Mephis

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Posts by Mephis

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  38

  Why was it so hard for Jesus to convince the Jews that he was the Messiah???

  by James Mixon in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

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  Mephis

  The interesting thing about it all is how the idea of Messiah doesn't seem to be claimed directly. Rather they try to do things which incite others to give them the 'title'. So Jesus' is ambivalent about claiming the title, according to the writings of his followers much later on. And other claimants are only loosely Messiahs because they're described elsewhere as doing what seems to be the Messianic career path - step one of which involves going into the desert like Moses. Leader/prophet ideals being fulfilled with that.
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  38

  Why was it so hard for Jesus to convince the Jews that he was the Messiah???

  by James Mixon in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  ??????

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  Mephis

  Four types of Messiah, and Jesus only really fits the 'wise man' type. He's kind of a 'prophet', but not hugely so. He's not really a high priest type, although he does cleanse the temple so that may be an attempt to tick that box. But he wants nothing to do with all the military expectations of a Messiah - the leading of the Jewish nation to independence.

  Still a very odd thing for everyone to be so chilled about the guy who makes dead people alive again. You'd think that would get some attention. But obviously not. Curious.

  There were a few Jews who claimed to be a Messiah James. Theudas is a good example. Both in what a Messiah would claim and what happened when the Roman military caught up with them.

  "It came to pass, while Cuspius Fadus was procurator of Judea, that a certain charlatan, whose name was Theudas, persuaded a great part of the people to take their effects with them, and follow him to the Jordan river; for he told them he was a prophet, and that he would, by his own command, divide the river, and afford them an easy passage over it. Many were deluded by his words. However, Fadus did not permit them to make any advantage of his wild attempt, but sent a troop of horsemen out against them. After falling upon them unexpectedly, they slew many of them, and took many of them alive. They also took Theudas alive, cut off his head, and carried it to Jerusalem. " - Josephus, Antiquities. 20:97-99

  
  
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  63

  What were Satan and his demons "doing" up in heaven, before being "cast down" in 1914?

  by Dunedain in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was just thinking about how the wts has been spouting off for years that satan and his demons were cast down to the vicinity of the earth in 1914, but really, when you think about it, what was the difference before 1914 or after 1914?.

  its not like satan and his demons did not have access to the earth.

  satan and his demons always were messing with earth.

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  Mephis

  Being bitten by a radioactive spider to get Spider powers, that I can understand. An eternal superbeing of infinite power needing to be crucified by the Romans before he can do anything? Not so much.
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  17

  God & universe #1 - God's position and authority

  by Anders Andersen in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  while thinking about the nature of god, i suddenly thought of something else: how jw speak about god in relation to the universe.. they say that.

  jehovah created the universe.

  destroying satan and answering the questions that were raised in eden will restore peace and unity in the whole universe.. .

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  Mephis

  David,

  thank you for explaining how you believe modern Judaism interprets their ancient texts. It's a curious tension between the interpretation built up and the origins in Caananite religion, isn't it?

  I of course was not talking of modern Judaism when setting out texts with their origins 2600 years ago. The two things are very different. One really shouldn't think disagreement with one's own beliefs means something comes from the WT. There is an extensive corpus of literature investigating the origins of YHWH (and indeed Satan) which isn't by either Jews or JWs. If you want to play along - what is the difference between Ba'al and YHWH in the Old Testament as the text is written?
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  17

  God & universe #1 - God's position and authority

  by Anders Andersen in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  while thinking about the nature of god, i suddenly thought of something else: how jw speak about god in relation to the universe.. they say that.

  jehovah created the universe.

  destroying satan and answering the questions that were raised in eden will restore peace and unity in the whole universe.. .

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  Mephis

  Their belief system is absolutely in line with Jewish cosmology c.600 BCE. One has to selectively quote to get those ideas to fit into a heliocentric solar system, so forming an explanation for the potential of other universes is really well beyond the pay grade of WBTS theology.

