Eurozone crisis- the jw's are crowing about it like mad!

by highdose 66 Replies latest jw friends

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  sonny.alfaro

  I read in the bible prophecies about the coming Messiah, and he did come.

  I read in the bible prophecies about the coming destruction of Jerusalem, and it did come.

  I read in the bible about the coming end of this system of things, it has not come yet, but i can see the sign (which all of you deny).

  I learned from history that events can suddenly shift unexpectedly, without prior warning catching everyone off-guard (see what happend to the Arab Spring).

  I learned from current events that we are in a tumultous era in our history where insecurity, fear and anger is growing day by day on a 'global' scale.

  Scientists are saying we have reached the point of no return due to climate change, and will experienced unprecedented climate related disasters the world has never experienced.

  Economists and experts are saying we are heading into a major global financial meltdown, such as the world has never experienced before.

  One-by-one, world leaders are falling, economies are collapsing, angst and anger are growing among the populace, insurrection and lawlessness are increasing, weather-related disasters are increasing and growing in magnitude...

  And here you are telling me everything is going to be alright?

  Is it possible, that because we are so convinced that the JWs are wrong in their bible-based predictions, we have blinded ourselves to the actual reality?

  Have we disadvantaged ourselves, due to our bias, that instead of seeing reality, we have covered our eyes with rose-colored glasses?

  I tried to see things as an observer and by removing my bias and prejudices against the JW religion and just by reading the bible, and the bible alone, i can see that we are indeed heading into a great tribulation. I can see that man really, no matter who you put in power, is incapable of solving it's own problems. I can see that what will unite the whole world, and bring peace and security to man is not the United Nations, but through a ruler and rulership "more" powerful and capable than what mere mortals can accomplish. Democracy and Capitalism, with all its intents and purposes has served as well, but proven to be flawed and inadequate to provide us with the ultimate quality of life we can all enjoy.

  I might have some doubts with the JW religion, but i believe in the bible. The idea of the promised "seed" and how it eventuate, from Abraham, to Israel, to David, and finally to Jesus makes sense. The idea of the ransom makes sense. The arrival of Messiah, through Jesus, the events recorded, and the reporting accuracy makes sense. The destruction of Jerusalem, and the perfect timing of events makes sense.

  I keep asking myself, should i doubt the remaining prophecies that has not been fulfilled yet, the Great Tribulation and eventually, Armageddon?

  And here we are 2000 years later, the world's financial system in turmoil, natural disasters and weather related events increasing in effect and magnitude, the whole system as we know it, the dominant system of Democracy and Capitalism is in jeopardy, world leaders losing their power through bloody revolutions and/or forced resignations, and the whole of mankind uncertain and fearful of what their future holds.

  Folks, there is a reason for me to doubt what you are telling me, because the bible, and history, and world events are telling otherwise.
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  cofty

  I read in the bible prophecies about the coming Messiah, and he did come.

  Could you share a specific prophesy about the messiah you found convincing. I know the bible really well and have never seen a single verifiable prophecy about Jesus.

  The idea of the promised "seed" and how it eventuate, from Abraham, to Israel, to David, and finally to Jesus makes sense. The idea of the ransom makes sense. The arrival of Messiah, through Jesus, the events recorded, and the reporting accuracy makes sense.

  The promised seed leading to Jesus was imposed on the bible narrative after the fact.

  How does the "ransom" make sense to you? Are you referring to the watchtower version of the doctrine or the traditional christian gospel?

  I'm interested in what you mean by "reporting accuracy". Are you aware of the contradictions within the synoptic gospels and the historical errors?

  Its normal when you discover you have taken a wrong turn to assume you are just a little bit off course. In time you may discover just how desperately misguided we were as JWs.
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  steve2

  I predict that a prediction about the end will occur everytime some bad event occurs.
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  Cadellin

  Sonny, nobody is saying everything is alright. One of the things that JWs are really good at is binarial thinking--if it's not "A," then it must be "B." If it's not black, then it must be white. It's much more realistic to see things--including supposed world events--as existing on a spectrum.

  In your post, you mention a financial meltdown, climate change and lawlessness due to insurrections. At least, those seem to be the main issues of concern. You seem (as I interpret your post) to perceive these things as indicating a fulfillment of Bible prophecy indicating Armaggedon's imminence. However, how many of those things are predicted in the Bible? Does the Bible ANYWHERE prophecy about a global economic downturn? About global warming or environmental depletion? Jesus' prediction in the synoptic gospels says nothing about those things. Neither does the apocalyptic prophecy of the four horsemen.

  And yes, you can turn to Ezek 7:19 regarding people throwing their gold and silver in the street. That scrip has nothing to do with a global financial downturn, but rather pointed to the futility of material protection when God acted against Israel. That prophecy was specifically aimed at the nation of Israel and nothing in it contemplates an end-times or global scenario.

