tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4329258274202118997.post6200140081608018967..comments2023-11-02T04:59:44.598-07:00Comments on Reflections: Reply to commenter on Matthew 8Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810102648783268285noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4329258274202118997.post-39419239565586222742016-07-23T16:51:10.665-07:002016-07-23T16:51:10.665-07:00AJ: Lets continue this through email. I cannot rem...AJ: Lets continue this through email. I cannot remember the one I gave you last. I use the following for scriptural discussions. bible_tutor@yahoo.comAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10810102648783268285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4329258274202118997.post-35518857349226552062016-07-23T07:37:40.271-07:002016-07-23T07:37:40.271-07:00Bart, do you mean C.J. Williams, the Dismythed blo...Bart, do you mean C.J. Williams, the Dismythed blogger? I don’t know how I ever happened onto his blog, but it occurs to me that that’s how I probably happened onto your blog (if not the always-interesting “next blog>>” link at the top of most blog pages…sometimes fascinating path to meander).<br /><br />If so, yep C.J. and I did carry on a few discussions via his blog page, and via email, but it unfortunately devolved into ugly, angry responses from him and his friend Robert Murphy…and largely without ever having answered my questions and reasoned rebuttals to his doctrinal assertions (over Jesus’ resurrection). From someone whom I initially thought an intelligent, rational, logical-minded guy (indeed intelligent, but terribly suspicious), I couldn’t understand his (irrational) anger towards me. I still do occasionally check out his blog. The one thing he & his co-blogger did that really bothered me was when he started systematically censoring my responses, while at the same time posting his own insulting insinuations of me & what I must have said, while no one could ever see what it was that I said to consider & judge for themselves…he seemed intent on maligning my character. I won’t deny it often left me feeling dismayed & helpless to defend myself. It was supposed to be an intelligent, open, honest (and for both of us sometimes plainly challenging) dialog of testing one another’s doctrinal beliefs (i.e. 1Thes 5:21), but ultimately disintegrated into angry tag-team retorts from them (along with another young man named Sean K).<br /><br />Aside from your & C.J.’s mutual religious association with the Watchtower, I find you’re a rather different personality; you seem to have a more open-minded disposition. Your blog was also a bit of fresh air for me over C.J.’s sometimes oppressive viewpoints and in the way he maligned people he categorized as “opposers” and “detractors”.<br />Bart please trust me at my word here; while I may be careful in how I broach & frame a discussion or topic, or how I might draw & lead a discussion, there is nothing mean-spirited about me against other ‘religions’ or in my spiritual & intellectual desire to dialog on and test doctrinal issues and their differences (always beneficial). Nor am I “deceitful” or a “liar” – as C.J. has labeled me - in the way I build my individual relationships (though I have found that JWs seem to not allow fostering a ‘friendship’ with a non JW for whatever reason).<br /><br />And prompted by C.J.’s one-sided slander of me, I very recently decided to try my own hand a blog (though not remotely as polished as yours & Corey’s). It’s called; ToMyWitnessFriends.blogspot.com. There’s little to it thus far except some of my & Corey’s largely unedited dialog, and one other JW acquaintance on specific topics…but certainly nothing dangerous to the JW about it, beyond sometimes-spirited, but always clear, Scripturally-reasoned dialogues. You can at least see for yourself that I’m not the unhinged, angry “oppose” C.J. makes me out to be. It’ll also give you a good sense of who I am & what I’m passionate about (love for God’s Truth)<br /><br />Are you still up to a 1Thess 5:21-flavored intellectual correspondence Bart? If not, then I’ll accept that & wish you well. On a personal level (in all sincerity, and aside from our differences over man-made religious doctrines), I care about you & the battle you continue to wage with cancer, and I do lift you up to Jehovah in my prayers…I hope you can take that at its sincere face value. There’s no need to post this if you don’t want to, but I really appreciated your willingness to post our past recent dialogues.<br /><br />A.J.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4329258274202118997.post-27197672465013065862016-07-21T11:39:08.301-07:002016-07-21T11:39:08.301-07:00After a discussion with CJ, I've decided that ...After a discussion with CJ, I've decided that our discussions will indeed have to be restricted to email correspondence. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10810102648783268285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4329258274202118997.post-88583014472039412432016-07-20T09:15:28.185-07:002016-07-20T09:15:28.185-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10810102648783268285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4329258274202118997.post-47138497299447510702016-07-19T22:32:23.485-07:002016-07-19T22:32:23.485-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10810102648783268285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4329258274202118997.post-21271787056830649182016-07-19T22:07:26.229-07:002016-07-19T22:07:26.229-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10810102648783268285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4329258274202118997.post-63787855612751683972016-07-19T22:06:39.844-07:002016-07-19T22:06:39.844-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10810102648783268285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4329258274202118997.post-80083325968395051072016-07-19T12:50:05.949-07:002016-07-19T12:50:05.949-07:00AJ: Thank for the kind thought. I apologize for as...AJ: Thank for the kind thought. I apologize for assuming you were insulting me. I haven't yet read all your comments here. Yesterday and today are once again being cruel to me. It may take a few days before I muster up the strength to read, absorb and reply. Take care.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10810102648783268285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4329258274202118997.post-15198453466762299212016-07-18T20:20:56.391-07:002016-07-18T20:20:56.391-07:00Something I forgot to say Bart, in my haste to hit...Something I forgot to say Bart, in my haste to hit the road home earlier; I'll be praying for you, that Jehovah would sustain you, grant you peace & give you strength to bear the things that invariably come with failing health.<br />Good night,<br />A.J.