Curious to know ..

[MoreCoffee]

I am curious to know which non-trinitarian or non-nicean religion derived from one branch or another of Christianity most interests you and with which you have most contact?

I think the one I have most contact with is Jehovah's witnesses. I've had an elder from a local Kingdom Hall call around many times and chat, he is a very pleasant fellow. He's given me various books from the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and even taken me out for a coffee at Dome which is a coffee chain in my city. We've probably chatted for a total of 20 or 30 hours all up. In recent times he has called less often, especially since a couple of JWs called at my house last year with an invitation to what they call The Lord's evening meal celebration which I politely refused after one of the two who came said to me what religion are you? I answered Christian, but more specifically Catholic, and he replied Oh I used to be one of those and ... at which point I replied, well I am a Catholic, no used to be for me, and I intend to remain a Catholic and do not intend to become one of Jehovah's witnesses. I suspect that they may have given an outline of the discussion in their "ministry report" for the day, so perhaps the elder feels discouraged that his friendly ministrations have been to no apparent avail thus far.

I occasionally watch YouTube videos about JW meetings, it is fascinating to see how unenthusiastic their singing is and how downbeat and (dare I say it) boring their "talks" are - they call a 'sermon' a 'talk'. I've also taken some time every now and then to read passages in their denominational bible entitled The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures and correct obvious translation errors in it. It's surprising how many errors are in some books in that bible. But I have some time on my hands occasionally, and correcting poor translations is a way for me to keep my Greek skills up. Unfortunately I do not know Hebrew so I rarely bother to correct their Old Testament (they call it the Hebrew Scriptures) translations. I guess it is a bit like knitting is for some people. For me it is not a great effort to make the corrections after consulting a Greek NT.

Cheers

 

[MennoSota]

I am curious to know which non-trinitarian or non-nicean religion derived from one branch or another of Christianity most interests you and with which you have most contact?

I think the one I have most contact with is Jehovah's witnesses. I've had an elder from a local Kingdom Hall call around many times and chat, he is a very pleasant fellow. He's given me various books from the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and even taken me out for a coffee at Dome which is a coffee chain in my city. We've probably chatted for a total of 20 or 30 hours all up. In recent times he has called less often, especially since a couple of JWs called at my house last year with an invitation to what they call The Lord's evening meal celebration which I politely refused after one of the two who came said to me what religion are you? I answered Christian, but more specifically Catholic, and he replied Oh I used to be one of those and ... at which point I replied, well I am a Catholic, no used to be for me, and I intend to remain a Catholic and do not intend to become one of Jehovah's witnesses. I suspect that they may have given an outline of the discussion in their "ministry report" for the day, so perhaps the elder feels discouraged that his friendly ministrations have been to no apparent avail thus far.

I occasionally watch YouTube videos about JW meetings, it is fascinating to see how unenthusiastic their singing is and how downbeat and (dare I say it) boring their "talks" are - they call a 'sermon' a 'talk'. I've also taken some time every now and then to read passages in their denominational bible entitled The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures and correct obvious translation errors in it. It's surprising how many errors are in some books in that bible. But I have some time on my hands occasionally, and correcting poor translations is a way for me to keep my Greek skills up. Unfortunately I do not know Hebrew so I rarely bother to correct their Old Testament (they call it the Hebrew Scriptures) translations. I guess it is a bit like knitting is for some people. For me it is not a great effort to make the corrections after consulting a Greek NT.

Cheers

That's rich.
The RC and JWs are more alike than you may think.
Boring sermons, boring music, controlled by a small group of people who tell everyone else what to believe, etc...

 

[Albion]

...I politely refused after one of the two who came said to me what religion are you? I answered Christian, but more specifically Catholic, and he replied Oh I used to be one of those and ... at which point I replied, well I am a Catholic, no used to be for me, and I intend to remain a Catholic and do not intend to become one of Jehovah's witnesses.

