What does the WTS say about Satan?
He’s Abbadon.
No hang on that’s not right.
over the past several months, i have been assembling a study dealing with the life and times of satan, the devil.
it is my intention to release the first draft in a few weeks.. i have provided the draft of the last chapter at:.
http://www.jwstudies.com/pages_174-200.pdf .
What does the WTS say about Satan?
He’s Abbadon.
No hang on that’s not right.
in 1991 we build a 250 seat hall and had 125 publishers so about 175 in attendance and filing fast.. just spoke to someone from my old congregation they now have 50 to 60 publishers and 100 in attendance on a good day.. very few pioneers.. seems this is happening everywhere.. karter..
It’s happening everywhere. We need to reverse shunning policy to promote revival.
william miller.
do you know how important this man has been to your life?.
do you know your life would have been entirely different (without a doubt) had he not lived?.
I’m tempted to connect nineteenth century millennialism in the US with the frontier thesis in American history, although the exact connection I am not sure how to draw.
william miller.
do you know how important this man has been to your life?.
do you know your life would have been entirely different (without a doubt) had he not lived?.
From what I gather, William Miller didn’t just issue a one time apology for the Great Disappointmeny, but he repeatedly apologised for the unset that his false prediction had caused and tried to help people who suffered hardship as a result.
in some european countries, "church tax" is levied against members of certain religions.
how each country handles this differs depending on each country's tax laws.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/church_tax.
in germany, a member of a religion that has "public law" status pays an additional 8 or 9 percent on their tax assessments.
Maybe Watchtower in Germany was told that if they claim the church tax then they needed to provide services of benefit to the public and they decided it wasn’t worth the hassle.
I’d be curious to know if the New Apostolic Church in Germany collects tax. It would be an indication how far along the sect-church continuum they’ve travelled.
in some european countries, "church tax" is levied against members of certain religions.
how each country handles this differs depending on each country's tax laws.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/church_tax.
in germany, a member of a religion that has "public law" status pays an additional 8 or 9 percent on their tax assessments.
Good to have information from someone in Germany,
While in Germany I saw a poster with a joke possibly aimed at JWs (since they are the main “sect” in public consciousness). It said:
Warum gehen Ameisen nicht in die Kirche?
Weil die Insekten sind.
Which works in English too, except we generally say cult instead of sect.
Why don’t ants go to church?
Because they are in sects.
facts we don't want to know.
the purpose of war is to kill humans.. .
which humans?.
Oh good Lord.
in some european countries, "church tax" is levied against members of certain religions.
how each country handles this differs depending on each country's tax laws.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/church_tax.
in germany, a member of a religion that has "public law" status pays an additional 8 or 9 percent on their tax assessments.
As I understand it JWs are entitled to collect tax in various European countries but have not done so. Is there evidence they are beginning to collect tax? I would not be surprised given that they’ve run out of money. It would seem the prudent thing to do.
It puzzles me that more citizens in secular European countries don’t opt out of church tax.
facts we don't want to know.
the purpose of war is to kill humans.. .
which humans?.
I wasn’t saying I prefer Chinese culture. I prefer western freedoms. What I’m saying is that if any culture is going to replace the west in dominance then realistically China looks like the strongest candidate.
facts we don't want to know.
the purpose of war is to kill humans.. .
which humans?.
There's no doubt we can imagine a dominant world power that would be a lot worse than America, such as if the Nazis, or imperial Japan had won Second World War.
At the same time it is surely possible to imagine, and hope, that America (and its allies) could be a much better influence on the world, by not exploiting the resources of weaker nations, propping up tyrannical dictators and regimes, and overthrowing governments.
China is the most realistic and relevant alternative. Which is scary from a western perspective because they don't seem to share our notions of individualism and freedom. But this doesn't mean they are without values. In the place of individualism they seem to value community, collectivity and authority.