'This Generation'

by fairchild 71 Replies latest jw friends

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  LittleToe

  FC:

  If that is true, then we have to throw the idea out the door that the bible is inspired by God, which I would truly hate to do.

  IMHO that would be a baby/bathwater approach. There is a lot of good stuff in the bible. However there may be a lot of personal interpretation interwoven in there, too.

  Fresh readings in a different translation are usually helpful.

  Reading some of the "supplimentary" works, like the ante-nicean fathers, etc., may be interesting for you, to see how Christian thought developed.

  I've started, but to be honest I'm best stopping here simply to say that the world is your oyster. Enjoy the thrill of learning about so many things, without being bound to dogma
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  SixofNine

  :If that is true, then we have to throw the idea out the door that the bible is inspired by God, which I would truly hate to do.

  Don't you like to learn new things? I do. I think it's fun to destroy every last shred of everything I was ever taught.
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  LittleToe

  Six:
  Have you done peepee in your pants again!!!
  
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  SixofNine

  what are these "pants" you speak of?
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  LittleToe

  You've been letting FMZ play with your point again, haven't you!!!
  You're a bad boy - go to my room!!!
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  Narkissos

  If that is true, then we have to throw the idea out the door that the bible is inspired by God, which I would truly hate to do.

  Well, there might be a couple of other possibilities (besides the fact that I may be wrong ). After all, who says that a divinely-inspired book has to be historical?
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  Nosferatu

  When John Lennon said that The Beatles were bigger than Jesus, he wasn't lying. Look at it this way, the bible was written about very small world events. Not everyone got the chance to see Jesus. He only had 12 followers. There's a lot more Beatles fans than that, even when the Beatles came to America in 1963 (if not 1963 then a couple years later). A band with 12 fans is a flop. Jesus was a flop. He stayed in one section of the earth and didn't move. He didn't visit the eskimos nor did he go to Australia.

  The Flood of Noah didn't happen worldwide either, but to these people who didn't know the earth was round, it seemed like the whole world was flooded. Jesus also didn't write one word in the bible. He can't be credited with shit.
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  fairchild

  (Narkissos) who says that a divinely-inspired book has to be historical?

  Nobody, but this conversation is going in a scary direction for me, sigh.
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  AlanF

  Fairchild, it isn't nearly as scary after you get used to understanding that a lot of cherished ideas are just bunk. My mom and dad taught me that in the New World, I could have a lion and a tiger if I wanted. I've abandoned such infantile notions, along with a lot of other ones. It takes time, though, and a good deal of effort and mental committment. The freedom to think way outside the box is amazing.

  AlanF
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  Narkissos

  FairChild,

  I think I understand how you feel. The interest of this forum is that you have a great diversity of posters with different beliefs and experiences. I personally was df'd for apostasy 19 years ago and had practically no contact with other xJWs back then. I attended other churches, read and studied a lot and made my way out of my personal feelings and the people I met.

  My only advice is, just beware of being too hasty in rebuilding a belief system before you have fully questioned and tried what you think you know. There's no shame in not having an answer to any question -- especially WT-like questions which are designed to beg WT-like answers. The essence of faith, I think, is not having the "right" belief but rather accepting to walk without knowing where you're going. In that sense it takes faith to question what you have been taught. What is genuinely yours in your spiritual experience nobody can take away from you. But whatever it means, objectively, you don't know. So take the time to listen, read and above all live and let ideas come and go. You're not lost.

  Take care.