slimboyfat

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Posts by slimboyfat

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  12

  Recent New Testament translation causing a stir

  by careful in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  sharp-witted and well-educated eastern orthodox philosopher and theologian david bentley hart, now a fellow at notre dame, has produced a nt translation (yale univ press 2017) that is causing a major stir.

  one-man translations are pretty rare any more, but this one is making a real splash, largely because it does not surrender to the group/translation committee mentality.. .

  even though it's been out only a few months, it's already been reviewed several times in well-known publications.

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  slimboyfat

  Thanks for bringing the translation to our attention. I like David Bentley Hart as an apologist and Christian thinker.

  I like the translation, as much as I've read, and I'm not impressed by N T Wright's criticisms of it. As someone who sees a lot of books, I've come across a huge number of books written by Tom/NT Wright. He must be near holding a record as one of the most prolific authors alive. Not only has he written dozens of books, but some of them are huge, over a thousand pages. I don't know how he manages it. He must write thousands of words a day, and do little else. (Or get help)

  I've not been terribly impressed by the little I've read. So the tenor and quality of his review of David Bentley Hart don't surprise me.

  In some ways David Bentley Hart shows the early Christians as a more extreme version of modern day JWs. Not only do they place their religion above ties to family, ethnicity, nation and so on, but he presents early Christianity as completely opposed to wealth and the wealthy. Hart says that for the first Christians money was not merely a moral danger it was an intrinsic evil. JWs don't go quite that far. Hart also describes the early Christians as communists, which is difficult to refute, if you take what the New Testament says seriously. They may not have lived up to the concept, but it certainly seems to have been the ideal they aspired to.

  Also, on the one hand I welcome Hart's arguments in favour of universalism in the scriptures, but on the other hand I find it implausible in certain passages. One scripture where I think N T Wright has a point is Matt 25:46. This verse does appear to assume eternal damnation for some, as far as I can see.
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  10

  Web traffic statistics released for the Reddit ExJW Subreddit

  by darkspilver in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  fwiw, the moderators have released the traffic statistics for the reddit exjw subreddit.

  .

  web statistics are not generally an exact science - the 'best' indication is normally the 'unique' visitor number - although one person may be using more than one device to access the website (ie using desktop and mobile), but also more than one person may being using the same device (ie a shared home desktop).. on a forum-style website, the number of 'page views' is a bit pointless as it will normally always be much, much higher than a non-forum-style website - but it can give a general idea on how engaged visitors are (how many topics/threads they are reading).

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  slimboyfat

  Plus wasn't the abridged annual report released in January?

  How does it compare with Mormon readits or whatever you call it?
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  26

  A spy's life is a lonely one

  by LevelThePlayingField in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so i have been awake since about this time in 2013, so about 5 years.

  and the craziest thing about it is that now, no one, and i mean no one know's i am an apostate.

  meaning, that i don't believe the jw minds set/beliefs at all, and no one knows it.

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  slimboyfat

  At our KH hundreds of magazines went missing a few months ago. The elders even made an announcement about it and said it was a "serious" matter, and commented that only people with KH keys could have taken them. Which is pretty much just the elders. So were they pointing the finger at themselves? It was a bit odd, but the suggestion seemed to be there was some sort of saboteur on the loose. I can image it's the sort of thing someone in the OP's shoes may do. All rather intriguing, but I never heard any more about it.
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  26

  A spy's life is a lonely one

  by LevelThePlayingField in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so i have been awake since about this time in 2013, so about 5 years.

  and the craziest thing about it is that now, no one, and i mean no one know's i am an apostate.

  meaning, that i don't believe the jw minds set/beliefs at all, and no one knows it.

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  slimboyfat

  Ha! The others sound a bit passive aggressive, but I like that one actually. Wicked.

  Replace the ministry school schedule on the Kingdom Hall bulletin board with one you've typed up yourself.

  
  
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  19

  Ryde ( I o Wight UK ) KH now a vets.

  by stan livedeath in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  was:.

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  now:.

