Bible Has Problems, Yet Its One Verse Can Solve All Our Problems! (page 2)

abiather

You know such contradictions are what gave rise to over 41000 Christian denominations. Such scary statements will not come from Jesus who said: “I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Mathew 11:28-30) Such statements come from humans who are bankrupt of ideas, hence resorted to the easy way of instilling fear in humans, as JW GB does!

Jesus’s original style is “Whoever has ears, let them hear.” (Mathew 11:15) In other words, whoever is not willing to listen, there is NO COMPULSION to listen to him. Let then do what they like and reap the consequences. (Mathew 23:12; Mark 4:24) This he learned from his heavenly Father. (Mathew 5:44-48)

When there is a cancerous growth in one’s body, he may prefer to remove that particular portion, rather than abandoning his whole body. Similarly, don’t discard the Bible just because of some contradictions you find; there are very precious things in it—hence take only what is reasonable and beneficial from the Bible. (1Thess 5:21) When Jesus said what is in Mathew 23:9, he was pointing to an eternal truth which everyone unconsciously subscribes to. Statement also implies humans (unlike JWs feel) can bring God’s Kingdom on earth by their effort, if they choose to do so. If something is not intended to be practiced, why should he make such statements?!

If one CHRISTIAN ruler (in a great Hindu-dominated country) can do it in his State means other powerful Christian rulers surrounded by Christian rulers can easily do it! (Americas, Europe and former USSR and Australia … bulk of the globe is occupied by Christians!) What is the difficulty for followers of Christ to follow Christ?

KateWild

Similarly, don’t discard the Bible just because of some contradictions you find; there very precious things in it-abiather

I agree there is some good advice in it and warnings too. Matt Ch23, clearly describes the hypocritical religious leaders of Jesus' day and today including many of the WTBTS elders, CO's and GB members.

Another piece of good advice is found in Acts 20.29,30. Helping us to identify a bad elder in the congregation not only of JWs, but any religion.

There is good parental advice in the bible also, as parents the bible can help us apreciate how precious the gift of a child is, and how as parents we must educate them, train and discipline them.

Much of it is not only contractictory, but IMO nonsense too. I can say I have read it. I still look to if for a reference now and again, but I don't have as much respect for it as I once did.

Kate xx

designs

So you say Jesus did not say that verse, convenient.

dropoffyourkeylee

HOUSING: No one should own more than one house. Present occupants of each house are declared to be the owners of the respective houses. Whoever stays in a rented house will, henceforth, pay the rent to the Government.

Curiously similar to the Single Tax movement in the US in the 1890's, proposed by Henry George:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_George

designs

Kate- re Matt23 and the relentless attack by Jesus on the Sadducees and Pharisees- what proof is there that any of these criticisms are true or accurate. Where did Jesus ever go after the Roman Imperialists who had their boots on the throats of the Jewish people.

KateWild

designs, fair comment. Whether it was true or not, the way he puts them in their places was inspirational to me. He stood up for what was right. I don't mind if it was a fairy stroy or real account. It helped me stand up to my JC, and helped me grasp they were hypocrites.

But you do make a good point. I have no evidence to support it was a true account. Kate xx

Band on the Run

I believe the system you describe would be totalitarian. What if citizens disagree with the government program? It stirkes me as a utopian vision that must be imposed. Will those who own two homes now lose what they worked for? What is the compensation? As wealtheir workers flee like rats deserting a sinking ship, who would pay the tax bill for these improvements? This was tried in the Soviet Union and elsewhere to miserable results.

I am not necessarily a capitalist. Yet when I survey the earth, I fail to see better systems. Jesus spoke as a religious prophet. He did not worry about the rights and liberties of people in such a system. Another problem is corruption. Corruption is a major problem in Africa. I recall when Lyndon Johnson launched the War Against Poverty when I was in school. The program gave me exposure to so many things I never experienced. We had ballet and opera performannces in school. Most of the students were bored but I was so excited to see live ballet. There was an enrichment program that only the college track students bothered to attend. A bus took us to see actual plays and symphony performances. I saw the Stravinsky Festival at Lincoln Center. We were also taken to see an opera concert. Oh, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cloisters, a museum Nelson Rockefeller donated so the public could view his Unicorn tapestries. These institutions became a large part of my later life. Imagine JW me going to the Stravinsky festival. Colleges recruited us. The downside was that if we just received a cash grant, we could have done it much cheaper. The waste was incredible. Middle class taxpayers would have been furious. Of course, while we attended these events, 75% of my class failed a fifth grade arithmentic test in our junior year.

These are admirable goals. Goals are not enough. Implementation is everything. What processes are in place that monitor the intended results? I am no longer young. It seems as though some groups are able to implement a radical social gospel agenda when they are small and for limited time spans. Christian groups throughout history have tried to live as Jesus instructed. So far there is not one success. I see no place for the rule of law in this list. What is the democratic process? It has the potential for tragic abuse. Will the wealthy just allow themselves to be stripped of their expectations? Where is economic development in this sytem?

Terry

When you get to be older and have a lot of life experience under your belt and read some non-ideological history you'll change your mind.

We live in a natural universe. NATURE is what IS.

In the last 4 millennia every kind of government and system has been tried somewhere by somebody.

But, all these systems, ideologies, governments and leaders have suffered the same fate: corruption.

You cannot expect any system to remain idealistic, pure, fair and untainted by SELF-INTEREST!

The only thing you can do is remain cautious, skeptical, cynical and guarded and place as many CHECKS and BALANCES and TRANSPARENCIES into

effect as humanly possible.

Even then, it will eventually corrupt.

You have not taken into account the nature of HUMAN NATURE.

The strong survive better than the weak.

When I say "better" I don't mean more fair. I mean they get richer, more powerful and gain control.

Under Communism in the U.S.S.R. , China, North Korea, Cuba and various other locales--the people were murdered by their own leaders, they were starved, enslaved and controled.

But--oh, they had the notion of fairness for awhile.

The Bible has nothing to do with reality, nature, science or common sense.

The Bible is a compilation of folk wisdom, hallucination, Bronze Age superstition and supernatural lunacy.

Start over and clean your blackboard.

Start from scratch. Look at what IS rather than at what "could be" if an idealistic and pure system were to be established.

Why?

Because you are living in very corrupt times and there is very little to be gained from extremes.

adamah

Abiather said-

just like killing the duck that lays golden egg!

The phrase is, "the GOOSE that laid the golden egg".

Rosemary, are you back again recruiting for the BK (The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (BKWSU), or Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya) cult?

Rosemary's characteristic broken Engrish, poor command of English idioms, and over-reliance on ill-fitting analogies is trademark.

Satanus

Does that one verse say that we are all god?

S

Bible Has Problems, Yet Its One Verse Can Solve All Our Problems!

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