Posts by Narkissos

116

My brother died last night

by doodle-v in

jw
friends

my brother turned 21 on september 24th, a month later the doctor told him that his leukimia had returned and he had a 10% chance of surviving.

ten days before he died he spent four days at my house.

he had already made up his mind that he wasnt going to take blood.

Narkissos

(((((Doodle)))))

That's awful. I can't imagine really.

Let time go by, minute by minute at the beginning... what you kept of him in your heart you will never lose.

38

my story and why I'm here

by little1 in

i?ve been a lurker for awhile and a member for a little while, and i?d like to tell you about myself and why i?m here.

i was looking for information, comfort and explanations for what happened in my life and i?ve found all that and more here---thank you all so much for your contributions, words of wisdom and humor.

3 years ago, almost 4, i was a divorced mother of 3 just getting my life together after having been married to a raging alcoholic for over 13 years.

Thanks for sharing this painful story of yours. I know religious men can behave very weirdly and hurtfully at times: I was one. Nothing can help them better than a clever and honest girl telling them the truth about themselves -- even if it ends by a definite: ENOUGH!

Take care,

Narkissos

40

To those desiring to be of the anointed..

by kes152 in

the invitation to be of the anointed is offered to anyone, for the scripture says, "many are called, but few are chosen" (matthew 22:14).. the call is to anyone who wishes to be of the anointed and many respond to the heavenly calling.

but upon finding out what is needed and what is done, only few are the ones who choose to keep the anointing and remain in it.

others do not want to give up their 'possessions' and 'return to the things behind' (luke 18:22, 23; john 6:66).

Narkissos

AGuest,

Thank you for your kind answer. I think you didn't get my last point (about atheism), but maybe you couldn't. I'll try again just once. Please don't take it bad.

Just to illustrate: suppose I had a great experience with Christmas (I mean the whole, common "pagan" stuff) when I was a boy. When I grew up I learned that "there is no Santa Claus". Perhaps I was a bit disappointed, but didn't want to appear so. Maybe for some years in my teens I looked upon Christmas as "childish". But later on, when I had children, I came to appreciate again all the Christmas "magic", and readily told Christmas stories to my kids, though not hiding that these were only "stories". Of course I cannot believe in Santa Claus again. Would you say I have "fallen away" from Christmas' spirit? I would answer "yes" and "no".

Back to Jesus: Yes, Jesus' character was and is very important to me. However, over the years, I came to learn that this "Jesus" was the result of many different things: a historical man I know very few about; a fascinating literary character made up by the Gospels; a philosophico-religious "Christ" myth I can easily retrace from many contemporary texts. I still like Jesus' character, but do not see it anymore as the absolute "truth" in the former sense.

I guess it's more difficult for you to understand me than for me to understand you. Anyway, I'm just happy that you do not "shun" me in the JWs' way.

Btw, would you tell me where you got the "Jaheshua Mischajah" spelling? I'm just curious.

32

"Wise Men," or Duped Men?

by Schizm in

jw
friends

dupe defined:

a person who functions as the tool of another person or power.

the scene in the image below is a most popular one during the month of december.

Narkissos

Skiz: I must be dumb, coz I don't get the point. Could you be a little more explicit?

28

How much of the bible do JW's really use?

by blindfool in

i've noticed over the last several weeks how often the same scriptures are used in meetings at the kingdom hall.. anytime galatians is mentioned you can just about be sure you are going to look up chapter 5 ver.

19.. 2 timothy is going to be 3: 16. i can't remember considering any addional text to get the context of the verse, just reading the same verses over and over.

i'm sure most of you can name lots more scriptures used by jw's.. i think i'm going to start taking notes at meetings and listing which verses are used, then i can look from week to week and see how often the same old verses are considered.

Narkissos

The "si" book (lo, I even remember the code!) was more somewhat of a (highly fundamentalistic) "Introduction to the Bible". Just telling what the author, place and date of every book was supposed to be, with a résumé of its major features. On details, the Aid book was better (I translated a big part of it into French, but it had been censored after the disfellowshipping of Ray Franz). The Commentary of James was really something new.

