I've been doing a lot of study into space, time, and life as we know it. I've got lots of questions and fewer answers, for instance, the Bible.....What the ****?? If there is a God and the Bible is true, then why is it that God had to make all of his statements during the "Biblical Times"?? I mean, for instance, parting the seas, the 10 Commandments, turning water into wine, Noah's Ark, the Virgin Mary, Being resurrected, etc. Weren't the people who witnessed all of this technically cheating?? I mean, a story is told, some people witness this, and then what? We are to believe mortals that wrote stuff down in a book some thousands of years ago? Then this day and age comes around and all we get is that the Virgin Mary is trying to prove her existence on a half eaten piece of grilled cheese?? Where's the ******* parting of the seas, or the dead coming alive, or it raining for 40 days and 40 nights for us?? Tell me this, if I was to tell you that God had told me a whole new set of rules for this day and age, listed in a whole new text of commandments, how quickly would I be thrown into a straight jacket and tossed into a padded room?? Think about it, why can one person believe all of the almost inhuman stories of the Bible, but not believe in magick, or magicians, or even ghosts? After all, was there not a Spirit and Holy Ghost mentioned in the Bible as the creator of all? If God created us all equal, then why do some in the early years of life, already get cancer, or are mentally handicapped, or suffer from other diseases? If you ask me, just me being able to walk, already makes me less equal to someone stuck in a wheelchair! I'm not saying I'm a better person, BUT, I do have more capabilities than them, it's not fair, and for the children that die young, most would say, "Well they're going to Heaven" WHY?? Because they didn't have enough time to sever one of the commandments?? So if I live to be 100 years old, with many chances of possibly discouraging one of these "carved in stone" rules, and I end up, lets say, not honoring thy neighbor for instance, I go to Hell?? But a child gets to go to Heaven because he really hasn't had a chance to see the "Ugly" in the world? That's not quite fair to those who were blessed with this long life, witnessing Greed, Anger, Hate, Blasphemy, 10,000 different religions, and fights between who is wrong or right, War, Theft, Poverty, Bankruptcy, Bigotry, Disease, Murder, Illness, Loneliness, Evil, Rape, Incest, Pedophiles, Corruption, Mind Control, Government, Power Hunger, Arthritis, Anxiety, Stress, Unemployment and Exhaustion! If Heaven is the ultimate in happiness, and God is so perfect, why, when he says we are all equal, did he not make us all live to the same age and make us ALL equal? Therefore, the "Big Test" would fit all categories! What about all the other beliefs? What about Muslims, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Wiccan’s, Islam’s, Catholics, Christians, Protestants, etc. Who is right? Are all the wrong ones going to Hell?? I wouldn't exactly say that's right, and YES, I will be the one to stand forth in front of God, and ask him all of this, if, in fact, he really does exist. For a God who says, "Don't question me, for I am your Lord" made one GIGANTIC Boo-boo, he made us one of the most curious, and "Having to know" life forms known to man, for an entity so perfect as described in the Bible, how could he make such a mistake? Now lets go back to a human, which of course, are the ones who wrote the Bible by only hearing what was to be put into it. If I told you that I was a magician, but my only power was to turn an egg into a living bird, and I said, "Don't question me, for I am a magician" everyone would laugh and try their damnest to find the answer to how I did this!! WOW! I turned an egg into a living creature!! But then, you look into a giant book considered non-fiction, or true, and read about Moses parting the seas, Noah building an ark so ******* big is can hold two of every living thing, about how it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, about Jesus getting nailed to a cross and then died and then got resurrected, about Sodom and Gomorrah and the pillar of salt that was once a woman who got to curious and looked back at the burning city, you will read this and say, "Wow, this must have happened, because it's based on real places in the world!!" THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!!! According to all religions, what is written in their book of worship, really happened, but I'd hate to break it to you all, either one of those things happened, or NONE OF IT happened, because if they all happened, then we would have over 100 Gods and Goddesses, the Wiccan’s and Greeks alone have