dear randy:.
i don't know if this is publishable on your website or just an opportunity to air my concerns on this sunny september afternoon, here in oregon.
either way, i'll endeavor to get to the point.. just a quick background for your readers: my wife jill and i left the jw's in 1998 with our 2 teenage children after 17 years of involvement.
I remember the Elders in my hall saying this was just the beginning. And shortly after 9/11 the "Great Beast" would start by getting rid of religious freedom in the US and elsewhere . . . but apparently the UN didn't get the memo. Oh well.
I'm sure no one remembers now.
who/what do you think jesus was?
and how did you arrive at that conclusion?
if getting ready means putting on a suit........ you might be a j.w.. if going out to the field has nothing to do with grass, baseball diamonds, or football ......... you might be a j.w.. please continue my friends.......i know ya got some.....; ).
according to leading astronomers the probe philae that landed on the comet 67p last november may have discovered microbial life..... sadly neither the probe nor the orbiter rosetta are equipped to test directly but the evidence is interesting.
these are not easily explained in terms of prebiotic chemistry.
the dark material is being constantly replenished as it is boiled off by heat from the sun.
Not so fast you guys. Here's the other side of the argument:
http://io9.com/what-other-scientists-are-saying-about-todays-life-on-1716022562
and also
http://m.snopes.com/2015/07/06/alien-life-philae-comet/
I would love for them to find life. But until such a time as an official announcement is made by an international body of astrobiologists - I'm withholding belief.
why didn't jesus ever write anything?
why are there no letters to jesus?
no painting of jesus from that time?
Why didn't Jesus ever write anything? Why are there no letters to Jesus? No painting of Jesus from that time? No busts or sculptures? Why does Matthew say Jesus was born before 3BC while Luke says Jesus was born after 7AD? Why can't they even agree on what decade he was born in?
Why do Jesus brothers, whom he supposedly grew up with, James and Jude, never mention they are Jesus brother? Why do they never speak of him as a man but only as a spirit?
Why it it that Paul, a man who never met Jesus, is the founder of the Christian church?
Why are all the Gospels written by anonymous authors in third person? Why don't we have a single first hand account of Jesus?
that is what my professor of philosophy asked us last night at class.. he said that pontius pilate asked jesus that question and that it was a hard one that jesus couldn't answer.. what do you think about this question?
what is the truth?
does the gb has any truth?
what a hoot!
funniest think i've ever heard about the witnesses!.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=725&v=bgd1cdnpcnw.
OMG!!! Can't stop laughing!!!!!!
Best story EVER!
i reworded a variation of a common critique of atheists to my own liking.
no, i do not hate atheists, i love them!
they keep me from getting bored.
I love you Perry!!!
You may be a big dummy . . . but you're OUR big dummy :)
i am a member on new testament scholar bart ehrman's blog, and the professor is currently outlining a new book he is writing about false memory and the life of jesus.. an interesting post occurred today in which he gives an example of a very famous scripture,.
example of a false memory of jesus teaching i turn to a famous passage in the gospel of john, jesus dialogue with nicodemus (john 3:1-15).
nicodemus is said to be a jewish leader who comes up to jesus and affirms that jesus must come from god because of the great things that he said to have done.
I have to agree with Ding on this one. I came across this argument by Ehrman about a year ago and when I looked up the John 3 in the NWT it seemed perfectly reasonable that Nicodemus could be confused by being "born from above" rendered in both places.
Now it could well be meant as word play in the Gospel of John under the mistaken belief that they were speaking Greek. But there's no way to establish from these two scriptures that Jesus and Nicodemus weren't speaking in Aramaic.
Whether the Greek word is rendered as "born again" or as "from above" . . . or even if it's rendered as both "born again" and "from above" in different places - the statement is still confusing. And Nicodemus line of questioning is completely reasonable.
I've learned to be very cautious with Ehrman's claims and lines of reasoning - you really have to do your research. He does a lot of sloppy work. Carrier has pointed this out numerous times: http://freethoughtblogs.com/carrier/archives/1026
i'm about half-way through the novel "watch how we walk," written in 2013 by a born-in, jennifer lovegrove.. absolutely worthwhile read.. does this paragraph sum up jw-land?.
"i was paranoid again, like i had been back home, as though someone was scrutinizing and judging me.
although i was alone, it reminded me of being at the kingdom hall.
