really great taking pride in who she is and remaining true to her core self—thus refusing to erode herself at the preaching of others. It seems she knew true happiness lies in loving and celebrating oneself, not in imitating others in their beliefs. I really liked what she said: “I am not seeking happiness; but I am seeking a meaning to my life”which would automatically bring happiness.
i don't think the wt ever say anything about this prophecy.
if they did, i think they will say it is symbolic and that it doesn't mean damascus will be destroyed literally,.
but watching the things happening now in syria , it seems very possible that it could happen.. if this prophecy comes true, will those of you here who have rejected the bible as the word of god think twice regarding the bible?.
The very fact that God did not ensure non-tampering of the Bible shows that it doesn't belong to Him, nor any other scriptures because they all have been tampered with whereas Book of Nature cannot be tampered with by anyone. Many have discerned vital truths reading the Book of Nature.
Even if Bible somehow proved to be God's word, then problems are more because it has books in it contradicting to each other. If Damascus is destroyed we can say ok at the most some portion of the Bible is true.
But prophecy is not a too significant aspect because it can come from other source also:
For example, Craig Hamilton-Parker has had a streak of correct predictions about significant developments in geopolitics.
Chiefly among them are Brexit, and the election of Donald Trump in 2016.
As someone who sees the future, New Year's Eve is probably a night without much wonder, or hopeful anticipation.
Hamilton-Parker has deigned to share his visions with us.
Speaking in a video posted to his YouTube channel, he predicted:
Writing on his blog, Hamilton-Parker said that despite this gloomy list, the year 2018 will have some good moments.
2018 will be a year of political turmoil and environmental crisis caused by dramatic and unprecedented weather.
https://www.indy100.com/article/2018-predictions-brexit-trump-hamilton-parker-psychic-8052751
nothing is ever fixed, laws change and religious myth evolves.
no doubt the habiru (hebrew) forebears of the jews when arriving in the levantine highlands cherished their stone age practices and sacred rituals.
child and human sacrifice was a grim stone age social mechanism to make for balance, loyalty and control within a tribe.there was no connection then with an almighty spirit, polytheism ruled the hebrew mentality.
Hi punkofnice,
Those who seek happiness would not find it because a happy person does not have thoughts about being happy or unhappy—he is always in the now fully focused in what he does—which is the key to happiness.
Similarly, those who seek proof for God’s existence would not find it because they expect it to come from high-voltage theological/philosophical/scientific debates. But proof exists in what we see everyday which we make use of several times a day. For me, tree-seed mechanism that ensures food for us in all its varieties that take care of all our varying taste is the proof that God exists—because humans did not design it. In my garden there are some plants which would die if I don’t care for them which means not only a designer, but a tender caretaker is also needed for certain varieties of plants and trees. Suppose God withdraws this provision of tree-seed mechanism, we all would immediately cry for the reinstatement of this proof.