Narkissos
JoinedTopics Started by Narkissos
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36
Supernaturalism and reason.
by Narkissos inreading one more time (on the umpteenth thread about the 70 weeks of daniel, into which i'm not going again) the idea that "anti-supercalifragilnaturalistic bias" ruin the unbelievers' (or misbelievers') exegesis of bible texts, and readily admitting to such... bias, i have one very general and simple question which might be worth its own thread.. here it is:.
once you admit such thing as the "supernatural", .
on what grounds can you assess anything.
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34
Spirit(s)
by Narkissos inno, not that kind --> .
i'm thinking about the notion of "spirit" as used in the bible, ancient and medieval religion as well as "superstition"... that which is common to "angels," "demons," "ghosts," "souls," the "holy spirit/ghost" -- and even "god," at least according to the fourth gospel; that which underlies such widely different concepts as "spirituality," "spiritualism" or "spiritism".. it seems to me that by stepping into "modernity" we have shifted from a worldview in which the notion of "spirit" was taken for granted and ubiquitous to another in which it is no longer understood.
the johannine sentence "god is spirit" sounds like explaining obscura per obscuriora.
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21
RE-mythologising "God"?
by Narkissos incorollary to the often discussed religious shift from polytheism (including henotheism) to monotheism is a literary shift from mythology to theology.. mythology is essentially narrative.
the gods and goddesses are good story characters.
they act, and things happen to them.
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18
Duality, hierarchy, or permanence: WHAT is the question?
by Narkissos inwhile meditating -- in a definitely non-transcendental way -- over the recent "meditation" threads, the following idea came to my mind:.
meditation as often advocated here rightly questions the hierarchical dualities generated by mental activity, such as (or, perhaps, all boiling down to) "good vs. bad" -- hierarchical inasmuch as -- would you have guessed?
-- one is supposed to be better, more valuable than the other; one is definitely to be pursued and the other shunned.
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Would (a) less-than-good god(s) be worthy of interest?
by Narkissos inas i was reading alanf's thread on "intelligent design" (http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/136111/2.ashx) i was stopped at the following comment of his:.
having only got through chapter 3 of behe's book, i wasn't aware that he actually claims that god created the exquisitely designed malaria bug.
for any normal theology, this is completely self-defeating.
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17
abcxyzlogan
by Narkissos indear brothers and sisters: please read 1 samuel 14:32 and matthew 12:7 for commenting on later.
dear brothers and sisters: please read 1 samuel 14:32 and matthew 12:7 for commenting on later.
dear brothers and sisters: please read 1 samuel 14:32 and matthew 12:7 for commenting on later.
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Polytheism, Monotheism, Atheism: a logical sequence?
by Narkissos inthe current heated "(monotheist) believers vs. atheists" threads tends to overlook, imo, this rather commonplace but relevant issue: how modern atheism continues (and thus is tributary to) a line of religious, philosophical and scientific thought which runs from ancient polytheism through monotheism, both in greek and jewish traditions (which are the two main sources of western culture).. in the greek-speaking world, homeric-like polytheism went out of fashion, and although political authorities stood for the conservation of popular worship of the gods (atheism being a capital offence, ask socrates), an intellectual monotheism came to the fore, especially in platonic tradition, along with more or less "underground" forms of early atheism (democritus, epicurus).. in judea, for mainly political reasons ("one god, one temple, one priesthood, one king") the "deuteronomistic reform" of the 7th century bc promoted the active rejection (1) of all other gods than yhwh, and (2) of any representation of yhwh himself, henceforth branded as "idolatry".
it also (3) reinterpreted most "natural" features in older israelite religion (linking yhwh, just as baal, with the cycle of seasons, especially the rain and dry seasons, vegetal and animal fertility) into historical (or pseudo-historical) celebrations: the feast of spring became the celebration of the national foundation in the exodus from egypt, etc.
(4) the development of a doctrine of creation, increasingly construed as creatio ex nihilo -- mere "fabrication" of the world out of nothing instead of the older theomachy (struggle between the gods) wrestling for order out of chaos contributed to emptying "nature" of its numinous, sacred or divine presences: the sun, the moon, the stars, vegetables, animals and humans became mere "objects," vessels designed and made by a master craftsman, but devoid of intrinsic divinity.
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Nothing.
by Narkissos inperhaps this paradoxical "topic" is one with which we here have dealt a little more, or a little more consciously, than the average population.. we used to have our heads full of beliefs (which we called "truth") in every direction: on theology, on cosmology, on paleontology, on past history, on so-called prophetic future, on heaven above, on earth, on she'ol beneath.
on many things -- current events, traditions, other peoples' beliefs and behaviours -- we had strong opinions which were directly or indirectly (the famous "conscience" matters) part of the same deal.
and of course our life was filled with activities and relationships, a community of "friends," people to "help" or "teach," etc.. then, gradually or suddenly, we came to suspect, often with a measure of terror, that all of this was not what we had thought and might sooner or later turn into... nothing.. this "nothing" is perhaps one of the most scary thoughts to people contemplating leaving the org one way or another.
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What were your reasons for becoming a JW?
by Narkissos inreasons, not excuses -- even valid ones (like, "i was ignorant, depressed, fooled").. yours in the sense that you can still own (to) them -- even though you now know the "answer" was wrong.. this obviously applies to those who became jws -- hence mostly not born-in, although some of the latter might admit to having chosen the jw way for themselves at a certain stage of their childhood or teenage years.. this question is triggered by a previous conversation with purplesofa on another thread:.
i think most of us that came in and not born in were searching.
our hearts were pure in our search.
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Attn. slimboyfat
by Narkissos insemi-private conversation continued from another thread (http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/125861/1.ashx), not to hijack it:.
have you been in contact with him since leaving?.
unfortunately no.. could you tell me a bit more about your intellectual journey?