Posts by blondie

7

"Perfect Angels"? A Subtle Shift in Watchtower Doctrine — And Why It Matters

by raymond frantz in

"perfect angels"?

a subtle shift in watchtower doctrine — and why it matters.

quoted paragraph from the watchtower september 2025, study article 38, paragraph 12:.

blondie

SBF, I agree with you, the idea means that the angels were tested as to their loyalty to god, the last test for the angels according even to the WTS, was at 1914 when Jesus and the angel's on god's side battled Satan and the angels supporting fought a heavenly battled and Satan and his supporters were cast down to earth (pardon the wordage). For the 144,000 their test is on earth, and they have to die loyal to their god, at their human death, and raised as tested and loyal as spirits to heaven. For humans, that test is at the end of the 1,000 year reign of Christ over the earth. Satan is let loose from the abyss and goes forth to test humans on earth, disloyal die forever, and loyal ones are deemed perfect with everlasting on earth. So to be perfect, then means angels, 144,000, humans receive a test where they must prove their loyalty to god. So no change, just that is not presented by the WTS in one place for their members to read. (just reporting, not supporting)

"The Bible points out that those who will be with Christ in the heavens as members of God’s heavenly universal government will reign as kings and priests with him. They will be immortal, incorruptible. (Rev. 20:6; 1 Cor. 15:53, 54) Then there will be no flaw, for God has placed them there because of their proved loyalty and has made them in the image of his Son Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 15:49; Phil. 3:21) Furthermore, even the angels, who will be slaves of God and of Christ, serving under this government, are also of unquestionable moral integrity and will carry out the orders of the government in completeness and perfection. They will see that the righteous earthly princes serving under the heavenly Kingdom carry out pure righteousness on earth.—Ps. 45:16; Isa. 32:1."

19

Reddit thread Warning young JWs that ‘Spiritual Goals’ are Not a Career!

by LongHairGal in

jw
friends

as somebody who worked full-time when i was in the witness religion, this topic naturally caught my eye.. many of the responses are heartfelt.

there are about 90 at this point.

from what i read so far.. many are people who woke up before they got old but even these are resentful over their life being derailed with wasted time pursuing spiritual goals and having to start over at a later age getting an education/job.. i imagine born-in young jws would be most susceptible to this.. in today’s world, a ‘career’ is something that earns you a living.. as many of the responses there will say: anybody who pursues ‘spiritual goals’ only will end up with wasted time in the end with no money and no retirement plan… i couldn’t agree more.. it would be a shame if this happens to yet more jws..

blondie

LHG, you see to get the whole picture of what I have said and added some good points. It is one thing to be in good health and have some skills to get a basically good paying job, but then a lot of jobs have no health insurance benefit even when young. I got something serious medically, had to go in the hospital for 4 days, surgeon waived his fee, but still I had a bill so high, I had to go back to full-time with good benefits because of work history, had good pay. I never tried ever again to "regular" pioneer. And no one offered to help me in any way to get out of debt, not even to help a regular pioneer. One reason I finally left. I talked to Ray Franz for some time how he and his wife managed, Ray was only 60 when he left Bethel, had to work to qualify for some SS benefits, lucky that an elder in his congregation hired him at a good wage and provided housing for free, no rent, as well. That same elder saw how Ray and his wife were treated, and that elder disassociated himself. I have many other horror stories. I have told elders that told jws needing real help, that saying god will provide, missed the point that their god was trying to have them see that god is trying to use that elder and/or other jws to step in with financial help, instead of telling these jws to find help from Satan's system. Well, enough rant. So, don't think that taking "a vow of poverty" makes you more likely to get everlasting life in the WTS paradise. I just remember that in the bible, the story of Jeremiah, that when his fellow Jews turned their back on him, that it was non-Jews that helped Jeremiah in a practical way.

85

WAR begins.

by lastmanstanding in

things are moving right along.

“israel” has gone to war with iran.. who is fooled?.

this is uncle sam, same as in ukraine.. daniel layed out clearly the events of “d day” june 6, 1944 as the “ships of kittim” would sail against the king of the north.

blondie

lastmanstanding, it seems you know very little about me. But your comments about my appearance, saddens me. I happened to have been a close personal friend of Ray Franz for years. I have don't have a large personal library, I have access to that information and thank you for being there to provide that info in the original so it could be shared with all of us. I guess I don't understand. I was there when 1975 was mentioned, me and my family did not sign on, but knew not to disagree out loud outside our family. For years, I have respectfully shared Matthew 24:42-44 with jws that we should not be quick to attach our belief to a date. My family have been associated with the WTS since the early 1920's. And know about the dates set back then. My family were thinking, we will wait and see. To me here at Matthew 24:42-44, Jesus was warning his followers not to think they could determine a date comparing it to the fact that a thief does not tell the homeowner when the thief is coming to rob them. "Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. “But know one thing: If the householder had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have kept awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. On this account, you too prove yourselves ready, because the Son of man is coming at an hour that you do not think to be it."