numerous Gods and Goddesses, and yet again, they have their stories, did it ever make you wonder if some people, just like today, just felt like sitting down and writing the "Ultimate Story" and just used things that they witnessed with a little added feature of their own imaginations to make the story better? For instance, Sodom and Gomorrah, we had a city, built of rock, the Bible describes this city as the burning city, "Fire falling from the skies" to rid the area of incest, rape, etc. Did you know that the cities were built on top of one of the many troubling tectonic plates beneath the surface of the Earth, did you know that when these plates hit just right, or get unstuck from one another an Earthquake is normally the result of this? It's also proven that pockets of gases are released when a strong enough Earthquake hits, and well an Earthquake hitting these cities, plus a release of gases coming in contact with a torch that may be lit in the city, would cause buildings to crash, explosions so enormous that burning objects would fly up into the sky and come crashing back down onto the city, and cause the death of many people. For others looking on, it would seem as if fire is falling from the Heavens, and therefore, it's written down and documented. it's things like these that people will be so quick to say, "There is a God, and Jesus Christ is my savior" all because a book says so! Well there were also other documentations made during these days, Serpents, Dragons, Monsters of the Seas, Aliens, etc. So why have we found skeletal remains of creatures that lived some millions and millions of years ago, but there are no remains of a Serpent or dragon that was documented during the Biblical times? Why do we only find the cities the Bible talks about, or bones of ancient Egyptians that were mentioned in there? It's easy to be mentioned in a book if you were known to a lot of people, and a city is even easier to document, if King Tut was so great and got a beautiful resting place with jewelry and gold laid upon him, then why didn't Jesus get something like this? Why can't we at least find his bones?? Since the Bible says it's the spirit that lives on, and we simply leave behind our shells, then Jesus also should have left behind his shell, where is it?? One of the greatest people EVER, and we don't even have a piece of clothing?? How do people claim theirs vials of Jesus' Blood? If his whole body disappeared spiritually, then his blood too, would have vanished right? Noah’s Ark, some claim they found wood way up in the mountains that could have very well been Noah's Ark.....Well that's awesome, but why did we only hear about it for a day, and then nothing?? I sit here, I watch the news endlessly, just waiting for these ground breaking stories to emerge, to help me believe, to prove that there is something beyond life, beyond the galaxy and even beyond the universe, but yet, nothing. Not a damn thing! Wouldn't something like Noah's Ark be a little more fascinating than a whole days worth of news?? Damn man, an 18 year old has sex with a 15 year old, and we hear about both people in depth, when their cases are, how they are convicted, the only thing missing is their shoe size! It goes on for days, sometimes weeks!! But Noah's Ark only gets a DAY??!!! Well, IF they did find this wood up there, high in the mountains, it could have also been from the lands crushing together in time, after all, most of the largest mountains are nothing more than two huge bodies of land crushing into each other with such immense force, that the only way the land has to go, is up! That would be the reasons they found fossils at the highest peaks of the mountains that belong to sea life, because that land that reaches to the heavens was once underwater, DEEP underwater! So if you think about it, a boat that has sunk a long long time ago, could very well end up at the tops of these mountains! On another note, if our galaxy is just a speck, among millions and millions of other galaxies, who's to say there is not life in some of them? If there is, then why did God decide to plant Jesus in one of our people? Are the rest of the worlds stuck in life of blindness? I wouldn't say it's quite fair to them that we got the only cheat sheet to existence after life, and do they Go to Hell because they don't know the possible truth? Could you even imagine, if there is life on other planets, the amount of OTHER religions there are on just one of those planets?? And once again, whose to say they don't have their own bible that's possibly ONLY dedicated to cannibalism because their God said that it's the right thing to do, and who witnessed all of those sayings from their God? The Mayan's on Earth believed that the Gods or