Posts by AlmostAtheist

10

resurrection

by confused and lost in

the wts denies the bodily resurrection of christ.

here is a verse i have found which , to my way of thinking, adds weight to the bodily resurrection.

read john 20:6,7.did you notice that the face cloth,napkin or shroud from jesus burial garments was folded up and was lying seperate from the rest of the bandages or linen strips.if ,as the wts teaches,god had simply evaporated jesus body in some way then surely all the bandages would be lying in the same place,the place where jesus body lay.i visualize the scripture this way.jesus body is restored to life.he sits up and undoes the bandages from around his head.he then lays these to one side,stands up and divests himself of the other linen cloths.i may be way off with this but it seems to fit with other scriptures relating to the bodily resurrection.

AlmostAtheist

It's remarkably insulting to the 1st century Christians, I agree, but I think the Watchtower's take on this and other things that seem to suggest a physical resurrection is that it would confuse the early Christians. If he was raised up as a spirit creature, but his body was left there, it would be a hard case to make that he'd been raised at all. The linen lying folded would just be part of the "make 'em think he rose" ruse.

Don't they even say that Jesus' body was probably dealt with in the same way that Moses' body was? That seems familiar to me.

How do you answer the Watchtower's arguments AGAINST physical resurrection? Like the one where he's walking on the road talking with his disciples, but they don't recognize him?

And why was he physically resurrected with holes in his hands? That one doesn't make sense to me.

Dave

9

I have hit the Prophetic Number........................ of

by AK - Jeff in

jw
friends

7000 posts!!.

do i get the booby prize?.

jeff.

AlmostAtheist

A day for a post, a day for a post -- I prophecy that Jeff will be here another 19.17 years.

Then the end will come.

(Congrats!)

Dave

6

Horror Movie and the Sci-Fi Channel

by Irish Rose in

i live in an apartment complex, and our cable is through a satellite provider.

if any of you are familar, one of the down side to satellite is that if the weather get very nasty, it can and will loose connection.

a while back i was watching a movie on the sci-fi channel.

AlmostAtheist

I think this might be it: The Plague http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479125/

Do I win?

Dave

25

"If 1000 years is as one day" (another "ug" fwd email)

by inkling in

if 1000 years is as one day someone did the math of the 1000 years = one day equation (2 peter 3:8).. .

this is interesting: since a thousand years are in the eyes of jehovah as one day, we can look at history from jehovah's point of view like this:.

adam was created six days ago and jehovah made immediate plans to restore what he had lost for his offspring.. .

AlmostAtheist

Nice! Another way to fill the 2000-year gap between "I am coming quickly" and today.

Dave

50

Jesus is the Key

by potentialJWconvertswife in

first off, i want to thank you all for being so patient with this newbie, who's become a posting fury!

now to the heart of the matter: jesus.

christians know jesus saves.

AlmostAtheist

I think JW's take on Jesus is less different than they and other Christians would like to believe.

To JW's, Jesus is a creation by Jehovah. But he was the first creation. Since Jehovah exists outside of time -- whatever that means -- Jesus is for all intents and purposes eternal.

Whether you're a JW and believe he's pretty much eternal, or you're an Anything Else and believe he's really, really eternal, it doesn't make any real difference.

He is "immortal", meaning he can't die, doesn't need external input in order to continue living. (Unlike living-forver humans that still need food, and living-forever angels that still need .... something, though it was never explained just what.)

So again, same not-an-angel view that other Christians hold.

JW's believe that Jesus is vital for their salvation. Whether they "accept jesus into their hearts" or whatever is really just word play. At the end of the day, JW's and Christians both know salvation isn't possible aside from Jesus.

To a Christian, Jesus is sort of but not quite God, in that he's a slice of the unsliceable trinity that is actually one god in three. In one. Kinda. Plus The Holy Spirit.

To a JW, Jesus is God's son. He's separate from God, but has all the power of god, does god's will, and can't do anything apart from god. Via the holy spirit.

To this outside observer, it sounds like the difference between damp and moist.

Dave

19

WHY did the Chicken cross the road?

by Mastodon in

why did the chicken cross the road?.

dr. phil :.

the problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on 'this' side of the road before it goes after the problem on the 'other side' of the road.

AlmostAtheist

New light just in- This chicken crossing the road was only mentioned once in the Bible, thus it is
symbolic, not literal. It symbolizes the time of the end when many people are dissatisfied with their
churches and "cross" over to the one true religion- that of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Further New Light: The Greek word stauros may mean "cross", but it is more correctly translated "stake". We see from this that contrary to the teachings of Christendom, the chicken in fact "Staked" the road, presumably in the form of performing a "stake out". Honest hearted ones recognize that this was to watch the road carefully for signs of the Lord's invisible presence, which we still say started in 1914, but we might be bumping that up if we can scam up a decent excuse.

Dave

8

Why is the chicken-crossing-road joke a classic?

by AlmostAtheist in

jw
friends

"why did the chicken cross the road?".

if someone asks this, the one thing you know they aren't going to say is "to get to the other side".

that's the classic, original answer that is apparently encoded in our dna, and quite probably on the very vibrations of the universe itself.. you expect something unexpected:.

AlmostAtheist

Wikipedia -- duh! Thank you, Gopher. I became overwhelmed when I went google'ing and didn't think to check there. Perfect.

Especially this bit:

This riddle's humor comes from the fact that its answer is expected to be funny, but is not.

I'll pass this right along to Zachary!

OTWO: You're going to make me start another thread, aren't you? ;-)

Dave

8

Why is the chicken-crossing-road joke a classic?

by AlmostAtheist in

jw
friends

"why did the chicken cross the road?".

if someone asks this, the one thing you know they aren't going to say is "to get to the other side".

that's the classic, original answer that is apparently encoded in our dna, and quite probably on the very vibrations of the universe itself.. you expect something unexpected:.

AlmostAtheist

"Why did the chicken cross the road?"

If someone asks this, the one thing you know they AREN'T going to say is "to get to the other side". That's the classic, original answer that is apparently encoded in our DNA, and quite probably on the very vibrations of the universe itself.

You expect something unexpected:

"To prove to the possum that it could be done."

"To administer last rites to the deer."

That sort of thing.

But the question is, why is this joke -- this opener, really -- a classic?

It wouldn't even have dawned on me to ask, but the other day Zach (my 9-year-old) asked me why it's a classic. "It's not funny," he said, "'To get to the other side.' It's just not very funny."

And he's sort of right.

So why DID this little meme enter our collective-consciousness and refuse to leave?

Anybody ever looked into this?

Dave

14

WTS Preparing for Tribulation?

by Smoky in

a active jw friend, just recently commented to me that the co said all these changes (eg.. 30 min.

public talk, less magazines publications...etc.

) is a sign of the great tribulation is sooooo close now, and the wts is preparing.. i chuckled, when he said that.

AlmostAtheist

Every move the Watchtower makes is interpreted to be in preparation for The End. Selling, buying, moving. Increases, decreases. Everything.

The more things change, the more they stay a shame... ;-)

Dave

26

So just what or who DO you have faith in now?

by oompa in

jw
friends

i never used to wonder about death, or what comes after, because i had all the answers!

but now i really wonder, but not with fear....it feels odd, and i am curious.

this planet and universe are so incredible and complex that to me it defies logic that someone must have had a creative hand it.

AlmostAtheist

I think Nvr posted something about nature and love. The author said that he's an atheist, but he does believe in two things - Nature and Love. Nature is powerful, but not compassionate. Love is compassionate, but not very powerful.

I believe in Nature and Love. I trust them to act certain ways, so I suppose you could say I have faith in them.

Dave