interesting admission in today's wt: adam may have understood "day" (as in "in the day you eat from it, you will positively die") to be a literal 24-hour period.
i don't think the wt has ever said this before; the usual emphasis is that jah meant it as a figurative day, a day from his standpoint which is 1,000 years (and the article does state that, later).. however, if adam understood god's warning to be carried out in a 24 hour period, and god did nothing to alleviate that, then who did the lying?
actually, regardless of adam's understanding, the question still stands but moving toward an admission of the use of day in that context to be 24-hours only makes the question even more valid.
Satan said three things would happen if they ate: (1) Eyes opened; (2) Be like God; (3) You will not die.
Genesis 3:22 - "Jehovah God then said: “Here the man has become like one of us in knowing good and bad. Now in order that he may not put his hand out and take fruit also from the tree of life and eat and live forever"
So Satan was correct, according to Jehovah's word: Their eyes were opened and they had become like God.
2 out of 3 ain't bad.
Wimps.
http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/ws20130415/full-time-service-near-arctic-circle/
Sometimes the snow on the roads was deep. If someone had already traveled down the road and left tracks in the snow, it was easier for us to walk. But if it snowed again, the tracks would be covered. In the early spring, the snow would become soft and wet, and this made it difficult to walk.
Together in the ministry on a cold winter day
We learned to dress warmly when it was cold and snowy. We wore woolen stockings, two or three pairs of socks, and tall boots. But snow would often get into our boots as we walked. When we arrived at the stairs of a house, we took off our boots and shook the snow out of them. Also, the bottom edges of our long coats would get wet and freeze solid because they would drag in the snow. One housewife said, ‘You must have real faith, because you came out in this bad weather.’ We had walked over 11 kilometers (7 miles) to that house.
looking at all the doctrinal teachings over the last five years, it's almost impossible for any person of conscience who originated such doctrine to do a complete u-turn and change it when the passage of time has proved beyond doubt that doctrine is no longer credible.. i say this with reference to the generation of 1914. they were so sure.
it was part of the awake!
masthead for decades that those who saw the events of 1914 would also see the great tribulation.. .
And I'm beginning to wonder about the sincerity of the Governing Body.
Either they are fooling themselves OR they are perpetuating a SCAM on the body of believers. ...
... They are deliberately and wilfully perpetuating a scam to fool the masses because they have to keep the Great Watchtower engine well oiled or the whole thing comes to an end.
It's an uncomfortable conclusion when you try to think the best of people.
Revelation 14:1, 4, 5 - "Then I saw, and look! the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who have his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. ... These are the ones who keep following the Lamb no matter where he goes. These were bought from among mankind as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb, and no deceit was found in their mouths; they are without blemish."
Surely, because they and their predecessors have continued, in the face of all the evidence, to perpetuate falsehoods and have used underhanded, dishonest means to give the appearance of credibility to those falsehoods, one can suppose that even within the bounds of the JW belief system they have disqualified themselves from being a part of the 144k group.
would it be fair to say many of the posts on jwn are in essence about this?.
if we could better understand what worked for us, would we be better able to help others?.
where do basic human needs ("met" by the cult) end, and where does addiction start?.
As another born-in, I also don't feel I was addicted to the WT religion - it was imposed upon me; it was the only worldview I had. In fact, as an adult, there were occasional (legitimate) circumstances in my life that meant I could not attend meetings for weeks - one period of absence lasted months! I did just fine, enjoyed the time away and on my return picked up where I left off no problem.
One time (back when there were three meeting days a week) was when the hall was being refurbished and the congo met in groups at their assigned book study venues once a week to catch up on the 'spiritual food.' "Oh ..." some would say, almost as if it was a kind of withdrawal, "we're so glad the hall's finished. We've really missed not being at the meetings. Have you missed it?" Of course, Watchtower does treat meeting attendance like everyone is a spiritual diabetic and needs their regular shot of spiritual insulin, and if people miss a meeting they'll become spiritually sick and die. I'd give them the un-'theocratically correct' answer and say no, that it was nice to be back but the change of routine was great. I'd get puzzled looks.
