by AK - Jeff 30 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Maybe you should begin by asking "What is Worship?"
It doesn't necessarily mean bowing down to someone.
adoration , adulation, devotion, honour, love, praise, regard, respect, reverence, service
admire, adore, extol,
Things that I even give my wife, does that mean she is a God? (no remarks please)
Or don't your children regard you in any of those ways.
And the God of the Bible, why does He get so jealous of the worship of other gods?
I mean, He knows they are false gods, so the jealousy just seems silly.
He doesn't need or demand our worship. Why should He? His existence doesn't depend upon us!
Man can choose to worship out of love, reverence, awe etc.
That's about it really!
'Worship' - derived from 'worth-ship' - ie worthiness. If you don't regard God as worthy of your praise, then give an appropriate measure of that worth-ship.
I'm not exactly an atheist. Apperently, the way i see things, makes me a pantheist, ie, god in all. I feel like i'm part of god, or an appendage of it. I feel no need to worship or adore it/me. I/it feels no need to be worshipped adored. There is no ego in it, or in me when i put myself in that frame set. Thus, it has none of the reaction/actions/feelings that we commonly attribute to ego; no judgement, no need for anything, no anger, no reaction from being ignored, cursed, worshipped, beseached, etc. It has alreadprojected itself as me. What does the tree trunk feel toward the leaf? Does the leaf worship the trunk, or the roots which it cannot see? They are all one.
S
This reminds me of 300 when Xerxes said "cruel king Leonidas ask you to stand all I ask of you is to kneel, you will see that I am kind" or something like that. Not very deep or profound but that's all I have to say.
God does not need us to worship Him. But He wants it (and threatens with death and/or hell), so He can waste our time that otherwise could have been used to improve ourselves. And He makes up stupid rules that are designed to prevent people from finding the real truth, including rules against heresy.
While worship can be as simple as you state Aniron, it rarely is! I don't know of any Christians who would define worship as little more than the way they feel about their mate. They all consider it far deeper than that.
Worship has been determined to be as serious as human sacrifice, or as simple as genuine appreciation. Most of it seems similar to bribery. The so called 'Holy books' all seem to suggest it to be needed, required.
That takes me back to the original matter under consideration. Why would a completely fullfilled being, one who has existed forever, has total power and total understanding, lacking nothing, require that we prostrate ourselves to him?
I might be running around the barn to get to the house here. Part of my thinking goes back to the matter of the Bible's inspiration [or other holy writ for that matter]. IF God inspired it - why would he impose such requirement on his peoples? IF it was written by man - why would we listen to anything it says anyway.
I don't know if I am getting my point across. WHat I am trying to say in a round about way is: Doesn't the entire inclusion of required worship in Holy Writ give strong indication that man has 'inspired' it - not God?
Jeff
Hi all,
I could never understand "why" a creator would need to be so arrogant and require to be exalted. Why would there be a need to be worshipped if there is such a given authority.
I used to feel like that but I don't any more. God just wants our respect, in the same way that a father wants the respect of his children. I want my kids to respect what I say, value my counsel, reciprocate my love, want to spend time with me etc. To me, that is "worship" in respect of our Heavenly Father.
"I mean, He knows they are false gods, so the jealousy just seems silly."
I understand but using the earthly father analogy, what if my kids built a wooden dad, stuck it in my room and when they came in totally ignored me and started talking to "real" dad all day, every day, saying that "he" was the real dad and he pays the bills, loves me et?. What if my wife kicked me out of the house and started dating the wooden dad, talking him out to meet friends and family and substituting him every way for myself? I think I would get more than a bit pissed off and certainly jealous.
All the best,
Stephen
I don't think he does need it, but we do.
OK, a slight rephrase:
Why does he demand it, under penalty of death / torture in hellfire / torture of "eternal separation" / [fill in your preferred eternal castigation here] ?
E.g. the first commandment: "It is the Lord your God you must worship"
Oh, and while we're at it...why create beings with a need to worship anyway? Most sane, rational human fathers don't raise their own children to do so.
Chalam
Yup, definitely, they would need killing and a hell of some kind. Your god needs a house and respect from his wife like and child like creations. A god who has everything, he wouldn't need care about the wooden replica of him, or the lass of respect. Why would the loss of one ant piss him off, when he has an infinite number of ants in an infinite number of ant hillswhich he doesn't need anyway, because he is totally fulfilled without any of them, or their respect?
S
