" A major challenge to the big bang has come from observers using the corrected optics of the Hubble Space Telescope to measure distances to other galaxies. The new data is giving the theorists fits!
Astronomer Wendy Freedman and others recently used the Hubble Space Telescope to measure the distance to a galaxy in the constellation of Virgo, and her measurement suggests that the universe is expanding faster, and therefore is younger, than previously thought. In fact, it “implies a cosmic age as little as eight billion years,” reported Scientific American magazine just last June. While eight billion years sounds like a very long time, it is only about half the currently estimated age of the universe. This creates a special problem, since, as the report goes on to note, “other data indicate that certain stars are at least 14 billion years old.” If Freedman’s numbers hold up, those elderly stars would turn out to be older than the big bang itself!
Still another problem for the big bang has come from steadily mounting evidence of “bubbles” in the universe that are 100 million light-years in size, with galaxies on the outside and voids inside. Margaret Geller, John Huchra, and others at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have found what they call a great wall of galaxies some 500 million light-years in length across the northern sky. Another group of astronomers, who became known as the Seven Samurai, have found evidence of a different cosmic conglomeration, which they call the Great Attractor, located near the southern constellations of Hydra and Centaurus. Astronomers Marc Postman and Tod Lauer believe something even bigger must lie beyond the constellation Orion, causing hundreds of galaxies, including ours, to stream in that direction like rafts on a sort of “river in space.”
All this structure is baffling. Cosmologists say the blast from the big bang was extremely smooth and uniform, according to the background radiation it allegedly left behind. How could such a smooth start have led to such massive and complex structures? "
" Professor Fred Hoyle likened the efforts of the Ptolemaic cosmologists at patching up their failing theory in the face of new discoveries to the endeavors ofbigbangbelievers today to keep their theory afloat. He wrote in his book The Intelligent Universe: “The main efforts of investigators have been in papering over contradictions in thebigbangtheory, to build up an idea which has become ever more complex and cumbersome.” After referring to Ptolemy’s futile use of epicycles to rescue his theory, Hoyle continued: “I have little hesitation in saying that as a result a sickly pall now hangs over thebigbangtheory. As I have mentioned earlier, when a pattern of facts becomes set against a theory, experience shows that it rarely recovers.”—Page 186.
" The children of today’s atomic age have chosen as their paradigm for creation, not the ancient sea monster, not Newton’s “machine,” but that overarching symbol of the 20th century—the bomb. Their “creator” is an explosion. They call their cosmic fireball the big bang. "
1/22/1996 Awake
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"If the cosmos and everything in it are the product of spontaneous combinations of elements after the primordial big bang, then there can be no real purpose to life."
g 12/09 pp. 4-8
defender of truth
JoinedPosts by defender of truth
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defender of truth
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754
Theists, why does God allow suffering..
by The Quiet One in..specifically, the suffering of animals.
you can talk about free will/sin/people choosing to not listen to god etc to explain human suffering being allowed.. but how can you love a god that allows animals, that haven't sinned or chosen to not have anything to do with god, to have their short lives ended in often long, drawn out, painful ways.
i could list stories i've read that would probably make you feel ill, but i'm not looking to shock anyone or start an emotional debate.
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When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed references
by GoUnion inthis topic has been covered extensively but i just wanted relate what hapopenes with this subject and my elder father.
he called me up one day to check in on me he always asks if i'm going to msettings and i always tell him no im not.
well this time he wanted to know why i didn't trust the g.b.
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defender of truth
"In the 2010 book God's Word for Us Through Jeremiah, a statement is made regarding a find by Eilat Mazar, supporting two Characters mentioned in Jeremiah.
"Archaeologist Eilat Mazar reports unearthing a small clay seal impression, or bulla. (below left) It was found in 2005 during a supervised excavation of a layer dating back to when Jerusalem was destroyed in 607 B.C.E." God's Word for Us Through Jeremiah p.55
The reader may get the impression that Eilat is supporting the year 607 B.C.E., whereas she presents that the destruction was in 587 B.C. (See articles at jpost.com and archaeology.hui.ac.il) There was no need to mention the date 607 B.C.E., as it was not relevant to the topic, and for the sake of accuracy the writer could have referred to "when Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylon." The Watchtower inserts this date to deceitfully condition Jehovah's Witnesses that 607 B.C.E. is historically accurate."
http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/misquotes-deception-lies.php -
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When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed references
by GoUnion inthis topic has been covered extensively but i just wanted relate what hapopenes with this subject and my elder father.
he called me up one day to check in on me he always asks if i'm going to msettings and i always tell him no im not.
well this time he wanted to know why i didn't trust the g.b.
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defender of truth
These should work, sorry.
