thank you Bart Belteshassur and AnnOMaly for the links, I will read them.
AnnOMaly, I think I know you from another ex-witness forum. You used the same nickname, but I was not OPUS there.
opusdei1972
JoinedPosts by opusdei1972
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"The Cyrus Cylinder"
by Doug Mason ini suspect that i am the last one here who has read the book: the cyrus cylinder: the king of persias proclamation from ancient babylon, edited by irving finkel; published by i. b. tauris, 2013; 144 pages.. so i simply wish to record my deep admiration for the book.
it explains and analyses the cylinders text as well as providing a sympathetic account of the people involved with its ancient and modern history.
(chapter 1: the babylonian perspective; chapter 2: discovery; chapter 5: a persian perspective.
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The More I Think, The More I Lose Faith In BIBLE!!
by NoMoreHustle insitting through this weeks wt study.
paragraph came up about how "a fire came out from jah & consumed (korah and) the 250 men offering the incense".
i said to myself this supposedly happened couple of thousand years ago.
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opusdei1972
The Christian Bible has anything to do with what is happening now, because their last books were written for people of the end of the first century or the first half of the second century. According to the Synoptics Gospels, Jesus would come back before the end of his generation. But it did not happen, so, if Jesus said it, he was a false prophet.
On the other hand, the Hebrew Bible contains many accounts now proven to be false by archaeologists and scholars of textual criticism.
Therefore, the Bible can't be useful to guide our daily life in this modern age.
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Unquestionably, the Bibles account of Moses is credible
by opusdei1972 inthe article entitled "mosesman or myth?
" was published in awake!
2004 (g04 4/8 pp.
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opusdei1972
The article entitled "Moses—Man or Myth?" was published in Awake! 2004 (g04 4/8 pp. 4-9). Here I quote the relevant portions of the article:
Many scholars today dismiss these events [told in the book of Exodus] as fiction. “The fact is,” says Christianity Today, “that not one shred of direct archaeological evidence has been found for [the years] the children of Israel sojourned in Egypt.” While direct physical proof may be lacking, there is considerable indirect evidence that the Bible account is credible. In his book Israel in Egypt, Egyptologist James K. Hoffmeier says: “Archaeological data clearly demonstrates that Egypt was frequented by the peoples of the Levant [countries bordering on the eastern Mediterranean], especially as a result of climatic problems that resulted in drought . . . Thus, for a period roughly from 1800 to 1540 B.C., Egypt was an attractive place for the Semitic-speaking people of western Asia to migrate.”
Ok, the Hiksos were ruling partialy the land of Egypt, but the Insight book noticed the following:
Regarding this period of Egyptian history, C. E. DeVries noted: “In attempting to correlate secular history with the biblical data, some scholars have tried to equate the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt with the Israelite Exodus, but the chronology rules out this identification, and other factors as well make this hypothesis untenable. . . . The origin of the Hyksos is uncertain; they came from somewhere in Asia and bore Semitic names for the most part.”—The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, edited by G. Bromiley, 1982, Vol. 2, p. 787. (it-1 pp. 686-699)
Even so, critics balk at the notion of a large-scale exodus of Jews from Egypt. Scholar Homer W. Smith argued that such a mass movement “would certainly have resounded loudly in Egyptian or Syrian history . . . It is more likely that the legend of the exodus is a garbled and fanciful account of the flight from Egypt to Palestine of a relatively few members.”
True, no Egyptian record of this event has been found. But the Egyptians were not above altering historical records when the truth proved to be embarrassing or went against their political interests. When Thutmose III came to power, he tried to obliterate the memory of his predecessor, Hatshepsut. Says Egyptologist John Ray: “Her inscriptions were erased, her obelisks surrounded by a wall, and her monuments forgotten. Her name does not appear in later annals.” Similar attempts to alter or conceal embarrassing facts have even taken place in modern times.
As for the lack of archaeological evidence for the wilderness sojourn, we must remember that the Jews were nomads. They built no cities; they planted no crops. Presumably, they left behind little more than footprints. Still, convincing evidence of that sojourn can be found within the Bible itself. Reference is made to it throughout that sacred book. (1 Samuel 4:8; Psalm 78; Psalm 95; Psalm 106; 1 Corinthians 10:1-5) Significantly, Jesus Christ also testified that the wilderness events took place.—John 3:14.
Unquestionably, then, the Bible’s account of Moses is credible, truthful.Note that there was no proof provided to conclude that "unquestionably" the Bible's account of Moses is credible. Do you believe that after 40 years of a wilderness sojourn the israelites left "little more than footprints"?
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Jehovah's Witnesses come knocking
by opusdei1972 ininteresting video, and how the witnesses reacted:.
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvyaoilfmqw.
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opusdei1972
Interesting video, and how the witnesses reacted:
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"The Cyrus Cylinder"
by Doug Mason ini suspect that i am the last one here who has read the book: the cyrus cylinder: the king of persias proclamation from ancient babylon, edited by irving finkel; published by i. b. tauris, 2013; 144 pages.. so i simply wish to record my deep admiration for the book.
it explains and analyses the cylinders text as well as providing a sympathetic account of the people involved with its ancient and modern history.
(chapter 1: the babylonian perspective; chapter 2: discovery; chapter 5: a persian perspective.
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opusdei1972
I did not know that stuff. How could I compare the words of Ezra with those in Cyrus' Cylinder? Can you provide some quotations?
Regards,
OPUS
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The New World Translation
by Coded Logic inone of the jws foundational doctrines is their belief in the inerrancy of the bible.
there are several methods they use to try and support this position including their claim that the bible, as it exists today, is the exact same bible that has been around for thousands of years.
they teach that gods word has been perfectly preserved.
