Posts by Hondo

45

Catholic Answers comment on the REASONING book

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

strategies of the jehovah's witnesses .

there may be no religious organization that engages in more publishing, proportionately to its membership, than the watch tower bible and tract society (watch tower society or wts for short)?the publishing arm of the jehovah?s witnesses.

each month jehovah?s witnesses (jws) distribute millions of books, magazines, and pamphlets, in dozens of languages.

Hondo

heathen

The following is extracted from the Catholic Encyclopedia online. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03449a.htm. 4 October, 2004.

"the combination "the catholic church" (he katholike ekklisia) is found for the first time in the letter of St. Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans, written about the year 110. The words run: 'Wheresoever the bishop shall appear, there let the people be, even as where Jesus may be, there is the universal (katholike) Church.' "

There are other mentions of the word Catholic, in reference to a religion, as ealry as 155 and 180AD. Clement of Alexandria said sometime after 180 that, "that both in substance and in seeming, both in origin and in development, the primitive and Catholic Church is the only one, agreeing as it does in the unity of one faith"

By reading further on in the encyclopedia it seems apparent that the term Catholic, in reference to the religion, was clearly established by the beginning of the 3rd century, and most certainly prior to, and perhaps as early as 110AD.

Hope this helps.

Hondo

45

Catholic Answers comment on the REASONING book

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

strategies of the jehovah's witnesses .

there may be no religious organization that engages in more publishing, proportionately to its membership, than the watch tower bible and tract society (watch tower society or wts for short)?the publishing arm of the jehovah?s witnesses.

each month jehovah?s witnesses (jws) distribute millions of books, magazines, and pamphlets, in dozens of languages.

Hondo

Booker-t

I've been a Catholic all my life, although I was actively away from the religion for about 25 years because of choice. I just wasn't interested for part of my life; I still believed in God, but just wasn't interested. I became reaquainted about 15 years ago and feel very comfortable now. I have a very calm and deeply pleasing feeling and understanding about what I have to do be be save and live eternally with our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, by the way, during the time that I chose to be away from the church I wasn't shunned or ostrasized. My Catholic friends were still my Catholic friends, my family still loved me and talked to me, and priest that I knew, whom I questioned on many points of Catholic doctrine, still talked to me and was one of my best friends. It sounds like you are JW at heart but have perhaps seen though their deceptive doctinal tunnel vision they espouse and are looking for an alternative. Maybe not necessarily a reliegion, but a belief that will be able to substitute for the JW foolery you've been subject to. You mention becoming an atheist. Remember, philisophically speaking, athesist believe in something, they have to. If a atheist says he or she does not believe in God, just by saying this is acknowledging that something does exist not to believe in; some higher authority; some other God? I have read, as many folks have, many articles about JW's who have finally decided they've had enough of the JW lies and deceptions, and left, only to be more confused upon being free of the "Society", and rejecting religion, as a whole, altogether, similar to what it appears you have done. Jesus has a plan for us all I believe and expects us to do the best that we can during our short time on earth. I think there are your dynamic Mother Theresa personnalities who do great work in spreading the word of God, and there are those who may just be able to visit a elderly home once a month on a Sunday afternoon to chat. Each effort I believe, in the eyes of God, is noteworthy.

I blabbered on here, sorry.

Take care, Hondo

45

Catholic Answers comment on the REASONING book

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

strategies of the jehovah's witnesses .

there may be no religious organization that engages in more publishing, proportionately to its membership, than the watch tower bible and tract society (watch tower society or wts for short)?the publishing arm of the jehovah?s witnesses.

each month jehovah?s witnesses (jws) distribute millions of books, magazines, and pamphlets, in dozens of languages.

Hondo

Mary,

I should correct my above email. Left a word out. The first line of my entry should read:

"I am a Catholic and current church teachings are NOT what the "pious Catholic" in you email is espousing."

Sorry about the glitch.

Hondo

45

Catholic Answers comment on the REASONING book

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

strategies of the jehovah's witnesses .

there may be no religious organization that engages in more publishing, proportionately to its membership, than the watch tower bible and tract society (watch tower society or wts for short)?the publishing arm of the jehovah?s witnesses.

each month jehovah?s witnesses (jws) distribute millions of books, magazines, and pamphlets, in dozens of languages.

