The trouble with Christianity. TRINITY.

by whereami 209 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Satanus

  While the catholic did suppress women, the protestant went even further. The catholics had quite a few saints that were women that could be prayed to for intersession w god. Also, they had 'mary, the mother of god'. She was especially adored by the masses. She, basically, took the place of the goddess aspect that the pagans were used to. Imo, the appeal of that was a large influence in converting masses of people in places like central and south america, europe and parts of asia. When luther and the protestants eliminated mary and the othe feminine saints from the pantheon, they succeeded in expunging the feminine from the deity, paving the way for authoritarian patriarchy.

  Often, you'll see catholicism is the religion in liberal or socialistic countries/areas. The fundamentalists tend to be protestant.

  S
• 

  AuntBee
• 

  AuntBee
• 

  Satanus

  Europe went through stages; from paganism to catholicism, then protestantism, then to humanism, where it is basically at, today. It was basically the first to be hit w the tsunami of roman catholic christianity. What happened there could well occur in north america, as well. For us in canada and especially the usa, it takes longer for the 'waves' to hit us, as we have had less time to grow, culturally. We came from europe and then britain, successively.

  S
• 

  WontLeave

  @saltyoldlady

  godrulz can't grasp the idea of a non-Trinitarian God, because (and he really seems to believe this) he found the idea in the Bible, free of outside influence. He can't fathom a unitarian God and a created son coming anywhere but from JWs, because his religious experience is only with other Trinitarians. Just like Hollywood liberals believe everybody is a liberal, except for stupid, evil, ignorant people, all of his "Christian" friends are Trinitarians, so he believes only a stupid, evil, ignorant false-Christian would believe in a unitarian God. He's completely oblivious to the fact that God's people saw him that way for thousands of years and the Trinity is a man-made (or "revealed") doctrine. Interestingly, none of the prophets who would have seen God as a strictly singular entity and personage don't seem to be damned to Hell.

  Trinitarians see belief in the Trinity some kind of rite of passage into "true Christianity". Just like JWs have to force ridiculous and fantastical beliefs on themselves that blatantly violate Scripture (Governing Body, for instance) to be a "true Christian", Trinitarians' hackles come up when you talk about their Trinity doctrine, because they worked hard to "achieve enlightenment" and they equate the self-induced brainwashing with revelation from the Holy Spirit. When you try to reason with them about the Trinity, they see you as trying to take the Holy Spirit away from them and that makes you an evil apostate, trying to lead them away from God. Similarly, if you try to talk to a JW about how man-made institutions and rules have no place in Christianity, you're attacking their 'faithful slave' and they've been brainwashed into believing that means you hate God. Once they convince themselves of a triune God, they see it everywhere in the Bible.

  Once a man forms a theory, he sees evidence for it everywhere he looks. - Abraham Lincoln

  A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest. - Simon and Garfunkel
• 

  frankiespeakin

  Satan,

  Yeah, I think the women mystics and saints in the catholic religion a good thing especially Mary the blessed virgin,, these can serve as a balancing factor but the political intrigue and inquisition show it a little too power hungry to be a sort of pure balancing religion straight from the collective unconscious.
• 

  frankiespeakin

  Jung said that a Quaternary God would be good and that Christianity was moving in that direction with the four prominent apostles. True art is beautiful expression of deep inner feelings that have become conscious to the artist and strike a cord deep in the people that see it.

  http://artistdesignstudios.com/famous-paintings-the-four-apostles/

  Famous Paintings: The Four Apostles

  November 16, 2010 By Masterpiece Cards

  The famous paintings and engravings of Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) could be a springboard to discuss decades of European history and art history. After Durer trained in painting, goldsmithing, stained-glass design and woodcutting, he traveled to Northern Europe and Venice in 1494-1495 to experience Renaissance art firsthand. He was particularly impressed with the Renaissance paintings of Giovanni Bellini (ca. 1430 -1516), and with the social status enjoyed by Italian Renaissance artists - he dryly observed, "Here [in Italy], I am a gentleman; at home, I am a parasite".

  It wasn't only the artist's stature that was in flux at the turn of the century - the Catholic Church, impoverished and rife with financial abuse and corruption, had itself become controversial.

  Albrecht Durer. The Four Apostles, 1523-1526. Oil on panel, each 7'1" by 2'6". Alte Pinakothek, Munich.

  Pope Julius II was selling indulgences, papal "guarantees" of salvation and forgiveness, to those who contributed to rebuilding St. Peter's. These sales were protested by numerous religious reformers, including two, Desiderius Erasmus (ca. 1466-1536) and Martin Luther (1483-1546), who vociferously questioned the supremacy of papal authority.

  Such religious protests and reforms (along with Durer's etchings) spread rapidly throughout Europe, thanks to widespread use of printing presses; it is estimated that by 1499, some 15 million books had been printed. Durer was an early supporter of Martin Luther, 'the Christian man who has helped me out of great anxieties', and revealed his new found faith in his paired art paintings or diptych, The Four Apostles. In the left panel (left) St. John (Luther's favorite evangelist) looms large, overshadowing St. Peter, who as the first pope holds a key to the Church. In the right panel (below), St. Paul, often deemed the spiritual father of
• 

  Satanus

  'Jung said that a Quaternary God would be good and that Christianity was moving in that direction with the four prominent apostles.'

  Not as far as the feminine is concerned. The 2 marys displacing 2 of them would fit better for that paradigm.

  S
• 

  frankiespeakin

  Good point,,it does seem a bit masculine but they were still in the male dominance stage,, perhaps if things turned out that authority got spread out more evenly and not just to Peter's successor,,they may have moved eventual as time went on, to a more gender balance. Anyway circles, squares, and crosses figures in deeply with spiritual meaning and can activate the certain instincts in the psyche. And 4 seem to be a prominent as in the four cardinal point of a compass and a circle can be cut in four equal area's by a cross and its points be connected together to be a square inside the circle.
• 

  Satanus

  True. I love the cross symbol. It's a beautiful sign. The egyptian ankha, too. It has a nice handle on it.

  S