I didn’t think I said Jesus was teaching new material. I don’t remember insisting that Jesus was the only true way to God through His teachings. I don’t remember saying that religion was needed. Do you have me confused with someone else or did you read those things into my posts?
JERUSALEM — An Israeli archaeologist said Monday that ancient fortifications recently excavated in Jerusalem date back 3,000 years to the time of King Solomon and support the biblical narrative about the era.
If the age of the wall is correct, the finding would be an indication that Jerusalem was home to a strong central government that had the resources and manpower needed to build massive fortifications in the 10th century B.C.
That’s a key point of dispute among scholars, because it would match the Bible’s account that the Hebrew kings David and Solomon ruled from Jerusalem around that time
I’m sincerely glad that AA and your concept of God has rescued you and so many others from alcoholism. I know faith can be very powerful when people are in crisis and need help and direction. That’s a positive thing. I know there many good people who are believers and sincerely try to follow the teachings of Jesus.
None of that really speaks to the facts about the Bible or the truthfulness of many Christian traditions.
You can live the principles of life that Jesus taught without accepting Jesus as God or the Bible as the word of God.
These words of yours were offered to Perciful…who obviously has come back from the precipice of alcoholism.
To Perciful: Congratulations on throwing off the yoke you had around your neck. You ought be proud of yourself. I think you ought to give yourself a LOT MORE CREDIT for what you did…and give AA and your “faith” a bit less.
But if giving others credit rather than keeping it where I think it belongs makes your life work…go with it.
If it works for you, great, however in the interest of fighting ignorance – which is supposedly why we are here for – fact is there’s NO scientific evidence that AA “works” as a system. In short, it’s a faith-based initiative, and one with a very poor record at that.
– highlights mine. More at source including pertinent links.
So, sorry to burst your bubble; sincerely hope it keeps “working” for you and others like you. Just don’t sell it as anything remotely evidence-based, because again, as you can clearly read, it has a piss-poor record in the Real World®.
Yes, That is true. It seems that the key to AA is by relying on a higher power greater than yourself. Also when people are alcoholic they may go from being good people that live good lives to a life they feel shameful about. Loss of moral and spiritual values, etc. AA gives them hope and faith which is something you need to break free of the obsession to drink.
AA never tells anyone what their God/ Higher Power, should be. That is for the alcoholic to figure out. In early sobriety they say you can have a light bulb as your higher power or a tree or use the group. AA and the 12 Steps are not of any religious affiliation. They are based on things from the bible but you would only know that if you were familiar with it. Some people feel Bill Wilson, a co founder was a closet Buddhist so that may also have influenced the book? AA decided to keep the spiritual part of the program non denominational so it was open to everyone.
AA does use some of the bible’s principles but not all and does not mention the bible at all. I don’t know how it works or why it works but I am very grateful it does.
I have a thought on this as I am always on the fence related to these issues. A strong Christian kept pushing the book of John on me because it had all of the answers. When he asked me which book I read, I said Numbers. When he asked why I said, "Because that is the proof. It shows the lineage. It shows who was around and when. Who was related and how they were related. Without it, the Bible could easily be a work of fiction; but with it you have documentation that at the very least, the book was written in the correct time period and was based on real people. I hope that this helps you on your spiritual journey! I have no clue where mine is headed!
That’s fine but not the point of the discussion. You were using it as some reference about the Bible as divine. The fact that many people in AA believe and use that belief to turn their lives around says nothing about the Bible.
I think your answer depends very very largely on how you view the prophets.
Personally (bearing in mind I am a PR spinmeister) I think that a lot of the stuff is just ways to get people to do things, and is couched in language in a way to make it attractive to them.
In particular, two items of “law” that bug me are circumcision and kosher / halal food.
I strongly suspect that these arose out of very “mortal” wishes, but were couched as strictures of the religion to get people to go along.
eg: Perhaps, for whatever reason somebody thought pork was dangerous to eat, rather than try to explain to people why it is dangerous, i smuch easier to get their buy-in with a “this is what god wants”.