Hondo

Mary,

I am a Catholic and current church teachings are what the "pious Catholic" in your email is espousing. The Patristic writings of the early church founding fathers, and the numerous Papal guidances and directions from the Vatican, are good sources, both historical and doctrinal, of the beginnings and growth of the Catholic church, and provides pretty good detail of how the evolution and belief structure of the Catholic religion matured over the centuries. Have there been changes? yes, but the basic theme of biblical/sacremental beliefs, begun in the first centuries post Jesus death, is still in place (the light does not waver that much with the Catholics. It stay pretty steady).

These volumous documents (the Patristics) show that the church, for the most part, was pretty much all there was back for the first few centuries, at least until Martin Luther, and others, came along and did there own thing, for various reasons.

Hondo

45

crucifixation or upright stake

by cakes in

hi everyone, i'm new :) i know jesus died on an upright stake and not a cross but i don't know where to find the info on where or when the idea of the crucifixation orginated from.

can someone help me on this please?

thanks in advanced :)

Hondo

If the JW's consider the cross a pagan symbol, do they consider the stake a sacred, special, or holy symbol? If so, why would the Romans use something a group considered sacred, like a stake; Maybe for spite??

I agree with RR, "Of course Jesus died on a pagan cross, the Romans were pagan!"

It's fun to argue and prove the JW's wrong on points like this, and lots of others, but I also know that in the long run it really does not matter. Jesus died for us, and that is a fact.

Hondo

12

New Light and Tacking in the wind

by Hondo in

i am not and never have never been a jw, nor do i intend to be, but for personnel reasons have become interested in their beliefs and practices of, as seeminly bizzare as they are.. the similar doctrinal change examples of new light, and of a sail boat tacking in the wind, to provide justification for their continual changes, when they occur, confuses me somewhat.

if the jw's believe that the "end" is just around the corner, or "soon" as one will probably tell you, is the light at its brightest at this point in time; does the sail boat reach port?

is there a "last light" that may indicate in some way, shape, or form, when the end will take place?

Hondo

Super, super response MerryMagdalene.

So, what light are the JW's looking or hoping for. John 8:12 seems to negate any apparent need for any future "new lights". Believing in the "light of life" is enough. To bad they cannot see this.

12

New Light and Tacking in the wind

by Hondo in

i am not and never have never been a jw, nor do i intend to be, but for personnel reasons have become interested in their beliefs and practices of, as seeminly bizzare as they are.. the similar doctrinal change examples of new light, and of a sail boat tacking in the wind, to provide justification for their continual changes, when they occur, confuses me somewhat.

if the jw's believe that the "end" is just around the corner, or "soon" as one will probably tell you, is the light at its brightest at this point in time; does the sail boat reach port?

is there a "last light" that may indicate in some way, shape, or form, when the end will take place?

Hondo

I am not and never have never been a JW, nor do I intend to be, but for personnel reasons have become interested in their beliefs and practices of, as seeminly bizzare as they are.

The similar doctrinal change examples of New Light, and of a sail boat tacking in the wind, to provide justification for their continual changes, when they occur, confuses me somewhat. If the JW's believe that the "end" is just around the corner, or "soon" as one will probably tell you, is the light at its brightest at this point in time; does the sail boat reach port? Is there a "last light" that may indicate in some way, shape, or form, when the end will take place? Is there that one "last tack" that would fortell the end? Maybe another prediction...???

Or, do the JW's believe that the light and the tacking will just keep going on and on? and, if this is the case what good is it to think that the end will happen "soon". I know these are just examples and there is no "real" new light in the dark recesses of some Kingdom Hall, nor is there a sailboat out there somewhere with some Elder onboard tacking endlessly. Think about it though, a sailboat on an endless voyage can continue onforever, as can the reception of new light (how bright can light get? I suspect the lumins number is too large to comprehend).

How long will the light continue to get "brighter"? Or the sailboat continue to sail? Ten years, a thousand, a million...??? Does the light ever lose power and go off? Does the sailboat ever run into rough weather and cease to tack? Maybe the end is not as close as the JW's think. Maybe, just maybe, there is some time left for that college education afterall... Maybe there will be a new light to change the new light and boat tacking doctrinal change policies/explanations examples.