God fed off of the blood of sacrifice, hardly something we would believe is true in this day and age, but surely they had some sort of reason to believe this, who witnessed that this was the right thing to do? Why was it the right thing to do if it was in fact true? Why did the blood not rise up to the Heaven's when the sacrifices took place and why did the Mayan's not question this and see that the only place it went was through the open pores of the planet representing that technically Hell was engulfing the dead remnants? Everywhere from the Mayan's to the Christians to the Indians, someone, somewhere supposedly witnessed something of great power, and every one of them wrote it down, and whoever came after was told these stories, all the way up to this day and age, now we are stuck, stuck with many different stories from many different regions, and all of them have a different tale to tell, some believe in one Almighty, while many others believe in many that share the same decisions of fate. So how does one person tell another that they are wrong? Are they that self minded that no one else can have an opinion of their own? If I believe in Pro-choice, and someone else believes in Pro-life, who are they to tell me I am wrong, and who am I to tell them I am right? If killing a baby is bad, then why is it ok to kill a human in war?? Because they are going to kill us if we don't kill them?? Well according to the Bible, Killing is killing whether it's done for duty, profit or fun! So who is anyone to say one person is right and one person is wrong, this planet has grown up on many things, one is killing, in the old years, it was done for power over all, at one time, it was the main source to keep certain nationalities strong, to live on as the King or Queen of whatever, for wealth and to become Gods of everyone else. Today, countries will say they are doing it for protection, but just like the Bible, we only believe what we are told, could it be that our Government is really just using our people to fight in these wars because they are simply nervous of another country becoming a little more powerful than us?? I would say it's very possible, but yet, we need to kill other innocent people to keep this rank? Well if we are the most powerful, and everyone under us is less powerful, I don't really see the less powerful people really bitching about it, the only ones having a tantrum is their governments, but the normal people, like the majority of us, seem to be living their lives just fine! Now obviously people like Osama Bin Laden gave our government a reason to attack, BUT, they say they attacked us first due to what their God told them to do! We laugh in his face and would feed him a bullet if we could, but think just for a second at what we are laughing at as we pull that trigger, we are laughing at a person who claims that his God told him to do this, isn't this kind of the same thing as laughing at the human voice reading off the Ten Commandments, or the story passed on to others that they better follow onto an ark because a great flood is about to happen? I mean in the Bible, God sacrificed His ONLY SON!!! So technically, what is so insane about a God telling someone else to kill multiple people that don't agree with his faith? If you can have your own son sacrificed, you can have anyone sacrificed. And don't say that it was done for the forgiveness of our sins, why be so difficult? If Jesus died for our sins, and it cost God his ONLY son to do this, and then we are born into sin anyway, why didn't God just make it simple?? HE IS GOD AFTER ALL! He didn't have to do all that, he could have had his son grow on and get old and live happy and simply snap his fingers and say, "And with this snap of my fingers I say, LET THERE BE FORGIVENESS FOR SIN" and POOF it happens! Why be so complex? Because he can?? Didn't he complete this already when he created the universe? Did he really have to get so specific and in depth that he pin pointed our little speck of dust we call Earth and add more to the pot of confusion? I don't think so, but I am just like anyone else, born with questions that burn so fierce that with every year that ages me also adds a little more fuel to my need for an answer. I'm not a scientist, and I surely would not jump right to evolution, after all, if evolution is real and we never stop evolving, then why are there not half monkey half men running around, why are there monkeys and then there are humans? Shouldn't every cycle be bumping into each other, or did the monkeys just decide some million years ago that they wanted to stop evolving, and then told the humans that were already evolved that they were on their own? Why is it that the oldest human being that has been