  JWs like to trot out Rev. 11:18 as somehow predicting the environmental problems we see today, relying on the phrase "bring to ruin those ruining the earth," as if "ruining the earth" had a literal exegesis. However, that exact phrase was used to describe the people of Noah's day who were "ruining the earth" with violence. Nothing in that verse assumes manmade environmental destruction.

  Is everything perfectly fine on our planet? Of course not. Humanity is facing serious hurdles, the natures of which are utterly unprecedented to our species. Unprecedented, as in completely unfamiliar to Bible writers.

  But please be aware that it is all too easy to get a distorted picture of world conditions from the media. The sad fact is that "If it bleeds, it leads," meaning that news outlets thrive on bad news. I recently was checking out a recent update on the UN website which discussed how meeting the Millennial goals was coming along. Of course, most of them are unmet. But--WOW--I couldn't believe the amazing progress that had been made in improving sanitation, clean water and fighting diseases like malaria. Mortality rates for children under five years have plummeted in virtually every third-world country. That's amazing. Moreover, when I was pioneering (way back in the late '80's/early '90s), we used the most current figures for how many people were hungry on the planet--about one-fourth of the population, around 1 billion. That's 1 billion too many, yes. But do you know what the figure is today? 1 billion--and the world's population has nearly doubled. About one person in seven doesn't get enough to eat. Yet twenty years ago, that number was one person in four. That's amazing.

  My point is you need to examine this issue very carefully and not jump to conclusions.
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  Quarterback

  Yes, and to all that calamity the trend to shift from the small headphones to the large thick ones. It really is a sign that the end is near. Might be in an hour....I'll respond to this thread to update you then.
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  yesidid

  Sonny,

  Did you actually read these links?

  Please do so for your own sake, not for my sake or for anyone else on the forum, but for you..

  http://www.bibletopics.com/biblestudy/88c.htm

  http://www.bibletopics.com/biblestudy/88.htm
• 

  Quarterback

  Hi there
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  sonny.alfaro

  Cadellin - I can see that we look at the world (and world events) in two different lenses here, though i appreciate the fact that you see the positives in a world fully enveloped by negativity.

  Yet as i have said earlier, i still believe in the bible. Putting the JW doctrine aside, i believe in what i understood as laid out in the scriptures - The fall of man, the promised Seed, the ransom.

  The idea is so simple, we cannot rule ourselves. We have proven it again and again in our history. We cannot deny this. Democracy and Capitalism, possibly the best idea we had so far, has caused all these messed we are in right now.

  The bible might not be as specific as what we wanted it to be, but the bottom line is this - it predicted the coming of a Great Tribulation with a magnitude we have never experienced before. Whether that could mean a total collapse of our financial system, resulting in total chaos and unprecedented violence the world has ever seen, and/or a total breakdown of the world's life support system resulting in the most deadliest and destructive natural disasters, who knows? But all evidence are pointing to this lead.

  What i see is this, at the moment, the world's economic system is on the brink of collapse. The worst is yet to come. Will this bring more violence and chaos all over the world? We just have to wait. Hopefully it won't, but what we see right now, this is only the beginning. Did Jesus mention about total economic collapse? No! But where will these lead? Tribulation!

  What about climate related disasters? Will it escalate? Who knows? If you listen to climate advocates and experts, we are doomed, albeit the sceptics will say otherwise. But what do we see? I would be fooling myself if i say things are getting better in terms of the frequency and magnitude of natural disasters today. Did Jesus specifically mentioned tsunamis and climate related disasters? No! But where will all these disasters lead? Tribulation!

  It's true that we can see improvements in certain areas such as improved sanitation, clean water and the fight against certain diseases in other parts of the world. But the reality is this, if you look holistically and see the big picture, the problems we have created has overshadowed the good we have done big time.

  I am hearing several voices right how, eerily but interestingly all in unison. The JWs in their own interpretation of the scriptures shouting at the top of their lungs, "The sky is falling! The Bible said so." The scientists and climate experts shouting at the top of their lungs, "The sky is falling! Science said so." Economists are shouting at the top of the lungs, "The sky is falling! The Stockmarket said so."

  And i also hear another voice, quite mockingly saying, "There is no end of the world! Everything is the same since time in memorial."

  I'm confused...
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  sonny.alfaro

  Blondie - So you do believe "something" is coming? If indeed Armageddon will come, albeit at an unknown date and time, will that not prove the bible, and the interpretation of the JWs correct?
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  sonny.alfaro

  Truth_b_Known - Maybe not you, but what about those thousands who lost their jobs, sources of income, houses and retirement benefits in America, and now in Europe due to the worsening economic crisis?