I mean this is like a chat room. That they will only listen to what they want to hear is ridiculous! IMO I can't imagine many people are attracted to ridiculousness.
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Who Has the truth? Who Will Bring World Peace?
- Thread starter Deeje
- Start date
So Jesus wasn't speaking literally? How did they 'take no note', if there was nothing to note? (God's Laws weren't made until much later.)
How do you explain the Apostle Paul's statement in Hebrews 11:7? And the Apostle Peter's, @ 2 Peter 3:6?
Seems like you have to overlook a lot, including the evidence*, to make the flood allegorical.
* Did you know the ratios of the Ark's dimensions are perfect, for a vessel having that purpose, ie., Non-powered, needing only to float? There are more evidences to consider.
I love that word ... Slacker!
ManSinha
Well-Known Member
May be this is a topic for another thread in and of itself - but does anyone think that proselytizing has gotten a tad more difficult with more people armed with access to information being able to ask sometimes difficult questions?
Very difficult. Hard to hide the other side POV. People can type in ______ + controversy easily. Some groups have tried to combat it by having their own full time editors for wiki ans stuff like that, largely unsuccessfully.
The most important question to ask straight up is...."does the God of the Bible create confusion as to his true identity?"
Why would he do that? If he is one God, (Deuteronomy 6:4) why would he masquerade as different gods in different cultures, teaching different precepts? He is "not a God of disorder" but a God of "peace". (1 Corinthians 14:33) That means that he will have peace among his worshippers. Look for the people who refuse to participate in national conflicts...who refuse to shed blood, and who enjoy peaceful relationships with one another as a global family. Are they perfect? Not in this life, but they try their best to shield themselves from the world's troubles by obeying Jesus Christ now, and by focusing on the wonderful future that God promises to his loyal ones. We understand that the" judgment starts with the house of God" so its not about wearing a label...its about being individually accountable to this one God. (1 Peter 4:16-19)
We believe that the Bible is his sole communication with mankind, and his laws (given only to his chosen nation,) are careful to distinguish him from all other gods.
When Israel strayed into adopting the worship of other gods, Jehovah punished them. He said there were no other true gods, but in his law, he acknowledged that ideas about these false gods could supplant him. To worship any other God incurred Jehovah's anger. (Exodus 20:1-5)
It was after the flood of Noah's day that belief in false gods began to emerge. When God confused the language of the tower builders at Babel, these took their ideas about other gods with them all over the world. (Genesis 11:-19)
Understanding how these other gods came into existence, when there was only "one Jehovah" in the beginning, helps us understand how all these gods came to be rolled into one entity by some cultures.....but who really benefits from this notion? According to Jesus, Jehovah is "the only true God" (John 17:3)
Going back to Genesis we see another "god" trying to steal Jehovah's worshippers away from him. He did this by lying to our first 'mother' Eve. (Genesis 3:20) He fooled her into disobeying her God, suggesting that humans would be better off making their own decisions about what was good and what was bad. Was he right? God let us all find out for ourselves....and here we are.
In telling the woman that she could "be like God", this pretender was betraying his own ambitions. It was he who wanted to "be like God" and have humans look to him as ruler over them...offering them a freedom that God was apparently withholding. When Adam joined her, that in effect crowned the devil as ruler of this world.....making him it's god. (1 John 5:19; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
In view of that, I believe that all the "gods" that people worship today are actually the devil disguised as "an angel of light". (2 Corinthians 11:14) He presents himself as different things to different people depending on the culture of the people themselves. He is a deceiver.....a very good one.
How many of these religions focus on "the light"? Apparently they focus on a "light" that is competing with Jesus as "the light of the world". Satan is a mimic....a con artist, bent on getting worshippers away from Jehovah by misrepresenting him and distorting the truth, then presenting an attractive alternative. Even those who have NDE's talk about a "light". Like moths to a flame...it is nothing but a baited trap.
Again, whose agenda does this serve? Unity of religion has never been seen in all of human history. It is divisive by its very nature. Even Jesus acknowledged that our choices of worship would result in opposition and division. (Matthew 10:34-39) It is unavoidable because we are expected to make decisions about our worship....who we will worship, and how we will practice it. This is how God judges us at the end times.
