by sinis 21 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I studied with a Rabbi in 2001 in order to convert. My wife is Jewish. I found out some interesting things concerning what Jews believe about the Messiah. Of course, hardly anyone cares what Jews think about a Messiah. Christians are guilty of using the strawman to bolster their case for Jesus, I have found. Jews really don't care, if they are in the 1%. Just live a good life, friend.
peace,
Moshe
Like I stated there is a difference between authentic followers of Jesus, and religion. There is no cloak and dagger about it, but I understand how you feel.
Many people have experienced spiritual experiences with God. In fact most authentic Christians do. It becomes such a natural occurance that you don't consider it abnormal at all.
Jesus made it clear what God's intentions are towards man, man has complicated the message. I completly agree with you about religion. What I have experienced is that not all gatherings of all who call themselves Christian are religious, in other words, some churches are very genuine, some are religious.
I guess you can see the glass half full or half empty. I see authentic followers of Jesus making the world a better place. Mother Teresa did incredible good in the world and she was just one small frail woman. She started so many charities all around the world, but never inststed on being praised for it.
Love is doing small things with great love. - Mother Teresa
Religion (and philosophy) effects us more than we realize.
Our opinions and outlook on life are formed by the things that we expierance, but I think it goes deeper than many tend to realize. We have to ask ourselves the big 'WHY do I believe' what i do.
There are many things in life we form opinions on. I've noticed that most people who say 'lets just put religion aside and just do the right thing' fail to realize that the 'right thing' more than likely has been built into their minds from their own heritage which is a mixture of the social factors they have come in contact with. These can be religious, political, ethnic, geographical, the list is endless.
We are products of expierance and no matter how hard we try and flush it out from our bodies much will still remain. It dosn't matter if our bias is Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or whatever else it will remain in us, no matter how hard we try.
Just wanted to add that another poster got it dead on when they said that this is an issue of FAITH.
The WTS dosn't teach faith, it teaches that everything we need to know can be proven through logic. Of course once you find out their logic is bass ackwards you find yourself looking at the bigger picture and wondering... what if?
I have chosen faith because I feel it has lead me through the entire expierance with the JWs. You might feel differantly. In fact this episode with JWs actually built my faith. Take your time, you'll figure it out.
Sinis, might I suggest that you Google the word "freethinkers" and see where, and to whom, that leads you. It made all the difference to me when I was leaving the Witnesses and struggling with this concept of god and religion. Suddenly the world, and religion's place in it, began to make huge sense to me. No more quandries, no more fear.
What you will most likely believe, if you are religious, is mainly a factor of when and where you're born. What we know about Jesus are the collected writings of some of his followers, some with obviously very different beliefs (how come this is skimmed over by most Biblical literalists like the JWs is obvious, but some of the contradictions really bothered me, even as a JW). These writings seem to be based on various written and oral sources, and to a degree on each other, as in the Synoptic gospels.
These writings were made decades after this Rabbi Jesus had come and gone, and were embellished in various ways by his followers, often to make it look as though Jesus were "fulfilling" prophecies from the OT. Now, centuries later, professed Christians had a huge battle trying to decide which of this vast group of writings about Jesus and what he taught would be accepted as the Christian canon. Some books that were included in some canons were excluded in others. It was a serious power stuggle, and eventually one group dominated.
And one should not underestimate the impact Paul had on what would come to be know as Christianity. Paul's affect on "Christian" doctrine is much, much greater than that of Jesus.
That's how we get our NT Bible, and much of what we think we know about Jesus. Guess what? If another faction had won, our Bible would look quite different than it does, and Christian belief would be quite different as well.
Think about all this before you try to take the Bible and Christianity at face value. Do some reading from various sources on the Bible and early Christianity. It will be an eye opener.
Enjoy the journey.
S4
Lately, I have even been questioning my beliefs in Christ. Lets face it the ransom just does not make sense.
No it toally does not, indeed.
Regardless of this, religion is soley a chronological and geographical entity. Had I have been born in babylon before christ (christianity) I would have beleived something completely different than being born in the west in the 20th century and yet all religions are different but only christianity is correct?!?!?
This is exacly what would be expected if evolution was correct. People would not understand everything, and invent explanations. This would of course be different time and place.
I really do not understand religion. Ultimately what disturbs me is that within my limited life span I will probably not be able to accomplish all that I want. Yet life without the poison known as religion is far better.
It depends. I guess religion had its use, in the past. and for some, maybe even now. Hope can make you do things you would normally not do. I guess the human race is just growing up, just a child that starts to understand that Santa does not exists. We will grow up and make this a positive thing, and take our destination in our own hands. It will take time, however. Danny
knowing in advance that a handfull of people could be saved to kiss his almighty arse, the grand god of the universe decided that all the misery and suffering was worth it and called forth the universe from the void.
I know who Jesus was because I am like him and I know which things he said make perfect sense to me because I use his philosophy and theories with great success. What I don't understand is why religions pick and choose which of his words they wish to endorse and which they refuse to even disscuss. It seems as though the money changer was a particular issue and so were the salesman and yet this world refuses to give up either one of those professions even though we could eliminate those jobs in a heart beat with a standard global currency and standard prices and wages. I believe Jesus wanted to have parents raise children not schools and daycares and yet we have no Internet education available to eliminate the teaching jobs that put so many mothers with children to work.
The walking on water and raising the dead should be interpreted as symbolic because anyone could do what Jesus did. I cannot tell you how many times I have walked on water and healed the sick and all I used was common sense.
We are species that passes down tradition, and tradition has many colors and some are things we accept as fact.
Its time to let tradition go and rely on information that can be proven and common sense.
