FWIW, Jessica, (no offense taken) can I clear a few things up here? As I said, go to the source….you are taking the word of others and the “bad reputation” you refer to is manufactured.
Do you remember how Jesus and his apostles were received by the Jewish leaders in the first century? They hated him enough to want to permanently silence him. They slandered him and those whom he taught in his many public sermons. Even plotting to do away with Lazarus whom Jesus had raised from the dead, because they could not explain his miracles. But did that make what he taught, wrong? Or was it just that Jesus rattled the religious leaders by exposing their error and hypocrisy?
Put yourself in the crowd when Jesus was brought before Pilate and ask if you would have been swept along by public opinion? When Pilate pronounced him innocent of any capital crime, he wanted to release him, but look what the people said…
Matt 27:21-25…
” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” And he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!” So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” (ESV)
They virtually cursed themselves with Jesus’ blood….and afterwards they targeted his disciples who were mercilessly persecuted as we see in the accounts of Saul who was foremost in this crusade against them.
But as he was journeying to Damascus to round up some more Christians for ill treatment, Saul was suddenly struck by a blinding flash and lost his sight. As the account says, he had an interruption to his plans with an encounter with the resurrected Jesus….and this changed his life completely……all that rage he had against the Christians was replaced by a sincere and abiding love for them and their leader, who took Saul, (who became the apostle Paul) and used his zeal and his education as a Pharisee to further the cause that, as Saul, he had tried to stop.
Just because our beliefs seem wrong because of your former training, often ingrained from infancy, that doesn’t make them so. The Bible said that true Christians would be hated and persecuted….but not because they did or taught anything wrong….it was because they taught something that their religious leaders had neglected to do….to teach the truth…so to the Jews, Jesus seemed like he was subverting the true faith, when all he was doing was trying to correct it, and put it back on track after centuries of false worship. The Jews had God’s word too, but they had also adopted many traditions that invalidated the truth of the Scriptures they read, putting their own slant on things. What did Jesus say about that?
”You hypocrites, Isaiah aptly prophesied about you when he said: 8 ‘This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far removed from me. 9 It is in vain that they keep worshipping me, for they teach commands of men as doctrines.’” (Matt 15:7-9)
To take the word of those who have left, or who have grudges and who want to broadcast their dirty laundry in public to justify their actions, is to make a judgment with half a story. Do you know the other side of that story? Why do court cases have to hear all the evidence from both sides before making a judgment? Do you see that you are not allowing us to tell you our side of that story?
Please do not be hasty in your judgment and allow us to explain our beliefs to you and then make your decision….wouldn’t that be fair? We have this situation so often, that people pray and JW’s knock at their door.
Because such explanations involve topics that are not allowed to be discussed here please feel free to PM me and I’ll be glad to show you from the Bible what we believe and the Scriptural backing for it.…just FYI.
Remember what Jesus said to his disciples…..
“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were part of the world, the world would be fond of what is its own. Now because you are no part of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you. 20 Keep in mind the word I said to you: A slave is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have observed my word, they will also observe yours. 21 But they will do all these things against you on account of my name, because they do not know the One who sent me.” (John 15:18-21)
I offer you this opportunity, but it is entirely up to you. No strings attached. As I have said many times, no one can make an informed choice without knowing all the choices. I would welcome the opportunity to tell you our side….just so you have all the facts. OK?