The God of the Bible insists on exclusivity. He has one message for mankind.....not mixed messages that suggest that it doesn't matter who you worship because they are all one god......this describes satan, not Jehovah.
Jesus communicated with his Father one on one for the simple reason that he was not a sinful descendant of Adam. There was no barrier between them. Jesus is the appointed "Mediator between God and men", so he did not communicate with his God "intuitively".
God's voice was heard audibly at Jesus' baptism, affirming his approval of his son as his representative and endorsing his role as Messiah.
Jesus did not die just for the Jews, but for all who choose Jehovah as their God, regardless of their nationality. (Isaiah 2:2-4)
Again we see that satan has masked his true identity by putting the blame for sinful behavior on humans, when he is the one influencing them from behind the scenes. Our sinful state is his doing and he has been exploiting our weaknesses ever since his first victory over the woman in the garden.
And that is exactly what satan wants people to believe. It only means that they have to fight themselves. This is not true. (Ephesians 6:12)
And the Bible's truth does not alter that sentiment. What it does acknowledge is the fact that we are all set up to bring woe on ourselves by our own choices and conduct. This world is geared to cater to human weaknesses. Temptations are everywhere.....guess who provides them?
Understanding the devil's agenda is vital......he doesn't care who you worship, as long as it isn't the true God Jehovah. He knows his fate, but he is like the Pied Piper leading as many down the path to death as he can.
Whether or not we become his victims is up to us and our own choices. We are either looking for the kind of worship that Jehovah accepts...or we will accept the counterfeits instituted by the devil to siphon off worship for himself. All worship, no matter how sincerely offered, if it is not in accord with Jehovah's exclusive worship, will go to the devil by default.
That is the truth as I understand it.
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Along with any supposed difficult questions goes the added knowledge that is also provided at this point in time.
All legitimate questions have answers. It just depends on who is asking them, and their motive in doing so.
If something hateful is published, motivated out of spite, then don't expect to hear the truth unless you have both sides of the story. The other side of the story may reveal more about why there is spite displayed by the protester in the first place.....
Those who judge on one side of a story might not like it if the one being judged that way was themselves. (Proverbs 18:17)
We all need to hear both sides of a story to get to the truth. If you have nothing to hide why should you fear what others say as if there are not liars and deluded troublemakers out there with nothing better to do?
I am amazed at the number of people who hang around the doorway of the place they have left waving placards and bawling into a loudspeaker.....boo hoo...its not fair!
It will apparently never be fair as they see it. So what is the intelligent and mature thing to do....?
Put on your big girl panties, and move on.....if you left the place for your own reasons, then leave and find another place to hang your hat. Take with you whoever wants to go and promote your new place and then invite all the other disgruntled people to hang out with you in your new abode. Shouldn't be too difficult.....right? They all hate what you hate.....birds of a feather and all that.....you all obviously think you know better, so why not start your own religion?
I wonder why we never see it......?
RedhorseWoman
Active Member
Along with any supposed difficult questions goes the added knowledge that is also provided at this point in time.
All legitimate questions have answers. It just depends on who is asking them, and their motive in doing so.
If something hateful is published, motivated out of spite, then don't expect to hear the truth unless you have both sides of the story. The other side of the story may reveal more about why there is spite displayed by the protester in the first place.....
Those who judge on one side of a story might not like it if the one being judged that way was themselves. (Proverbs 18:17)
We all need to hear both sides of a story to get to the truth. If you have nothing to hide why should you fear what others say as if there are not liars and deluded troublemakers out there with nothing better to do?
I am amazed at the number of people who hang around the doorway of the place they have left waving placards and bawling into a loudspeaker.....boo hoo...its not fair!
It will apparently never be fair as they see it. So what is the intelligent and mature thing to do....?
Put on your big girl panties, and move on.....if you left the place for your own reasons, then leave and find another place to hang your hat. Take with you whoever wants to go and promote your new place and then invite all the other disgruntled people to hang out with you in your new abode. Shouldn't be too difficult.....right? They all hate what you hate.....birds of a feather and all that.....you all obviously think you know better, so why not start your own religion?
I wonder why we never see it......?
JWs speak out about the failings of other religions and consider it an act of love. For some reason, however, they seem to fear anyone who speaks out about the failings of their religion. They just want those people to shut up and go away...even though those they fear and hate are also acting out of love. Double standards?
