A FOUR LETTER WORD FOR DEBATOR

by wasblind 155 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  tec

  JIFB

  Romans 2: 13 "For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves...)..."

  and

  (and this is Christ speaking with the nations, not just the jews or apostles -his brothers, regarding the separation of the sheep and the goats)

  Matthew 25: 34-40 "Then the King will say to those on his right [sheep], 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat...' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' "

  Tammy
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  just n from bethel

  Ooohhh Oooh - Can I play too? I love this game. I believe it's called "random quotes that mean nothing to most of the world" with the subtitle: "and subject to wide interpretaion to those who claim to find them meaningful".

  For your quotes I see you chose Paul and Matthew. I'm going to go with a more modern philospher - Zoolander:

  "Words can only hurt you if you try to read them. Don’t play their game."

  "I’m pretty sure there’s more to life than being really, really ridiculously good looking, and I plan on finding out what that is."

  and finally - for the most meaningful quote of all, sure to change everybody's life, especially non-stop scripture quoting bible thumpers:

  "There was a moment last night, when she was sandwiched between the two Finnish dwarves and the Maori tribesmen, where I thought, Wow, I could really spend the rest of my life with this woman."

  JIFB
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  tec

  JIFB - You said that it sucks to be someone who shows love and mercy, but does not have faith in Christ. Those two quotes show the opposite; they weren't random.

  In the first, if the law is love and mercy, then those who show love and mercy can be declared righteous based on having obeyed the law naturally.

  In the second, if you have done something good to anyone who belongs to Christ, then you have inherited the kingdom. In fact, it was prepared for them.

  Now the first is an interpretation, yes. I think its right, but I could be wrong. But I do know that men who do not belong to Christ will be judged according to their deeds. They do not have Christ covering over their sins - BUT - he can choose to write their names in the book of life. Would he turn from someone who has lived his/her life in love and mercy, yet did not have a real chance to learn about Him? I don't believe so.

  But the second passage is quite clear in that He is not speaking to his brothers (those who belong to him) but rather to the nations who did not belong to him, but who acted in love or mercy toward any of his brothers.

  Tammy
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  miseryloveselders

  Well put Tammy.
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  just n from bethel

  Would he turn from someone who has lived his/her life in love and mercy, yet did not have a real chance to learn about Him? I don't believe so.

  Great - but as it stands - you've had to reconcile that belief - with statements in the Bible that pretty much state the opposite. (I'm too lazy to quote them here - but you can look at BrotherDan's posts and I'm sure you'll find them). JWs have that same belief/reconciliation too. Moreover, the multiple Christians right here on this forum that hardly ever agree about Christ but all claim to share the same faith, they hardly provide any "real chance" of learning about him either.

  I mean it's really not any different than this quote from The Life of Brian

  Brian: I am NOT the Messiah!
  Arthur: I say you are Lord, and I should know. I've followed a few.

  I'm sure sincere muslims, hindus, buddhists, and Jews have a way of reconciling salvation for those not part of their group too. I'm also sure that it is as sincere and backed up by old books, just like your beliefs as well.

  In the end - I'm glad your personal beliefs are not as hard-core as other Christians on this forum. While it doesn't appear with any amount of certainity (nothing more than just a personal hunch) that non-Christians have an absolute sure hope, it's great that some Christians patronizingly admit they're cool too as long they're nice.

  Now, lets stop getting off topic here. This thread was about loving our favorite JW enemy - debator. And in case any lurker on the outside might question the Christians love for their enemy - this is kind of a tough love. A verbal stoning as it were.
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  tec

  Now, lets stop getting off topic here.

  Okay, but I have to say one more thing ;)

  You said that I've had to reconcile my belief with statements that say the opposite. (I don't know what those statements are either, except misunderstood) But I wanted to say that those people who believe that every non-christian (or non-jw) is destined for hell regardless of how they live or even if they have ever had a chance to learn about Christ, has to not only reconcile their belief with quotes that state the opposite (as with the second quote I copied above), but also ignore or overlook the love and mercy that Christ lived, and taught us to live as well. Because if we understand love and mercy, then we can understand Christ much better, as well as what is written about Him.

  Tammy