Posts by Midget-Sasquatch

32

Which is worse, Islam or Christendom?

by avengers in

lmfho .

lets first start off with the islam.. supposedly, the great prophet mohammed married a 7 year ol girl, but agreed not to consumate the marriage until she was 9.. (must we conclude that the founder of the islam was a pedophile?

now christendom.. mary conceived a child while virgin.

Midget-Sasquatch

I have a similar opinion to Hillary Step's: A key difference between Christianity and Islam is how they deal with political matters. Christianity in its beginnings left them to the secular authorities and early on its followers believed that it was up to God to bring about eschatological change. It had a bearing on how Christians acted and reacted in their surroundings. Mind you that notion swung back and forth throughout history, but like Hillary Step said its been adapting along the way, mostly in favour of a more tolerable and less dogmatic stance towards unbelievers.

Islam from its inception, puts the onus on its followers to bring about the theocracy of God on to the entire world. At first, there was a need for self defense, so they engaged in battle, but that quickly changed to warring for its spread. They would also have to make the often ugly choices that authorities and states have to make under difficult situations. I think if they alter the notion of the theocracy (spiritual vs. concrete reality), or at least the extent to which they can morally bring it to others, the religion could be a very positive force. Like Little Toe pointed out, they need time.

Editted to add: I may be confusing this with another, but from what I recall the marriage of Muhammed to that girl was a way of forging ties with her father's tribe. They wanted Muhammed to take her as his wife and he held off until she was ...again IIRC...menstruating. I personally find it disturbing, but at least thats a bit more of the story.

40

Jude and 1 Enoch

by Leolaia in

use of 1 enoch elsewhere in jude.

jude 4 = 1 enoch 48:8-10, 81:1-2, 108:6-7 .

jude 6 = 1 enoch 10:4-12, 12:4, 15:3-7 .

Midget-Sasquatch

I actually enjoyed reading bits of Deuteronomy! Whoduh thunk it?

This is the kind of analysis we should be getting from any group that makes use of the bible as holy writ. That way we get a broader and more detailed understanding of the early christians belief system and its development, as well as alot of food for thought on the notion of "divine inspiration". I guess the logion "the truth shall set you free" applies here to believer and non-believers alike.

19

Mithra-Jesus

by homme perdu in

http://www.near-death.com/experiences/origen048.html

Midget-Sasquatch

IP_SEC

I know you were joking but some early church fathers actually used that argument!

Tertullian in his Prescription against Heretics, Ch.40

The question will arise, By whom is to be interpreted the sense of the passages which make for heresies? By the devil, of course, to whom pertain those wiles which pervert the truth, and who, by the mystic rites of his idols, vies even with the essential portions of the sacraments of God. He, too, baptizes some--that is, his own believers and faithful followers; he promises the putting away of sins by a layer (of his own); and if my memory still serves me, Mithra there, (in the kingdom of Satan,) sets his marks on the foreheads of his soldiers; celebrates also the oblation of bread, and introduces an image of a resurrection, and before a sword wreathes a crown.

Justin Martyr

in his First Apology, Chp 66

"For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, "This do ye in remembrance of Me, this is My body;" and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, "This is My blood;" and gave it to them alone. Which the wicked devils have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same thing to be done. For, that bread and a cup of water are placed with certain incantations in the mystic rites of one who is being initiated, you either know or can learn."

23

March Kingdom ministry Re Awake

by littlemike in

jw
friends

has any body got the march km yet in english.

is it really true about the awake or is an internet rumour.

i hope not i have told my dad to look out for it.

Midget-Sasquatch

Well for the congregation I'm officially listed with, the KMs were sent packaged inside out so that the cover with the news wasn't showing. Puleeeeeze. Like the news wasn't out already.

26

Great Books.. Lets hear your favorites!

by GetBusyLiving in

jw
friends

just wondering what your favorite books are guys.. any and all genres would be cool!

Midget-Sasquatch

I've been on a Medieval Times kick as of late so I liked:

the whole House of Nicolo series by Dorothy Dunnett
The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (mostly set during the Black Death)

Others I really enjoyed:

The Count of MonteCristo
Nineteen Eighty Four
Crisis of Conscience

18

How many people did you bring OUT of "the truth?" ( :D )

by inquirer in

jw
friends

i know there was another thread of "how many people did you bring in the truth," but how many people did you bring out of the truth?

sorry, i can't help it.

lol.

Midget-Sasquatch

I was gleeful of my record of zero on the other thread, but I have to sadly say its zero for this as well. The three immediate family members I've tried to talk with, always get defensive and cut it off.

But I've often shared damaging info to some curious co-workers with many questions.

96

Babylonian Business Records

by VM44 in

i have read that thousands of babylonian business records exist on clay tablets, and that these alone provide proof that the year 607bce is not what the watchtower claims it is.. since business is conducted on a day to day basis, these records should provide a continuous record of each babylonian kings reign.

is there a summary of the babylonian business records?

in particular, a timeline showing the number of business tables in existence corresponding to various kings and dates within a king/s reign?.