As the scriptures say, none will listen properly, and the world will be destroyed whilst rejecting us.
Zechariah 14:9 Yahweh will be King over all the earth. In that day Yahweh will be one, and his name one.
- In other words it is a universal name that unites the religions under a single Banner.
Revelation 19:12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has names written and a name written which no one knows but he himself.
Revelation 4:10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever, and throw their crowns before the throne, saying,
- Thus the crowns are given by the other 24 Elders, who are also found in Hindu texts as the different incarnations of the One God.
Revelation 3:12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar (Sandalphon) in the temple of my God, and he will go out from there no more. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God (Zion), the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name (Sananda).
Sandalphon (Judaism), Yeshua (new name of Christ = Sananda), Kalki/Skanda (Hinduism), Ahura Mazda + Saoshyant (Zoroastrianism - Zand = Exegesis), Maitreya (Buddhism - Ananda), Our Elohim Zion (Psalms 146:10, Psalms 147:12, Isaiah 52:7), etc.
- The name is found in each of the world's religions, and thus many crowns... Crown in Hebrew is also Zaniph (Isaiah 62:3, Zechariah 3:5).
Revelation 10:11 They told me, “You must prophesy again over many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”
- God is universal, not limited to one culture or language, as that is bigoted and racist...
Yahavah Elohim was given Israel, and other Elohim were given their own nations.
The idea people don't realize God (EL) is One, and Yahavah Elohim is the Archangel of Creation, is because of following the faulty interpretations of Judaism.
Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our Divine Being. Yahweh is one.
Elohim (H430) is plural of Eloh (H433) a Being made manifest by EL (H410)...
If we look at the Hebrew language of Isaiah 46:9, and Deuteronomy 32:7-9 we can see they've got the theology wrong... 'As El is not like the Elohim.'
The easiest way to understand this is El is like a CPU that manifests reality at a quantum level; Yahavah means Lord of Creation, and is an application made by the CPU to interact with reality.
Judaism has denied the God Most High (El Elyon) since the Babylonian Exile, and proclaimed Yahavah Elohim as God.
Yeshua tried to correct the Jews back to the father (Luke 1:32, Luke 6:35), as prophesied in Malachi 4:4-6, and in Malachi 1:6-9 Yahavah prays to EL, like Yeshua did (Matthew 27:46).
In my opinion.
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ajay0
Well-Known Member
I would say most religions all over the world have focussed on the values of peace, compassion, love and harmony without exception.
Every religion, including Christianity has its defects and lapses as shown in History. But this came about through the people involved who were not able to live up to the teachings.
They serve the agenda of peace and harmony and focus on the common denominators so as to promote the same.
If religion has come to foster divisiveness and and disharmony, then it is due to its coming under the hands of politicians with vested interests. Peace and harmony for them may be unacceptable, and chaos and strife would be more than welcome, as it ensures the sheep is compartmentalised into 'us' and 'them' properly, so as to be milked or butchered at will without fear of losing them.
I would say, it is Satan that would insist on exclusivity, so as to bring more strife, chaos and conflict.
There is an insightful saying by Mahatma Gandhi, " Satan's greatest successes are when he has the name of God on his lips."
See, satan is just a metaphor for the untamed or undisciplined mind. There is no such person or demon like that, and believing so can even bring one into trouble. I have noted in an earlier post of mine, of knowing of a Christian lady in my region who was unfortunately put in a mental hospital due to excessive paranoia and fear of Satan.
Imo, these are just the projections of an untamed mind and unbridled imagination.
There are indeed dimensions for a large boat recorded in Genesis I suppose you could consider evidence. Unfortunately the size is not sufficient for placing every species of animal and plant on board. Then you have the logistics of collecting the different species from all around the world that live in very different habitats. Then the not too insignificant problem of storage of the animals and feeding them. After that the lack of scientific evidence to support a worldwide flood. Why do you believe Genesis is a record of literal history?
It is my experience that for many, "religion" is actually an eggshell-thin veneer that gives those people a feeling of acceptance and community, but when their beliefs are challenged to the point of causing them discomfort, the shell is discarded and they become the opposite of what their faith teaches. This is when you see "religion" start tap-dancing to justify their ungodly behavior.