found, is still pretty damn close to what we look like today? I may be wrong with that analogy, but damn it, at least I'm poking a stick at it, rather than walking around blind in my existence with two words and ONLY two words sitting in my head, "What if"!! I need to know, and I will either find out, or go insane trying. I can understand why Albert Einstein went nuts, I'm sure he overloaded his mind, for a mind so great as his, to somehow come up with the correct equation that Energy is in fact equal to mass times the speed of light and then multiplied again by the speed of light, is so outstandingly awesome, that it would be understandable that he was overloading, and then there's me, surely no Einstein, with all of this in my head, more confusion than anything, but yet knowledgeable to be able to question "why" it would be understandable that I too, someday, will break. All of us have one major thing in common, Hope. Hope that our faith IS right, that there is something beyond, why can't we all just look up in the skies, the stars, the Heavens and simply just say, I believe in A God, not a certain one, but simply, THE ONE? The sad thing is, there are more things unraveling faith and proving that the Big Bang was true, than there are proving the Bible correct, if God wants us to know he exists, as so badly as he did in Biblical times, I think he might want to maybe show his face more than in just a set of clouds that I can also see a bunny rabbit, or a dragon, or a flower in, maybe the Virgin Mary, would like to show herself on more than a half chewed piece of grilled cheese sandwich, or on a reflecting window that got a little dirty, maybe Jesus would like to show himself more on something else rather than a piece of wood cut from a tree, or in a sun spot in a persons poorly developed film, maybe it's about time someone, or something, just simply says, "I exist, look at me, hear me, love me, for I am your creator, and I will lead you to eternal bliss."
These are all my own words, through nature, happiness, sadness, loss of loved ones, wealth, poverty and confusion, life itself has inspired me to write these words, I do not think any ONE religion is wrong and I will never tell someone that my beliefs are right, maybe other people should start respecting everyone else in their faiths as well.
To all religious and non-religious?
Amazing...I read the whole thing, and I have to agree with you, though I'm not quite sure what to say. You've basically said what's on everybody's minds, but to proud to say it. The christians deny the absence of god, the atheists deny the existence of god, and everybody denies the other being right. I guess we're all stuck in denial then.
Reply:Just go back through your original; I see that you have many questions, but do this a bit a time. Start with about 3 or 4 questions and I will respond. BTW, certain books are going to come out before long that will explain all about that hocus-pocus stuff. Report It
Reply:contact me for discussions on this at "truthorator@yahoo.com Report It
Reply:Sometimes it is the simple miracles that give you the strength to keep believing in a God we can't see but can definitely feel. Report It
Reply:I've read most of this and I think you are right, we have a lot of similar thoughts. It's not as much of a question as a reflection of your thoughts at the time. Religion is a matter of personal opinion. People have the right to believe what they want. If you as a Christian this I've found many times they say it's because we have "faith".. yeah... People should respect everyone and every ones faith but sadly people are too brainwashed and ignorant.
And I did not notice a sentence where he insulted "God." He merely has legitimate questions and thoughts. What kind of belief is it if you can't question it? If it is true it will have great supporting evidence.
Reply:Wow talk about long. I cant believe I just read all of that. You had some great points there! Many people are not as opened as you were.
Reply:Is there a question in there? I see "Were the people who witnessed this cheating?" No, they weren't cheating.
Reply:I'm sure there MUST be a question in there someplace but ... sorry you used up too much of my time to get a better answer... I only allot a specific amount of time to each question and after reading your question there is no time left to think about an answer...
Joseph Smith WAS tarred and feathered for being called as a Prophet...
For the rest.. you should read the Bible, ponder what you think it means, and PRAY to KNOW if your meaning is correct...
God still talks to his Prophet today.
Reply:I can't answer all that but check it out: http://www.near-death.com/experiences/re... and http://www.clarifyingchristianity.com/b_...
