Athanasius

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Posts by Athanasius

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  13

  New JW Elder Instructional Video, How Many Times Was Jesus Christ Mentioned? His name?

  by RottenRiley in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  i counted zero, can anyone else verify the watchtower's new aid to instruct judicial matters never mentioned our lord and saviour jesus christ, the messiah?.

  or for my deist and atheist friends, did they mention the name of jesus of nazareth?

  thank you friends!.

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  Athanasius

  I also noticed how the elders said Je-HO-vah. That was strange, like some of the actors were closet apostates. But the plastic smile on the elder's face almost made the video seem like a parody of life in JWland.
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  6

  When you were a JW, how did you find the time to prepare your talks?

  by Iamallcool in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  at home?

  at work?.

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  Athanasius

  Since I left the JWs in 1984, things have probably changed a lot at the KH since then. But back then most SM parts were relatively easy to prepare and I generally worked them up after work the night before the meeting. The MS talk #1 (the Instruction Talk) was 15 minutes long and was often an actual Bible discussion, and so needed several hours to prepare, which was done over several evenings after work.

  The JW culture was different then. Most of us who served as elders took our responsiblity seriously and prepared our parts for the benefit of the flock. So we took whatever time was necessary to prepare. Because we were allowed some individuality, our meetings weren't as boreing as they would later become.
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  15

  does anyone know where this pic is from?

  by wallsofjericho in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  i am looking for a better image, i think this is partially cropped.

  but i have no idea what publication it is from.

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  Athanasius

  Van Amburgh was the Watchtower's accountant. Financial accounting was my profession too. So I'm sure that old Van knew all the dirty financial dealings of Russell, Rutherford, and Knorr. RR, who used to post here, told me that Van Amburgh later regretted putting Rutherford in office. This was based on private corespondence between him and a non-JW relative. Since Van was one of the few Russell holdovers to survive the Rutherford purges, no doubt the old man kept a safety deposit box full of incriminating evidence as his insurance policy.

  When I first saw the picture that the OP presented, I thought the first guy on the right was Sid Caesar, the famous commedian. But I guess it's supposed to be Freddy Franz.
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  6

  Need Scan from KIT 1985 version

  by JWOP in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i'm looking to see what the 1985 version of the kit says at matthew 27:52-53. i'm looking for the word-for-word greek/english part.

  i have a 1969 kit, so i just need to compare to see if there's been any changes between the two.

  if you can send me a scan of it, pm me.

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  Athanasius

  The word for word Greek/English verses of Matthew 27:52-53, 1969 Purple People Eater KIT and Blue 1985 KIT, read the same: "and the memorial tombs were opened and many bodies of the having fallen asleep holy (ones) were raised up, and [they] having gone forth out of the memorial tombs after the being raised up of him they entered into the holy city and they were made apparent."

  The NWT rendering of the same verses is also the same in both editions. Since the Watchtower teaches that nobody was resurrected that day, they change verse 53 to read: "(and persons, coming out from among the meorial tombs after his being raised up, entered into the holy city,) and they became visible to many people."

  Not sure if the Watchtower still teaches this, but back in 1984 when I left the JWs, they believed that the earthquake mentioned in Matthew 27:51 caused dead bodies in the tombs to be scattered and that it was live persons visiting the tombs that went to the city and told what happened. But a literal interpretation of the verses seems to indicate that the holy ones were raised up and that they went into the city and were seen by many persons.
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  40

  Purged songs of the Watchtower

  by LogCon in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  my memory of singing the kingdom songs go back to when i was a child in the 1950's.

  they still hold a place in my memory and my heart.

  how can something that is so much a part of your childhood not stay embedded in your heart.?.

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  Athanasius

  This brings back a lot of memories. I remember the old green song book. I was only four or five when it was released in the early 1950s. Those were the days when we had live music at the KHs, and the CAs and DCs had live orchestras. Then they replaced the green song book with the pink one and did away with live music at the KH, CA, DC, and replaced it with canned music.

