[Holly]

Hello, S.D. It's not likely for one of Jehovah's Witnesses to be disfellowshipped for marrying outside of the faith. We are, however, encouraged to use the Bible as a guide when we make serious decisions such as choosing a marriage mate. The bible let's us know that when we do marry that it should be only in the Lord. Also, we have the many instances of God's servants in the past who made it a custom to marry those who did not serve Him. Think of the Israelites who were lured into false religion and other things that drew them away from true worship. This, in turn, caused them to lose Jehovah's favor. These can serve as examples to us so that we can make wiser dicisions than those who walked before us! Jehovah is merciful and understands what it is that we need, as well as what's best for us. Psalms 145: 16 says: 'You are opening your hand and satisfying the desire of every living thing.' Certainly, he will provide for those desirous of marriage according to his will! Warm Christian Love Holly

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Name : Holly, Gender : F, Age : 28, City : Annapolis, State : MD Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, 

[Holly]

Hello, There's a scripture in Acts that comes to my mind with regard to your question; and it says: 'And he {God} made out of one man every nation of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth...' (Acts 17:26) This acknowledges that different groups of people --nations, or races -- did come from one human pair. The bible does also verify that that it was the offspring of Noah from which all mankind came from thereafter. 'And Noah's sons who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Ja'pheth. ...These three were Noah's sons, and from these was all the earth's population spread abroad.' (Genesis 9:18, 19) So, these we know are factual. As far as what race Adam and Eve were, the bible doesn't say they had a race. What it does tell us is that when God created man, they were made in His likeness. (Genesis 5:1, 2) God intended for them to 'Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth.' (Gen. 1:28) And since they were perfect before they sinned, it's reasonable to believe that they were created with the capacity to have offspring that didn't look exactly like them. For example; suppose Adam had black hair and Eve had brown hair. Well, then, where did red hair come from? Certainly, we can conclude that God biologically created them with genes that would result in each and every different characteristic we see today. Now, suppose you take two of their offspring: one blonde and one redheaded, and they had children, and so on until you had several generations of people. (basically, inbreeding, which God allowed temporarily for the purpose of populating the earth) You would have a whole region of people with every variation of blonde and red hair -- as well, the other physical characteristics that the first two parents had. When each of us are born we have a set group of genetic traits, or genes. And when the same group of traits are multiplied over and over without the introduction of a new set of genes, what results is a race of people. That in itself is how the different races developed as Noah's offspring occupied different geographical areas of the earth. I hope this helped answer your question. Holly

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Name : Holly, Gender : F, Age : 28, City : Annapolis, State : MD Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, 

[Holly]

The Bible gives us clear indications that there would be one true religion, or 'faith.' Ephesians 4:5,6 tells us: '...one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all persons...' In fact, the Bible refers to true Christian teachings as 'the truth' (Read 1John 1) Yet, many religions believe in more than one God and more than one faith (although differing doctrines) as being correct. Just a few (though there are many) indications on how you can identify which religion is right are: 1, What are the teachings based on: the word of God, or the word of men? 2Timothy 3:16 says 'All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight...' The true religion should be based on the Bible since it is the word of God. Jesus said in Matt. 15:9 'It is in vain that they keep worshiping me, because they teach commands of men as doctrines.' If a religion is based upon man-made teachings instead of the bible it can't be correct. 2, Is God's name made known and being used? Jesus prayed to God in John 17:6 saying: 'I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me out of the world.' In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus said that we should pray for God's name to be sanctified' (Matt. 6:9) He used God's name -- Jehovah -- many times. A religion that professes to serve God would no doubt use his name. (Matt. 4:10) 3, Is true faith in Jesus Christ demonstrated? Many religions believe that we are saved only by whether we 'believe' in Jesus. We learn in the book of James that '... faith without works is dead.' James says further: 'You believe there is one God, do you? You are doing quite well. And yet the demons believe and shudder. But do you care to know, O empty man, that faith apart from works is inactive?' (James 2:26 --19,20) In the book of Matthew Jesus told his disciples many things that would identify the true faith, one of which was: 'Not everyone saying to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will.' (Matt7:21 --read all of Matthew 7) This pretty much sums it up, the true religion will be doing the will of God. If you truly want to know what the right religion is, pray to God and tell him it is your desire to know which religion to follow. He will bring them to you and your prayers will not go unanswered!!

