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I found something that is getting to me.I need a jw to help me with this one

Lyndon

"Peace is the answer" quote: GOD, 2014
Premium Member
God is so much bigger than your small impression of Her.
 

InChrist

Free4ever
I'm not a Jehovah's Witness, but I pretty much agree with this...

"Those who interpret this narrative as a true incident have several reasons for doing so. First, the story is never called a parable. Many other of Jesus' stories are designated as parables, such as the sower and the seed (Luke 8:4); the prosperous farmer (Luke 12:16); the barren fig tree (Luke 13:6); and the wedding feast (Luke 14:7). Second, the story of the rich man and Lazarus uses the actual name of a person. Such specificity would set it apart from ordinary parables, in which the characters are not named.

Third, this particular story does not seem to fit the definition of a parable, which is a presentation of a spiritual truth using an earthly illustration. The story of the rich man and Lazarus presents spiritual truth directly, with no earthly metaphor. The setting for most of the story is the afterlife, as opposed to the parables, which unfold in earthly contexts."

Is Luke 16:19-31 a parable or an account of events that actually occurred?
 

Rational Agnostic

Well-Known Member
In the Rich Man and Lazarus, we find that dead people’s spirits are carried immediately to reward or punishment. Hear Jesus: “The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he called out…”

Here we have the disembodied spirits of two dead people feeling, thinking, seeing, talking, reasoning and crying out. Why does Jesus use such ideas if they aren’t true? The Word says that Jesus “brought life and immortality to light,”[9]but if His account here doesn’t reflect realty then Jesus was obscuring the truth about immortality instead of bringing it to light.

I found this on this website: Soul Sleep Disproved | The Christian Answer Man

Hanging out in Abraham's bosom for eternity doesn't sound like heaven to me. But, hey, maybe Jesus' teachings were directed specifically toward gay men. To each his own.:laughing:
 

Deeje

Avid Bible Student
Premium Member
Here we have the disembodied spirits of two dead people feeling, thinking, seeing, talking, reasoning and crying out. Why does Jesus use such ideas if they aren’t true? The Word says that Jesus “brought life and immortality to light,”[9]but if His account here doesn’t reflect reality then Jesus was obscuring the truth about immortality instead of bringing it to light.

What does the website owner mean?I bolded all the stuff i didn't get.:confused:

The Bible does not speak of disembodies spirits unless it is talking about God or his angels. All are spirits who have no physical body. They do however have a spiritual body. Humans only have physical bodies unless they are chosen to go to heaven to rule with Jesus, then they give up their fleshly body and are given a spiritual one because a physical body cannot exist in heaven.

Since the Bible does not teach that we have 'spirits' that live on after the death of the body in a spiritual realm, the parable takes on a purely illustrative meaning.

In the Bible, immortality is only granted to spirits, not humans who need physical things to keep living (air, food, water, shelter) Mortals die without those provisions which God supplied in abundance. He also provided "the tree of life" to keep humans from dying due to any 'natural' cause......there was no natural cause of death in Eden. Death was the result of sin. If no sin had been committed, humans would never have died.
 

LightofTruth

Well-Known Member
The Bible does not speak of disembodies spirits unless it is talking about God or his angels. All are spirits who have no physical body. They do however have a spiritual body. Humans only have physical bodies unless they are chosen to go to heaven to rule with Jesus, then they give up their fleshly body and are given a spiritual one because a physical body cannot exist in heaven.

Since the Bible does not teach that we have 'spirits' that live on after the death of the body in a spiritual realm, the parable takes on a purely illustrative meaning.

In the Bible, immortality is only granted to spirits, not humans who need physical things to keep living (air, food, water, shelter) Mortals die without those provisions which God supplied in abundance. He also provided "the tree of life" to keep humans from dying due to any 'natural' cause......there was no natural cause of death in Eden. Death was the result of sin. If no sin had been committed, humans would never have died.

Neither God nor angels are disembodied spirits.
 

Deeje

Avid Bible Student
Premium Member
Neither God nor angels are disembodied spirits.

For the sake of the definition of 'disembodied spirits' common to most people, they are. As I said, all are spirits with no physical body. They have a spiritual body. Please read before assuming what I said.

Humans never become disembodied spirits as most people have been taught to believe.
 

LightofTruth

Well-Known Member
For the sake of the definition of 'disembodied spirits' common to most people, they are. As I said, all are spirits with no physical body. They have a spiritual body. Please read before assuming what I said.

Humans never become disembodied spirits as most people have been taught to believe.
A spiritual body is a physical body. God has a physical body of whom man was created in His image.Angels also have physical bodies because they are the "Us" of "let us make man in our image"
 

Shantanu

Well-Known Member
Whatever you've been taught, if it contradicts Scripture, I'll side with the God of Scripture.
What I have been taught is non-violent means of protesting against evil injustices perpetrated against one and that does not include loving ones enemy or showing compassion to evil so it goes against Biblical Scripture, would you say?
 

QuestioningMind

Well-Known Member
If my mind was closed I could not be taught by God. Who you taught by?

You opened it JUST enough to let your religious indoctrination is and then SLAMMED it firmly shut to ensure that nothing else would ever get in. Rather sad.

As for me, I was taught by people and experiences that can be verified as REAL.
 

Deeje

Avid Bible Student
Premium Member
A spiritual body is a physical body. God has a physical body of whom man was created in His image.Angels also have physical bodies because they are the "Us" of "let us make man in our image"

Sorry, that is not my understanding at all. How can physical bodies dwell in an invisible realm?

Being created "in God's image" simply means possessing the Creator's moral qualities and ability to use past experience to plan the future. This makes humankind distinctly different from other creatures. These attributes were to serve man as God's representatives in caring for the earth, its creatures, and each other....forever, in what was purposed to be their permanent home.

The Bible clearly says that "God is a spirit" (John 4:24) and he dwells with other spirit creatures in an invisible, immaterial realm. (Hebrews 11:24-27)

In the book of Job, God's angelic sons witnessed the creation of the material universe and applauded his finished product (Job 38:1-7)......and at times they materialised human form to deliver communication to God's human servants. (e.g the angels who came to Abraham at Mamre, two of whom went on to Sodom to rescue Lot and his family) Whilst in their materialised form, these ate and drank what was provided for them. (Genesis 18)

Jesus came from the invisible realm to be born as a man of flesh. (1 John 4:9) That fleshly body was put to death and his life restored in spiritual form so that he could return to his Father's side in heaven. (1 Peter 3:18) The proof of that is the many times Jesus "appeared" to his disciples after his resurrection, sometimes in unrecognisable bodies. On one occasion, as he broke bread, he simply vanished before their eyes. It also explains why his wounds were visible to Thomas, but at other times, there is no mention of them. He was tortured before his execution so there would be no hiding his extensive wounds.

It is God's firstborn who was at his Father's side in that creation, who is the "us" in Genesis. (Proverbs 8:22; 30-31; Colossians 1: 15-17)

I believe that you are mistaken.
 
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