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http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/224416/1/The-June-2012-citation-of-Ephraim-Stern
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http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/115488/1/What-are-your-favorite-WT-misquotes#.U6yj9F2t-o8
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http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/222960/1/e2809cWHEN-WAS-ANCIENT-JERUSALEM-DESTROYED-e2809d-Why-does-it-matter-The-Watchtower-October-1-2011-and-November-1-2011 -
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When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed references
by GoUnion inthis topic has been covered extensively but i just wanted relate what hapopenes with this subject and my elder father.
he called me up one day to check in on me he always asks if i'm going to msettings and i always tell him no im not.
well this time he wanted to know why i didn't trust the g.b.
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defender of truth
"However, I would like to highlight a few instances.
Let us go to the November 2011 Public Watchtower, page 28. Note 18, regarding VAT 4956 says,"Though the cuneiform sign for the moon is clear and unambiguous, some of the signs for the names of the planets and their positions are unclear. (Mesopotamian Planetary Astronomy—Astrology, by David Brown, published 2000, pages 53-57) Because of this, the planetary observations are open to speculation and to several different interpretations."
Again setting aside whether 607 BC is correct, or if VAT 4569 is a reliable witness--the reference Mesopotamian Planetary Astronomy-Astrology is cited to support that idea why the planetary observations should be thrown out. However, the reference says no such thing. VAT 4956 contains clear and unambiguous planetary names.
Note 17 says,"Therefore, the first Babylonian month (Nisanu) would have started the new year two months earlier, on May 2/3. While normally the year of this eclipse would have begun on April 3/4, VAT 4956 states on line 6 that an extra month (intercalary) was added after the twelfth (last) month (Addaru) of the preceding year. (The tablet reads: “8th of month II2.”) Therefore, this made the new year actually not start until May 2/3."
In all the years of this calendar system, the month of Nissan never began in May. Intercalary months were only added so that the year would not begin before the spring equinox. It would never have been added in such a way to make the year start exceedingly late like this. Here, the Society readjusted the known calendar for this year in order to point to a lunar observation and force it agree with VAT 4956.
BTW--if VAT 4956 is irrelevant as you have previously said, why is the Society putting so much credence in this astronomical diary? Is this not "food at the proper time"? Are you not contradicting "the Slave"?
Finally, I would like to point out this link:
http://www.jehovahs- witness.net/watchtower/bible /224416/1/The-June-2012- citation-of-Ephraim-Stern
Here we see that the June 2012 Awake selectively quoting Ephraim Stern in an effort to prove the case for 607 BC. However, when reading the quotation in full context, it is a flagrant misrepresentation of what the scholar is saying.
There are many other misrepresentations in Part 1 & 2, as well as other articles, and AnnOMaly and others have pointed them out. For the benefit of the lurkers, as well as yourself, I would consult the following link of links about this subject. Digging will be required, but the secular quotations in their context can be found in abundance, as well as what some of these scholars thought of how they were quoted.
http://www.jehovahs- witness.net/watchtower/bible /222960/1/e2809cWHEN- WAS-ANCIENT-JERUSALEM- DESTROYED-e2809d-Why-does- it-matter-The-Watchtower- October-1-2011-and-November- 1-2011
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The post was made in this thread..
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/224385/4/Explain-in-a-FEW-words-why-the-607-date-is-incorrect#.U6ycal2t-o8
I'm not up to doing much more searching but a quick Google shows that you can buy the book 'Mesopotamian Planetary Astronomy-Astrology' referred to here on Amazon or download a pdf..
http://www.google.com/m?q=Mesopotamian+Planetary+Astronomy-Astrology -
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When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed references
by GoUnion inthis topic has been covered extensively but i just wanted relate what hapopenes with this subject and my elder father.
he called me up one day to check in on me he always asks if i'm going to msettings and i always tell him no im not.
well this time he wanted to know why i didn't trust the g.b.
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defender of truth
Why even worry about secular references to disprove 607?
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/55372/1/586-587-the-K-I-S-S-approach-no-VAT4956-Ptolemy-Josephus-needed#.U6x7zV2t-o8
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http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/110027/1/Easy-Math-for-586-587#.U6x8WV2t-o8 -
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All Letters to Elders From The branch 1981 - 2012 BOE
by BlindersOff1 inhttp://www.sendspace.com/file/1d0c72.
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defender of truth
Bttt
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WT Letters 1950s
by Old Goat ini need scans of any you may have for a personal research project.
can anyone help?.
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defender of truth
Can't find any on here from the 50's, but this may be of interest anyway..
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/243938/1/All-Letters-to-Elders-From-The-branch-1981-2012-BOE#.U6vntV2t-o8 -
754
Theists, why does God allow suffering..
by The Quiet One in..specifically, the suffering of animals.
you can talk about free will/sin/people choosing to not listen to god etc to explain human suffering being allowed.. but how can you love a god that allows animals, that haven't sinned or chosen to not have anything to do with god, to have their short lives ended in often long, drawn out, painful ways.
i could list stories i've read that would probably make you feel ill, but i'm not looking to shock anyone or start an emotional debate.
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defender of truth
Well, if Seraphim never comes back, I think that the points have been made well enough. It's a shame, though..