  I left the JWs in 1984 just as they replaced the pink song book with the baby sh_t brown color song book. Glad I left when I did, as the new song book had some songs that were impossible to sing.

  Later, when I started attending other churches, some of the hymns were sung to the same music as the songs of the old JW green song book. And doing a little research found that the Watchtower had ripped off some of their songs from old Christian hymns.
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  9

  The final shackle thrown off

  by moley in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

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  i've been out for 13yrs but its still funny how some things are so ingrained, but no more.

  i had a full english today complete with the devils offering "black pudding" and how mighty tasty it was..

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  Athanasius

  I recommend Clonakilty black pudding. When I toured Ireland in 1999 and 2000 the best black pudding was served in Clonakilty. In fact I took some home with me it was so good. Unfortunately I haven't found anything like it here in the USA.
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  14

  How much more strange can this get ?

  by man in black in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ladt night i was talking to a coworker who's sister is a witness in my old hall, and i needed some asprin after listening to this.. how can this be tolerated by people who believe that they alone speak the truth ?.

  a young couple ( early 30's) had two children, and they adopted another boy from the inner city, so they have three boys under the age of 13.. the father is a construction worker, and mom works pt doing various jobs.. as a babysitter they use the respected teenaged son of a very prominent elder.

  well, the parents breakup.

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  Athanasius

  Probably not, Valkyrie. The adopting couple most likely were more afluent and lived in the suburbs with a front and back yard. The boy they adopted probably came from a poor family and lived in a large apartment building, so it may have been a cultural shock at first now being able to enjoy a lawn and flowers.
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  27

  The "Christian Greek Scriptures"

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  from 1950 to 2013, the watchtower and bible tract society has been releasing its new world translation of the scriptures.. my study considers the christian greek scriptures (new testament).. http://www.jwstudies.com/why_does_wts_accept_christendoms_scriptures.pdf.

  i have also provided the pictures that i created for the study.. http://www.jwstudies.com/pix_for_study_wts_accepts_scriptures.pdf.

  please accept the fact that i have no idea whether colours clash or if they match.

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  Athanasius

  Hi Doug,

  St. Athanasius died in 373 AD and was never an emperor, though he greatly influenced the ancient Church. No doubt you had Theodosius the Great in mind as he was the Roman emperor 379-395.
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  6

  I am looking for a page

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  hi,.

  i am looking for a scan of: the interpreter's dictionary of the bible, edited by george a. buttrick, volume 1, page 166.. thanks,.

  doug.

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  Athanasius

  The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible (Dictionary Editor, George Arthur Buttrick) that I have in my library was published by Abingdon Press, 17th printing 1989. Not sure if this is the edition that you wanted Doug.

  However, page 166 is about the Apocrypha, New Testament. The article begins with: "The NT Apoc, or as it is often styled, the Apocryphal NT, consists of a host of books of all sorts, primarily gospels, acts, letters, and apocalypses--i.e., of books similar to, at least externally, the several kinds of writing in the canonical NT."

  Is this what you are looking for?
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  42

  Do You Think Many Engaged JW Couples Fooled Around B4 Marriage?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i was an elder, i had a few couples approach me to confess that they either played around or went all the way.. i suspect there were many more that did not admit to it, though..

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  Athanasius

  I confess. Back in the 1960s I was engaged to a JW girl and we played around. We were in our early 20s at the time and just did what was natural. While we didn't go all the way, still had we confessed we would have gotten into trouble. We were both pioneers and I was a servant in the congregation. This was before the elder arrangement that began in the 1970s.

  Apparently the Holy Spirit didn't have a problem with our pre-marital activity as we were married in the KH, and a year later I was promoted to Theocratic Ministry School Servant. Then when the elder arrangement was initiated in 1972 I was appointed an elder.

  I should also mention that when I served on JCs where an engaged JW couple confessed to "unapproved Watchtower pre-marital activity," I always voted for private reproof, even though the hard-line elders insisted on public reproof. I always stuck to my guns and got the couple off with a reduced sentence.