  The focus of Judaism back then was on their God doing things on Earth. Busy God smiting foes, rewarding worshippers, listening to prayers, interacting with other Gods etc etc. His whole attention is centred on Earth. Even when not doing anything, he's chilling out in heaven with his angels, waiting for Satan to pop by and make a bet about an Earthling. It's God as Heavenly King, doing most of the things which Earthly Kings do. The Jewish God isn't so different to any others from that time. One Jewish group even have him popping down to earth to get a woman pregnant. Just the one is quite restrained by God standards to be fair. Zeus couldn't keep his pants on. But there's no conception of there being anything other than Earth and an invisible place God (and other spirity critters) lives in. The JWs have taken that idea and ran with it, which creates the obvious problems 2600 years later.
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  9

  " Truth is the Most Beautiful Thing " ..... debate.

  by Phizzy in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  "truth is the most beautiful thing" is a quote from andrea camilleri, author of the montalbano novels among many other writings.. what do you think about that statement ?.

  is there anything more beautiful ?

  or do other things top it, or come further down the list of beautiful things ?.

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  Mephis

  It reminds me of the ending to Keats' Ode to a Grecian Urn. Not sure I agree. Beauty is subjective, highly subjective. Truth can be (the old joke "there's my side, there's your side, and then there's the truth"), but there is also objective truth. 2 + 2 = 4. Like sparrowdown says, whether I like it or not, it's always going to add up to 4. And some truths really aren't all that pleasant to have to accept and face.
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  14

  Evolution is a Fact #17 - Belyaev's Silver Foxes

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in stalin's ussr the science of genetics was deemed "reactionary and decadent".

  scientists were sent to the gulags or simply disappeared.

  dmitri konstantinovich belyaev lost his job at the at the central research laboratory of fur breeding in moscow because of his commitment to classical genetics.

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  Mephis

  Imagining the crazy world of resurrecting that species somehow , I think a certain amount of natural selection tends to weed out the human gene pool when it comes to trying to domesticate animals which view humans as dinner...
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  54

  Things JW's and Atheists have in common

  by juandefiero in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was just thinking about something someone said on another thread.

  to paraphrase, 'jw beliefs like there being no hellfire, immortal soul, the condition at death...have the ring of truth.'.

  i realized, atheists believe these things too!.

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  Mephis

  @prologos - I'm agnostic on such things (as in I know I don't know), but if you're positing a God existing outside of spacetime, then that God is also unable to influence spacetime. To intervene in this universe requires a process and a duration (time). So a God therefore exists outside of his creation. The absent parent of all eternity. But I'd certainly agree such a God could exist.
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  8

  Will the GB ever do this?

  by why144000 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi, not sure if this has been covered.. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-13/peter-hollingworth-says-sorry-to-victims-child-abuse-brisbane/6939804.

  i don't have much time for peter hollingworth.

  he has always acted like a pompous prick when i have met him or seen him on tv however he humbled himself and made an apology for his actions and the actions of the church.. any bets on if the gb would ever do this?.

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  Mephis

  Do they even recognise there's a problem which needs to be addressed by the WBTS as an organisation? Will they ever recognise that they have a moral responsibility from the position in which they've placed themselves?

  It may be late, but other religions are starting to face up to the problem and the failures of their own leadership to address the issue sooner and better, as well as how much they failed the kids who should have been protected and the survivors who should have been cared for.

  I will be genuinely surprised if the WBTS ever manages more than grudging restitution to survivors. And then only when there is no other alternative. They don't have the moral courage to face things like this. They are cowards of the worst kind because they love telling people what to do, but they want nothing to do with the consequences.
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  6

  Illustrated Stephen Hawking lectures on Black Holes

  by Mephis in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  i loved these.

  not only the drawings, but the lectures themselves are on something right at the limits of our ability to test, and in parts well beyond.. do black holes have no hair?.

  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03gl17j.

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  Mephis

  Bless. He's actually quite nice about God in those you know? He says we can safely ignore him. Just as he ignores us. I think that's sweet.