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4329258274202118997.post-56833917108968175302016-07-18T16:18:50.955-07:002016-07-18T16:18:50.955-07:00And by the way, what I thought was “simplistic” re...And by the way, what I thought was “simplistic” reasoning on your part wasn’t at all meant as an insult to your intelligence, Bart…I’ve been perusing your blog long enough to know you’re a keen intellect. And if my own intellect is inversely proportional to how much I write, then I’m nearing the bottom of the I.Q. chart I’m afraid…in any case, theology as a topic can rarely be accommodated by brevity (it’s too crucially important not to be accurate, especially where salvation is concerned). It is also untrue to say that nothing you, or your religion, has to say is of value to me; it certainly is, with its chief value being to help me better understand your own doctrinal positions and the religious teachings from which they consequently stem. And I always appreciate the otherwise personal insights you share on your blog. <br /><br />But let me reveal something from my heart Bart; though we are strangers & I don’t know you personally, it still hurts me to know what you’re going through there in your battles with cancer. I have no desire to burden you or unnecessarily tax your time and attention or maybe even aggravate you with discussions as these (though the subject of God & His plan of salvation is supremely important to me). My own Mom & Dad passed from cancer in recent years, and with only so many weeks between one another. In the months before their passing (following the news & grim prognosis), I felt a nagging sense of urgency for assurance in whether they were ‘right’ with God (i.e. reconciled, forgiven, and trusting their souls & destiny into His hands). I feared that (especially in my Dad’s case) they trusted more in their ‘religion’ (Catholicism) and its sacramental rites than they did in the biblical Gospel and its singular Savior. Over time - thanks to my fret for him & Mom, and my persistent bull-headedness in trying to cut through the unbiblical Catholic dogma - these discussions degenerated into doctrinal argument & hurt/angry feelings, and did damage to our relationship. It was only in the last 6 weeks or so that I decided to let the whole business down, and to just honor & love him and Mom in the time that remained. The regret that I carry for having caused either of them anger & anguish is sometimes burdensome to me even now.<br />And though we are relative strangers, I do not want to create angry emotion and/or strife between us.<br />If you feel that such an ongoing correspondence is a beneficial intellectual challenge to your mind, then ok. But if not, then please say so before we get down to the serious doctrinal nuts-n-bolts Scriptural testing.<br /><br />But nevertheless, for the time left to me in this life (allotted by God), I endeavor to contend for the faith once for all delivered to the Saints by way of (among other things) testing man-made religious doctrines according to the Light of Holy Scripture…but I hope to now do it with a bit more tact & consideration, and in the spirit of love & truth. I love sound, biblical Truth and God’s Gospel, and I want to share both with all whom I engage, and I’m willing to strive with whomever I might for the sake of sharing the Gospel with them (I realize how this all must sound to one who already believes they’re in “the truth” by virtue of their association with & obedience to the Watchtower Society).<br /><br />A.J.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4329258274202118997.post-70764899068127981092016-07-18T16:18:14.210-07:002016-07-18T16:18:14.210-07:00Bart, the conjecture I was referring to was you (i...Bart, the conjecture I was referring to was you (injecting or superimposing) telling your audience what God was specifically thinking; that the rationalization within His mind was that we humans wouldn’t comprehend the reality of physical incarceration of immaterial demons, so consequently He created the more comprehendible imagery of a tangible abyss for our sakes. Bart, John saw the reality of what was yet to come to pass in God’s Epic story, the one where He ordained the end from the beginning…and I think that even John did his best to capture what he saw in the fantastical imagery he was exposed to; the coming apocalyptic reality of God’s unfolding story, the conclusion of linear time-bound human history, and the ushering in of the mind-boggling New Reality of saved, redeemed humans living in God’s & Christ’s very presence (yes, I know this doesn’t square with the Watchtower’s “Paradise Earth” teaching, but that’s a doctrine plagued with a few foundational problems of its own, and another subject altogether).<br /><br />Let me clarify that, while it is impossible to fully comprehend Him, I didn’t say that we can never know what God thinks; we indeed do know many things about Him and about what He wanted to communicate to us, but those things are confined to what He chose to reveal to us by way of the prophets, who are among the 40-odd divinely-inspired authors of the books of Scripture, and by the Son Himself, Jesus Christ. Anything beyond that will range from reasonable & intelligent deductions & inferences to baseless speculation and conjecture…which can range from silly & benign to heretical & dangerous misinterpretations that can lead the human far off the narrow road to salvation (away from the Savior). The other bit of conjecture was that, while demons apparently do know they have a limited time-span in which to wreak evil on humankind and that God had a set a future terminal endpoint to their freedom, Scripture never says they knew anything about their specific fate in the future ‘abyss’. There’s also no way for us to know whether demons were privy themselves to knowledge of the yet-to-be future (let alone the details of their own specific demise), because these apocalyptic visions were revealed specifically to John alone while ‘in the spirit’.<br /><br />Further, I do indeed believe wholeheartedly that “All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, reproving, setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, so that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.”…when properly & intelligently interpreted, handled, and applied. My point is that one isn’t free to just go and selectively cherry-pick verses out of their native context for the purpose of (artificially) buttressing a man-made religious doctrine where the Scriptural reference or its context has little or nothing to say on the subject at hand (I see this practiced quite often in the Watchtower & Awake! publications I read). This practice is at best innocently ‘leading’ and at worst deliberately misleading. If the verse(s) in context don’t address or speak in direct affirmative support of the teaching being touted, then it is probably (whether innocently, ignorantly, or deliberately) being misapplied.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com