How can you know someone's Belief right or wrong?

[theMadJW]

Scriptures or Church Dogma instead?

[PaulS]

On 11/30/2021 at 6:04 AM, theMadJW said:

Scriptures or Church Dogma instead?

The issue I (and many Progressive Christians) have with 'scripture', is that we now know that a lot of it has been written by people falsely claiming to be somebody they weren't, that scribes have altered texts throughout the ages, and that many texts are open to all sorts of interpretation.  There are huge question marks concerning a lot of  scripture and even whether Jesus or others actually did do things aor say things represented in scripture.

That's not saying nothing can be gained or enjoyed by reading scripture, just that to me the choice isn't as stark as 'scripture or dogma'. I think in any religion, even Jehovah Witnesses, dogma plays a part in how those groups form their beliefs and understanding.

[theMadJW]

I'm not your typical JW.

I did (am am doing) a LOT of research on the Bible.

There have been attempts to change it (discovered by comparing manuscripts thru the different ages), and no one KNOWS who wrote many books.

Yet, the Bible is sound- both historically and scientifically (except when comparing it to THEORIES),

Therefore, if people believe it (as I do) they should LISTEN to (especially) Jesus. 

Churchianity REFUSES to! 

[PaulS]

11 hours ago, theMadJW said:

I'm not your typical JW.

I did (am am doing) a LOT of research on the Bible.

There have been attempts to change it (discovered by comparing manuscripts thru the different ages), and no one KNOWS who wrote many books.

Yet, the Bible is sound- both historically and scientifically (except when comparing it to THEORIES),

Therefore, if people believe it (as I do) they should LISTEN to (especially) Jesus. 

Churchianity REFUSES to! 

I am sure you are convinced that people should believe the bible as you do - most Christians are.  But noticeably of course, many Christians disagree on what that 'belief' entails.  It seems 'Churchianity' to you is just that other Christians don't believe the same as you - You're right and they're wrong.  That's a pretty common position amongst Christians from what I can see.

There is a lot of information throughout our archives and previous threads here about biblical research and what biblical scholarship can show us.  I hope you enjoy your research. I personally find, still to this day, it amazing about how much I 'knew' to be true about Jesus/God/Christianity is actually up for debate.  My only recommendation for you would be to relax your certainty when researching.  If you are open to understanding biblical scholarship, you may find out many different things that you are presently convinced you know.

Whatever the case, enjoy the ride.

[romansh]

16 hours ago, theMadJW said:

Yet, the Bible is sound- both historically and scientifically (except when comparing it to THEORIES)

When you use the word "theories", are using it in the vernacular .... ie idle speculation, thoughts, hypotheses, etc or more in a scientific sense where theories are predictive descriptions of phenomena that have many decades or even a couple of centuries of corroborative observation and evidence to support the theory?

I'm just asking to get a sense of how serious your study is.

 

[theMadJW]

Paul, I ALWAYS put my belief to the test, and I can PROVE what the Bible says- NOT Churchianity (the main church groups).

Roman, do you REALLY believe dinos became BIRDS? 

[romansh]

9 hours ago, theMadJW said:

Roman, do you REALLY believe dinos became BIRDS? 

If by "became" you mean certain reptile like creatures evolved over hundred million years or so into birds ... then yes.

The fossil record is concomitant with this belief ... is it not?

Do you really believe the Earth is only six to ten thousand years old?

[theMadJW]

It is not.

The Earth's Creative Days were unspecified.

[romansh]

23 minutes ago, theMadJW said:

It is not.

It is not what?

The few Witness's I have spoken to, have insisted on a young Earth. Are they mistaken?

Are you saying you don't know how old the Earth is and don't have an opinion regardless of the mountain of scientific evidence?

[PaulS]

14 hours ago, theMadJW said:

Paul, I ALWAYS put my belief to the test, and I can PROVE what the Bible says- NOT Churchianity (the main church groups).

I'm sure you are convinced you 'test' your beliefs, but having experienced fundamental Christianity myself, I now understand such tests are usually not held to the standard of what most would regard as empirical evidence.  That's fine if it's just for you, and I wish you all the best, but it is my observation and real life experience (with myself and other Christians) that such 'testing' is usually really opinion and belief.

So you can prove what the Bible says?  What, every single sentence?  Can you prove God created man from mud?  Can you prove that Noah's Ark existed?  How can you prove the things Jesus is attributed as saying? Can you prove the name of a single eye witness to Jesus' life? Obviously the list could go on and on.  And this is way before we even look at the trickier aspects concerning what's true about any messages or meaning.  I think that we have a different understanding when it comes to 'proving' things.

[theMadJW]

To one with an open mind. Not you.

[PaulS]

1 hour ago, theMadJW said:

To one with an open mind. Not you.

So you say you can prove these things, but you're not going to?  I'm not sure that helps the discussion much.  I'm not sure why your are posting these claims but then not prepared to properly discuss them.  Do you just want to come here and tell people how right you are, or do you want to actually discuss things?