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opusdei1972
The Church Father Polycarp quoted the book of Tobit in the second century. Clement, bishop of Rome, quoted the book of Wisdom at the end of the first century. The canonical letter of Jude quoted the book of Enoch. Accordingly, early christians used more books than those in NWT.
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JW stand on Philosophy is inexcusable!
by Pinku inpaul knew that torah with all its rituals and sacrifices did not originate with god (jeremiah 7:22; 8:8), hence he warned christians to guard against deceptive philosophy that would take them back to torah.
(colossians 2:8 compare 2:11, 16, 17) in view of the over-all view of the bible, there is no excuse to use the word philosophy with any negative connotation.
jws built their stand on philosophy based on this wrong (negative) use of the word philosophy found in colossians 2:8.. the greek word philosophi a means love of wisdom.
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opusdei1972
Tertullian was a fanatic christian who rejected philosophy but he used it when needed:
These are "the doctrines" of men and "of demons" 1 Timothy 4:1 produced for itching ears of the spirit of this world's wisdom: this the Lord called "foolishness," and "chose the foolish things of the world" to confound even philosophy itself. For (philosophy) it is which is the material of the world's wisdom, the rash interpreter of the nature and the dispensation of God. Indeed heresies are themselves instigated by philosophy. From this source came the Æons, and I known not what infinite forms, and the trinity of man in the system of Valentinus, who was of Plato's school. From the same source came Marcion's better god, with all his tranquillity; he came of the Stoics. Then, again, the opinion that the soul dies is held by the Epicureans; while the denial of the restoration of the body is taken from the aggregate school of all the philosophers; also, when matter is made equal to God, then you have the teaching of Zeno; and when any doctrine is alleged touching a god of fire, then Heraclitus comes in. The same subject-matter is discussed over and over again by the heretics and the philosophers; the same arguments are involved. Whence comes evil? Why is it permitted? What is the origin of man? And in what way does he come? Besides the question which Valentinus has very lately proposed— Whence comes God? Which he settles with the answer: From enthymesis and ectroma. Unhappy Aristotle! Who invented for these men dialectics, the art of building up and pulling down; an art so evasive in its propositions, so far-fetched in its conjectures, so harsh, in its arguments, so productive of contentions— embarrassing even to itself, retracting everything, and really treating of nothing! Whence spring those "fables and endless genealogies," 1 Timothy 1:4 and "unprofitable questions," Titus 3:9 and "words which spread like a cancer?" 2 Timothy 2:17 From all these, when the apostle would restrain us, he expressly names philosophy as that which he would have us be on our guard against. Writing to the Colossians, he says, "See that no one beguile you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, and contrary to the wisdom of the Holy Ghost." He had been at Athens, and had in his interviews (with its philosophers) become acquainted with that human wisdom which pretends to know the truth, while it only corrupts it, and is itself divided into its own manifold heresies, by the variety of its mutually repugnant sects. What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem? What concord is there between the Academy and the Church? What between heretics and Christians? Our instruction comes from "the porch of Solomon," who had himself taught that "the Lord should be sought in simplicity of heart." Wisdom 1:1 Away with all attempts to produce a mottled Christianity of Stoic, Platonic, and dialectic composition! We want no curious disputation after possessing Christ Jesus, no inquisition after enjoying the gospel! With our faith, we desire no further belief. For this is our palmary faith, that there is nothing which we ought to believe besides. (Prescription against Heretics, chapter 7)
This guy was a lunatic, though well educated compared with most christians of that time.
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Lying about Shunning! jw.org conceals the "truth"
by Skinnedsheep inhttp://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/shunning/ .
"those who were baptized as jehovahs witnesses but no longer preach to others, perhaps even drifting away from association with fellow believers, are not shunned.
in fact, we reach out to them and try to rekindle their spiritual interest.".
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opusdei1972
The marketing strategy is this : lie before the general public, then show the real face to the stupid members.
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IS THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN (Gasp!) just a literary device to introduce the character of Saul?
by Terry innew testament scholars seem pretty unanimous about it: paul's letters (epistles) are the earliest/ first christian writings.. scholars seem in pretty solid agreement the so-called gospels (matthew, mark, luke, john) came later.. i think few would disagree the writings of paul were extraordinarily impactful.. **.
christians throughout the community of jesus followers were split on what was true and not true.. many did not approve of the teachings of paul (especially when paul told practising jews that the o.t.
laws were abolished!).
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opusdei1972
I think that there are some tampered truths in these stories. Jews did not like christians, in general. So, there were doctrinal conflicts between Jews and christians as Justin told in his Dialogue with Trypho. Paul is a historical person who wrote some letters before 70 AD, an other letters are forgeries or were tampered by his disciples after his death. About the book of Acts, it is clear that it was composed after 70 AD, so I wonder why doesn't the author tell how was the death of Paul?. May be the author did not want to tell it because the death of Paul was not as expected, instead they thought he would be caught up to heaven. On the other hand, the Gospel of John tells the martydom of Peter as it were a prophecy.
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Gerritt Loesch life story .... Total hypocrisy
by Skinnedsheep inas written in the july 15 2014 wt.
what gerrit used to believe and teach.... the roman catholic teaching of apostolic succession claims that there is an unbroken succession of popes in a line extending all the way back to the apostle peter.
(the church misinterprets jesus words that are quoted at matthew 16:18, 19.
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opusdei1972
"-- I also look forward to observing FROM HEAVEN the earthly resurrection and at last FINDING my physical father."
Interestingly, those children who died for the blood ban have to wait 1000 years to get perfection on earth, but this bastard will get the heavenly price earlier. How Just is Jehovah !!!.