It all makes sense when you realize that you're not actually 'diabetic' and their unique 'insulin' concoction they are giving you is, in reality, making you sick ... which realization I only caught on to years later.
Hmm, that reminds me of a P!nk song ...
this is an unofficial survey.. was curious as to the number of currently serving elders who were born-in and/or raised as jw versus those who were "recruited"( i.e, not born in or raised as jw.).
for instance, right now in the hall i am assigned to:.
2 elders were born-in and/or raised as jws.. 5 were not (recruited as adults).
Out of 13 elders at my old Hall, 3 are born/raised, 2 I don't know, and the rest are adult converts.
i know this is going to come up in a conversation shortly, how would you respond to this?
i've had it said to me before, specifically about health, one week wine/eggs/milk/axle grease is good for you, next week it's not..
An apples and oranges comparison, admittedly, but here goes:
Science is the means by which humans can understand how things work. As knowledge advances, ideas about how things work are adjusted.
The Org claims its knowledge is divinely given truth, therefore, it should be correct first time. However, the reality is the Org's 'truth' is constantly changing. The reality is that the Org's ideas are based on ancient writings that have to be interpreted ... by humans ... and humans change their minds and have different ideas on what the true interpretation should be.
Therefore, on what basis can the Org dismiss scientists for changing their minds in the light of more research when the Org does the same thing? If scientists cannot be believed because they keep changing their minds, then it logically follows that the Org likewise cannot be believed for the same reason.
who is the assyrian?.
the article entitled seven shepherds, eight dukesawhat they mean for us today in the watchtower of the 15th november 2013 contained this important warning in paragraph 16: ain the near future, jehovahas apparently vulnerable people will come under attack from the modern-day aassyrian,a whose intent will be to wipe them out.a it goes on to say: awhat asecret weapona does micahas prophecy indicate jehovah would raise up against that implacable foeaathe assyriana?
a very unlikely oneaaseven shepherds, yes, eight dukesa!
Ish Elon
China called. They want their wall back.
i dont have the willpower to attend meetings anymore.
i'm literally on the sound system list every week.
i'm either reading on sunday or tuesday, praying on tuesday nites, adjusting mics, passing mics, or working the sound system, or doing last minute parts for the service meeting.
I dont have the willpower to attend meetings anymore. I'm literally on the sound system list every week. I'm either reading on Sunday or Tuesday, praying on Tuesday nites, adjusting mics, passing mics, or working the sound system, or doing last minute parts for the service meeting. Not to mention service on Saturdays and Sundays.
On top of that I'm in college. I'm really considering taking a break from meetings for a couple of months, but I'm scared the cult will weaponize my family against me.
What do I do?!!!
Learn to say 'No' more often.
Take a week or two's 'meeting vacation' and when you return, scale down your 'privileges'/commitments. They'll keep dumping lots of stuff on you to do only as long as you allow them to. Explain to family and/or elders, if they ask, you will burn out if you don't ease up. More than likely they'll understand. If they don't, well, too bad. You do what you have to do. Good luck :-)
i remember being at the assembly in 1988?
when this was released.
everyone was so excited that we finally had a simple explanation of revelation with pictures.
It seemed like 6 times, sir82 and daringhart13, but it was only 4. I noted down each mind-numbing time we started the damn thing.
April 1989;
March 1991;
October 1994;
(Revised edition) January 2007.
did you see the post on reddit?
unconfirmed naturally and just a rumour but at at one assembly this week it was announced that the 6 members of the gb send their love.. .
there are 7 members of the gb.. .
Someone posted that they heard a member of the GB was disfellowshipped.
Not true. Somebody got mixed up and in true Chinese whispers fashion an urban myth was born. Cedars explains what likely happened on the latest jwpodcast.
