Terry

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Posts by Terry

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  18

  WATCHTOWER'S basic premise is false (i.e. copy the earliest form of Christianity and you get it 'right')

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  watchtower's so-called 'scholars' (excuse me while i throw up) have a basic premise they have always worked under.

  namely, the earliest form of christianity was the purest and least corrupt.

  by trying to pattern jw's after this earliest form of "purity of christian doctrine" the so-called truth is supposed to emerge.. well--apparently this is a false premise, according to bart ehrman.. _____.

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• 

  Terry

  Now that you mention it--you've got a point!

  Perhaps they were like most of the uneducated people you'll find in Appalachia (Deliverance country) who are superstitious, naive, magic-thinking, and easily impressed.
• 
  4

  Free DEBATE in Dallas between Bart Ehrman and Dr. Justin Bass Friday 9-18

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  https://www.facebook.com/events/1666142046937367/.

  from ehrman's blog:.

  for anyone in the dallas area: on friday (two days!

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• 

  Terry

  LIVE STREAMING of this debate will occur beginning in 20 minutes.

  It is now 6:10 central standard time.

  
  

  http://livestream.com/accounts/12497542/events/4350731
  
• 
  22

  Inspiration, inscripturation

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the apostle paul stated at 2 timothy 3:16: all scripture is inspired of god.

  the phrase inspired of god translates the compound greek word theopneustos, meaning, literally, god-breathed or breathed by god.

  this is the only occurrence of this greek term in the scriptures.

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• 

  Terry

  The shortcut for modern Evangelicals is direct visionary implantation (channeling) from God into the mind of the believer. It worked for the Adventists (Ellen White), the J-Dubs (FDS), the Mormons (seers and apostles) and Pentecostals everywhere.

  It is an end-run around the tetchy problems kicked up by textual critics.
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  19

  The best surgery for men, Hernia surgery.

  by James Mixon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i had one two weeks ago, i'm fine.

  but how nice it was not to lift anything over.

  10 pounds.

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• 

  Terry

  I feel your pain! Nothing is more uncomfortable than feeling your intestines slipping down into your testicles!

  This should cheer you up:

  When I was a teen, I developed a bilateral inguinal hernia (both sides) from my job as a bricklayer's assistant.
  I elected to try and repair it with sit-ups on an incline board and weights behind my neck.
  Everybody told me I was crazy--but--I did not want surgery.
  
  After 6 mos. of daily situps (three times a day!) I had managed somehow or other to strengthen my lower abdomen enough I no longer had the detectable slippage!
  
  Here is the ironic part. My doctor had diagnosed me as needing surgery about the time I was fighting with the Draft Board and the Selective Service. By the time the Army doctor examined me, I no longer had detectable hernias!
  If I had NOT done all those exercises, I probably would have failed my Armed Forces medical exam and wouldn't have had to go to prison! But I passed the exam, and the rest is--unfortunately--history!

  To this day, I've not experienced any problems again. I do continue to do situps. . . just in case!
• 
  18

  WATCHTOWER'S basic premise is false (i.e. copy the earliest form of Christianity and you get it 'right')

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  watchtower's so-called 'scholars' (excuse me while i throw up) have a basic premise they have always worked under.

  namely, the earliest form of christianity was the purest and least corrupt.

  by trying to pattern jw's after this earliest form of "purity of christian doctrine" the so-called truth is supposed to emerge.. well--apparently this is a false premise, according to bart ehrman.. _____.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  A microcosm of the contention is illustrated by the apostles arguing over who would sit at Jesus' right hand in heaven.

  Those apostles didn't seem too bright or intellectually redoubtable.
• 
  4

  Free DEBATE in Dallas between Bart Ehrman and Dr. Justin Bass Friday 9-18

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  https://www.facebook.com/events/1666142046937367/.

  from ehrman's blog:.

  for anyone in the dallas area: on friday (two days!

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  Bart has posted debate materials (video) on his blog with the proviso it not be shared publicly. Perhaps somebody who attends and uses a cellphone might upload to YouTube.

