Do you believe what the Bible teaches? If "yes", why? If "no", why?

by Tenacious 41 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Ucantnome
    Ucantnome

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/earthnews/8749863/Prince-Charles-warns-of-sixth-extinction-event.html

    this is an interesting article which is from 2011 i believe and ties nicely to the  WWF’s Living Planet Report 2014.Here is a quote from the article.

    he said. “We are consuming what is rightfully theirs by sacrificing long-term progress on the altar of immediate satisfaction. That is hardly responsible behaviour. 

    Sounds a bit like this,


     'For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,'

    When I looked up consumerism on Wikipedia it said this

    Consumerism is a social and economic order and ideology that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-greater amounts.

    and I thought this quote was interesting.

    In 1955, economist Victor Lebow stated:

    "Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction and our ego satisfaction in consumption. We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever-increasing rate".[32]


    interesting in the sense of what the report shows has happened a quote from the  WWF’s Living Planet Report 2014.

     'One key point that jumps out and captures the overall

    picture is that the Living Planet Index (LPI), which measures more

    than 10,000 representative populations of mammals, birds, reptiles,

    amphibians and fish, has declined by 52 per cent since 1970. Put

    another way, in less than two human generations, population sizes

    of vertebrate species have dropped by half.'


    Maybe a vow of poverty would be a good idea

  • cofty
    cofty
    the violence that is so prevalent today as opposed to 50 years ago

    The 20th century was the least violent in all of human history and the 21st century continues the trend. This isn't an over-optimistic opinion it is a fact.

    Please have a read at Pinker's book where he lays out over 800 pages of evidence.

  • THE GLADIATOR
    THE GLADIATOR

    The Bible is a boring, rambling collection of ridiculous stories and dreams. Personal I prefer the works of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass; they are more entertaining. Their absence of a mythical Hebrew desert god brings me much closer to reality. 

  • bohm
    bohm

    Violence is in decline, this is well-documented across multiple fields such as history, archaeology, economics and sociology. As many others have proposed, you should read Steven Pinkers book, but be aware it is sometimes hard to stomach for instance when describing medival torture. Here is a popular lecture which should give you an idea:

    http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_on_the_myth_of_violence?language=en

    What is your evidence (i.e. not intuition or sole events) that violence is on the increase?

    With respect to the OP, no, I do not believe there is a God like the christian God. There are several reasons for this, primarily that I do not think there is are any good reasons why a god should exist. The best reasons why a god exists (such as those given by Dr. Craig) boil down to appeal to metaphysical intuitions we have no way of knowing are true or not at the present time, since we would never accept that something existed based solely on an unverifiable intuition, I don't see why I should accept a God exist based on this evidence. 

    On top of that there are contrary evidence. For instance it could have been the case that science and archaeology verified the major events in the OT; as it happened we know from science there was no flood and evolution explains the diversity of life thereby knocking out the pillars of genesis 1, and biblical archaeology has for the most part disproven the major events in the OT up to around the Babylonian exile. It is important to stress that one can, like the expensive defense attorney, begin to explain these findings away one by one by appeal to miracles, satan, conspiracies and the odd piece of data which is not yet explained, but the bigger picture is science could have verified the bible but turned out to disconfirm it. 

  • cofty
    cofty
    The words of Paul resonate with me

    Please remember the context of Paul's words at 1 Timothy 3.

    It was not a prediction of things that would happen 2000 years later. It was a personal letter to a Timothy about affairs affecting congregations of the 1st century church.

    Jesus taught that he would return during the lifetime of his first followers. The early church fully expected to be caught away to heaven at any time. Just like JWs they viewed all sorts of events as proof that the parousia was imminent. 1Tim.3  is not evidence of the reliability of the bible, it is proof of it's failure.

  • Phizzy
    Phizzy

    I think the O.P is referring to 2 Tim 3, but whatever, the vast majority of exegetes regard 1&2 Timothy and Titus as being Dueteropauline, written around 100 C .E 

    At that time things were as described in chapter 3 for the Christians it was aimed at.

    So, written under a false name, and pretending to be a prophecy, but describing contemporary conditions, Cofty has it right.

    Going back to the O.P, the Bible does not teach anything, people put interpretations upon its words, and then tell you "Bible says..."

    The Bible is a collection of writings by men, all with a variety of agendas. Nearly all its books are basically dishonest in some way, rarely accurate as to history, and none contain a verifiable prophecy that came true.

    We are lucky to be living in the best time in history so far to be alive, and in a time when we can easily find out the truth about the Bible and other matters, thanks to the Internet and other modern resources. There is simply no need to be ignorant on any matter.



  • Viviane
    Viviane

    the bad words I meant are words my dictionary calls taboo words. I've understood that if I use them when talking to the police I may be in trouble.

    Freedom of speech should prevent that. Societal taboo doesn't mean the words are bad.

    A teaching assistant I know told me one day recently how much bad language she hears in the primary school playground.

    Kids swore all the time 35 years ago when I was in primary school.

  • Ucantnome
    Ucantnome
    Sounds like you and cantleave may have attended the same school
  • DocHouse
    DocHouse

    As with Moses and Jesus, Satanic Forces were used to attack and confuse.

    Jesus' words and teachings have been twisted almost beyond recognition: they have him a liar, speaking e-bonics, revealing himself to be sadistic, and claiming he is one of three Gods.

    And, for almost 2,000, Churchianity used the Bible to obtain money and power...yet the Bioble STILL continues to inspire those that read and meditate on it!

  • wannabefree
    wannabefree

    I no longer believe the Bible is God's word.

    Sure, it contains some advantageous advice and words to live by for humanity.

    One hook that was planted in my mind as a JW that rears itself now and then is Rev 11:18, that God will bring to ruin those ruining the earth. 

    Has the meaning of this verse been adulterated?  Does the original meaning differ from what it might seem to mean in our language today? When that was penned almost 2,000 years ago, was there any concept of ruining the earth?

    I don't know.  But like I said, this one sits in my mind and surfaces from time to time.  Damn remnants of mind control.   

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