When I was young I read a copy of the Douay Bible which, at that time, was the approved translation for the Catholic Church. In the preface was an admonition to read the Bible daily but the warning that it was not to be interpreted. Interpretation could only be undertaken by those approved by the Church.
To answer your question from that point of view, the Bible may give insight into how to find "God" but such insights are open to interpretation (by the approved source). I think that's a No.
Bible says God created the heavens and the Earth so that would suggest I am made of God material so God must exist within every cell of my body; so how to develop a conscious awareness of His presence in order to achieve faith that can be of benefit for me in some way?
Some people have suffered for years and lost their faith in God then somehow everything worked out 'wonderfully' in the end and their faith was restored. Happens for some people but definitely not everybody.
This post was edited by Kittigate at January 9, 2017 3:17 PM MST
I haven't read that book yet... So don't spoil the ending please :/ I guessing George Michael makes an cameo cos FAITH :) now I just wanna listen that song :) that's what I'm gonna do then. I'm easily amused tonight :)
Does the Bible teach 'how to find God'..? Says you gotta have faith in things unseen as evidence.. ============================================
1- From Moses to Jesus, inclusive, the Bible is addressed to the Children of Israel [that is Jacob son of Isaac son of Abraham]
2- Moses taught about the God who spoke to him at the burning bush and gave him the commandments by which they were to live and be governed.
3- God defines Himself at Isaiah 44:6 as, “I am the first and I am the last, And besides Me there is no God.” He further asserts in Isaiah 43:11, "I, even I, am Jehovah; and besides me there is no saviour." In Deuteronomy 5:9 (similarly in Exodus 20:5 and Deuteronomy 32:21, Ezekiel 39:25) God warns against ascribing any form of divinity to any other than Himself. He says, “You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God” Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord” became the Jewish Shema, a declaration of strict monotheism repeated by Jews to this day. Jesus, being himself a Jew, openly confirmed it verbatim as recorded, for example in Mark 12:29.
4- Jesus continued the teachings of Moses. He tightened up the interpretation of the Law. For example the sin of adultery was not committed after the actual physical act but clicked in with the first lustful look. Jesus said that all of the Law of Moses was of equal importance and warned in Matthew 5:19 that, “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven”
5- The mission of Jesus was confined to the Jews. In Matthew 15:24 Jesus declared that he "was sent ONLY to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel." Jesus chose 12 disciples to represent the 12 tribes of Israel. These disciples too Jesus very clearly instructed, according to Matthew 10:5, "Don't go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but ONLY to the people of Israel --God's lost sheep." We can see from the Gospels that Jesus did not go about converting Gentile to his message at any point in his life. In fact even the miraculous powers he had been given he didn't want to use them for non-Israelites. That is why he initially rebuked a Gentile for seeking his favours, "The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” (Matthew 15:25,26 and Mark 7:27,28). This exclusion of the mission of Jesus to the Jews continues to the end times because of his hand-picked elect (his twelve disciples), he made sure that they belonged to his tribes so that his other prophecy might find fulfilment: "when the son of man (Jesus referring to himself) shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye (the disciples) also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matthew 19:28).
I am unconvinced Jesus was a son of God or a savior but I wonder what inspired him to become a teacher and a preacher . Seems to be reasonable to question whether he actually said and did all the things according to gospels/NT stories.
1- "I am unconvinced Jesus was a son of God" Even going by the Bible
a] there is no record that Jesus called himself that, and
b] anyway, the Bible's own understanding of that phrase is given very clearly in Romans 8:14 which says "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" So a "son of God" is any person who is pious and righteous as a result of believing in God
2- "or a savior" if by that you mean someone who died for the sins of mankind, then no, Jesus never claimed that even according to the Bible.
3- "I wonder what inspired him to become a teacher and a preacher" outside of the Bible even his very existence is called to question. However, according to words attributed to him in the Bible he was sent on [appointed to] that task by God
4- "Seems to be reasonable to question whether he actually said and did all the things according to gospels/NT stories." Indeed it is. Most of the NT is letters of Paul. The Gospels contain words that Jesus is said to have uttered during his earthly mission. If you look at any Red Letter Bible, this is a copy of the Bible where the speech of Jesus is printed in red, you'll see that very little of the NT is actually the teachings of Jesus. This is a first step in separating what Jesus taught from what others taught but Jesus did not. You might actually find the man quite reasonable once you do that.
Pretty sure that there is a record of Jesus calling himself that.
(Matthew 16:15-17) He said to them: “You, though, who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 In response Jesus said to him: “Happy you are, Simon son of Joʹnah, because flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but my Father in the heavens did. (Luke 22:70, 71) At this they all said: “Are you, therefore, the Son of God?” He said to them: “You yourselves are saying that I am.” 71 They said: “Why do we need further testimony? For we ourselves have heard it out of his own mouth.” (John 10:36) do you say to me whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?
(John 3:10-17) Jesus replied: .... 16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world for him to judge the world, but for the world to be saved through him. (John 12:47) But if anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I came, not to judge the world, but to save the world. (Matthew 20:28) Just as the Son of man came, not to be ministered to, but to minister and to give his life as a ransom in exchange for many.” (Isaiah 53:11) Because of his anguish, he will see and be satisfied. By means of his knowledge the righteous one, my servant, Will bring a righteous standing to many people, And their errors he will bear.
(1 Corinthians 15:3) For among the first things I handed on to you was what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; (Isaiah 53:8) Because of restraint and judgment he was taken away; And who will concern himself with the details of his generation? For he was cut off from the land of the living; Because of the transgression of my people he received the stroke. (Isaiah 53:12) For that reason I will assign him a portion among the many, And he will apportion the spoil with the mighty, Because he poured out his life even to death And was counted among the transgressors; He carried the sin of many people, And he interceded for the transgressors. (Daniel 9:26) “And after the 62 weeks, Mes·siʹah will be cut off, with nothing for himself. “And the people of a leader who is coming will destroy the city and the holy place. And its end will be by the flood. And until the end there will be war; what is decided upon is desolations. (1 Peter 2:24) He himself bore our sins in his own body on the stake, so that we might die to sins and live to righteousness. And “by his wounds you were healed.”
I was just about to check out the gospell myself -anyway what assurance do we have that those were what was actually said and done? Or is it just safer to assume the entire NT is the real truth and govern one's self accordingly?
Hello Kittigate. For me myself, I have read the Bible and I have done much studying and research on the subject with an open mind. When I first started studying, I was skeptical but I didn't start off with the preconceived conclusion that there was no God.(http://answermug.com/forums/topic/19245/god-did-not-create-heavens-earth-part-red-sea-say-and-do-many)
[The historical accuracy of the Bible was once widely doubted. Critics, for example, questioned the existence of such Bible characters as King Sargon of Assyria, Belshazzar of Babylon, and the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. But recent discoveries have verified one Bible account after another. Thus historian Moshe Pearlman wrote: “Suddenly, sceptics who had doubted the authenticity even of the historical parts of the Old Testament began to revise their views.”]
Would I find as much 'truth' in these links as there was in the last few links you provided for me yesterday in the question 'Do you think God l/the universe...'?
JWs perhaps should swear an oath to always tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth; -if it would do any good.
This post was edited by Kittigate at January 13, 2017 11:38 AM MST
JWs are not exactly liars that I have known but do not always tell the whole truth eg. I have been told 'many scientists believe in ID' but failing to add complete truth that those are scientists who work at Discovery Institute or similar project. Another example the website you referred me to that provided either false or not up to date information.
Pearl 