Posts by Athanasius

14

Rutherford and William Jennings Bryan

by VM44 in

does anyone know where it mentioned that rutherford was involved in william jennings bryan's presidential campaign(s)?

also, i recall reading that rutherford said bryan was god's choice as president for the usa!

if that was so, then it is very strange that bryan was never elected president!.

Athanasius

Joe Rutherford was very active in local Democratic Party politics from 1890-1905. In 1892 he participated in Grover Cleveland's successful campaign for President. In 1896 Rutherford ran for the Missouri State Legislature in the Democratic primary, but lost the nomination by about 100 votes. However, he vigorously campaigned for William Jennings Bryan later that year and helped the Democratic candidate carry the State of Missouri. Rutherford also supported Bryan's 1900 Presidential bid. Bryan ran for President a third time in 1908, but I wasn't able to find any mention of Rutherford's active support of the Great Commoner in that election. In 1908 Rutherford was deeply involved in the Watch Tower, but that wouldn't have prevented him from returning to Missouri in November and casting a ballot for Bryan.

49

Do Some JW Elders Secretly Consider It Possible That They Are Wrong?

by West70 in

i recently heard this "experience" from a now "christian" former jw, which has not previously been publicly communicated.

this jw then moved back to their home area (no jw relatives), and simply continued living their already-in-progress non-jw life.

inevitably, this exjw christian started bumping into their jw former associates.

Athanasius

Instead of criticizing one's beliefs or lifestyle, can't we all just get along?

44

Does life begin at 40?

by qwerty in

jw
friends

Athanasius

If that was the age you left the Watchtower.

60

What did you change in your "look" to show your rebellion?

by JH in

jw
friends

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i grew a goatee and thats my sign to them, that i'm rebellious... .

.

Athanasius

Wear an American flag pin in my lapel.

37

Do you know of gross mistranslations in the JW Bible (NWT)

by greendawn in

jw
friends

for all you that have studied the subject what are some big distortions of the original scriptures hebrew and greek, that are to be found in the jw bible (nwt)?

i found that at 1 thessalonians 4:15-17 it says that the living christians in the final days will be snatched up as soon as the dead ones get resurrected.

that blows up the jw belief that the said resurrection occured in 1918 because they weren't taken up at the same time.

Athanasius

Hi Super Becka,

You might find "So Many Versions?" by Sakae Kubo & Walter Specht to be helpful in discussing the errors of the NWT. I don't know if it is still in print, but the book was published by Zondervan.

One interesting quote from page 103 of the book regarding the NWT:

"The jargon which they use is often scarcely English at all, and it reminds one of nothing so much as a schoolboy's first painful beginnings in translating Latin into English. The translation is marked by a wooden literalism which will only exasperate any intelligent reader--if such it finds--and instead of showing the reverence for the Bible which the translators profess, it is an insult to the Word of God."

44

who attends a church now?

by meems101 in

jw
friends

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i'm interested in knowing how many, after leaving, started to attend a church.

if so, what one and how did you decide?

Athanasius

I left the JWs in 1984 and for a couple of years didn't attend any religious services. However, in 1987 a co-worker inivited me to attend Unitarian services, which I did for a few months. Later that year I attended Episcopal services and found that they satified my spiritual needs. I took instruction in the Church and was confirmed in 1991. Despite the controversies that have plagued the Episcopal Church in recent years I have no plans to leave.

Though I was raised in the Witness religion, I never had a problem visiting other religious houses of worship.

3