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For debate:JehovahsWitness wrote: From speaking with my brothers and sister, far from undermining our faith and causing confusion, the impact of coronavirus only serves to strengthen our conviction we are living in the last days and our resolve to preach the good news of the kingdom before the Lord tells us the work is complete.
William:My Solution? To identify the problem and from that, create the solution...for now focused upon the country I am in..with in mind, the rest of the world...Thomas Mc Donald wrote: I believe in good and the good in people.
I believe that most people in authority are essentially good.
We have seen on this forum that..
"Good people do very bad things!"
This is because of a lack in intellectual ability, personal honesty, and discipline.
It is mostly because of an ignorance of a central objective reference.
Establishing universal worship of the Creator God Yahweh is my proposal for this dilemma.
Do it through his prophet , the Jesus figure of the Gospels.
Everyone working for a Kingdom of God on Earth.
What is your solution?
Please dont say, "Not that!"
otseng wrote:I believe we are in the last days in several aspects, and not all of them are religious.
We are in the last days of the United States as a great nation. We are rapidly descending into socialism and into a police state.
otseng wrote:Yes, I think we are starting to see the fulfillment of the end times according to the Bible.
<Mar 13:8 KJV quote>
Am I certain Jesus will return soon? I'm starting to be convinced of it.
Im quoting selectively because Im unsure how you are supporting these religious claims (of the end of the world) and beliefs. A lot of the evidence youve presented certainly fits with the view that the world economy (and Americas in particular) is headed towards a deep depression that could potentially last for many years. It can be extremely difficult to look at media coverage of things like sharemarkets, unemployment benefits, food shortages, etc. and not start to extrapolate trends into a truly dire future. However, such speculation (which is all it is) is really beyond this debate, as asking whether Americas hegemony of the past sixty-odd years is coming to an end is very different from asking whether we are seeing the fulfillment of the end times according to the Bible. Its that part of your posts which I contend is lacking in evidence.otseng wrote:We also are entering a series of judgments, which I do believe it is from God.
Is the above the evidence youre submitting for debate in support of your claims of end times? In effect, it cant be a coincidence? That seems very weak to me, but Ill happily wait for your response first - I dont wish to strawman you.I don't give humans that much credit to be able to pull off a single global conspiracy, much less two of them. So, I believe it must be engineered by heavenly forces.
What about my comment is so unbelievable? I consider myself very fortunate to live where I do. Relative to my situation, and based on his stated concerns about the U.S, I think otseng is unfortunate.Thomas Mc Donald wrote: [Replying to post 81 by Diagoras]
Diagoras:. "You're just unfortunate to live somewhere else."
I can't believe that you said that?
Not unsurprising that this question hasnt been addressed, by the way. Its a very valid question, and especially apt during times of uncertainty.Zzyzx wrote:If it is acknowledged that parts of the Bible are 'highly symbolic', what parts of the Bible should be taken as literally true?
What methodology (not just opinion) can be employed to reliably distinguish between parts that are 'literally true' and parts that are 'highly symbolic'?
I have asked that question repeatedly in these threads for ten years. There has never been a coherent answer -- at best "The Holy Spirit guides believers"Diagoras wrote:Not unsurprising that this question hasnt been addressed, by the way. Its a very valid question, and especially apt during times of uncertainty.Zzyzx wrote:If it is acknowledged that parts of the Bible are 'highly symbolic', what parts of the Bible should be taken as literally true?
What methodology (not just opinion) can be employed to reliably distinguish between parts that are 'literally true' and parts that are 'highly symbolic'?
Thomas Mc Donald wrote: William: To identify the problem
Have you made any progress on this?
When will you have accomplished this task?
If ever...?
Surely,that is not an indiscreet question, on a debate forum!
Fair question.Diagoras wrote: is very different from asking whether we are seeing the fulfillment of the end times according to the Bible. Its that part of your posts which I contend is lacking in evidence.
Pointing to all the bad stuff going on and predicted to happen and then inferring a divine judgement as the cause is not too different from pointing out all the beautiful aspects of nature (butterfly wings, sunsets, etc.) and inferring from them that theres a divine creator.
So: what in particular about this pandemic (as opposed to the Spanish flu, or the Black Death) suggests to you that this is the end times in a Biblical sense, and not just another wave on the sea of civilisation?
