Quote:
Originally Posted by Elmer G. White
I don't know if it is interesting but it is pivotal when aspiring to reach Heaven. What can we trust? You've provided us with opinions and musings. They show sincerity and hard work. You've put effort into your world view but can we trust it? Can you trust it? While admitting that you can be absolutely correct, do we have a way of knowing how probable it is that a person reaches the Truth unaided?
Not very likely: |
It's not important to me if you trust my own perception or not; they aren't for you, they're for me.
Can I trust it? So far I can trust it, but perhaps in the future I'll discover
new information which will force me to
re-evaluate my beliefs. That aside, I'd hardly say that I've reached this point (whether it's the Truth or not) completely unaided. I was fortunate enough to have extremely loving friends and family who helped me out of the darkness far enough to feel God's presence again. I've had a lot of
aid; I don't know where I'd be right now if I didn't have people in my life who even cared enough to notice that I was headed down a dark path.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elmer G. White
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Indeed they are; constantly playing tricks on us; operating so lightning fast without bothering to take a closer look at things and try to see the big picture, setting aside any preconceived notions. ....In a sense, I might be better off having my mind already stripped down to it's bare essence in that godforsaken desert...well...maybe it wasn't as godforsaken as I've always thought.....if I hadn't been taken, I might not have ever gone through such an intense crucible; something that broke me down completely until all that was left was pure, unadulterated, all-natural human carnality; in it's rawest form. 100% Id and no Ego left to speak of....it was a nightmare....but it rid me of all my former biases; completely rewired me into something new, paving the way for me to gradually begin to re-discover the Truth and hear God's word...His real one; not just the paper one, because like you said, our senses can't be trusted; the Bible has been translated from ancient Greek and re-translated and translated some more several times over; it's a very rare individual who can actually know what the Bible is really talking about at all different points; can YOU trust
your senses and cognitive abilities to translate the True meaning behind the text? ....I think sometimes one just has to ignore their head and their senses, and focus on their heart; listen within, to your gut....I believe if you feel a genuine connection to Christ, you'll know what I'm talking about.....it's that "weird" feeling.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elmer G. White
Thus, without independent sources, plain assertions and opinions are worthless and it is quite meaningless to discuss them - they can be correct but based on a single testimonial it is impossible to assess that. We are fortunate to have independent sources, the Revelation in Scripture (the Bible) and the Revelation by Incarnation (Jesus Christ) that both testify of the same thing: Our God and Doctrine are correct and all the others are faulty. This is supported by evidence material from the persecution that we suffer on a daily basis from the sinnerswarm. This is also clearly stated in the Bible.
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I don't believe
anything is truly worthless; the Bible says there's a time and a place for
everything. You sharing
your opinions help me to formulate my own; which may be akin to yours, just as my sharing my opinions may help someone else who may be struggling to make sense of their world but with only a small part of the picture.
Jesus was also careful to note that we should try to refrain from judgement, lest we be judged similarly. I know I've made mistakes in the past; I've done some downright horrible things before, for various reasons, but reasons aside there was no real
excuse for my behavior; I have no room to judge other people as "wrong" or "right", "correct" or "faulty". ....I understand that nobody's perfect, and everyone is vulnerable to sin. I don't believe in a life of any kind without pain....maybe that's a good thing.....maybe pain opens up the doorway for evil and darkness and sin to creep on in, enticing us, tempting us....testing us and our Faith....corrupting us slowly, like a cancer, without us even really noticing it at first, and then one day you look in the mirror and don't recognize the face looking back....like you've been possessed by a demon. Maybe it's addiction....or hatred....or anger.....or shame. Could be any number of things; demons will pass themselves off as anything if it means the Corruption of one of God's Children.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elmer G. White
1 Timothy 4:10
For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
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....The
living God....that is a
very interesting choice of words for him to pick...who could have just said "God", but he didn't; he specifically said,
the living God...fascinating.
--John