Midget-Sasquatch

Scholar

Here's the information readily available in the Insight Volumes.

***it-1 p. 425 Chaldea *** Particularly was this domination manifest during the seventh and sixth centuries B.C.E. when Nabopolassar, a native of Chaldea, and his successors, Nebuchadnezzar II, Evil-merodach (Awil-Marduk), Neriglissar, Labashi-Marduk, Nabonidus, and Belshazzar, ruled the Third World Power, Babylon.

So the order of kings is unchanged from the 65 WT article cited by Alleymom.

Now for the years each reigned:

*** it-1 pp. 238-239 Babylon ***Finally, after a 43-year reign, which included both conquest of many nations and a grand building program in Babylonia itself, Nebuchadnezzar II died in October of 582 B.C.E. and was succeeded by Awil-Marduk (Evil-merodach)
*** it-1 p. 773 Evil-merodach *** Berossus, quoted by Josephus, attributes to him a reign of two years. Josephus himself assigns him 18 years. Supposedly slain as the result of a plot, Evil-merodach was replaced by Neriglissar (Nergal-sharezer).
*** it-2 p. 457 Nabonidus ***On the basis of cuneiform texts he is believed to have ruled some 17 years (556-539 B.C.E.).

Interesting how on the 2003 WT CD, I could not find any length of reign assigned to Labashi Marduk after that 1965 WT. Nor could I find one for Neriglissar after this 1969 WT:

*** w69 2/1 p. 89 Babylonian Chronology?How Reliable? *** From this very incomplete inscription it can be seen that the only figures actually given are the 43 years of Nebuchadnezzar?s reign and 4 years of Neriglissar?s reign.

Why have they chosen to omit this info in later works?

I checked and did find the quote of Josephus where he gave 18 years for Evil-Merodach's reign. It was in his Antiquities of the Jews Book 10, Chapter 11, verse 2.

The WT likes to have it both ways. Berossus is accurate for some things but not for others. Guess what the criterion is for them? They favour Josephus in this case (who's been shown to be innaccurate and to exaggerate when other evidence was available). A person who lived in the first century of our era, is given more credibility than multiple contemporary documents from the relevant time period.

Scholar: Can you suggest why those supposed 16 years difference are not found among those business documents?

Edit: hope the formatting is finally right

18

How many people did you bring to the troof?

by JH in

jw
friends

.

i guess i wasn't that good with my preaching, cause i didn't convert a soul.. how many people did you bring to the org?.

Midget-Sasquatch

Ala Bart Simpson "Underachiever and Proud of it" I brought nobody in.

My father though: 2

My sib: 1 with another 2 very likely in the near future.

234

Intelligent Design

by Delta20 in

hey all,.

i am currently studying the topic of intelligent design (id).

basically the id theory is the revival of the teleological argument for the existance of a deity.

Midget-Sasquatch

Actually, today Darwinism, or I should say neo-Darwinism, is a theory that explains everything. It can explain social structures, natural laws, etcetera. So defining it as a theory that only explains OBSERVED changes is a wrong definition.

Not to be a stickler, but I think you're going by the evolutionary concept as a whole and lumping in several related fields into one.

The Neo-Darwinian Synthesis is as QUOTES mentioned the theory specifically dealing with descent with modification (observed changes). It notes that random mutations in genes/genetic information brings about different genotypes and so very likely, different phenotypes (refers to the resulting physical attributes of the organism). Natural selection then acts upon the phenotypes thereby driving its evolution.

Sociobiology or more recently evolutionary psychology deals with the evolution of social structures. Its basic premise is that social behaviours are genetically based and can be adaptive, so that combination would make social behaviours subject to selection as well.

I know its the same premise in the end, but I think its better to have the distinctions especially because of the social darwinism crud of the past.

Darwinists actually try to make predictions on the bases of their theory. Problem is that everything can be interpreted on a Darwinian way so its very hard to make concrete arguments against them.

OK, some of the claims are as S.J. Gould put it, "just so stories", and one could come up with some plausible scenarios by which some traits are deemed adaptive, with no hard eviednce to back it up. But those just remain conjectures thrown out there. There's good research out there too. The study on higher rates of deaths among step-children for instance. Why that one is very good is that the researchers even considered other factors that may be involved.(one e.g step children wree the overwhelming target even when biological children were living there as well). Didn't meant to hijack the thread just addressing those particular points.

96

Babylonian Business Records

by VM44 in

i have read that thousands of babylonian business records exist on clay tablets, and that these alone provide proof that the year 607bce is not what the watchtower claims it is.. since business is conducted on a day to day basis, these records should provide a continuous record of each babylonian kings reign.

is there a summary of the babylonian business records?

in particular, a timeline showing the number of business tables in existence corresponding to various kings and dates within a king/s reign?.

Midget-Sasquatch

Hey KWIN

Its down right sad isn't it? I mean sure the king could alter the court's own records, but what sort of conspiracy would they need to cover thousands of business documents in their land and in other ones?