Prodigal wrote:This seems to be the place for introductions, so here I go.
My real name is Matt and I have been reading the books and forums here for about a year. Started with Prophet of Doom when linked, by chance (or by His plan) here. I followed that with Future History for two reasons: first, it was all audio, which made it easier to listen to at work, and after reading the intro to YY, I started to hide back in my faith-shell. FH didn't seem quite as confrontational and I think I needed that to give my mind a chance to open up to a point where I was ready to hear the whole truth. I can't describe my thought process since, but I'm still trying to wrap my head around all the revelations here. I'm not real familiar with scripture, so I've got a ways to catch up there, and my knowledge of "church" history is pretty limited as well. Any advice on good resources to bring me up to speed are welcome!
Welcome Matt, I'm glad to have you here, and glad that you have it informative and helpful. I think you are right in that FH, and TOM are probably a better place for most Christian's to start than is YY, that was where I recommended my wife to start. YY works best for those that have already come to realize that there are major problems with religion.
I was fairly ignorant of Scripture myself before finding this place and coming to know Yahuweh. As for good resources, there is no better place to start than Scripture. Even just taking an English translation, and a Stong's Concordance and going through will help you. As time goes on increase your resources, adding in other Lexicons and such, a big thing that has helped me was saving up the money and buying a copy of Logo;s Original Languages package, I would recommend it as a resource. As for other books that get into analyzing Scripture, there really aren't many that get things right, and the best thing is to read the word with an open mind, everyone has a tendency to read Scripture with preconceived notions, and then read those preconceived notions into it, and that is what we all have to fight against because it is only when we read Scripture to learn, and not reinforce what we already believe, that we learn form it.
Matt wrote:I have always seen my faith as an attempt to develop a relationship with my Heavenly Father, so I'm not solidly rooted in all the traditions. I was ignorant of the importance of Yahuweh's name and I'm trying to correct that, albeit slowly. I realize now that it's hard to have much of a relationship with someone that you don't call by name (or insist on calling by the wrong name). I still have 2 big hurdles to overcome before I can take my relationship any further: first and foremost, I'm having trouble getting my wife to read these books; and secondly, but still important, I am looking to confirm what I can from other sources things that have been brought up here.
It sounds to me like you have the right mindset, and you have already started down the right path.
Matt wrote:Regarding my wife, she grew up in the UCC church, and as such is more liberal leaning than I am, but also sees relationship as God's desire. She leans more toward Unitarian or Universalist beliefs regarding salvation, so trying to convince her that He has a narrow path and many don't find their way will be a difficult pill for her to swallow. Any advice is very welcome, as it would greatly help me to have someone close to discuss these things with and to share with our kids.
I'm sorry top hear you are having trouble sharing with your wife. I feel very fortunate that my wife, while she didn't agree entirely at first, was always open to listening and discussing things with me. If it is that your wife disagree then you just need to be persistent, and refine your argument, listen to her objections, and then find effective counters. And understand that it will take a while, even if you lay it out completely and rationally it may take a while for her to accept it, remember she has a lot to let go of and that is difficult. If the problem is she doesn't want to talk to you at all about it, I would say to sit down and explain to her that this is very important to you, and so is she, and you would very much like to share it with her. If she still is not interested, than there is not much you can do until she decides to.
Matt wrote:As for confirmation of information, I've read lots of conflicting things and the insights in YY are, not surprisingly, contrary to most of the thoughts out there on the nature of Yahuweh and His plan. I'm mostly looking for the origin of corruptions and information on the early assemblies.
Some good resource, and I warn that these are not perfect, and you need to separate the authors opinions form the facts they present, are:
Come Out of Her My People
Fossilized Customs
The Two Babylons
A Test of Time
The Science of God
The Bible in Translation
Misquoting Jesus
Encountering the Manuscripts
These are a few good ones to start with. The first 3 have to do with the Pagan origins of Christina practices. The fourth is a study of the historical accuracy of the Scriptures. The fifth pertains to the Scientific accuracy of the creation account. and the last three have to do with the transmission of the Renewed Covenant text to us.
MAtt wrote:For what it's worth, my family currently consists of my wife and I, our 4 adopted kids, and one foster son. We have been foster parents for 2.5 years and love it! I think it has given me great insight into God's idea of relationships.
That's awesome that you have been able to help that many kids who wouldn't have a loving family if it weren't for you. Yeah I imagine that does you give you a bit of an insight into how God looks at us.
Matt wrote:Well, I've probably rambled on enough, but thought I'd introduce myself. I'm hoping to be able to dedicate more time to posting things and joining in the discussions here as we grow in our relationships.
May Yah' bless you.
Matt
I look forward to you joining in. Never be afraid of rambling on here, none of us are strangers to long text.