19, ok...that explains the ignorance. Sorry if I am blunt, but I am who I am.
regarding a 'true confused Witness'...all Witnesses are, some just choose not to address it.
This was my 'Sign'
by MsGrowingGirl20 67 Replies latest jw friends
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leavingwt
MsGrowingGirl20: Have you read any apostate books? A few of them have been game-changers for those who've read them. Some are better than others. Crisis of Conscience is one of the better ones, IMHO. It can be read in a few short hours and the writing style is personal and easy to follow.
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MsGrowingGirl20
i read COC recently...Currently i'm looking for another one to read...But since i don't live in the US...they're not readily available...A lot of persons suggested Steve Hassan
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leavingwt
Hassan's book is a good one. Here are a few others that really helped me and my family.
Awakening of a Jehovah's Witness by Diane Wilson (my wife and my mother both really enjoyed this one, as she deals with issues affecting women)
Captives of a Concept by Don Cameron (very brief and to the point)
Apocalypse Delayed by Jim Penton (a non-emotional history of the WT religion)
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gutted
I feel for you. My story is a bit different in that I am very logical and it took me a few hours of browsing on the internet to realize it wasn't the true religion. The thing is, yes that helped me realize it logically but not emotionally. That takes time, a great read in that regard was, as probably some stated, Combatting Cult Mind Control. That book helps one to seperate the beliefs from the emotional manipulation and control... those terrible terrible "pit in your stomach" feelings you must be feeling.
I did do a lot of reading and studying in regards to doctrine and beliefs to make sure I was 100% correct even after I "knew" it wasn't true, keep at it!
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Diest
Ms. GG I think most people would be more than willing to send you some books to read. I am broke right now or id send you Steve Hassan's book and Pentons book. What part of the world are you in?
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Diest
You know what really got me about the 607 thing....The intellectual dishonesty. If you wrote papers for college the way the society writes literature you would get an F.
Here is a great piece of evidence. Look at the WTS Jeremiah book. If Satan is the father of the lie, who wrote this piece?
This is the Email exchange between Mazar and a man at JehovahsWitnessRecovery.com
http://www.jehovahswitnessrecovery.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=9791&hilit=mazar
The interesting thing about Dr. Mazar is that she is critisized by others in her field for being overly reliant on the Bible, and even she does not believe in 607 BCE
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Vidqun
MsGG20, here's a thought. Remember, the congregation is your support group. If you are suddenly cut off from your support group, it will be as though you are in a life raft on the ocean. You will be lifted by evey swell, and be carried along by each wave. In the past many have urged that you should not be in a hurry. What's the rush? To make things more complicated, you might be emotionally involved with someone in the congregation. To be in love is one of the greatest feelings ever, but beware. You can become unevenly yoked, which you might regret forever.
As you were encouraged in previous threads, if you have the opportunity, do carry on with your (secular) studies. It is your God-given obligation. 1 Tim. 5:8 says: "Certainly if anyone does not provide for those who are his [or her] own, he has disowned the fath and is worse than a person without faith." This is your first obligation. While you are studying you will be broadening your horizons and making new friends. During holidays you can even pioneer, if you feel like it - my five cents worth.
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Heaven
I think the talk about doubts is a sign a lot of JWs have them. Gee, I wonder why.
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sd-7
The 607 B.C.E. issue is a tough one. The Bible can be pretty helpful in this, too. Zech. 7:1-5 points out that in 517 B.C. (the fourth year of Darius, and the Society acknowledges that this is a Darius who reigned starting in 521 B.C.--check 'Darius' in the Insight book), the Jews had been mourning in the 'fifth and seventh month' for 'seventy years'. The fifth month was when the temple was destroyed, and the seventh month was when Gedaliah had been assassinated. If they'd been mourning since 607 B.C., then why wouldn't this verse say 90 years? Or even if 607 was the right date, why is this verse discussing something that was long done with 20 years before? Possible, but kinda odd.
Other thing is, Jer. 29:10 was written to people who were already in exile in Babylon, about 10 or 11 years before Jerusalem was destroyed (read the beginning of Jer. 29 and compare it to the end of 2 Kings for proof of that). So it would've been 81 years of exile for them, if the Society is correct about the 607 date. Proobleeem...
The Bible itself fixes the length of Nebuchadnezzar's reign at the least as 43 years. So if there's an extra 20 years in the timeline, it would have to exist between Evil-merodach and Nabonidus. But the Society just had a couple of articles on this issue, and pointed, ironically, to the only 'proof' outside of their understanding of scripture that I've ever seen--an astronomical observation that, as I understand it, has previously been considered by the Society as unreliable, dubious, but now is suddenly proof of 607 BCE! Also ironic is that they spend the entire 2-article series (October and November 2011 Public Edition Watchtowers, if I recall correctly) discrediting the majority of the archaeological evidence...then saying some of it is okay, so far as it agrees with them... Not to mention quoting at least one scholar out of context in a way that is misleading.
(On that note, let me tell you, I have personally researched articles the Society has quoted from in its publications and found quite a few that were quoting out of context. The author's words were quoted to suggest he was in favor of the Society's position, when in reality the author actually rejected said position! Academic dishonesty. You've been in school recently, so tell me, what would your teacher do if he or she learned that you did something like that on a research paper? Wouldn't you expect a failing grade? I know I would.)
'The Gentile Times Reconsidered' by Carl Olof Jonsson is a pretty good work in this regard. Technical, but excellent. I've read it myself, and it pretty much owns the issue on every level.
You are still young, so that works in your favor, as it works against you. The wisdom you will need to weather this situation is going to come gradually, but you'll need to tread carefully--very, very carefully. I wish you the best in your journey.
--sd-7