For "Christians" this is demonstrated starkly when those whose nations claim to be "Christian" declare war on a nation that also claims to be "Christian". During the two World Wars of the 1900's, the churches were complicit in sending their charges into battle with their own fellow "Christians". This of course, goes against everything that Jesus taught.
The apostle John wrote...."If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet is hating his brother, he is a liar. For the one who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And we have this commandment from him, that whoever loves God must also love his brother." (1 John 4:20-21)
And even when nations go to war with non-Christians nations, we see that Jesus' words tell the story...."You heard that it was said: ‘You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 However, I say to you: Continue to love your enemies and to pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may prove yourselves sons of your Father who is in the heavens, since he makes his sun rise on both the wicked and the good and makes it rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous." (Matthew 5:43-45)
True Christians have no enemies in that people may hate us, but we do not hate anyone and we would never raise a hand to take a human life just because our government told us to. The churches of Christendom have a lot to answer for. They are seen to be "friends of the world" rather than friends of Jesus Christ. (James 4:4)
This is true, but its not as if Christ taught that these defects and lapses are OK with him and his Father. The teachings themselves were not defective, rather it was the way Jesus' teachings were interpreted that gave men the audacity to bend the truth and disobey his direct commands. Unless there is repentance, there will be no forgiveness.
With one corner of their mouth, they praise the Prince of Peace, but with the other, serve the god of war. That is hypocrisy!
This hits the nail squarely on the head! This is the very reason why church and state are an ugly marriage. It is why Jesus taught us to be "no part of this world" because the political system, when they are under the control of their national religion's influence, are diametrically opposed to everything Jesus stood for.
Think of the nations that are influenced in this way.....Russia is under the control of the Russian Orthodox Church, America claims to serve Protestant Christian interests....Muslim countries are controlled by the Islamic faith....none of it ever leads to peace...it leads to control and violence and injustice. Any wonder that Jesus told us not to be any part of that.
Gandhi was a wise man. He also said to the British Viceroy......."When your country and mine shall get together on the teachings laid down by Christ in this Sermon on the Mount, we shall have solved the problems, not only of our countries but those of the whole world.”
So yes, we need to implement the things that Christ taught without justifying our way out of them due to putting other loyalties first.
People with mental health issues can become paranoid about monsters in the closet....they don't need satan as the object of their fear. I know paranoid people who thought the CIA was after them.....seriously.
If satan was not a real entity, then neither is Jesus Christ. The whole reason he came to earth was to undo the damage cause by this former angel who turned himself into a leader of demons.
"The one who practices sin originates with the Devil, because the Devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was made manifest, to break up the works of the Devil." (1 John 3:8)
How does Jesus break up the works of one who is a figment of our imagination?
We each have to come to our own conclusions about these things. Do you believe in angels? Jesus commands the whole army of them.
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The Bible doesn't say that every "species" was on board the ark. It says "kinds" which to me indicates that a basic "kind" of animal or bird would then upon release, become different "species" of that kind in time. Since God caused the flood and gave Noah his instructions, don't you think he knew how to preserve whatever DNA needed to be preserved to start again? You don't give him credit for much, do you? You seem to have a box that God must fit into created by what? The opinions of men? I'm sure that God finds that as amusing as I do.
Noah did not need to gather the animals...they were brought to him by God, who obviously chose the best specimens. Two of every "unclean" animal (those unsuitable for sacrifice) and seven of every "clean" animal. Three pairs for breeding and one for sacrifice, which Noah offered as soon as the flood had subsided and they were on dry land again.
You never seem to allow God to do what God does best....fulfill his own word by his own power. Is your God somehow inept and incapable of going against what mere humans have discovered in their brief time on earth? Is he restricted by what human scientists are able to discern about his creation in your view? Or is he somehow restricted by science's currently known restrictions?
Who says he has restrictions at all?"Scientific evidence"......is that what you think God needs to prove his existence or his activities? Why do you think Jesus said... “I publicly praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intellectual ones and have revealed them to young children." (Matthew 11:25)
Why would God hide things from "the wise and intellectual ones"...if it wasn't to humiliate them for relying on themselves to arrogantly deny his existence? He has revealed his truth to "young children"....those naive and uneducated....what a smack in the chops! The humiliation will be deserved IMO.
