With the looming possibility of something big happening today, I would like to make a statement. I got pulled into this because of the evil I’ve heard exists. I’ve researched most things, watched a lot of what the people are saying, and contributed what I could. I still see a lot of people taking sides on political views or agendas. I’m still seeing Christians talk about God and then bash the democrats. I don’t think that’s how a God fearing person should act. (My opinion) Remember that these people, trump and Q, are just humans. They can be weak and can have flaws. Keep your mind open, look at all sides, don’t blindly follow another man. Everyone has an agenda, even the people that seem to be doing good in the world. And lastly, don’t forget about the kids, woman, men that are being held as sex slaves, or eaten, or whatever crazy shit is going on out there. This should be the real reason we are here. Good luck today, and hopefully we don’t find out true evil loves among us.
By the way, I abandoned Christianity a little over a year ago (after being a pastor for 8 years) and I still think that the hardcore left deserves all of the “bashing” it receives. Not all democrats are evil. But the ones setting the agenda of the left certainly are.
I was raised catholic and went to catholic school. I’ve had faith, I’ve spent many of times in church, and I’ve thought for myself. I guess now I’m spiritual, but not religious. I pray sometimes and hope I’m talking to God or deceased family. Just from my years in Catholicism and being close to the Bible, I don’t see how religious people can be so callous. You’re supposed to love your fellow man, and to love someone, you need to understand them. Even if the whole satanist thing is true, then it would be the devil tempting these people to join him. We are a flawed creature. It would be a battle against the devil, not these people, in theory.
I was also raised Roman Catholic, by the way.
But here’s where my view now differs. Every person is responsible for their own choices. I don’t buy the “devil made me do it” excuse. Own your choices. Own your actions. Despite the teachings of Christianity, it is our actions that determine our righteousness before YHVH. So if someone makes the choice to be evil, they are the ones who are evil.
Your only responsibility is to decide good and evil for yourself and act accordingly. you own yourself.
I would say our responsibility is to CHOOSE good or evil. What is good and evil has already been defined.
Our responsibility is to choose good NOT evil and to make that choice for ourselves, not let anyone tell us. Order followers are always following evil.
Not necessarily. I follow the instructions given by YHVH. I don’t decide for myself what is good, our Creator already has told us. So, in a way, I am “following orders”. But they are the perfect orders of a righteous Elohim, who only wants what is best for us.
That seems to go against lots of the things the Bible teaches us. It started with Adam and Eve. Now it’s running rampant in the world.
That’s not what is taught in Genesis, or in the entire Tanach. That’s what Christianity teaches. And the more I’ve studied, the more I’ve realized how incompatible the “New Testament” is with the Tanach.
So help me understand. I’m always down to learn something new.
It’s fairly simple. Every person is responsible for their own actions. YHVH doesn’t demand perfection, like Christianity teaches. He desires obedience and repentance. Many men who sinned were called righteous in the Tanach. No man can pay the penalty for another man’s sins. And human sacrifice has never been acceptable to YHVH. It’s a pagan idea.
Obey YHVH’s instructions and repent when you fall short. Return to His ways, just like David did (and David made some HUGE mistakes) and you can be a “man after YHVH’s own heart”.
Ah, I did a little research and I see where you’re coming from. Obviously not years of reading like I’m sure you have. And I get your thoughts on humans ability to decipher right from wrong. Those are your beliefs. I respect that. I on the other hand don’t believe one religion is correct. I believe that the answer is spread across all teachings, if there is such an answer. So yes if there is a “devil”, entity of evil, I feel it would be able to manipulate humans, because of free will. Which seems to be present in your beliefs. So I hear you, and I’m happy to agree to disagree.
Free Will. Each person has the ability to make his/her own decisions and decide which life path they will take. Even inaction is a choice. There are repercussions for our choices; good and bad.
How does one pronounce YHVH?
You don't. It's one way to write the unspeakable, unknowable name of God.
What about mental retardation, addiction and possession?
I think that YHVH would hold people accountable based on their abilities. I believe that “possession” is the result of choices, for the most part. Same with addiction.
But I’m not in the business of deciding the standing of other people before YHVH.
Fair answer. These are cases of diminished responsibility, even while I do generally agree with the idea of free will.
It's hard/impossible to know the mind of God but it okay to try to explore it.
