Posts by Enlightenment123

25

Any regrets whilst you were in the Org

by Tallon in

the biggest regret i have is of 'shunning' persons who were disfellowshipped and for 'marking' ones deemed as bad association.. there's no way i can approach these people to ask them for forgiveness as i've emigrated to another country however, by this post i'd like it to be known..

Enlightenment123

Nah. You can try to put a positive spin on just about anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_ucv9ElhEw

15

Interlinear bible removed from the JW app?

by nmthinker in

my iphone doesn't have the interlinear bible anymore, the one with the greek and translated english together.

.

did they remove it?

Enlightenment123

Nevaagain,

Here's a great example. If the Greek below from their Interlinear is accurate (and it is), why does the NWT translate it like this? They threw in [other] there four times with the Greek word [panta] which means all, everything. If they wanted to be consistent, they should have said firstborn of all [other] creation, too. Why did they add other? Because it suits their theology that Jesus is a created being.

because by means of him all other things were created in the heavens and on the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All other things have been created through him and for him. Also, he is before all other things, and by means of him all other things were made to exist. Col. 1:16, 17 NWT

Also, there are no Greek manuscripts that have the name YHWH (Jehovah). That was added with zero support, because the New Testament writers didn't use it. Pretty often, it's added very erroneously. For instance, Romans 10:13. In the context, it's very clearly speaking about Christ, but since it's quoted from the Old Testament in Joel, they added Jehovah. It shouldn't say Jehovah because it's talking about calling on the name of Jesus, but... that's what they do. I've also found a bunch of instances in the Old Testament NWT that say Jehovah, but in the Hebrew, there is no Tetragrammaton. An example of this would be Isaiah 11:11. It simply says Adonai, not YHWH, but the NWT says Jehovah. They have added it thousands and thousands of times, often where it wasn't in the Bible to begin with.

15

Protest for Mandatory Reporting?

by Luther bertrand in

on another thread, i have been having a discussion about protests in connection with watchtower policy.

one of the biggest and more re-occuring rebuttals to protesting at kingdom halls and assemblies is that it does two things: 1. it re-enforces the apostate "mentally diseased" narrative heaped on the xjw community by the gb 2. it causes people to withdraw and get closer to the borg.. what if we as a group took the protest to city halls and government authorities to raise awareness of the need for mandatory reporting laws, rather than protesting @jw events?

hell even geoffry jackson, when he gave his testimony at the arc, agreed that it would be "helpful".

Enlightenment123

Done the right way and legally, yes. Other places would be more effective than at a KH/event. Every state should have mandatory reporting. Change needs to happen. If it can be taken to the powers that be, using the WTS as an example, it should be. People need to stand together and get lawmakers to understand that this should be mandatory across the board, to protect all children in any religion.

15

Interlinear bible removed from the JW app?

by nmthinker in

my iphone doesn't have the interlinear bible anymore, the one with the greek and translated english together.

.

did they remove it?

Enlightenment123

I don't have it anymore either. You can look at it here, though: http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/lv/r1/lp-e/0/125

CrazyGuy,

Bibles in the JW library online: http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/lv/r1/lp-e/0/0

15

Protest for Mandatory Reporting?

by Luther bertrand in

on another thread, i have been having a discussion about protests in connection with watchtower policy.

one of the biggest and more re-occuring rebuttals to protesting at kingdom halls and assemblies is that it does two things: 1. it re-enforces the apostate "mentally diseased" narrative heaped on the xjw community by the gb 2. it causes people to withdraw and get closer to the borg.. what if we as a group took the protest to city halls and government authorities to raise awareness of the need for mandatory reporting laws, rather than protesting @jw events?

hell even geoffry jackson, when he gave his testimony at the arc, agreed that it would be "helpful".

Enlightenment123

I think it's a bad idea to protest at Kingdom Halls, assemblies, whatever JW event. I think it does more harm than good, because remember...this is how we're portrayed - protesters trying to get their attention. And they're told to ignore us because we're trying to draw them away from God. July 2014 WT Study Edition

I think if protest is going to happen, it needs to be somewhere more effective, because taking it to them is only going to push them away and closer to the Borg.

20

Again: Where is Jesus?

by Wonderment in

the watchtower of december 2015 reports the following reaction of a family with four teenagers in the country of rwanda with the publication of the nwt, and how grateful they were for it.

the wt magazine said: .

things changed when the new world translation in their language became available.

Enlightenment123

Words can't express how pissed off I get when I see how much and how often Jesus is completely disregarded by this religion, especially when the Bible says that He, and what He did, are of primary importance. 1 Cor. 15:1-4.