Thoughts/comments

Hondo

5

Confused about the blood policy

by Hondo in

i am a non-jw and just recently lost my wife to them after 20 years of marriage.

she did the wallet "no blood" card bit and also filled out some "power of attorney" looking document, signed by sevenal other jw's, that essentially took me out of the decision making picture had my ex-wife ever need a blood transfusion but was unable to make her own decision.

in other words, i would not have been able to save my wife's life.

Hondo

I am a non-JW and just recently lost my wife to them after 20 years of marriage. She did the wallet "no blood" card bit and also filled out some "power of attorney" looking document, signed by sevenal other JW's, that essentially took me out of the decision making picture had my ex-wife ever need a blood transfusion but was unable to make her own decision. In other words, I would not have been able to save my wife's life. The designated people on the document would have made that decision and I would have had to what my wife die. It did not happen, which I am happy for.

Question.

I have read all the biblical quotes in Leviticus and Acts that supposedly authorize the JW to die. I don't get it... How do they interpret these phrases from the bible to mean that they are essentially "ok'd" to commit suicide. If I read correctly, the only punishment that the bible outlines, should someone break a blood rule, 2000+ years old, is cleansing oneself in the evening. The bible does not mention human blood at all, unless I missed something. All discussions, again unless I missed something, centered around animal blood. What thought process have the Watchtower/JW's used in determining these biblical passages authorize death? I can somewhat understand their concern about the very small chance of receiving tainted blood, everyone has this concern. With all the post-donation testing conducted on blood now-a-days, any rational/logical person should be able to weigh the chances of living by accepting a transfussion, against not accepting and perhaps dieing, or accepting a transfussion and risking the possibility of catching a desease and becoming sick, or even possibly dieing, which is very low as I understand it.

Am I missing something here? My ex-wife was willing to die because of these bible passages, which say nothing about giving up ones life. Why? When confronted, all she would say is that it says she cannot accept blood because the bible says so. The Watchtower/JW's wrapped and packaged her very well.

Appreciate any thoughts/comments/insight.

Thanks

Hondo

25

The end of this system in 2005?

by Brigido in

hey everybody, check this story out.

i got a call from an inactive friend of mine today.

while we were just shooting the breeze, she happened to bring up something she heard at the hall from others.

Hondo

The year 2034? It seems so far away. It kinda blows the whole idea of the end being just around the corner, or coming soon. What will they say now? How will they sell themselves? Waiting till 2034 does not sound too enticing. If I were thinking about joining up I certainly would not be impressed with the end being so far off and having to wait that long for an earthly paradise. I would rethink joining and maybe even consider seeing what the Baptist, Lutheran's or Catholics had to offer.

Hondo

4

what if...

by Hondo in

what if the majority religion (i'm not sure i consider the jehovah witnesses a religion) in the world today were the jehovah witnesses?

instead of the catholics let's say (i think the catholics have around a billion or so).

imagine jw numbers at around one billion or two, or about 1/5 of the world population (boy, this is a sacry thought).

Hondo

What if the majority religion (I'm not sure I consider the Jehovah Witnesses a religion) in the world today were the Jehovah Witnesses? Instead of the Catholics let's say (I think the Catholics have around a billion or so). Imagine JW numbers at around one billion or two, or about 1/5 of the world population (boy, this is a sacry thought). What would the world by like?

- Would door-to-door activity simply be overwhelming (hate to think about this).

- How would the world economy be affected by the huge number of JW;s? Would the JW's be satisfied with mediocre jobs, creating less cash flow, because they, of course, know that the end of the world is just around the corner. Would they forgo, as they do somewhat now, college educations for the same reasons creating a JW society of undereducated.

- How many deaths would there be because of their bizzare blood beliefs/policy. I would not like to imagine what this would be, especially among children. Instead of thousands, perhaps millions needlessly dead.

- How many magazines would be printed/published? Billions vice Millions? Lot of dead trees.

- Would Kindom Halls become cathedral size?

- Would their end-of-times prediction tactics change. Lots of folks making lots of money...why would the JW's want end of the world to occur.

Anyone else with thoughts/comments on this.

Hondo