'This Generation' (page 6)

fairchild

(Narkissos) My only advice is, just beware of being too hasty in rebuilding a belief system before you have fully questioned and tried what you think you know.

The problem is, up until very recently, I truly believed what I had learned during meetings, bookstudy and personal study and there was no reason for me to rebuild my belief system. I originally came to this site for some moral support, trying to make the decision to get baptized. I was unaware that most people here are ex JW's. For some reason I thought that many JW's visited this site as well. My first post received a lot of comments, mostly attempts to make me see that getting deeper involved with JW's would not be the right direction to walk towards. The comments to my post confused me beyond words. However, I took every comment and examined it. Followed links that were provided, etc.. I stopped going to meetings, went back, stopped again.. and tomorrow I have to tell them that I have decided to stop my personal study, it's not going to be easy.

Bottom line, at this point I feel as if I don't have enough knowledge of what's out there. In order to make a decision such as being baptized a JW, or walk away from them altogether, I need to educate myself a lot better than I have so far. This is what this site has taught me. I owe it to myself, as well as to God. Posting the 'this generation' thread is one step in the process of educating myself.

The information I have taken in during the past few weeks has been a lot, and it has been shocking. It is not easy when you have been promised to live forever, and all of a sudden you find out that the bible does not exactly support that promise. Nor is it easy to let go of the things I have always taken for granted, the things I have been taught and never questioned, such as 'this generation', 1914, Jerusalem 607BCE, etc.. And now I might have to face the fact that the bible isn't as perfect as I thought it was.

No, there is no haste. However, there is a sense of urgency to know where I stand and to find God the way I should. It's not like as if He has been a great help to me in my search..

By the way, I just noticed that you are from France. What part of France are you from? I grew up in the Netherlands and Belgium, and lived in Paris for 6 months, now living in the US.

Greetings

Narkissos

Fairchild,

Thanks for your explanations. I (obviously) missed your first thread and thought you were a (recent) xJW. It's really great you have found this site in time. At the very least you now know how hard it is for people who have been baptised as JWs to leave the organisation, and you realise how important it is to check things thoroughly before (not ) making such a commitment.

There are many good books and sites around to read to get familiar with the current historical and literary research about the Bible texts. Even in many churches (not all though) the pastors and others are far better acquainted with it than the average JW elder. So the opportunity to keep on learning and gradually making your own mind is wide open.

To answer your question, I was born in Lyons (SE France) but now I live near Paris.

GetBusyLiving

Hi guys, can you please show me some evidence that the NT writers wrote some of the 'prophecys' in the OT into the Jesus accounts? This is the first I have heard of this, it makes a lot of sense and I'm very curious. Thanks.

Narkissos

GetBusyLiving,

For a start you may look at Leolaia's recent thread about the Nativity stories, which were altogether absent from the first written Gospel (Mark) and come up in two historically incompatible versions (Matthew and Luke), both drawing on OT narratives as they were read in 1st-century Jewish tradition:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/82425/1.ashx

Other examples could be found in the Passion narratives, which show a lot of literary dependence from the Greek (Septuagint) OT, including Hellenistic works such as the Wisdom of Solomon. Or miracle stories, such as feeding the crowd with a few loaves which is directly borrowed from the Elisha cycle in 2 Kings.

Edited to add a few other fully-documented threads by Leolaia:

The temptation stories: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/69783/1.ashx

The trial stories: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/66538/1.ashx

The fig tree story: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/65196/1.ashx

GetBusyLiving

Thanks a lot Narkaissos! Ill check this stuff out.

one

If that is true, then we have to throw the idea out the door that the bible is inspired by God, which I would truly hate to do.

Litle,

IMHO that would be a baby/bathwater approach.

That "aproach" is ok, as far the topic started by fairchild is concerned

accepting to walk without knowing where you're going

yes, no fear, that's the way it should be according to the bible, Abraham?s faith

Bottom line, at this point I feel as if I don't have enough knowledge of what's out there. In order to make a decision such as being baptized a JW, or walk away from them altogether, I need to educate myself a lot better than I have so far.

"Educate myself". You are "luky", praise the internet revolution, you are going to do what most of us, for one reason or another, did not do before getting in or out of the jw religion..

Leolaia

Don't forget the thread about how the model of the "Faithful and Wise Servant" in the parable was Joseph from Genesis and extrabiblical tradition:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/67457/1.ashx

I'll be revising my old post soon on how the story of Judas and the arrest of Jesus is probably based on 2 Samuel and other OT texts.

The following thread also presents evidence on how most of the book of Jonah incorporates material from 2 Kings, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Exodus, and other earlier OT books.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/83590/1.ashx

one

I'll be revising my old post soon on how the story of Judas and the arrest of Jesus is probably based on 2 Samuel and other OT texts.

Are you implying that re-writting history or "prophecy" "a la carte" is nothing new?

talk about "generation"' "1914" or WT?

steve2

Don't you like to learn new things? I do. I think it's fun to destroy every last shred of everything I was ever taught.

Sure enough. But not just for the sake of destroying prior ideas and presumably for what I would consider a good reason. To kick something out simply because it was part of my past learning would be akin to the way JWs get newcomers to reject everything they learnt from the churches.

fairchild

Good point, Steve2

'This Generation'

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