The Bible doesn't say that every "species" was on board the ark. It says "kinds" which to me indicates that a basic "kind" of animal or bird would then upon release, become different "species" of that kind in time. Since God caused the flood and gave Noah his instructions, don't you think he knew how to preserve whatever DNA needed to be preserved to start again? You don't give him credit for much, do you? You seem to have a box that God must fit into created by what? The opinions of men? I'm sure that God finds that as amusing as I do.
God never claims the story to be literal. Some Christian fundamentalists do of course.
To make the story literally true you now believe in evolution after all, but claim that much of it happened after the flood? Where's the evidence?
Noah did not need to gather the animals...they were brought to him by God, who obviously chose the best specimens. Two of every "unclean" animal (those unsuitable for sacrifice) and seven of every "clean" animal. Three pairs for breeding and one for sacrifice, which Noah offered as soon as the flood had subsided and they were on dry land again.
You never seem to allow God to do what God does best....fulfill his own word by his own power. Is your God somehow inept and incapable of going against what mere humans have discovered in their brief time on earth? Is he restricted by what human scientists are able to discern about his creation in your view? Or is he somehow restricted by science's currently known restrictions?
Then you have creatures migrating across land and sea to reach a common destination. Most species don't have that capacity for migration which would involve travelling across terrain and habitats that would not support life.
God is not inept. Man is inept for failing to use his God given intelligence to make sense of scripture.
"Scientific evidence"......is that what you think God needs to prove his existence or his activities? Why do you think Jesus said... “I publicly praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intellectual ones and have revealed them to young children." (Matthew 11:25)
Why would God hide things from "the wise and intellectual ones"...if it wasn't to humiliate them for relying on themselves to arrogantly deny his existence? He has revealed his truth to "young children"....those naive and uneducated....what a smack in the chops! The humiliation will be deserved IMO.
The scientific community almost unanimously rejects the beliefs and theories of the young earth creationalists.
Young Earth creationism directly contradicts the scientific consensus of the scientific community. A 2006 joint statement of InterAcademy Panel on International Issues (IAP) by 68 national and international science academies enumerated the scientific facts that young Earth creationism contradicts, in particular that the universe, the Earth, and life are billions of years old, that each has undergone continual change over those billions of years, and that life on Earth has evolved from a common primordial origin into the diverse forms observed in the fossil record and present today.[8] Evolutionary theory remains the only explanation that fully accounts for all the observations, measurements, data, and evidence discovered in the fields of biology, ecology, anatomy, physiology, zoology, paleontology, molecular biology, genetics, anthropology, and others.[49][50][51][52][53]
As such, young Earth creationism is dismissed by the academic and the scientific communities. One 1987 estimate found that "700 scientists ... (out of a total of 480,000 U.S. earth and life scientists) ... give credence to creation-science".[54] An expert in the evolution-creationism controversy, professor and author Brian Alters, states that "99.9 percent of scientists accept evolution".[55] A 1991 Gallup poll found that about 5 per cent of American scientists (including those with training outside biology) identified themselves as creationists.[56][57] For their part, Young Earth Creationists say that the lack of support for their beliefs by the scientific community is due to discrimination and censorship by professional science journals and professional science organizations. This viewpoint was explicitly rejected in the rulings from the 1981 United States District Court case McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education as no witness was able to produce any articles that had been refused publication and the judge could not conceive how "a loose knit group of independent thinkers in all the varied fields of science could, or would, so effectively censor new scientific thought".[9] A 1985 study also found that only 18 out of 135,000 submissions to scientific journals advocated creationism.
Young Earth creationism - Wikipedia
Let us consider God's directions in regards to the Ark.
Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
Genesis 6:14-16
It is not particularly detailed. I doubt if too many researchers in this area would believe that the technology to build such a massive ship existed and so would imagine many problems in regards to a vessel of this magnitude.
We don't know what the gopher wood actually is, and evidently there is just one mention of it in the bible. Pitch is the material used to water proof it.
Lets get our dimensions sorted out first.
Length - 300 cubits = 137.2 meters = 450 feet
Breadth - 50 cubits = 22.9 meters = 75 feet
Height - 30 cubits = 13.7 meters = 45 feet
If we calculated a square box with these dimension (which of course it couldn't possibly be): 1,518,750 square feet or 43,000 m3.