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Name : Holly, Gender : F, Age : 28, City : Annapolis, State : MD Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, 

[Holly]

The Bible does give us clear indication that there would be one true religion, or 'faith.' Ephesians 4:5,6 tells us: '...one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all persons...' In fact, the Bible refers to true Christian teachings as 'the truth' (Read 1John 1) --- Yet, many religions believe in more than one God and more than one faith (although differing doctrines) as being correct. Just a few (though there are many) indications on how you can identify which religion is right are: 1, What are the teachings based on: the word of God, or the word of men? 2Timothy 3:16 says 'All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight...' The true religion should be based on the Bible since it is the word of God. Jesus said in Matt. 15:9 'It is in vain that they keep worshiping me, because they teach commands of men as doctrines.' If a religion is based upon man-made teachings instead of the bible it can't be correct. 2, Is God's name made known and being used? Jesus prayed to God in John 17:6 saying: 'I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me out of the world.' In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus said that we should pray for God's name to be sanctified' (Matt. 6:9) He used God's name -- Jehovah -- many times. A religion that professes to serve God would no doubt use his name. (Matt. 4:10) 3, Is true faith in Jesus Christ demonstrated? Many religions believe that we are saved only by whether we 'believe' in Jesus. We learn in the book of James that '... faith without works is dead.' James says further: 'You believe there is one God, do you? You are doing quite well. And yet the demons believe and shudder. But do you care to know, O empty man, that faith apart from works is inactive?' (James 2:26 --19,20) In the book of Matthew Jesus told his disciples many things that would identify the true faith, one of which was: 'Not everyone saying to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will.' (Matt7:21 --read all of Matthew 7) This pretty much sums it up, the true religion will be doing the will of God. If you truly want to know what the right religion is, pray to God and tell him it is your desire to know which religion to follow. He will bring them to you and your prayers will not go unanswered!!

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Name : Holly, Gender : F, Age : 28, City : Annapolis, State : MD Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, 

[Holly]

Jillian: I can understand the confusion about the issue of true Christianity within the Catholic faith; especially when taking note of the difference in beliefs of those who have answered your question. The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:10 made clear to Christians in his day: 'Now I exhort you brothers; through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you should all speak in agreement, and that there should not be divisions among you, but that you may be fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought.' You might ask yourself if this is true of this particular religion? (I will speak in general terms throughout my answer so as not to discriminate against anyone's religion, as these are questions to ponder about any form of 'Christian' religion.) Are the members of this religion in agreement about their faith worldwide, or would it be likely to differ depending on what church I went to; or even, do the members within the same church agree concerning their faith? It's a good idea to go to the Bible to answer your question since the Bible itself defines what Christians should be. Another indication that Jesus himself gave to identify who would be his disciples is found in John 13:35: 'By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.' At first glance this may seem simple to answer, but think about it. Do members of this faith all worship together with no racial, national, or ethnic barriers; or is there a Caucasian church or an African-American church of the same faith? It's also important to consider the beliefs of a faith professing to be Christian - are they based on the Bible or on the viewpoint that is generally accepted in modern times? Jesus himself rebuked the religious leaders of his time saying in Matthew 15:7-9: 'You hypocrites, Isaiah aptly prophesied about you, when he said, 'This people honors me with their lips, yet their heart is far removed from me. It is in vain that they keep worshiping me, because they teach commands of men as doctrines.' This is a powerful statement that Jesus made, especially when reflecting on the many different 'expressions' of Christianity today, yet Jesus makes clear that worship is 'in vain' if based on the commands of men. There is so much in the Bible to teach us about Christianity, but I hope that the aforementioned scriptures can help you to come to a reasonable conclusion to your question.

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Name : Holly, Gender : F, Age : 28, City : Annapolis, State : MD Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, 

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