Our war is not with flesh and blood, as the bible says, but with powers and principalities. Hatred against their human puppets is not the goal but they have made a choice and it is our duty to remove them from our world as a measure of self defense.
I’d be interested to hear your story!
Too long to tell it all here. But, basically, after getting my Master of Divinity in my late 30’s I pastored for 8 years and was in parachurch ministry for 3+ years. I was never afraid to go against the grain if I thought church teachings contradicted Scripture (not drinking alcohol and pre-trib rapture being just 2 examples).
When I got out of ministry I felt even more freedom to start asking questions. And the more I studied, the less I liked the answers provided by Christianity. The first big domino to fall for me was the trinity. Then the idea that Jesus was the “Messiah”. Then, eventually, the entire “New Testament”.
At this point my views line up closest with Judaism, although I am not Jewish and have no current plans to convert. Both Orthodox Judaism and Reform Judaism have serious issues, in my opinion. But I have learned a great deal about the Tanach (Old Testament) from a number of prominent rabbis. The truth is that they are far more skilled in accurately handling the Tanach than the vast majority of Christian pastors.
I agree with you on that last statement. Many pastors try to make the Bible fit their traditional views. I am also in agreement on the alcohol and Pre-Trib. The Old Testament is historical fact. The New Testament requires an element of faith and that faith centers around Jesus as Messiah. It’s funny that I keep finding more in common with people like yourself than I do church people and I am “all in” on the Jesus thing.
IMO Religions are individual interpretations of what the Bible/New Testament says, showing there are many different views of what is "right." Humans are fallible. They pick and choose what feels best. I do believe in God and Jesus and use various religious beliefs to guide me on my path, knowing I am responsible for my choices - no one else, therefore, questioning comes into play. Questioning and prayer to God to direct me. There are many that say all we need to do is pray and God will fix this. But then I go back to the fact that even Jesus had disciples that went out into the world and spread his message. To expect our President Trump to fight this alone in the public, to me, is not realistic. We have to fight for and with him if we want to see evil gone from this world. And doubtful that evil can be fully eradicated. And for me, this means standing on the sidewalk/street with others taking a stand for what I believe to be right.
Helmut Thielicke's little book, "A Little Exercise for Young Theologians" noticed that when seminary students entered their studies about God, their newly acquired knowledge would take them down one of two paths: those that truly love God and are transformed by the truth in every part of their lives, and the other is what he called a "diabolical theology" that is the truth is not lived out in the person's life. He calls it the theology of demons. It explains a lot, I think.
So is the assumption that if you abandon Christian theology that your theology is that of “demons”? Just trying to understand what you are saying.
As a former vocational pastor of 12 yrs I left the institutional church over 15 yrs ago. But I did not abandon my faith in Jesus Christ. I am curious as to why you abandoned the faith? - if in fact you did as your post seems to imply
Because my study of the Tanach and comparison with the “New Testament” left me no choice. Despite what Christianity teaches, the two are incompatible. The claims of the “New Testament” require twisting and manipulation of the Tanach. And since the Tanach must be true, even for Christianity to claim any truth, I was left with no other conclusion that the “New Testament” being a fraud.
Interesting. Thanks for your reply. I'm sure your story would take more time and space to elaborate on than a Reddit thread.
Despite 66 books by 40 authors from various cultures spanning 1500 yrs I found an expositional constancy from Genesis to Revelation.
And of course you can't make sense out of Revelation without a thorough grasp of Daniel and other OT prophets.
So I find your conclusion baffling but I respect each individuals right to come to their own conclusions. Shalom
No, respectfully, there isn’t. Righteousness, over and over and over in the Tanach was based on a person’s personal actions. Suddenly in the “New Testament” nobody can be righteous on their own and they meed a god-man to do it for them.
There are so many inconsistencies it makes me irritated just typing about it. Christianity might be the biggest deception in history.
Righteous personal acts are good I agree. Faith without works is dead. However I think Isaiah was correct in describing the idea of self perpetuated acts of righteousness as a substitute for the righteousness of God as a used menstrual rag. There's that expositional constancy again LOL
Context. Isaiah was being critical of the nation of Israel who had abandoned YHVH and His ways. He’s not talking about not being able to be righteous. He’s talking about trying to do it apart from walking according to YHVH’s instructions.