  I'd love to go, but without a car the trip is too problematic on a bicycle :)
• 
  4

  Free DEBATE in Dallas between Bart Ehrman and Dr. Justin Bass Friday 9-18

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  https://www.facebook.com/events/1666142046937367/.

  from ehrman's blog:.

  for anyone in the dallas area: on friday (two days!

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  https://www.facebook.com/events/1666142046937367/

  
  

  From Ehrman's blog:

  
  

  For anyone in the Dallas area: On Friday (two days! Sept. 18) I will be having a public debate with Justin Bass, a Christian apologist and pastor with a PhD from Dallas Theological, on the question “Did the Historical Jesus Claim To Be Divine?” Dr. Bass thinks the answer is YES. I think the answer is NO. It should be an interesting back and forth. If you want to hear the arguments, come and see it. Free admission. And my arguments will be worth every dime you pay to hear them. (It will be at Collin College at 6:30 pm)
  
• 
  85

  "And what happened next was simply unbelievable!"

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i always sit in the same spot, just outside starbucks in a vestibule area with a table in the air-conditioned space.

  i say "always," but not today.. somebody with two laptops and a table filled with business ledgers was in "my" favorite spot!.

  so, i took a tiny wooden table inside the coffee shop on a long padded bench next to 3 other identical tables.. as the clickbait banner ads like to say: "and what happened next was simply unbelievable!".

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• 

  Terry

  Much thanks
• 
  18

  WATCHTOWER'S basic premise is false (i.e. copy the earliest form of Christianity and you get it 'right')

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  watchtower's so-called 'scholars' (excuse me while i throw up) have a basic premise they have always worked under.

  namely, the earliest form of christianity was the purest and least corrupt.

  by trying to pattern jw's after this earliest form of "purity of christian doctrine" the so-called truth is supposed to emerge.. well--apparently this is a false premise, according to bart ehrman.. _____.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  Christianity, with its 40,000 denominations, is more than skilled at compartmentalizing disparate elements of reality into walled-off ghettos of hermetic contamination.

  The true believer tiptoes around in Hazmat gear, gingerly avoiding facts which falsify the f premises they choose to regard as beyond proof.

  This is not merely a Christian phenomenon, it is a human psychological survival mechanism allowing us to create an alternate world worth living in in case the cruel real one indicates we aren't going to survive.
• 
  22

  Inspiration, inscripturation

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the apostle paul stated at 2 timothy 3:16: all scripture is inspired of god.

  the phrase inspired of god translates the compound greek word theopneustos, meaning, literally, god-breathed or breathed by god.

  this is the only occurrence of this greek term in the scriptures.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  I could be wrong, but in my lifetime (68 years) I've seen a secularization of just about all the mainstream churches which has allowed them to squirm inside the strait-jacket of Biblical inspiration.

  In a Modern, technological, Scientific age, only the Amish and orthodox Jews and Muslims appear to be mentally chained to a rigid other-world of ancient reliance on texts divorced from practical day-to-day life.

  True, Fundamentalist evangelicals give lip-service to inerrancy--but you'll notice they live very much a modern life with all the trappings--quite a contrast to the Amish, et al.

  By the same token, there is a trend in evangelical churches to radicalize themselves into becoming "Preppers" awaiting the final blow from heaven. Mormons and JW's are headed off into a mental 'field of lost shoes.'
  
  A phrase which actually turns my stomach these days is, "The Bible says. . ."

  So much baggage is attached to this untenable fantasy of textual transcendence, (none of which can be demonstrated) that it instantly identifies the speaker as delusional.

  Doug Mason has aptly demonstrated the intention of the Watchtower organization to have it BOTH ways. By establishing Bible text as an inspired effort entirely frustrated by copyists and restored by latter-day FDS trance-channeling, they hit both target audiences: the strict inerrancy-addicts and the GB loyalists.

  Like it or not, Christians have to face (if not directly) an asserted inspired text ruined by copyists with strong tendencies toward "explication" creating bogus and corrupt versions of orally transmitted opinions.