That probably squelched his invitation, all right, but he could have replied in similar fashion, saying "I am going to guess, though, that your intention had been to remain an atheist when that was your belief or an adherent of one of the various Christian denominations that you also called your own at one time or another. "

 

[Confessional Lutheran]

I think that the group I'm most " familiar" with of a non- Trinitarian, non- Nicene bent is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints. The people tend to be a bit touchy, but very nice. I've attended a couple of their sacrament Meetings and even saw part of a temple as an investigator. They have multiple " testimonies" rather than one sermon delivered by one minister. A lot of their theology centers around feeling and emotion, which they ascribe to the Holy Spirit. It seems that their various scriptures ( the Bible, the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price) have undergone several revisions over the years.


Most of the LDS that I've met were very sincere in their beliefs, very kind, but also apt to get very defensive when a tenet of theirs gets challenged. I'm a bit of a history nut and when I read of the civilizations depicted in the Book of Mormon, I want to know where the ruins are, what Indigenous tribes speak languages related to Hebrew and any kind of residual Levantine DNA might remain in the blood of the peoples under discussion. When challenged to simply believe without anything even hinting why I should do so brings out alarm bells and I get stubborn. Once I started to lose interest in learning more about their religion, the " friendships" went out the door, too. I guess I'd call them decent, clean folk who follow a false religion.

 

[Albion]

The church(es) I have had most contact with and which fall into the category mentioned above would be the traditional Quakers. Some do believe in the Trinity, but other POVs are common and accepted.

 

[MoreCoffee]

I think that the group I'm most " familiar" with of a non- Trinitarian, non- Nicene bent is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints. The people tend to be a bit touchy, but very nice. I've attended a couple of their sacrament Meetings and even saw part of a temple as an investigator. They have multiple " testimonies" rather than one sermon delivered by one minister. A lot of their theology centers around feeling and emotion, which they ascribe to the Holy Spirit. It seems that their various scriptures ( the Bible, the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price) have undergone several revisions over the years.


Most of the LDS that I've met were very sincere in their beliefs, very kind, but also apt to get very defensive when a tenet of theirs gets challenged. I'm a bit of a history nut and when I read of the civilizations depicted in the Book of Mormon, I want to know where the ruins are, what Indigenous tribes speak languages related to Hebrew and any kind of residual Levantine DNA might remain in the blood of the peoples under discussion. When challenged to simply believe without anything even hinting why I should do so brings out alarm bells and I get stubborn. Once I started to lose interest in learning more about their religion, the " friendships" went out the door, too. I guess I'd call them decent, clean folk who follow a false religion.

There's a Mormon church building not too far from where I live. But I haven't had any missionaries call for many years, so I guess my neighbourhood must be "established territory" or something that means less missionaries. I do not know a whole lot about Mormons but they do usually seem polite and personable. I think JWs also get defensive when their religion is challenged. I suspect that many Christians also become defensive when challenged by atheists and others who are not Christian.

 

[Confessional Lutheran]

There's a Mormon church building not too far from where I live. But I haven't had any missionaries call for many years, so I guess my neighbourhood must be "established territory" or something that means less missionaries. I do not know a whole lot about Mormons but they do usually seem polite and personable. I think JWs also get defensive when their religion is challenged. I suspect that many Christians also become defensive when challenged by atheists and others who are not Christian.

Indeed. I'll just leave it at that and avoid a most unseemly rant about the theological differences between Nicenes and LDS.

 

[MoreCoffee]

I kind of like some of the JW literature. Not the "study books" that they use to instruct their members but their "Bible Dictionary" which they call "Insight into the Scriptures" is interesting and at times informative. I found the same to be the case with the Seventh Day Adventist Bible Dictionary. So I dip into these books occasionally to see what Sabbatarians and Jehovah's witnesses are told about various topics. But I rarely use the material to critique their religion, that seems like a counterproductive thing to get into.