To answer a few God is still talking to people everyday but not with a loud thundering voice all the time like he used to because when he did that to the Hebrews they were terrified of him. He doesn't want us to fear him in that way, but he wants us to draw close to him and love him. He does all kinds of miracles all the time. A man close to where I live has a picture of a huge cloud shaped just like a man with a beard and everything wearing robes with his hand stretched out keeping a tree from falling on his house! (http://bibleprobe.com/miracles.htm)
Please check out all the different parts of these websites and I promise if you read them with an open mind you'll find just about all the answers to your questions!
Reply:Maybe you need to start looking into Bible prophecy. There are alot of things that already have come true that the Bible said eould. but you have to read alot about it and find some shows on tv about it so you can understand it better. I believe because I have faith and the prophesies really made my faith stronger. For instance it says in the Bible that in the end times we are going to have lots of knowledge, for me that would be the internet, or that we will have to have the number of the beast to buy or sell, that probably be the chips that they implant under your skin with all your info on it, or how the Jews will be persecuted until jesus comes back, they have beeb and continue to be. Or how alot of countries are going to come against Israe in the last days well Russia, Turkey and some other ones are already making plans for this and it says their names right in the Bible, They arent the exact names, but their location and name in the Bible coincides with where Russia and Turkey are now. Just things like these will help you understand prophesy if you read books about it and watch shows.
Reply:one question at a time, man.
About the eqaulity question. You might notice a man in a wheel chair, a woman with a handicapped hand or any other thing which makes us different from one another, but there's one way in this universe in which all men are created equal - and that is in the face of justice or judgement. For example in any honorable place of justice, your color does not matter, you handicappness is not heeded, nor does your lack of ability pardoned. In the face of justice or in a court all men are judged equally, they are not looked upon with a sneer because they are illitrates, but they are pardoned like any other person would. Also in the face of God all men are created aqual, for example Saul was a terrible persecuter, but God saved him despite his sins, Moses wasn't a smooth talker and had commited murder but God chose him without hesitation to lead the Isralites out of Egypt. He views the poor as he views the rich, He views the sinful as He views the saved, He loves all of them with equality.
Also it is not force to accept the words of the bible. You can choose to believe it and obey it or reject it. The bible has changed over the years therefore some of the information are not always accurate. Also it is faith- an unbelievable amount of faith, that makes people believe in Jesus. Some come to believe "mortals who lived thousands of years ago" through miracles. They have seen the hands of the Lord in their lives, they have been healed from a terrible disease or they have the insight to do so. When God made us he gave each and every one us a will- to reject or accept. But beware the luxuries road and questions would not lead you anywhere. You need faith, which can be granted through prayer. The power to accept with credubilty.
Also everything done in this world has a punishment or a reward. The punishment is hell after death. No one escapes a bad deed eventually it'll be brought to justice. If a child goes to heaven when it's born because it didn't get to see the ugly in the world or to fight it, the child deserves to go to heaven. It was deprived of the good things she/he could have gotten on Earth, further more it was whipped away by death which would bring sorrow to the baby's relatives. the relatives would feel better knowing that despite the tragedy their child is not suffering.
The rest will be answered later.
Reply:ya...like I'm gonna read that.
Reply:wooow i couldnt really read all what u wrote
but can i ask u ..about what do u believe??
me my self i believe in one god the god who made us all
(allah) and jesus is a prophet (pbah) and also mohammad
and 4 the bibble it has been changed ...nothing is right
or make any sense in it...thats my believe!!
Reply:TOO LONG!
Reply:I'm gonna save this for the next time I need reading material for a good long s***
Reply:Are we supposed to read all this????
Come on man you could at least have made a drawing!!!
Reply:you seem very angry..i think you should calm down shuga.
Reply:Omg, I read MOST of your question, but I couldn't make it through the whole thing.
Here's what I have to say:
Firstly, in the Old Testament, there comes a time when God says He will no longer talk to us as he did Noah, and stuff. So that is why these things don't happen today.
Secondly, God does not HAVE to show his face to make us believe...that is what FAITH is.
