Posts by myelaine

unfortunately...imo, the people don't realize that they can't count on their leaders being their friends either. recall iran...nothing came about from protest last year...nothing except excecutions.

in a theocracy like iran, what the united states would call sedition would be called moharebeh = "warring against God" = no legitimate trial = swift excecution.

if more islamic states are created where the line between secular and religious government is blurred it is scary for everyone. more violence and unrest is the plague that comes this way...

6

Anyone else closing watching crisis in Egypt?

by diana netherton in

jw
friends

i wonder what this will mean long-term for the whole region.. any thoughts?

armegeddon??

.

...egyptians could be looking at a much more tyranical regime instead of the democratic one that they are looking for. the muslim brotherhood if brought into power, would sever all "friendly" ties with israel. the people are chanting "mubarak you coward, you agent of the united states."...what does THAT sound like? ...I think that the radical islamic element will use this overthrow as their means to quietly implement control that the people will not easily be able to shake off.

love michelle

21

Christian DOCTRINE comes from WHERE exactly??

by Terry in

jw
friends

the great russian composer igor stravinsky is purported to have observed: "there is no such thing as music theory all though one can be derived from the existing ouvre.".

or, to put it another way: doctrine (music or scripture) is an artificial human construct and a derivative.

it is a construction of the mind based on what is already there in the work itself.. .

myelaine

dear Terry...

you said: "Paul's arguments are not traditional Jewish thought so much as neo-Platonic myth-making with Judaism as a backdrop.

Had 70 c.e. not brought the END of functional Judaism there would have been no impulse to RE-IDENTIFY themselves as CHRISTIAN rather than merely messianic JEWS."...

well paul did understand that the other apostles were interested in keeping certain rules and regulations pertaining to the Jewish religious "identity"...and as the apostle to the gentiles he would be entrusted with the task of bringing the two groups...jewish and gentile into the one unified group. thus the church was "newly born" instead of the synagogue and new positions of authority were "newly born" within this structure instead of the inherited leadership of the jewish structure.(the practice of inherited authority that crept into the church through the papal system was in effect eliminated with the implementation of the unmarried and celebate priesthood).

ephesians 2:14-22

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Christ Our Cornerstone

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

...For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles-if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you,(acts 9:15-20...from the Lord to Ananias) how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I wrote before in a few words, by which, when you read, you may undestand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:...

love michelle

69

Our Stories and Why They Matter

by Farkel in

jw
friends

stories are perhaps the most important thing we can contribute to others in our short life on planet earth.. mind you, i am not saying that stories are the most important things in our lives, because they are not.

the most important things in our lives are experiences, which are moment-by-moment things.

the best we can do with our own experiences is to tell stories about them, which will never convey the actual living of them.

myelaine

dear Raph...

perhaps I awake sentimental...but indeed your story is quite present...(jeremiah 44:28-29).

..my trusted beloved...(jeremiah 31:26)...,,,.

love michelle

xoxoxo

204

Paul, leading authority on Christianity, does NOT quote Jesus!

by Terry in

paul's letters practically invent christianity.. the gospels trickled in after him.. paul never walked with jesus and yet explains him.. never a quote from the master at all.. yet, paul is such a maven.. if jesus couldn't be bothered to actually reveal what he was all about to his apostles with whom he ate, drank, spoke and slept---why this persecutor, saul?.

the apostles heard every word jesus spoke and were willing to die for him.. paul didn't--yet--miraculously explained every detail of the entire history of god's purpose including his messiah.. .

can anybody provide a non-gimmick answer?.

myelaine

the apostle paul may not have quoted Jesus too much but his systematic theology is based on the concepts of OT types and he has imbued bible Jesus(for our "literary" education) with the power to defeat any and all anti-types...some may not "see" that as they bite the hand that feeds them.

love michelle

p.s. dear PSacramento...post #7376...would THAT be an idle word?...matthew 12:36...37.

32

What Jehovah's Witness Subject Do You Want To Talk About On JWN?

by minimus in

jw
friends

since we've been directed to highlight jehovah's witness subjects on jwn, i'd like to know what things we should be talking about.. perhaps we can discuss how we were affected by the questions on the written review?.

do you have any other meaningful topics you would like to suggest so that we can keep jwn on a jw theme?.

myelaine

dear minimus...

I really think that Finaly-Free's suggestion: "4. How to conduct a worldwide event from a single streetcorner." has potential if one is willing to take a percentage of responsibility for something so dramatic.

...but certainly one would have to do more than "discuss" the nature and relationship of "angels" to "humans" and in particular that menace to the WTBTS's Christology/theology...michael..

on that note...~national post, a while back~ "early church fathers drew a picture of angels that were personal beings with their own personality and utterly real...but they have been ripped from their biblical and theological roots to emphasize feel-good spirituality over reliable OT wrath and NT gallantry-for example, the angel Michael slaying the dragon in the battle to end all battles. The whole POINT of angels was to shock and send off alarms!!"...

love michelle

206

I need a show of hands: who believes the Bible and to what extent?

by Terry in

i'll start off.. i don't believe anything is divine about bible writings.

i believe there may be some marginal history although not much.

i think alot of folk tales and regional myths are contained in the old testament.

myelaine

dear PSacramento...

you thought right. the koran is said to be transmitted to mohammed through an angel (allegedly) gabriel...as Heaven's post #3331 stated prior to Terry continuing on:

"Please correct me if I am wrong on this but it is my understanding that the history of the Qur'an starts off with it coming from the angel Gabrielle speaking to the prophet Muhhamad, making him recite it orally to remember it as Muhhamad could not read or write. Later, he orally related the Qur'an to some followers who wrote it down on leaves and bark and paper if available. After Muhhamad's death, Abu Bakr compiled these teachings into the Qur'an. As time went by, differing copies of the Qur'an appeared. This was a huge problem since the Islamic belief is that the word of God could not be corrupted (sound familiar?), and the 3rd caliph after Muhammad's death, Uthman, ordered that all copies of the Qur'an be gathered. They studied each text, and what was deemed as original was compiled to make the Qur'an of today. All of the manuscripts and parchments, bark, and leaves were then destroyed to prevent further corruption. Unfortunately we have no way of performing a textual study to verify the accurateness of today's Qur'an with the original."...

...perhaps Terry couldn't maintain his premise in post #100096 while acknowledging that point.

love michelle

26

Who cares about Jesus?

by brotherdan in

one thing that initially disturbed me when i was questioning the organization was their lack of focus on jesus.

whether you believe in him or not, you have to admit that jws focus mainly on jehovah and his organization.

to the apostles their entire message was about jesus.

myelaine

no brotherdan, I did not mean to post it in another thread. articulating the "Good News" of God's love just emphasizes the WTBTS's ignorance of who the Love of God is...how CAN they do more than give Jesus a passing mention in their article?

how they CAN blatantly ignore someone that they purport to "gain everlasting life by" and care about is heartbreaking especially for those in the congregations who are looking up to them for guidence...congregants will never know the Love of God as long as it is selfishly with-held from them by prideful wolves who have done nothing more than wrapped THEMSELVES in old red capes.

love michelle