Posts by unsure

41

Where do I go now?

by Libby in

jw
friends

so i thought my purpose was to serve jehovah and get baptised.

where do i go now to get baptised?

is baptism even a requirement for serving god or was that just for the disciples and people of that time.

unsure

@Libby

I can sympathize with you and am sorry for what you are going through.

Most days I'm agnostic and some days I'm atheist. Many days I feel empty and that life is pointless and meaningless. Other days I try and have a hope in something.

Sometimes I pray to whatever is out there. In my prayers I confess that I don't understand their purpose, let alone which is the true religion. Sometimes I give thanks although I confess that I don't understand why I'm blessed in certain ways while others have nothing; I feel like a hypocrite. Sometimes I apologize for my sins although I don't understand why I should apologize and why God is testing us and allowing suffering in the first place. I ask that whatever is out there, reveal itself to me.

That is the way I pray. I open up my heart, try to humble myself, and wait.

Hope that helps.

48

God of the Old Testament

by unsure in

to those on these forums who are christian and or to those who believe in the god of the old testament; how does one overcome many of the questionable actions god took or allowed to happen in the old testament?.

many if not most of us have heard of criticisms of the god of the old testament.

you can find these criticisms on many websites.. how do you explain to an honest hearted person why god acted the way they did?.

unsure

I sometimes do think that yes, my human understanding is limited and God has a higher purpose I can't comprehend, but God should not hold it against people if they get angry at, or do not believe in him/her.

We should not be forced to worship or beleive in God if our personal logic and critical thinking skills do not allow for it.

And yes, taking away the possibility of living forever if we do not beleive/worship a God is forcing worship.

48

God of the Old Testament

by unsure in

to those on these forums who are christian and or to those who believe in the god of the old testament; how does one overcome many of the questionable actions god took or allowed to happen in the old testament?.

many if not most of us have heard of criticisms of the god of the old testament.

you can find these criticisms on many websites.. how do you explain to an honest hearted person why god acted the way they did?.

unsure

@Saved_JW

Appreciate the effort but all the points you are making are exactly the same as I've encountered before on Christian websites. They are apologist arguments.

48

God of the Old Testament

by unsure in

to those on these forums who are christian and or to those who believe in the god of the old testament; how does one overcome many of the questionable actions god took or allowed to happen in the old testament?.

many if not most of us have heard of criticisms of the god of the old testament.

you can find these criticisms on many websites.. how do you explain to an honest hearted person why god acted the way they did?.

unsure

@David_Jay

A human parent cannot be equally used in an illustration to explain an infinitely powerful being with the ability to do anything. However, if we are going to do so, a human father will do all he can to remove the smallest amount of suffering from their children.

Why can't this heavenly father remove suffering from his very creation?

The book of Isaiah describes God's love.

Genesis says we were created in his image.

If God is loving and we were created in his image, how can I not hold God to this expectation?

Let's say God isn't as loving; if so then why is he worthy of recognition?

Yes suffering can have a moral quality to it when you have the power to stop it.

Yes, suffering is incompatible with God when they have the power to stop it and remove it from creation. Yes suffering is an indicator of benevolence when God has the power to remove it.

48

God of the Old Testament

by unsure in

to those on these forums who are christian and or to those who believe in the god of the old testament; how does one overcome many of the questionable actions god took or allowed to happen in the old testament?.

many if not most of us have heard of criticisms of the god of the old testament.

you can find these criticisms on many websites.. how do you explain to an honest hearted person why god acted the way they did?.

unsure

@David_Jay

If there was no fall of man out of God's favor it means that the universe as it is now is as intended by God. It is full of suffering. Why would a loving God design it this way? It doesn't seem right. Christianity tries to explain suffering (but still fails in my opinion) through the fall of man.

Either way, if this God really cared surely they could have conceived a better design without the need to test us.

As brought out, this life is not always a gift to many. I have to take a high dosage of anxiety/anti-depressant medication just to function. The last time I tried to live without it, I had a severe, lengthy mental breakdown. Even now, on the medication, some days it is just enough to survive let alone enjoy life and see it as a gift.

I can't imagine what it is like for those even less fortunate than me.

