Posts by Village Idiot

7

Why is this scripture blank in some bibles and not in others? It is blank in the JW bible, too.

by Wild_Thing in

jw
friends

and he replied, i do believe that jesus christ is the son of god.acts 8:37 (brg) | in context | whole chapter37 and philip said, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.

the officer said, i believe that jesus christ is the son of god.|acts 8:37 (gnv) | in context | whole chapter37 and philip said unto him, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.

and he answered and said, i believe that jesus christ is the son of god.acts 8:37 (kjv) | in context | whole chapter37 and philip said, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.

Village Idiot

At biblegateway.com you will find, in the New International Version, the following explanation under footnote "c" which is annotated right on the blank verse at 37:

Some manuscripts include here Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The eunuch answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” - Acts 8:37 New International Version

Sometimes a scripture is found in several manuscripts but not in others. This suggests that some copyist added verses to other manuscripts. I believe that scholars tend to choose the earliest manuscript as the most "authentic" one.

28

An experience at Bethel

by joe134cd in

i was just thinking of something i observed on a visit to bethel some years back, that at the time struck me as odd, but now that i look back on it, it might be revealing about their financial situation.

please feel free to agree/disagree with me and also bear in mind this is some years back so my memory may be sketchey.

i remember walking into the front entrance of the bethel to do a tour.

Village Idiot

When I used to order "Truth" books in different languages (as a collection) I received a refund for those languages which were out of stock. The refund was paid in postage stamps.

9

John Carpenter's "THEY LIVE!"

by cappytan in

jw
friends

so i'm catching up on r rated movies that i missed when i was younger.

"they live!

" was on the el rey network the other day so decided to watch it.. it was kind of eerie watching this being a fader.. here's a guy living under a controlling regime of elites and only he can see the control measures for what they are.

Village Idiot

I remember seeing it years ago. I thought it was great although the long fist fight scene was quite a bit overdone.

10

Are You a 607 BCE Specialist?

by God_Delusion in

jw
friends

hi guys & gals,.

we're currently preparing for the season finale of the show (to be recorded on sunday, may 24th at 2pm eastern time nyc / 6pm uk time / 4am sydney time.. as we're going to (finally) be covering 607 bce in detail, we're looking for a specialist (or two) that can come on the show and tell everyone about this almighty doctrine.

if you know your 587 from your 607 and why the 1914 and 1919 dates are important to jws (although most have no idea why), please send us an email to [email protected], using "i'm a 607er" in the subject line and let us know why we should pick you as a guest on the season finale.. can't wait to hear from you!.

Village Idiot

If you're going to mention 1914 you should note that the original teaching was that the "last days" were from 1799 - 1914. Armageddon was supposed to be a 40 year span of time from 1874 - 1914 and 1914 was supposed to be the start of the Millennium (with no catastrophes then).

Sorry I don't have the citations but it can all be found in Charles Russell 6 book series. The book The Time is at Hand would be the major source of information on that.

As SAHS mentioned, The Gentile Times Reconsidered is the best book on that issue. It is available as a free PDF: https://www.watchtowerlies.com/linked/the-gentile-times-reconsidered.pdf

75

Rumor about the Imitate Jesus Convention

by FusionTheism in

i saw a rumor a few weeks ago on reddit that the new imitate jesus convention is supposed to present new light and clarified understandings on the disfellowshipping/disassociation practices.. supposedly, if this rumor has any truth to it, there will be a talk given at the convention about how we should not be strict like the pharisees in how we shun people, loosening up some of the jw rules about this practice.. has anyone here heard anything about this or have more info on it?.

Village Idiot

DATA-DOG,

"What the WTBTS doesn't realize is that "termites" have invested the "legs" already, with "information control" leading in first place. Those little apostate termites are working 24/7!!"

I love that analogy. My apartment, which had a JW manager and renters, had a massive termite damage which they didn't want to deal with for over 10 years. It took a confrontation in court for them to fix it. Once they did everybody else got into the act incurring at least a 100,000 dollars worth of repair throughout the complex.

Yes, they're ignoring their 'spiritual' termites. Let it crumble though I do believe that there will still be a hard core remaining like in Rutherford's day. The only difference from Rutherford is that no one in the Governing Body has his bombastic manners. That means that they might not be able to regrow after the implosion.

29

Book Burning and other burning of materials done by JW. Any experiences Please post

by adjusted knowledge in

jw
friends

as a very young child i have memories of several book burnings done by jw families.

it wasn't something arranged by the congregation, but elders did participate in it.

it was actually scary for me as a child of only about 8 years old.

Village Idiot

Eva luna, "Ever tried to burn a bond book?"

I did with a Truth book. I don't remember if the cover burned but the pages did.

It wasn't my Truth book, I simply tossed those (and I had them in 60 languages!). It was a book that my Baptist friend had on a shelf at his house. I remember a sister telling me (before I was disfellowshipped) that she had placed a book at that house, probably with his mother who was also a Baptist. After my disfellowshipping I told my friend that and he didn't want to believe that. So I looked at his shelf and, true enough, it was there. I suggested that it be burned and we had a fun time.

75

Rumor about the Imitate Jesus Convention

by FusionTheism in

i saw a rumor a few weeks ago on reddit that the new imitate jesus convention is supposed to present new light and clarified understandings on the disfellowshipping/disassociation practices.. supposedly, if this rumor has any truth to it, there will be a talk given at the convention about how we should not be strict like the pharisees in how we shun people, loosening up some of the jw rules about this practice.. has anyone here heard anything about this or have more info on it?.

Village Idiot

This might be what they will refer to as far as imitating Jesus' example on shunning:

17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. Matthew 18:17 New International Version

Note that 'pagans' and tax collectors were supposed to be ignored to the greatest degree possible.

And here is what the Bible has to say about how Christianity will effect family relationships:

34 Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn

“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. - Matthew 10:34-36 New International Version

Why should the Watchtower be any different?

24

New Light! People CAN now be saved AFTER the Tribulation begins!

by FusionTheism in

for decades, i remember the society, publications, and elders saying that once the great tribulation begins, it is too late to repent or be saved.

they said the "door of the ark will have been closed.".

now, however, look at the brand-new clarified understanding / new light on this from jw.org, below.. they are still saying that the majority of worldly people will not be saved, but they are now saying it is possible.. the simplified july study watchtower says this:.

Village Idiot

If that idea takes root then it will allow for some of the Witnesses to drop out of field service. The Watchtower will no longer be able to guilt trip them by saying that if a single person does not get preached to and he dies at Armageddon then his blood will be on their hands.

70

If They Stopped Shunning Tomorrow?

by cofty in

imagine that the cult decided to stop shunning family members on the proviso that the dfd person was not actively trying to attack the cult.. (please don't debate whether or not this is likely - it's hypothetical).

how would you respond to your family?.

personally i think i would be less than cooperative.

Village Idiot

Cofty, "Assume it was official and your relatives followed it."

I personally would not want to associate with anyone who had previously shunned me.

70

If They Stopped Shunning Tomorrow?

by cofty in

imagine that the cult decided to stop shunning family members on the proviso that the dfd person was not actively trying to attack the cult.. (please don't debate whether or not this is likely - it's hypothetical).

how would you respond to your family?.

personally i think i would be less than cooperative.

Village Idiot

If the Watchtower were to bring this issue up they will probably say shunning is up to your conscience just like the blood transfusion issue.