by Amazing 16 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Joseph's comment
"The easiest way out of this is to say that both classes of Christians had been selected "in parallel" during these two millenia, not one after the other as they now believe, and that the 144000 are not yet selected, and for that reason "the end" has not come."I like this idea. I can imagine that if this does become doctrine many will conclude they are of the heavenly calling as well. The 2004 memorial attendance will be 15,553,310 the number partaking 6,296,130.
Oops!
Thirdson
a niche that is not exploited by any other christian sect
Hey man that is a great line
james
I just wanted to say i was never much of a Greek Word type jw, but you guys are too good
the level of taking apart wt dogma pc by pc is simply unreal
you guys are good (and gals)
thanks
this is wt at its best:
"In times past, it has been said that the great crowd is in a spiritual equivalent r antitype, of the Court of the Gentiles that existed in Jesus' day. However, further research has evealed at least five resons why this is not so."
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did you notice how effectively they separated themselves, "Ithas been said"
now who in the hell said that, instead of saying the FDS got the shit wrong they speak much like BOB DOLE in 3rd person
furher research, now did those bible text change or did they get the INTEPERTATION WRONG i thought they said the bible interpete itself,
it is truly sad to think that for the last 20-30 yrs you would have been DFED if you pointed out the same 5 reasons 4 weeks ago
this is really the problem with wt - they demand absolute obedience even when they are giving THIER OPINION
now keep in mind they point out 5 reasons and in 3 years they can come out and change again, and due to the constant mindcontrol they exercise over their members the masses never say:
"Did you not tell us that the last explanation was NEW LIGHT FROM GOD"
now you are telling us this is some more new light that is the OPPOSITE OF THE LAST NEW LIGHT
the mind of a jw lacks the ablility to reason or do logic and many of us can attest to how many times we would read something like this
A MAJOR REVERSAL OF DOGMA and call it NEW LIGHTA instead of asking was not the last explaination also new light
you got to love HIGH CONTROL GROUPS
JAMES
From Trench's Synonyms of the New Testament, by R.C. Trench, Hendrickson Publishers:
Both hieron and naos are translated "temple" in our English versions. Although it is difficult to say how they could have been distinguished, translating them by different words would have clarified the sacred narrative and made it more precise. Hieron refers to the whole sacred enclosure, the temenos, including the outer courts, porches, porticoes, and other related buildings. Naos refers to the temple itself, the proper habitation of God (Acts 7:48; 17:24; 12 Cor. 6:19), the oikos tou Theou (house of God), the heart and center of the whole. Hagiasma is used to refer to the Holy Place and to the Holy of Holies (1 Macc. 1:37; 3:45; cf. Vv. 37-42). This distinction between hieron and naos is found in secular Greek references to heathen temples and in sacred Greek references to the temple of the true God.
When referring to the temple in Jerusalem, Josephus, Philo, the Septuagint, and the New Testament always distinguish hieron and naos. Often the distinction is explicit. After describing the building of the naos by Solomon, for example, Josephus wrote: "Outside the temple (naou) he constructed a sacred enclosure (hieron) in the form of a square" (Antiquitiates Judaicae 8.3.9). In another passage where Josephus describes how the Samaritians sought permission from the Jews to help rebuild God's house, he used the phrase "to join in the building of the temple (naon) (Antiquitiates Judaicae 11.4.3). Although the Samaritians' request was denied (see Ezra 4:2), they were permitted to "come into the sacred enclosure (hieron) to worship God," something forbidden under the penalty of death to mere Gentiles, who were not to pass beyond their own exterior court (Acts. 21:29-30; Philo, Legatio ad Gaium 31).
The distinction between hieron and naos helps us better understand several New Testament passages. When Zacharias entered in "the temple of the Lord" to burn incense, the people who awaited the return and who stood "outside" (Luke 1:10) also were in the temple--the hieron--though Zacharias alone entered the naos, the "temple" in its narrower sense. We often read of Christ teaching "in the temple" (Matt. 236:55; Luke 21:37; John 8:20), and we might wonder how long conversations could have been maintained there without interrupting the service of God. But this "temple" is always the hieron, the porches and porticoes of the temple that were intended for such purposes. Christ never entered the naos during his earthly ministry, since that right was reserved for the priests. Jesus drove the money-changers and the buyers and sellers with their sheep and oxen from the hieron, not from the naos. Even those profane men had not dared to establish themselves in the temple in its strictest sense (Matt. 21:12; John 2:14).
Keeping in mind the distinction between hieron and naos helps us understand how the prophet Zascharias could be slain "between the temple and the altar" (Matt. 23:35). Here the word translated "temple" is naos, which helps to answer the questions: "Was not the altar in the temple? And if so, how could any locality be described as between the two?" The brazen altar alluded to in Matthew 23:35 was located in the hieron, not in the naos. It was situated "in the court of the house of the Lord (Cf. Josehus, Antiquitates Judaica 8.4.1), where the sacred historian (2 Chron. 24:21) lays the scene of this murder, not in the naos.
Finally, Judas vividly portrayed his defiance and despair by entering into the naos itself (Matt. 27:5)--which was reserved for the priests alone--and casting down before the priests the accurse blood money! Expositors who affirm that naos here stands for hieron should adduce some other passage where the one is used for the other.
>I like this idea. I can imagine that if this does become doctrine many will conclude they are of the heavenly calling as well. The 2004 memorial attendance will be 15,553,310 the number partaking 6,296,130.<
ROTFLMAO ROTFLMAO ROTFLMAO ROTFLMAO ROTFLMAO
<raises wine glass> heeere's hoping!!!!!
In 1975 a crack team of publishers was sentenced to death by a judicial commiteee. They promptly escaped from the cult and now live life on the run. If you have a problem ... and if you can find them ... maybe you can contact the A--postate Team"
Interesting...
But on the other hand, isn't a little bit more than apparent that they just might have this whole concept WRONG anyway and so it just misfits no matter what they do? They are too busy applying everything in the Bible to themselves, and wrongly so. They are definitely in the Bible but it is not always a flattering picture.
What we're seeing here is simply some blind false prophets struggling in the dark and stumbling before everyone's eyes.
HOW ABOUT THE CORRECT ANSWER?
The 144K represents the "Bride Class" going to heaven, true, made up of many JWs but certainly many others as well.
The "great crowd" who come through the "great tribulation" are non-Bride-Class persons getting their act together enough in time to survive Armageddon. Thus you have two classes of approved servants; one is a limited "priestly" class that will serve as princes and kings in the earth and will assist the "great crowd" a larger, undetermined number of Armageddon (tribulation) survivors. Both groups are depicted as being "in heaven" but this is symbolic since both groups immediately after Armgeddon will be on the earth. The Bride class will, in fact, remain in the flesh and on the earth, even resurrected ones until after the millennium and after the second resurrection. They serve on the earth in the capacity as judges-kings-priests until all the work on the earth is finished, and THEN they go to heaven at the very "last trumpet" (1 Cor. 15).
This is the correct understanding and that's why the WTS' explanation does not work and will never work since they are now in spiritual darkness as was prophesied about their leaders who would apostate in the end.
L.G.