Thirdly, This may not be very Christian of me, but I like to think that all or (most) religions are right. I don't think it matters so much following each specific rule that was set for us as long as we follow the rules we set for ourselves. If Muslims believe what they believe, they must follow it. Same goes for Buddhists, Christians, Jews, etc. The Bible is open to interpretation, and I think that's why. And it says that we will be judged based on how we judge others. So if we are forgiving, then God will forgive us. (obviously, not all religions believe in the Bible, but most have some text they follow).
Btw, if we break one commandment, or all of them, we are not necessarily going to Hell, because that is why Jesus came and died for us.
I also think that even if the Bible wasn't true, and God didn't exist, there is still valuable information to follow. All that it wants is for us to love each other. To treat others as we would want to be treated. Is that so hard? Is that wrong? So even without God it would be a good rule to follow. If we all did that, there would be no pain or suffering and the world would be at peace.
And something you must not know...there are many many religions out there, and yet they ALL have similar stories...I'll take an example off the top of my head...Christians believe in Adam and Eve and Eve ate the apple so then they were punished. In mythology (Greek/Roman) Pandora opened the box, and all that remained was hope. There is more to the stories than that, but they are similar. Pandora was the first woman, made as a gift to a man, maybe Prometheus? I dunno. Anyway, many religions have a similar story to Adam and Eve. So at the very least, it makes me think that there is SOME truth out there, some higher power, and I choose to believe its God, but other people could see it differently.
Oh, and God gave us Free Will!!! That answers many of your comments. He wanted us to come to Him on our own; He didn't want to MAKE us love Him. Haven't you seen Bruce Almighty? He couldn't force his woman to love him, she had to love him on her own, and that's how it is with God. What joy would it bring Him to know we only loved Him because He made us? Wouldn't it be more fulfilling to have us love Him on our own?
And Osama Bin Laden is using Islam as an excuse; he's hiding behind religion. I am not Muslim, but I have studied a little Islam, and Jihad or whatever is not what Osama made it to be. His god does not believe in killing us, or whatever, he is just using it as an excuse, and I think that most Muslims would agree that what he said isn't the truth of Islam.
At least you are showing interest...I think thoughts similar to these all the time...but mostly like "Who created God?" "Is it really forever?" etc. I went through a phase in my life where I questioned religion and I came to Christianity on my own. I was almost a Druid! There are some very interesting theories in Druidry. However, at some point, I just KNEW. And at least I can say I came to it on my own rather than just believing what I was told to believe. Books really helped out and you should really read "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya. It changed me. It is about all the different religions and I really think it would provide insight to your rambling thoughts. At the conclusion of that book, I had decided that each person has their own religion, because no matter what religion we belong to, we are not going to agree with every aspect of it. And I also thought that there is no "wrong" answer.
Reply:Ok that's way too long to read, sorry!
Reply:This is soo ******** unfair!!
Why do you get to post such long questions but Yahoo won't let me!?
Reply:Don't listen to the ones whining that its too long. (wah!) I have an attention span larger than a garden snail, I read your whole rant, and I liked it! I understand your frustration, and the one piece of advice I have for you is that you're definitely not cut out to be a xtian. That religion requires - no demands, blind faith. Once you hit a certain IQ level blind faith just isn't possible. This is the crux of your whole problem, but it doesn't mean you should stop seeking.
I have a book recommendation for you if you're interested. The title is "Taking The Quantum Leap" the author is Fred Alan Wolfe. You can find it on Amazon. I think you're more than sufficiently intelligent to both read and understand its implications. It recommends no specific religion, but shows how science is slowly coming to the conclusion that there is more here than meets the eye.
I'm also a seeker. Good luck to you.
Reply:Dude, you should look into Yahoo 360, because that's where this sort of long-winded rant belongs. This site is for questions and answers. What's your question?
Reply:Its a good thing to have thoughts on the Bible. But this question could take all night. Way too much info. Perhaps you could trim this down so the common folk could say a word or two.
