If the bible is god's handbook for man, why is it such gobbledegook?

by Aussie Oz 112 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  Aussie Oz

  I don't mean the basic moral code of behavior (that many non biblical lands also just happen to have) that people use to model their lives, but the 'deeper' stuff...

  Assuming that god has had his divine plan for vindicating himself etc ever since he figured that Adam may screw up, and he needed to let faithful mankind know the 'plan' and how to survive it all...

  Why is the important stuff all gobbledegook?

  the time frame, prophecy, signs and so on are all so obscure that even the cleverest theologians can't understand it or agree on it. The 'truth' is so muddled and juggled up that every understanding can be logically challenged with an equally challengable one. It makes no sense that we have to try to figure out thousands of years of jibberish writings from goat herders to kings to be able to calculate some math formula's that may or may not be accurate and work out who or what some weird assed mutant beast of some vision represents depending on what the worlds political climate is like at the time.

  For crying out loud GOD! How hard could it have been? Geez, even we lowly life forms see how important it is to provide accurate understandable instructions for the things we make! ( excepting engrish instructions!... google 'engrish' if you dont know what it means)

  Come to think of it, perhaps the bible is the ultimate engrish instruction manual...

  I always wanted to hang on to my belief that the bible was gods word but all i see now is that it looks like swiss cheese.

  oz
• 

  steve2

  When you think of all the "books" that never made it to the "final" canon of so-called "Holy" Scripture, you begin to realize how arbitrary the selection process was. The more the history of the Bible is studied, the more you can see the appalling arbitrary nature of what ended up in the Bible. Don't blame the Bible writers, though. Many of them were just telling stories of local events that, over time, were embellished.
• 

  Chalam

  Start here 1 Corinthians 1:17-31 and continue here 1 Corinthians 2 :)

  In short

  1 Thessalonians 1:5 (New International Version)

  5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.

  1 Corinthians 2:4 (New International Version)

  4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power

  JWs are taught head knowledge, and indeed, all the WT have to say is swiss cheese.

  The message of the bible can only be revealed by the Holy Spirit. When He show you the message it is plain and simple, without Him it is gobbledegook 1 Corinthians 2:14

  As Him to teach you 1 John 2:27 and things will so start to fall into place.

  Blessings,

  Stephen
• 

  Broken Promises

  The message of the bible can only be revealed by the Holy Spirit. When He show you the message it is plain and simple, without Him it is gobbledegook

  The holy spirit doesn’t work very well, if there’s so much confusion around.
• 

  Chalam

  I think you have missed the point, if people ask the Holy Spirit they wouldn't be confused :)

  1 John 2:27 (English Standard Version)

  27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

  1 John 2:20 (English Standard Version)

  20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.

  John 14:26 (English Standard Version)

  26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

  1 Corinthians 2:16 (English Standard Version)

  16 "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

  Blessings,

  Stephen
• 

  Broken Promises

  Why should they ask the holy spirit? Why isn’t freely available to all men of all faiths of all nations? Sounds to me like the holy spirit is a bit zenophobic.
• 

  Chalam

  Why should they ask the holy spirit?

  Why is the sky blue? That's just the way it is.

  Why isn’t freely available to all men of all faiths of all nations?

  I'm sure Jesus has the same question.

  Mark 16:15 (English Standard Version)

  15 And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

  Sounds to me like the holy spirit is a bit zenophobic.

  How could the Holy Spirit be xenophobic when He create us all?!

  Maybe these verses might help?

  Galatians 3:28 (Contemporary English Version)

  28 Faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman.

  Colossians 3:11 (Contemporary English Version)

  11 It doesn't matter if you are a Greek or a Jew, or if you are circumcised or not. You may even be a barbarian or a Scythian, [a] and you may be a slave or a free person. Yet Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.

  Revelation 7:9 (Contemporary English Version)

  People from Every Nation

  9 After this, I saw a large crowd with more people than could be counted. They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood before the throne and before the Lamb. Blessings, Stephen
• 

  Broken Promises

  The reason the sky is blue can be answered by science.

  You haven’t answered why we have to ask for holy spirit when the outcome is a life-or-death issue.
• 

  Chalam

  Not everything can be explained by science, even Dawkins agrees :)

  A small child doesn't cross a busy road by itself, it is a life or death issue. It asks its parent or guardian.

  Blessings,

  Stephen
• 

  Broken Promises