Do you still believe in God?

by FormerlySandL 162 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  FormerlySandL

  I never thought I would admit it, but I don't.

  I might superstitiously have some kind of doubt but digging a bit deeper in my heart I really don't believe in God.

  As a human I could never just sit and watch people be tortured, live years of abuse, suffer from illness and disabilities and all the other awful things people have to endure day after day without doing something about it.

  The idea of him watching this but not doing anything about it until an appointed time or because it would prove satan right is cruel beyond measure. Especially because if anybody is ill in the congregation they pray for that person so expect God to answer this prayers but not some innocent child being beaten or sexually abused.

  A few months ago I never thought I'd say anything like that.
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  Acts5v29

  Good morning Formerly,

  If you sincerely do not believe, then that is your belief - but if your disbelief is due to your experience with the watchtower and world events, I would ask you - please - to take a moment before your statement becomes entrenched defensivism.

  I can show you why God does not - and cannot - intervene in badness. Would that make a difference to you? If so, you have my PMs - just contact me.

  Acts5v29
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  Saintbertholdt

  Hi FormerlySandL,

  Its a huge thing in ones life - letting go of a personal God. For myself I was pretty bewildered at first. I then experienced all the stages one would expect during the process: Anger, sadness, depression and later finally acceptance.

  Then the fun started: I got to try to figure out my purpose in life and what its meaning is. It was the first time I could really start to seriously poke at the big questions and I was allowed to come to my own conclusions. I have never looked back.

  In reflection there is still one Biblical saying that I give serious consideration to: The truth WILL set you free.

  Only this time I get to decide what truth it is and what it means to me.
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  stuckinarut2

  The God of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) was not a very likeable being.

  Bloodthirsty, petty, ok with incest and racist to start the list....
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  nicolaou

  I can show you why God does not - and cannot - intervene in badness. Would that make a difference to you?

  It would make a difference to me - go ahead.
  
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  2+2=5

  I can show you why God does not - and cannot - intervene in badness. Would that make a difference to you? If so, you have my PMs - just contact me.
  

  That would make a huge difference for me! Instead of sending a pm, why not post your evidence here on this thread?

  I've currently no faith, so let's start with God. What's his name, where does he live, and how can I contact him?
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  jookbeard

  when these discussions come up I like to post this meme , Acts5v, are you going to bang on about the sovereignty issue between God and the Devil, basically a dick waving competition where us mere innocent human beings are caught up in the middle of this stupid game as pawns?
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  Acts5v29

  Hi nicolaou,

  Context is everything. You don't operate on a broken pelvis of someone who would not survive the anaesthetic, you don't insult a man who's holding a knife to your child's throat, you don't break a rule to win a game.

  Though omnipotent, God's actions are within a context - that of the theme of the Bible, which roughly states:

  "Man cannot survive without God's help"

  - that is what lies behind Man's going independent from God.

  God could have simply wiped the early ones out and started again - but that would not have proved His contention, which was goaded by the adversary. So Man became independent, and that issue has to prove itself - God's intervention would only violate the terms. God cannot intervene until Mankind learns that it cannot survive on its own, and actually calls to Him for help - but although close, and closing, we have not yet reached that stage.

  Were God to intervene in a small way - heal a famine, abate a war, remove some dictator - we would rely on it and never actually learn, and God would become a kind of on-call fixer rather than the Father He should be. Besides that, were he to intervene, then one religion / race / nation / side would claim they had received his blessing, and other sides would only fight to avoid looking small.

  So until Mankind calls for help, the famines and tortures and slaughters and evil will go unabated - and we are not yet ready to make the call!

  More importantly... if God were to intervene, then the adversary could claim legitimately that God broke the rules in order to win, and taint Him as ruling by cheating. Again, He could just kill the adversary, but what would that prove to the rest of creation? Any intervention will mean that we never have God as our Father - that is what's at stake; we will just have independence which we are too short-sighted to handle properly, more torture, more killings, more mess... with absolutely no prospect of things being better. Omnipotent yes, but there is a knife to our throat, and God will not put us at risk.

  If you want to know hen we will call - it is the theme of the Bible and has nothing to do with religion or belief, easy to understand by believers and non-believers, and I can point you to it.

  sincerely,

  Acts5v29
  
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  Saintbertholdt

  2+2=5 you wrote: I've currently no faith, so let's start with God. What's his name, where does he live, and how can I contact him?

  Joe Pesci. Hollywood California. Via his Facebook fan club page. He might not answer though, he's usually busy
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  Acts5v29

  Hello jookbeard,

  I'm sure some of the Hebrews said the same during their 400 years in Egypt, but the issue is the issue.