40

To those desiring to be of the anointed..

by kes152 in

the invitation to be of the anointed is offered to anyone, for the scripture says, "many are called, but few are chosen" (matthew 22:14).. the call is to anyone who wishes to be of the anointed and many respond to the heavenly calling.

but upon finding out what is needed and what is done, only few are the ones who choose to keep the anointing and remain in it.

others do not want to give up their 'possessions' and 'return to the things behind' (luke 18:22, 23; john 6:66).

Narkissos

I'm a member of the AAAA (anointed apostate atheists anonymous) class.

Seriously, I mean.

The fact is, when I began reading the New Testament as it is after many years in the WT, I had the feeling I was seeing Christianity "from inside" for the first time. All the texts I perfectly knew the WT would apply to the "anointed class" I could not help applying to myself. So, with a friend of mine who reached a similar conclusion through a very different approach, we took the bread and wine at the Memorial.

But the same experience also led us to the obvious conclusion that the whole "two-hopes" stuff was plain bullsh*t. And a few weeks later we were disfellowshipped for "apostasy".

I then made my way through Protestant churches, theological and biblical studies and came to put my "Christian" experience in a broader context. Which gradually led me to my present situation. I still love a lot of NT texts (btw I found very similar things in other spiritual traditions), but I must admit I don't believe in God anymore.

Can you figure that out?

28

How much of the bible do JW's really use?

by blindfool in

i've noticed over the last several weeks how often the same scriptures are used in meetings at the kingdom hall.. anytime galatians is mentioned you can just about be sure you are going to look up chapter 5 ver.

19.. 2 timothy is going to be 3: 16. i can't remember considering any addional text to get the context of the verse, just reading the same verses over and over.

i'm sure most of you can name lots more scriptures used by jw's.. i think i'm going to start taking notes at meetings and listing which verses are used, then i can look from week to week and see how often the same old verses are considered.

Narkissos

And to me one big problem is: they generally do not use the Bible as a collection of texts that have to be READ, but as a store of disconnected verses that can be related to one another according to the WT's doctrine.

When I was disfellowshipped in the 80's, a big progress had been made by the simple reading of a Bible text in the Ministry School (that was established around the time of the Commentary on James). The result was some people found interest in understanding the Bible itself and began using "worldly" commentaries. I don't know if that went on...

4

Septuagint References?

by Eugene Shubert in

i'm interested in finding all the verses in the septuagint where the greek word morphe is used.

this would be of great help to me.

does anyone here have a lexicon for the septuagint?

Narkissos

Sorry I just copied and paste the list I got from the (limited) software I have here. I couldn't swear it's exhaustive but it may well be. You'll have to check it in a Septuagint concordance such as Hatch & Redpath's.

TBS is Tobit according to the Sinaiticus manuscript (the longer version which may represent better the semitic original), and DNT is Daniel according to the Greek translation of Theodotion. I don't know if you can find 4 Maccabees on the Internet, but there are several English translations available (sorry again I haven't got one of them here).

32

"Wise Men," or Duped Men?

by Schizm in

jw
friends

dupe defined:

a person who functions as the tool of another person or power.

the scene in the image below is a most popular one during the month of december.

Narkissos

Schiz, our discussion was not about the number of Magi but about the main thrust of the story. Let me tell you something: just before being disfellowshipped long ago, I was still a (very) special pioneer. I didn't use WT literature anymore, I just read Bible texts (and especially the Gospels) with very simple people. I remember reading the text we're discussing with an uneducated Portuguese family. Everybody just understood the story as it is: the "pagan" Magi, by their own way of knowledge, had grasped something that the scribes in Jerusalem didn't get in spite of all their "Biblical" science. Their joy at seeing the star again when they left Herod was naturally understood as the joy of the Gospel. To the surprise of my fellow (also pioneer) "publisher", I just agreed with these people's comment. They had got the point, way from the acrobatic reasoning of the WT.

Just remember such stories were not made for scholars, but for simple people. What people get from simple reading is usually just the point the author wants to make.

4

Septuagint References?

by Eugene Shubert in

i'm interested in finding all the verses in the septuagint where the greek word morphe is used.

this would be of great help to me.

does anyone here have a lexicon for the septuagint?

Narkissos

JDG 8:18; JOB 4:16; ISA 44:13; DAN 3:19; TOB 1:13; WIS 18:1; 4MA 15:4; TBS 1:13; DNT 4:36; 5:6,9,10; 7:28