This is in response to DubR post.
Welcome to the board DubR. I whish you and your wife success and happiness in your new path.
Now, lets talk about your feelings towards God, Jesus and the bible. I have noticed that after leaving the WT some stop believing in a Creator that cares about us. I completely understand the reasons why many arrive to this conclusion. It is, after all, their prerogative and I respect their position.
My intention is not to debate the basis for believing or not in a Creator. I just want to voice my opinion regarding some of the reasons you listed as basis for not believing.
- Man have been on this earth for hundreds of thousands of years.
The Bible’s chronology is mainly based on the perspective that the Jews had about their origin and history as God’s chosen people. The fact that the bible places the origin of man to 6,000 plus years ago is, by no means, a solid basis for not believing (or not allowing for the possibility) that humans were created at some point in the history of the universe. Evolutionists are not consistent in their explanation of the length of time that modern men have been in existence; some say millions, billions, others thousand of years. They have yet to produce the so called “missing link”. At the rate that humans reproduce, there should be thousands maybe even millions of such missing links all over the earth. Why have they failed in providing a believable “missing link”? Much of the evidence that evolutionist present to support their theory is mainly based on speculation. And isn’t speculation a form of faith? Think about it.
- A global flood never happened.
For centuries, many cultures believed that the Earth was flat. We now know that the Earth is round or oval. What is my point? Dogmatism set aside, should we not allow for the possibility that the biblical flood was regional? Hence, a global flood as understood (by general consensus) by men at that point in history? For more on this topic, I suggest reading the article titled “The Flood of Noah’s Time” http://www.commentarypress.net/cpn-essays/English/6E9A71B2-FAF2-47F9-9F75-097C7517839E.html .
- The Old Testament is ridiculous.
I find this statement rather hasty. If that is the case, should we then label as ridiculous the commandments found in the OT such as: “you shall not murder”, “you shall not steal”, “do not bear false witness against your neighbor”, “don’t covet your neighbor’s …wife, house…ox, (car, job, bank account)”. We all know too well the suffering and pain that the violators of these simple principles have brought to others. And this almost perfect code of conduct is in the OT. Ridiculous, I strongly disagree.
As for God’s request to Abraham to sacrifice his son (as a test of faith), a lot has been written about the meaning of this odd request. But who is to say with absolute certainty that Abraham did not object or at least tried to reason with God? The account starts on Genesis 22:2 by God asking:"Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." Verse 3 starts rather abruptly, there is no transition, it simply tells us that “Abraham rose early in the morning”… which begs the question, what was the dialog between God and Abraham before verse 3? Did Abraham object at first, did he ask for the meaning of such an odd request? Did God provide him with an explanation or words of assurance that all will be fine? There is a precedent that allows for the possibility that Abraham asked questions. When God said to Abraham that he was going to destroy the city of Sodom, we find Abraham asking questions and pleating with God. Genesis 18:23-25 Abraham asked…"LORD, when you destroy the evil people, are you also going to destroy those who are good? 24Wouldn't you spare the city if there are only fifty good people in it? 25You surely wouldn't let them be killed when you destroy the evil ones. You are the judge of all the earth, and you do what is right." Therefore, can we conclude that Abraham did no hesitate in sacrificing his own son? Governments regularly ask their citizens to give their sons and daughters to their armies, and millions of those sons and daughter have been sacrificed before the altar of the god of war. Is this a reason for not believing that there is a president, a government, etc? I don’t see why not understanding the nature of this test of faith results in not believing in a merciful all powerful Creator.
- The egyptians have never enslaved Jews.
Nor there is archeological finding disproving the biblical account. But there is one interesting theory, it’s about the Hyksos people. Archeologists have found writings in Egyptians temples that relate the story of a Semitic invasion by the Hyksos who where later defeated and enslaved. Here are some excerpt form wikipedia:
“The Hyksos continued to play a role in Egyptian literature as a synonym for "Asiatic" down to Hellenistic times. The term was frequently evoked against such groups as the Semites settled in Aswan or the Delta, and this may have led the Egyptian priest and historian Manethoto identify the coming of the Hyksos with the sojourn in Egypt of Joseph and his brothers, and helped modern historians identify the expulsion of the Hyksos with the Exodus .”
“Josephus identifies the Israelite Exodus with the first exodus mentioned by Manetho, when some 480,000 Hyksos "shepherd kings" (also referred to as just 'shepherds', as 'kings' and as 'captive shepherds' in his discussion of Manetho) left Egypt for Jerusalem. [21] The mention of "Hyksos" identifies this first exodus with the Hyksos period (16th century BCE).”
There are examples of secular archeologists that have ridiculed the bible who are later put to shame by new archeological findings proving the biblical account accurate. There is more to be found before we reject the biblical account of the Hebrews enslavement in Egypt. Should we not then give the historical account in the OT the benefit of a doubt? There are people who believe in the lost continent of Atlantis, so why not believe that the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt?
We don’t need to pack theology in a box “to get it right”, or rush in replacing one set of believes with another set of believes. There is no such thing as absolute certainty or “truth”. Even if you don’t believe in God or become an agnostic, in it self that is no real improvement after all. You’ll still have to defend your disbelieve in God with a number of arguments that require a greater leap of faith (i.e. evolution and chance), there is orthodoxy in being an atheist/agnostic. We are limited in our understanding of the Universe, we should not be so concern with the why’s and how’s are we here, rather we should try to figure-out WHAT are we here for.
I don’t intent to change your mind if it has been made up already. One of the good things about liberating your self form the Watchtower’s mental shackles, is that you are free to appreciate the greatness of God, his nature and works. And even if it’s all just a funky chemical reaction in my brain, God is a good drug for me. Want some? Open your bible again and read from Matthew to Jude, absorb the message, don’t worry about meaning and interpretation.
Feel free to PM if you whish to keep talking.
Regards,
TJLibre