I Cr 13;8a
Reply:Wow...
Christianity isn't the only religion, you know.
Have you studied the Qur'an?
And just so you know, most of the "muslims" who consider Osama bin Laden a Muslim are there with him in his cave.
Reply:the
paragraph
is
your
friend!
Reply:Really Long!!!!
Reply:*gasp*I'm sorry but it is too long too read. I almost would have read it. But by skimming through it sounds like you are insulting christians. And even worse,IT SOUNDS LIKE U R INSULTING GOD TOO!!!!!!!!!!!
tisk tisk tisk!
shame shame shame!
Reply:um yeah to long
Reply:Exactly!!!!!!!!! I normally don't read long posts like this, but I couldn't stop reading.
Reply:All religion is based on faith. To understand religion one must define faith: Faith is an ability. It's the ability to believe something without the need of a rational reason. All of your points are reasonable. But they are coming up against the impenetrable wall of faith. In other words you are engaged in
"An exercise in futility" !
Reply:Yea, to long. Isn't gonna happen bud.
Reply:I read it and this is great.. I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this it's almost asking the meaning of life on a message board. I share most of the same questions you bring up. I'd like to add when Christians do try and answer some of these questions they almost always end up saying because the bible told me so. Blind faith in a book that is full of con-traditions and inaccuracies in translation the use of vague parables is dangerous at the least. If Jesus is the Shepard then the flock is truly mindless sheep. It's really not the Christians fault entirely they are force fed the dogma from childhood. I would just challenge Christians to open their eye and become educated on what they believe and what the true historical evidence is.
Reply:Theres no more room left to answer
God Bless You
Reply:Jehovah's Witnesses have the true religion. They are Christian (of course), but they are unique for their rejection of paganisms, use of God's personal name, and global preaching by every active adherent. No other religious organization can claim such purity of worship.
These facts about Jehovah's Witnesses are perhaps relevant to this question. The more one compares this Christian religion with others, the more remarkable it is shown to be.
1. Jehovah's Witnesses have no paid clergy. Yet they remain tightly organized with more than 6.5 million active Jehovah's Witness preachers (about 16 million associate themselves with the religion). Even fulltime preachers and workers at their branch offices are unpaid volunteers.
2. There is no elite class among Jehovah's Witnesses. Even the few 'anointed' among them enjoy no special privileges in their congregations on earth. An anointed person (one of those relative few with a heavenly hope) is not elevated above his fellow congregants in any way, and he may not even qualify for appointment as a simple 'deacon' or elder. There are no titles; EVERYONE is addressed as 'brother' or 'sister'.
3. No person benefits economically from the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. Even the 8 to 20 men who serve on their Governing Body receive simply room, board, medical care, and reimbursement for certain personal expenses according to the exact same provision as every other branch volunteer.
4. About a hundred men have served on Jehovah's Witnesses' Governing Body committee during the past 125 years or so. The vast majority of them have spent the vast majority of their adult lives volunteering for their organization's purposes, and the vast majority have died faithfully and near-pennilessly while still under their legal 'vow of poverty'.
5. Amazingly, Jehovah's Witnesses did not splinter as a sect from some other religion. Instead, a truly tiny but sincere group of bible students studied only the Scriptures to determine the will of God. Thus their religion remains absolutely independent of and not carrying the sins of Christendom's history, yet carries the authority of Christ's teachings.
6. Despite the distortions of anti-Witnesses, throughout their modern history Jehovah's Witnesses have refused to claim divine inspiration or infallibility for their teachings. They have pointed to the bible (and not any particular translation) as the only inspired infallible means of knowing God's thoughts. For over 125 years, their teachings have been presented as merely the results of sincere bible research by imperfect but godly humans.
Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/jt/article_07.ht...
http://watchtower.org/e/20040601/article...
http://jw-media.org/people/who.htm
http://jw-media.org/people/statistics.ht...
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