48

God of the Old Testament

by unsure in

to those on these forums who are christian and or to those who believe in the god of the old testament; how does one overcome many of the questionable actions god took or allowed to happen in the old testament?.

many if not most of us have heard of criticisms of the god of the old testament.

you can find these criticisms on many websites.. how do you explain to an honest hearted person why god acted the way they did?.

unsure

@Cold Steel

Here are many examples

http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=682

48

God of the Old Testament

by unsure in

to those on these forums who are christian and or to those who believe in the god of the old testament; how does one overcome many of the questionable actions god took or allowed to happen in the old testament?.

many if not most of us have heard of criticisms of the god of the old testament.

you can find these criticisms on many websites.. how do you explain to an honest hearted person why god acted the way they did?.

unsure

To those on these forums who are Christian AND OR to those who believe in the God of the Old Testament; how does one overcome many of the questionable actions God took or allowed to happen in the Old Testament?

Many if not most of us have heard of criticisms of the God of the Old Testament. You can find these criticisms on many websites.

How do you explain to an honest hearted person why God acted the way they did?

The Old Testament and New Testament are almost polar opposites.

This is not a challenge but an honest question. I'm looking for a different viewpoint; please do not copy and paste from other sites.

Those who may know my short posting history know that I want to believe, but there are many things that cannot be overlooked.

12

Suffering And The Meaning Of Life

by Brokeback Watchtower in

what is the meaning of life?

we all die, so what is the meaning.

religion tries to bridge the gap with absolutist answers to this problem of existence by giving immortality to it's members in good standing(so join us or parish).helps to pay the bills using fear of annihilation to keep members as a source of material $$uport.

unsure

@David_Jay

I've expressed in another post how what I've learned from you regarding Judaism is very refreshing.

I have some other questions regarding your beleifs. Please do not take them as a challenge of any sort as I'm just curious to learn more about the Jewish faith.

Many have heard of Jehovah's Witnesses explanation of why God permits suffering. I've also googled this question to read about other religions beleifs; Christian sources are always the ones on the first page. I have not been able to personally find a satisfactory answer.

I'm curious as to what the Jewish beleif is on this. Why did God have to create Satan and allow him to continue testing us? Does Satan operate independently? Why could God not have created a universe with free will but without all these tests or the requirement to worship him to live past our earthly bodies expiry date? I would imagine that an omnipotent Creator could have figured out a way to do this. If I were to meet someone on the street and they were polite but didn't want anything to do with me, I would still wish them an eternity of happiness and if I had the power, would still want to bestow eternal life to them. Many answers I've heard in the past say that God doesn't force us to worship him but basically saying "worship me and be my friend; if you do not you will have 80 years of earthly free will if you are lucky but don't count on living forever" is basically forcing worship.

49

Do religious people fear that their religion may be wrong???

by James Mixon in

because there are so many religions in the world and it is obvious that no matter what the truth is, a large population of people will be wrong about it.

we at one time believe we had the truth and 99% of the world population were in darkness, but i wonder about folks in other religions today.

speaking with a christian friend about this and he told me," that's for god to decide, i hope i'am serving god"...the sad thing about all of this if one die and still believe in his religion, he will never know he was in the wrong religion.

unsure

@David_Jay

Thank you for the great response; certainly a refreshing viewpoint.

49

Do religious people fear that their religion may be wrong???

by James Mixon in

because there are so many religions in the world and it is obvious that no matter what the truth is, a large population of people will be wrong about it.

we at one time believe we had the truth and 99% of the world population were in darkness, but i wonder about folks in other religions today.

speaking with a christian friend about this and he told me," that's for god to decide, i hope i'am serving god"...the sad thing about all of this if one die and still believe in his religion, he will never know he was in the wrong religion.

unsure

I have to say, what I've learned about the Jewish faith from David_Jay is refreshing. It seems that if you are a good person, you can have a hope in whatever God may hold for us even if you can't fully believe in every detail of a certain faith. I also like the fact that the faith admits to the fact that you can never fully understand everything or truly know, this ties into my frustration expressed in this thread I created "There is evidence of a Creator if you just look for it". Is that a correct summation @David_Jay?

Is it believed that there may be some eternal hope after death but we just have not had it revealed to us yet?