Here's an interesting comparison:
Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
Genesis 6:14-16
It is not particularly detailed. I doubt if too many researchers in this area would believe that the technology to build such a massive ship existed and so would imagine many problems in regards to a vessel of this magnitude.
We don't know what the gopher wood actually is, and evidently there is just one mention of it in the bible. Pitch is the material used to water proof it.
Lets get our dimensions sorted out first.
Length - 300 cubits = 137.2 meters = 450 feet
Breadth - 50 cubits = 22.9 meters = 75 feet
Height - 30 cubits = 13.7 meters = 45 feet
If we calculated a square box with these dimension (which of course it couldn't possibly be): 1,518,750 square feet or 43,000 m3.
Here's an interesting comparison:
The opinions of men? I'm sure that God finds that as amusing as I do.
Thus you would be saying a JW opinion on the Bible is also amusing to God, as it is only an opinion made by men, unless some of them have claimed a station of divinity for themselves?
Yes, God does indeed love laughter.
Regards Tony
The governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses teaches different precepts. You seem to believe that they are God 's representatives. Why not ask them?
For instance. Who are the superior authorities which God has placed in authority? If I picked up an old Watchtower or a new Watchtower, what would God' precept be about it?
JW's have no problem with adaptation creating a variety of species within a "kind" as the Bible says. Species, such as those seen by Darwin did not make them different kinds of birds, or iguanas or tortoises, but simply different species within these kinds. That is adaptation, not macro-evolution. There is no evidence that adaptation can take creatures outside of their taxonomic family.
The Bible is not specific about how God repopulated the earth with his creatures. It concentrates on the humans, not the animals.
You are leaving God out of the picture again. He created all these "kinds" of creatures in the first place. Are you going to tell him he cannot fulfill his own purpose in any way he chooses? How do you know what he did or didn't do? Were any of us there?
You forget that faith does not require proof......apparently, science doesn't either when it comes to macro-evolution. We all have the same evidence, yet we interpret it very differently.
When science disagrees with scripture, must we always defer to science? It's not my first port of call. I have no difficulty trusting God's word....why do you? He has no limitations and yet you imply that he does.
You seem to want to tell me what God can and cannot do, according to what science believes....God did give us intelligence but he also requires faith. Is faith trumped by science? Does God have to comply with what humans tell us, or can we rightly rely on God to tell us the truth as he had it written? Does making sense of scripture have to mean altering its meaning to suit our own sensibilities?
We have no prophets except those whose words are recorded in the Bible. However Jesus did appoint a "faithful and discreet slave" to "feed" his entire household their "food at the proper time". Similar to Jesus appointing Peter to "feed his sheep" in his absence. Since this "slave" is appointed by Jesus Christ, we must identify him and accept the food that he is serving. (Matthew 24:45) It is not served by any other.
God actually opposes those who think they know better than he does. Sort of a "he who laughs last" kind of thing.
It reminds me of Elijah's test of the Baal prophets when Israel was trying to incorporate Baal worship with Jehovah's worship. He asked the Israelites how long they would be limping on two different opinions? He told them that if Baal was the true god, then they should go and serve him....but if Jehovah was the true God then go and serve him. To help them decide, he put Baal and Jehovah to the test. Guess who failed to show up? (1 Kings 18:21-40)
No one was laughing at the end.
@Deeje prophet: a person regarded as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God.
It is mandatory for a person to be considered a Jehovah's Witness that they believe the "food" they are served is inspired of God.
It doesn't matter that you do not call them prophets. You treat them as prophets. And, you require other people to know them as prophets.
What is it called when someone teaches, "we do, but we don't"? Lying!
And, according to the Jehovah's Witnesses, a real prophet has said that liars will not inherit all the things that YOU say are reserved for YOUR kind.
It is mandatory for a person to be considered a Jehovah's Witness that they believe the "food" they are served is inspired of God.
It doesn't matter that you do not call them prophets. You treat them as prophets. And, you require other people to know them as prophets.
What is it called when someone teaches, "we do, but we don't"? Lying!
And, according to the Jehovah's Witnesses, a real prophet has said that liars will not inherit all the things that YOU say are reserved for YOUR kind.