51

I lied to the elders

by atacrossroads in

jw
friends

i stopped attending meetings all together in january 2015. before that my attendance was irregular at best.

my husband followed suit a few months ago after months of research, agony, and indecision on his part.

from the very beginning i laid low and did not share with anyone what i found out about the witnesses because i did not want to be df'd.

Enlightenment123

Tornintwo,

Thanks. It is what it is and life goes on :)

I don't know about anyone else, but I was just considering whether or not I ever believed it was the 'true religion'. Of course I left at a younger age, instead of well into adulthood, but when I think about it...I'm not sure I ever really bought much of it growing up. I had to go out in service and do the little sister talks and whatever, but it was just repeated verbatim speech, for the most part. Though I did always feel happy that as long as my great-grandparents (the pre-1914 generation) were alive, we were all fine. Then that teaching changed to something else, the great-grandparents passed away and well, the rest is history...

51

I lied to the elders

by atacrossroads in

jw
friends

i stopped attending meetings all together in january 2015. before that my attendance was irregular at best.

my husband followed suit a few months ago after months of research, agony, and indecision on his part.

from the very beginning i laid low and did not share with anyone what i found out about the witnesses because i did not want to be df'd.

Enlightenment123

Hi atacrossroads,

I happened to come across this topic from Paul last night. I don't know if something in it might be useful for you. http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/109423/do-disassociate-anull-your-baptism

Don't feel guilty. You did a good thing by standing up for yourself. No one deserves to be treated that way and there is something insanely wrong with religions that treat people this way, even your own flesh and blood. You must stand up for yourself, rather than let a cult treat you like a piece of trash because you aren't...you are far more precious than that even if they refuse to acknowledge it.

I told my mother a year or two ago that I would still like to have a relationship with her and what she said to me was, "I would too but what's the point? You're about to be killed at Armageddon anyway." So you know...it's not worth it. If they willingly choose to let religion come between you, it's their fault and their problem, not yours. Don't get me wrong...it's painful, it will hurt. But you and your husband can move on and live your best life - with or without them. Stand your ground and don't be guilt-tripped into going back or putting up with elders. You want no part of a religion that forces you to be in it in order to have contact with your family, no matter how painful it may be. God bless.

13

Jehovah or Jesus: Who Is To Come?

by Cold Steel in

one thing i've never understood about jw eschatology is how it views armageddon and the end times.

the leaders and writers have evolved in their understanding of what's supposed to happen in the timeline.

below are bible scriptures relating to biblical armageddon.

Enlightenment123

There's also Zech. 14:5... And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

Matt. 25:31... “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

1 Thess. 3:13... So that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones.

To me, the logical answer is that Jesus is YHWH, the Son. Not the Father, but the Son of God. There are dozens of passages in the Old Testament, the LORD speaking, but it's very obviously Jesus. That's the belief in the Trinity. There is one God, YHWH, but God consists of three persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Since it is one 'being, nature, essence' of God, YHWH is the one name used by God, whether it's the Father speaking, or it's Jesus.

In my experience in the years that I've been witnessing to Witnesses, they do everything possible to ignore these types of verses and deflect to something else. It causes too much conflict in their heads because they adamantly refuse to even consider that Jesus might be God. They would prefer to ignore the Bible so that they can continue to live with the beliefs they already hold as true, whether they are or not. They will tell you Jesus is the one coming, but it is 'Jehovah's Day' and don't address these other verses that say the LORD God is coming.

To really look at JW eschatology... well, it's hard to even know where to begin because it is so far removed from what the Bible actually teaches. I truly feel sorry for them, as a Christian, because they wouldn't have a clue what is even happening.

24

Is the Society trying to self sabotage?

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

i'm not going to list all the changes here that have happened in 2014, most of you who frequent the boards know about them.. in reference to anthony morris' talk, i can't help feel that the organization is behaving so abnormally out of character for itself that it is bewildering even to ex jws.. cultish behavior is perfectly normal for cults, but whats happened this year is so far out of whack it beggars belief.. what do they think they are doing?

are they psyching jws up for some major announcement?.

i can't help but feel that something really strange is going on, this does not feel like the regular "special announcements" followed by articles in the watchtower.. .

Enlightenment123

TruthSeeker,

You said some changes have an ominous feel to them. Which changes are you referring to?

I've had that feeling as well. Something isn't right. They will isolate themselves in Warwick. Some things they've said seem sinister. It seems like they have some kind of plan, an endgame. What do you think?