The Pope a JW...!!!

by JWD 36 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  dark clouds

  Julie:
  thanks for your insight,
  i agree the borg has the equivalent hold of the early RCC centuries ago, the fear the RCC holds is through fire and brimestone and excommunication though the latter is not really as enforced as often anymore
  while the borg maintains fear through harmageddon and DF'ing

  Yeru:
  can you explain the following? im not sure i understand what you meant by this, i feel i lost the meaning of what you were stating. . .

  Forth: Check out the Revelation book and see how many drawings there are of Jehovah all gold and sitting on a throne.I
  thought the 10 commandments forbade ANY image of God...! Both religions boast of a unified world-wide organization. That prohibition is against WORSHIPPING images. and isn't the church supposed to be one body?

  thanks in advance

  Ozzie:
  

  **the Bible is a product of the Catholic Church**

  i have to agree with bluesapphire.
  'history' wrote the bible, the church was the organization responsible for picking and choosing through the manuscripts, deciding which would be accepted and which would be labeled apocryphal.
  they were also responsible for the scribes that copied and translated it,
  they were responsible for the bible burnings and heretic burnings.
  so in essence what we have now is a product of what the church allowed to get through.

  chuck
• 

  Yerusalyim

  Dark Cloud,

  My point was that the prohibition agaisnt images was against WORSHIPPING images, not against having them, though Jewish Scholars did read it as a prohibition against representations of God. Then again, Jewish Scholars also turned "You shall not boil a kid goat in it's mothers milk" into not allowing any meat and dairy products.
  together.

  The thingy about the Church the body of Christ being ONE was in reference to a remark about the Church being a world wide organization.

  Hope that clears up my comments. Sometimes my brain goes faster than my fingers.

  Yeru

  YERUSALYIM
  There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
  Shakespere: Hamlet
• 

  JWD

  Regarding the matter of images of God in the WT.First of all, it`s
  hypocrisy.That is particularily evident when viewing the WT from a
  country,in my case Japan,where idolatry is a big issue.Japan is filled
  with all manner of images which have religious meaning.Everything from
  odd shaped rocks,to old trees, to statues of men`s organs.Thus the WT
  in Japan is very, very critical of all manner of religious `objects`.
  In some cases it borders on the ridiculus.For example,Japanese JWs are
  forbidden to wear black clothing to a funeral.Because it might lead
  someone to think they lit incense at the alter.Ironically, the gold
  drawing of Jehovah in the Revelation book looks very similar to the
  one of the most popular Japanese dieties,the goddess of mercy.So,
  when they regularily criticize Japanese religions as well as churches
  with regards to `idolatry` it tends to ring hollow.Naturally,JWs try
  to make the same distinction which was brought forth saying they don`t
  `worship` the images.The average Japanese would say the same thing
  about photos of dead relatives,amulets, and various religious objects.
  The WT ,however, takes a very hard line on those things and forces them to be burned or thrown away.
  The second matter would be the issue of whether or not any representation of God is appropriate.That issue became a heated one
  early on in church history.In some countries like Japan due to the culture and religious orientation it still is a major issue.In Brazil
  as well,even some churches recommend destroying all religious objects since they have taken on almost a animistic meaning.
  It seems that regardless of a person`s religion there is a strong tendancy to gravitate towards something visible. Could it not be said that the WTs `idols` are the many photos of `God`s Visible Organization`?
  If so,then does it differ from other forms of idolatry? JWD
• 

  ozziepost

  G'day JWD,

  It's not just in Japan that the dubs do not wear black to a funeral. I would suggest that is the case in any western country, certainly it is in any country I have lived in.

  Cheers,

  Ozzie
• 

  ozziepost

  Chuck old son,

  Whether the Catholic Church compiled the Bible canon or not, those who wrote it were not Catholic. Therefore you cannot say that it is of Catholic origin.

  Also, whether those who in early centuries gathered the canon were Catholic may be an interesting discussion in itself, but not as clearly established as you claim.

  Cheers,

  Ozzie
• 

  bluesapphire

  Ozzie: Let's bring it up to the top. I'm interested to see what evidence you have that those who compiled the "table of contents" of the bible were not Catholic.

  Thanks. Blue.
• 

  ozziepost

  Blue, can I call you Bluey, a good old Ozzie moniker,

  Our knowledge of any point is informed by what we read or what we personally experience, so in this case it'll have to be based on what we read! Have you read any good historical treatises on this? Like at what point was the canon of the Holy Bible as we know it established?

  Then we would have to be informed as to when the Roman Catholic Church came into existence.

  I've made my previous comments on the impressions I've gained over the years. But I'm convicted that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. How about you?

  As a sid point, it's interesting to muse over how much God uses organisations such as the Catholic church and the JWs. Do they help or hinder? I wonder?

  Cheers,

  ozzie
• 

  JWD

  When it comes to the role of organizations and the Bible,orgs. are
  like paper cups,nothing more than disposable containers.The container
  is only as good as the contents.The whole business of finding the right organization always seems pointless to me.There is NO right
  organization.They are all paper cups.Some are older some are newer,
  some are bigger some are smaller,some are prettier some are uglier,
  some are cleaner and some are dirtier.But, when it comes to wanting
  to believe in the Bible,it`s the contents that matter.I seriously
  doubt that the God of the Bible has ever had or does have ONE true
  organization.Instead he has a lot of paper cups.Some are usuable and
  others are worthless.Sure the Bible has a lot of good things to say
  and we would do well to read it.But the real value comes when it
  begins to change our lives.That`s not the work of some organization,
  but of God.If you love the Bible and let it began to change your
  life you will naturally find others of the same mind.Your relationship
  with them won`t be theocratic,but rather relational. I think we`d all
  profit by not focusing on the right `paper cup`,but rather the contents.
  Organizations are groups of people.Good people with good principles
  will make good organizations.Good people with bad principles will
  turn a good group into a bad one.And bad people with bad principles
  will make horrible organizations....like perhaps...? JWD
• 

  ozziepost

  JWD,

  Have to agree with you. How, though, can we get this thru' to the millions of Borg-ites, conditioned as they are to believing that the Borg=Jehovah?

  Ozzie
• 

  Julie

  Good point that many think that the Borg=Jehovah. Another point I find extremely interesting is that people also think the bible=God. If someone does not think the bible is God's word that does not necessarily mean that the person dismisses all possibility of God existing, just the bible as being representative of God.

  Just a thought--
  Julie