Posts by unsure

119

Do I have to believe in Jesus to be saved?

by unsure in

do i have to believe in jesus to be saved?.

i was raised as a jehovah's witness.

i was born in.

unsure

@Vanderhoven7

Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, his first creation or do you believe he is God as part of the Trinity?

Either way, have you studied every single point ever made in every publication or talk provided as proof for your particular belief? Have you objectively studied every point ever made against your belief in every publication or talk ever given? Can you say you've truly, objectively, spent all your time and resources doing so? No, you cannot. It is impossible. How can you be so certain of whether Jesus is a.) God's first creation, his son or b.) is God as part of the Trinity, let alone every other argument for or against Christianity being the true religion or how to interpret every passage in the Bible?

How can God fault us for not believing a certain doctrine? God sure makes it difficult.

119

Do I have to believe in Jesus to be saved?

by unsure in

do i have to believe in jesus to be saved?.

i was raised as a jehovah's witness.

i was born in.

unsure

@Half banana said
"However if you want to be honest and live without false expectations then it's better to recognise that we all die and therefore we should live knowing that our life is very precious and should not to be wasted on supernatural fairy tales."

That's the problem, without these fairy tales, I believe life is meaningless.

I've tried the "give your life meaning" mindset. Let's say I were to go and help a charitable cause, in the end, it would all still be meaningless if we live for a blip in the fabric of time and then die. Sure our actions would help others living today, and in some small way carry over to others later on, but life would still be pointless.

Without this faith (and I know I could very well be lying to myself), I'm a nihilist.

119

Do I have to believe in Jesus to be saved?

by unsure in

do i have to believe in jesus to be saved?.

i was raised as a jehovah's witness.

i was born in.

unsure

119

Do I have to believe in Jesus to be saved?

by unsure in

do i have to believe in jesus to be saved?.

i was raised as a jehovah's witness.

i was born in.

unsure

@Anders Andersen

I agree completely.

Except sometimes I think, what if this draw I have to Christianity is Gods way of drawing me to them? That God, Jesus love me, you know the same tired explanations you hear all the time. What if? Yes it doesn't make sense, but what if the same old tired explanation of Divine Will cannot be understood by imperfect minds is true? My issue is that I always "what if" each side.

I confess that it all does not make sense to me but I still believe there is something greater but have no evidence to support this, just faith.

Hopefully, if there is a God, they do not fault me for not ignoring my own logic.

119

Do I have to believe in Jesus to be saved?

by unsure in

do i have to believe in jesus to be saved?.

i was raised as a jehovah's witness.

i was born in.

unsure

Do I have to believe in Jesus to be saved?

I was raised as a Jehovah's Witness. I was born in.

After leaning The Truth About The Truth, how can I be expected to believe in anything anymore? Nonetheless, I still believe in a God and I still have this built in draw to Christianity. The finer details, I'm not sure about, nor will I ever know. Is there a Trinity? Is Jesus God's son and his first creation? Why did Jesus have to be sacrificed? I've heard all the arguments and it still does not make sense to me. Each side has their evidence to support their argument "beyond a doubt". I can't even understand why God permits suffering; yes I've heard it all before. Please do not post scripture trying to prove your belief on this matter.

If Christianity is correct, do I have to believe in Jesus to be saved when I can't even determine if he is God's first creation, his son or part of a Trinity? Do I have to believe if I feel that the whole sacrifice arrangement seems more like an illogical story that does not fit into reality? Some days I try to have "faith" but other days I acknowledge that I may very well be just lying to myself in trying to make sense of it all.

Is it enough to believe in a God and that they have a purpose for us and a greater hope of some kind?

EDIT: even though I have the "draw" to Christianity, I would be lying to myself if I said the Bible made sense TO ME.

42

“Tree of good and bad” means what?

by venus in

if “tree of good and bad” were literal, it would mean adam and eve would know what is “good and bad” only after eating of that tree.

however, even before eating of it, they would think “it is good for us to eat of this tree” which means they are already endowed knowledge of “good and bad.” that means “tree of good and bad” is symbolic of something.. since religious organizations interpret this differently, each reader has to adopt his own conclusion.

for me it looks like this: one thinks of good and bad in relation to himself—if something is beneficial for him he would say it is good for him, and bad for him if it is not beneficial.

unsure

Interesting point @Smiddy

That's why to me, it makes more sense that God is not this perfectly all loving being. That they have these very human like emotions and ways. That they are like God's in mythology with imperfections and struggles themselves. That "bad things" are just the way the universe is, order and chaos, Ying and Yang. That God is a being very much like us just on a different plane and infinitely more powerful.

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

The Bible says God is love and that we were created in his image. If our human compassion and love (in God's image) can lead us to question some of the actions of God in the Bible, surely we can't be faulted for questioning it.

On top of all the other faith we need to beleive in which God, within which religion is the right one we are also expected to have faith in God's actions and not question them?

See my other thread asking "why does it have to be this complicated?"

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5631312687792128/there-evidence-creator-if-you-just-look

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 said:
"God, on the other hand, views atheists as children who reach outrageous and exceedingly foolish conclusions based on inadequate understandings of all facets having to do with any given situation."

Atheists are very intelligent and base their viewpoints on facts rather than faith and confirmation bias.

Some of the greatest minds in human history are atheist.

The existence of a God cannot be proven.

I'm sorry, I want to believe and on some days I do, but I accept that I have no evidence to base this beleif on, only faith. To do otherwise would be lying to myself.

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 hope that it is that we are too limited as human beings to understand God's purpose or thinking. It's the only way I can accept the God of the Old Testament and the Bible as a whole. I want to beleive in a God and it's the only explanation at this time that will allow me to believe.

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

A few of us have given examples of questionable actions in the Old Testament.

To those who take the Old Testament literally, why did God make those decisions?