9

Trump: "Too many holidays"

by SydBarrett in

jw
friends

“too many non-working holidays in america.

it is costing our country $billions of dollars to keep all of these businesses closed,” the president wrote in a truth social post..

“the workers don’t want it either,” he added.

blondie

Where I worked, religious holiday time was kept in vacation time slot to be used at the person's discretion. Not everyone is of a Christian religion or any religion. Meant that not everyone gone at the same time, easier to cover the workload.

3

Maria Russell

by vienne in

some of you may be interested in the latest post here: https://truthhistory.blogspot.com/.

blondie

Great source of early Watchtower history (not Jehovah's witnesses though, they didn't really exist until 1931) Some of you know this already. :)

85

WAR begins.

by lastmanstanding in

things are moving right along.

“israel” has gone to war with iran.. who is fooled?.

this is uncle sam, same as in ukraine.. daniel layed out clearly the events of “d day” june 6, 1944 as the “ships of kittim” would sail against the king of the north.

blondie

Wheelbarrows of Money | Keri M. Peardon

Wheelbarrows of money to pay for one load of bread?

19

Reddit thread Warning young JWs that ‘Spiritual Goals’ are Not a Career!

by LongHairGal in

jw
friends

as somebody who worked full-time when i was in the witness religion, this topic naturally caught my eye.. many of the responses are heartfelt.

there are about 90 at this point.

from what i read so far.. many are people who woke up before they got old but even these are resentful over their life being derailed with wasted time pursuing spiritual goals and having to start over at a later age getting an education/job.. i imagine born-in young jws would be most susceptible to this.. in today’s world, a ‘career’ is something that earns you a living.. as many of the responses there will say: anybody who pursues ‘spiritual goals’ only will end up with wasted time in the end with no money and no retirement plan… i couldn’t agree more.. it would be a shame if this happens to yet more jws..

blondie

Mikejw, I was thinking of the recent trend of the WTS to layoff permanently many Bethelites with the WTS expecting their jw family or "old" congregation to pick up the slack financially and medically. What a surprise for them; none of this taking care of them at Bethel until they died (perhaps maybe GB). They don't qualify under US Social Security rules: How many years do you have to work to get Social Security in the US? "10 years The number of credits you need to receive retirement benefits depends on when you were born. If you were born in 1929 or later, you need 40 credits (10 years of work)." That's why Ray Franz had to work for 10 years after he left Bethel. Here is a quote from Russell about donations: Upon launching the Watch Tower Society in 1879, founder Russell claimed that if Jehovah was backing the organization there would never be need to beg, petition or take a collection for money.

Watchtower 1879 Aug p.20

"We have never considered it proper to solicit money for the Lord's cause, after the common custom . . . It is our judgment that money raised by the various begging devices in the name of our Lord is offensive, unacceptable to him, and does not bring his blessing either upon the givers or the work accomplished." Watchtower 1899 Aug 1 p.201

""We never take up a collection," explained Brother Russell." Watchtower 1915 Jul 15 pp.218-219.

https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/donations-money-solicitation.php

27

Few JW leader have children

by slimboyfat in

it’s been discussed before that few jw leaders, past and present, have had children.

this is in contrast with other groups, such as the mormons, whose leaders have had a lot of children.

i wonder if this has impacted jw growth.

blondie

NotFormer,** Russell had no heirs, so the attitude may well have started with him.** Remember that Russell was before 1914 (died in 1916) and the Bible Students were looking for the end to come in 1914 ("adjusted" that later). These people were expected to be taken to heaven in 1914, maybe leaving minor children behind (not supporting this idea). So having children was discouraged and probably for other reasons too. Bible Students weren't encouraged to have a formal study with their children after 1914, the WT wasn't even studied at a meeting for awhile after that too, the Studies in the Scriptures as used, and later Rutherford changed that to a book he wrote, the Harp of God. It wasn't until about 1941, the WTS published a booklet on how to study a book with prospective jws...kind of off topic. It was a very different time. I knew a jw couple, husband elder, who decided to have children during the no-children thinking and were looked down upon. Had 5 sons, linchpins in forming congregations all over the state, sort of like a dynasty. The WTS should be glad they had children!

14

So how do I get to "attend" a zoom meeting

by greenhornet in

jw
friends

do you have to be invited?

is there any way of listening in on the kh meeting?

it's been about 30 years since i have been to a kh and they would have a conference call of 4 people on the phone together because they were sick.

blondie

greenhornet, the WTS used to be rigid about the passwords, had to be approved first by the elders before they were given the password. In some cases changed every month, and jws were cautioned about sharing them on their own. During Covid maybe not so much. Probably have resumed the careful scrutiny.

27

Few JW leader have children

by slimboyfat in

it’s been discussed before that few jw leaders, past and present, have had children.

this is in contrast with other groups, such as the mormons, whose leaders have had a lot of children.

i wonder if this has impacted jw growth.

blondie

Rutherford son's name was Malcolm Cameron Rutherford. https://truthhistory.blogspot.com/2014/12/more-on-malcom-cameron-rutherford.html