Some scripture you will hear on 21 May at very many churches

by A Paduan 53 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  freetosee

  Sad emo,

  my understanding is that the bible was inspired by god in order to benefit humans. Why would god inspire his servants to write things about god ‘in a (seemingly) bad light’ knowing they will not understand it in this life. Who is benefited by this? Has this not caused confusion and discouragement? I my case it has. I wonder why God would want me to read and follow his written word, when he knows my conscience can’t agree with his violence and evil and yet expect me to display ‘the fruitage of the spirit’? I should hope that something that is clearly evil is actually good and accept this mainly for the reason that I am only human. Why did he inspire ‘it’ in the first place? So we don’t know why god inspired the ‘bad light’ neither do we know how to harmonize it with the ‘good light’.

  “For God is not [the author] of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.” (1 Cor.

  “All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Tim. , 17 KJV)

  Your analogy is good I used to use it in FS. –But, the young child only needs to grow older, it does not need to become a doctor or something close to that so as to get the bigger picture and understand this ‘bad’ was necessary for the long tern good. What I’m trying to say is, using human limitations as an explanation for the disharmony of scripture is a poor excuse and does not help me build faith in the bible. I have done away with blind obedience and explaining away contradictions just because of wanting to hold on.

  Freetosee
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  freetosee

  Sorry, that is 1 Corinthians 14:33!
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  Sad emo

  Freetosee

  I think that the problem we have today is in understanding the historical context of the OT. Behaviour by God which we see as reprehensible probably wasn't seen as such by the people of the time - the punishments might have been what they expected. The Law benefitted the people of that time because they had guidelines by which to live and thrive as a community. It still benefits us because we too have some guidelines to follow - but the punishment due for breaking the guidelines has been taken away.

  I do struggle sometimes with the way that other peoples were killed to make way for the Israelites, but then I think, this was the way that tribal warfare went anyway regardless of whether God ordered it or not, so really there's not much of an argument. It was the tribe that did the killing not God. Still doesn't make Him look too good though! But again, it was the norm of the day for a tribal god to 'lead' a group into battle. The overall theological implications of their actions (which they won't have seen) is that God was creating a holy land for a holy people who in time would be host to the holy God incarnate.

  I'm happy to believe that God is a God of peace not chaos, even though I still don't always understand what He's doing, often it's only with hindsight that we see. In the NT, I reckon that Romans 9 comes closest to explaining the 'nice God' vs 'nasty God' question (but I even objected to that at one point too lol!). I do understand your struggle to reconcile it. I used to have a very literal view of the Bible, but somewhere on my journey, I drew the courage to pull it all apart, studying the historical aspects etc. to the extent of almost losing my beliefs. Now I try more to understand the message behind the words on the paper rather than concentrating on the words themselves. It's still not always easy!
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  freetosee

  Sad emo, thanks for your honest reply. I have been reading some Gnostic Christian sites and find some of their reasoning very sound, especially when it comes to the OT god. I don’t agree with all I have read. Their approach is similar to yours and I am happy it is working for you. My aim is not to turn people away from god but I am searching for sound reason that my understanding of good can go alone with. And I think if there is a god of love he would want it that way.

  Freetosee