Nothing lasts forever. The Bible (and Dharma. And Star Trek. and) will all come to an end. The scriptures thrown aside. The suttas in runes. Strek the 4245th Generation! Good gosh, I hope not. Things end. The bible had its beginning. The bible will have its end.
If I may UA.....the Bible has outlasted most other ancient books but it also will cease to be relevant at some time in the future. (Except perhaps as a historical reference)
It is relevant for the time period it covers....from the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, and the loss of God's favour, to the reintroduction of God's rightful rulership over mankind and the salvation of those who appreciate the right of the Sovereign of the Universe to set the rules for living on his planet.
The Revelation says that "new scrolls" will be opened to guide us in the future.
Have you thought about life ending? Even in a smidget of a second where everything you cared about and put faith in didnt exist anymore? Can you entertain that thought? (actual questions)
Do you understand that JW's have no belief in life after death?....except by resurrection once the kingdom is established on earth. (Matthew 6:10)
That means that we believe that our life will end and that our remains will stay where they are until we hear the call of Jesus to come out of our graves. (John 5:28-29) There will be no conscious existence between our death and resurrection, no matter how much time has elapsed. This is what the ancient Jews believed. (Ecclesiastes 9:5; 10)
Politics keeps christianity alive. Can you imagine if christians werent colonizers how pleasant this world would be?
I have to agree with you on that score....but the ones who "colonised" the world were not "Christians" in any sense of the world. They may have thought of themselves that way, but I doubt Christ would ever have recognized them as such. Rather than being "no part of the world" as Jesus instructed, they went out and took parts of the world that belonged to others, treating the rightful owners with contempt and disrespect....even committing mass murder. How despicable!
Missionaries who went to make "Christians" of the "savages" in other lands, did more damage than Jesus ever would have. He did not force Christianity on anyone, nor did he evict people from their own land and squeeze them onto small reservations, depriving them of their own land, liberty and culture. Again nothing "Christian" about that behavior.
Mircales (as so Dejee mentioned) stoped at the apostles. I assume you all will be hoping for the resurrection for years to come. I mean, 1999 people were getting their can soups and waters. Prince was on the radio almost 24/7. The News was more concerned about how the world end rather than taking care of the world so it wont end anytime soon.
The fact that Jesus and the apostles kept the coming of the kingdom
imminent in the minds of their listeners, has little to do with its actual timing. The fact is, God knew that the kingdom was still thousands of years away, but to indicate this, may well have caused many to lose heart having to wait so long for what they all longed for....unending life under Christ's rulership with no sickness, suffering or death. The end of all wickedness. (Revelation 21:2-4)
The reality is, that no one has to wait for the blessings of the kingdom longer than their own lifetime. When the resurrection takes place, all will awaken as if they closed their eyes only a moment ago. Their hope will be realised, no matter how long they have "slept". That is a real blessing in itself IMO.
We take life for granted. Faith is just that, faith. Its not knowlege. Its not fact.
Faith leads people in different directions. We put our faith where our heart is. A heart that belongs to God will stay with God, but a heart that strays, searching for selfish desires, will park in many places, never being satisfied with any of them for long. Their lives are often like a religious revolving door. Such people never feel settled or confident. (James 1:6-8)
That is true in this present system of things.....but the Bible gives us hope for a wonderful future that will never end.
Can you give me an example of something that has not ended, decayed, etc outside of our hopes and theories everlasting life? edit Something that has an eternal lifespan on this earth?
The events in Eden prevent humans from enjoying everlasting life now, due to the sentence carried out for disobeying God's only negative command, (Romans 5:12)....living on forever is something that is the natural desire in all of us. No one who enjoys a reasonable quality of life
wants to die. It is inbuilt in us to want to go on living, not growing old or getting sick and eventually dying. We are not supposed to look in the mirror or at a photograph and see someone we don't even recognise any more.
Humans alone were given the opportunity to live forever....there was no everlasting life promised to any other creature. We were supposed to be the caretakers of all that the Creator made to live here on this Goldilocks planet......as custodians, we should be very ashamed. Thankfully God has had a purpose from the beginning that he will carry out at the end. (Isaiah 55:11)
Nothing will be left in the hands of selfish humans....if it is, we are all doomed.