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  slimboyfat

  It looks pretty new. Do we know the reason given for selling the KH? I suppose all the money goes to the branch rather than locally.
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  15

  WTBTS – assistance following an incident at bethel

  by Tallon in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  i haven’t posted for quite a while as i needed a break – although i have been lurking.. can anyone confirm if the wtbts give assistance to someone who has been involved in an incident whilst working at bethel and, as a result, must leave?.

  the reason i’m asking is that, back in the 80’s, i knew a sister who was in bethel service.

  she was assigned to the cleaning department.

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  slimboyfat

  I heard a story of a brother who was killed in an accident on WT premises during construction in Germany. The family was under pressure not to seek any kind of compensation and they didn't.
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  11

  Deliberately Avoiding the "G" and "L" words in their Videos

  by steve2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  now that we have had a "sneak" preview of some of the videos for the upcoming 2018 jw regional conventions, we have opportunity to stand back and ponder their content, including their use of language - or in this case, their avoidance of certain words.

  in this post, i focus on what i think is a "quaint", if not peculiar, avoidance of certain words that seems to have become a jw organization practice: they avoid use of the actual words "gay" or "lesbian" in any of the videos - even in people playing the roles of being gay- or lesbian-friendly.

  a case in point is the preview of the video featuring the jw woman purchasing an item in a store where wrist bands are given away with purchases.

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  slimboyfat

  Yes I've heard JWs say they don't use the word "gay" because it normalises homosexuality. JW apologist Firpo Carr even wrote a book: "Are 'gays' really gay?" Apparently questioning both the inate quality of homosexuality and the happiness of gay people with their "lifestyle" at the same time.

  When even the Orange Order is beginning to accept gay people, you know it's game over:

  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-43196048
  

  Society is changing so rapidly on this issue, either of two things must happen:

  1. JWs will change their policy and accept gay people in committed relationships as full members

  2. JW policy on this will become so at odds with society that they will be marginalised like the Westboro Baptists or the Klan
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  1

  From The Testament of Gideon Mack

  by Charles Gillette in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the devil knows about everybody,all the christians that ever lived by rank and serial number.

  ministers,priests,nuns,choirboys,bishops,popes,baptists,quakers,lutherans,mormons,buddhists,hindus.

  atheists,infidels, pagans,sun-worshipper.

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  slimboyfat

  I just read this book. As I recall Gideon goes on to ask the devil if he really knows everyone so well as he claims, and the devil swears and says no, he doesn't need to know everyone individually, because people are predictable and everyone is basically the same. He doesn't need to go to the bother.
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  26

  They are all dead!

  by Sour Grapes in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the watchtower company and the jdubs talk so nonchalantly about the year 1914, the year they say jesus became king in the heavenly kingdom.

  they talk about the year like it was just a short time ago.

  the invisible king began ruling in the invisible kingdom.

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  slimboyfat

  I don't think they're all dead yet, are they? Probably still tens of thousands alive at least.
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  30

  Marriage Proposal in the Kingdom Hall

  by Listener in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just when you think you've seen it all comes another interesting use of a kingdom hall.a young man serenades his girlfriend with a song (possibly a watchtower song) from the stage through a microphone and backed by recorded music.

  then he steps off the stage and gets down on one knee and proposes as he pulls out a ring from his coat pocket.

  the large projector screen flashes up behind them with a picture of a sapphire and diamond ring.cameras capture the joyous moment as she accepts and they lock together in a loving hug.

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  slimboyfat

  Big Kingdom Hall.

  If it was a surprise, what did she think the meeting was for? Field service? I bet they were glad to get out of that as much as anything. Unless they went on the ministry straight after.

  The singing is pretty awful. Of course it's a kingdom song. Definitely in the old song book, I don't know if it made it into the new song book.

  What language are they speaking?

  They look quite happy anyway.

  Maybe people will get in trouble for this, or maybe not. Maybe they are lightening up. If elders do get removed over this it might make an interesting news story. Nothing like the glare of publicity to highlight absurd JW practices.