Guest scout Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 In trying to help ex-JWs to deal with life without 'the truth', I find that some of them have become Born Again Christians. I left JWs because I could no longer accept the Bible's claim of being "Inspired of God." ( 2 Tim 3:16 ) Obviously they want to convert me to their particular brand of Christianity, and I obviously point out to them the many Scriptural points that eroded my faith in the Bible. I don't want to traumatize them, but do want them to come out from 'under the spell' of the Bible. What advice would you give me for how to handle this dilemma in a sensitive way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gliph Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 Hi Scout - You'll find lots of good information all over this site, one of my favorites that seems to be a really good "down to earth" look at xtianity is Why Won't God Heal Amputees. Just the title of the website gives you something to think about. Seriously, with all the "medical miracles" people see and pray for everyday, why do you never ever see someone have a lost limb restored? People aren't praying hard enough? Amputees aren't deserving? Its not part of "god's plan"? The site is really long, but has a ton of really good, simple, honest, and logical questions to ask yourself (and in your case, others) about the xtian faith. Granted you'll still have the fundies that no matter what you say, they'll answer with "well, we'll never understand god's will", but if you're going to talk to those types, you might as well go talk to a wall. As for dealing with the bible and if it was inspired by god, it has several chapters talking about how to figure out of the bible was written by god, was written by men through god, or just written by men. The whole site is a great read, but that definitely seems to apply in your situation. Also, albeit this is a bit "harsher" there is the Skeptic's Annotated Book of Mormon. It takes a very objective (and at times sarcastic) loook at the BOM, gives some good references to other topics, how some passages are complete fiction, how some of it was taken word for word from the bible, and how he tried to write it so it sounded "old". Good luck, keep us posted on how it goes. -Gliph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scout Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 Hi Scout - You'll find lots of good information all over this site, one of my favorites that seems to be a really good "down to earth" look at xtianity is Why Won't God Heal Amputees. Just the title of the website gives you something to think about. Seriously, with all the "medical miracles" people see and pray for everyday, why do you never ever see someone have a lost limb restored? People aren't praying hard enough? Amputees aren't deserving? Its not part of "god's plan"? The site is really long, but has a ton of really good, simple, honest, and logical questions to ask yourself (and in your case, others) about the xtian faith. Granted you'll still have the fundies that no matter what you say, they'll answer with "well, we'll never understand god's will", but if you're going to talk to those types, you might as well go talk to a wall. As for dealing with the bible and if it was inspired by god, it has several chapters talking about how to figure out of the bible was written by god, was written by men through god, or just written by men. The whole site is a great read, but that definitely seems to apply in your situation. Also, albeit this is a bit "harsher" there is the Skeptic's Annotated Book of Mormon. It takes a very objective (and at times sarcastic) loook at the BOM, gives some good references to other topics, how some passages are complete fiction, how some of it was taken word for word from the bible, and how he tried to write it so it sounded "old". Good luck, keep us posted on how it goes. -Gliph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scout Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 Hi Scout - You'll find lots of good information all over this site, one of my favorites that seems to be a really good "down to earth" look at xtianity is Why Won't God Heal Amputees. Just the title of the website gives you something to think about. Seriously, with all the "medical miracles" people see and pray for everyday, why do you never ever see someone have a lost limb restored? People aren't praying hard enough? Amputees aren't deserving? Its not part of "god's plan"? The site is really long, but has a ton of really good, simple, honest, and logical questions to ask yourself (and in your case, others) about the xtian faith. Granted you'll still have the fundies that no matter what you say, they'll answer with "well, we'll never understand god's will", but if you're going to talk to those types, you might as well go talk to a wall. As for dealing with the bible and if it was inspired by god, it has several chapters talking about how to figure out of the bible was written by god, was written by men through god, or just written by men. The whole site is a great read, but that definitely seems to apply in your situation. Also, albeit this is a bit "harsher" there is the Skeptic's Annotated Book of Mormon. It takes a very objective (and at times sarcastic) loook at the BOM, gives some good references to other topics, how some passages are complete fiction, how some of it was taken word for word from the bible, and how he tried to write it so it sounded "old". Good luck, keep us posted on how it goes. -Gliph Thanks Gliph, The 'Amputee' stuff is superb. I'm e-mailing an ex-JW who has become an Evangelical Christian. She was sending me an e-mail every day telling me about the joys of Born Again Christianity, and so I sent her several texts that show the liberties that Matthew takes with his OT quotes in trying to support his pre-supposition that Jesus is the Messiah - Matt 2:15 ( Hosea 11:1 ), etc, and I have not heard anything back from her. Whilst I do want her to see the Bible for what it is, I don't want to demoralize her. How do I go about showing her the man-made nature of the Bible, and yet, at the same time, not leave her feeling desolate. How would you have liked to have had this subject broached to you when you were a Christain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkepticOfBible Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 References To Help New Ex-christians Some of my favourites are Agnostic Review of Christianity Rejection of Pascal's Wager Jewish Counter Missionary Reference( an index to various "proof texts" used by missionaries from theOT & discussions on those verses by various counter missionary websites_ Messiah Truth(Comprehensive but really good) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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