Posts by slimboyfat

21

Robert H. COUNTESS and John 1:1 in the NWT

by Wonderment in

robert h. countess and john 1:1 in the nwt, part iirobert h. countess made the case in his book that the nwt ‘formulated their own principle’ on the article.

under summary and conclusions, he stated: “chapter four’s conclusions regarding the handling of [theós] indicated that nwt’s translators poorly understood the greek article, and that their principle [theós]=‘a god,’ [ho theós]= ‘god’ is not legitimate.” (p. 92) is countess conclusion correct?this is what the nwt actually said after observing that both moffatt and goodspeed rendered john 1:1c in their translations as “divine.” “careful translators recognize that the articular construction of the noun points to an identity, a personality, whereas an anarthrous contruction points to a quality about someone.” in making this statement, the nw translators also had in mind the grammar by dana & mantey, in which they stated: “when identity is prominent, we find the article; and when quality or character is stressed, the construction is anarthrous [without the article].” (p. 138) also: “there are no ‘rules’ for the use of the article in greek, but there is a fundamental principle underlying its significance – as we have seen in the foregoing section – and this gives rise to a normal usage.” (ibid, p. 141) nowhere did the nwt ever affirmed that this meant [theós] without the article is always equivalent to = ‘a god,’ and [ho theós, with the article is always to be understood as = ‘god.’ even the wts would have to agree with countess that such principle is “not legitimate.” colwell first published his book in 1982, and by then the watchtower had made their position clear enough.

in 1975 the wt wrote: “this does not mean, however, that every time an anarthrous noun occurs in the greek text it should appear in english with the indefinite article.

slimboyfat

I have always wanted to buy this book. It is a gap on my library. But it has always been a bit expensive whenever I have looked. It’s an important book in so far as it’s the only book-long evaluation of the NWT as far as I’m aware. (Apart from new one below)

I guess you are aware that Furuli made extensive replies to this book in his book “Theology and Bias in Bible Translation”? And BeDuhn of course discusses the NWT alongside other versions.

I have been looking around for reviews of the revised NWT and there have not been many. But recently this book was published. I wonder if you have looked at it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/REVIEWING-World-Translation-Jehovahs-Witnesses-ebook/dp/B079DGQF5D/

37

Canada Branch Financials are Posted (The Bleeding Appears Very Real)

by berrygerry in

posted here:.

https://docs.zoho.com/sheet/published.do?rid=740aq85115d1a04174c4d867e056351ad6836.

biggest changes:.

slimboyfat

Corney the 31st of August 2017 financial statement for IBSA says that there is currently £8.8 million cash in hand. The £121 million figure is for net assets, which includes property.

The statement also says that “the remaining contractual obligation” for Chelmsford is £75 million.

http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends47/0000216647_AC_20170831_E_C.PDF

The latest statement from WBTS of Britain is from 2016 and shows £64 million cash in hand and net assets of £89 million.

http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends61/0001077961_AC_20160831_E_C.PDF

37

Canada Branch Financials are Posted (The Bleeding Appears Very Real)

by berrygerry in

posted here:.

https://docs.zoho.com/sheet/published.do?rid=740aq85115d1a04174c4d867e056351ad6836.

biggest changes:.

slimboyfat

Just because we can’t tell everything from a partial report doesn’t mean we can’t tell anything at all.

It looks like revenue increased as resources were gathered from congregations around 2015/6 but have dropped since. It looks like assets have dropped. Whether this shows a collapse in assets or restructuring it does tend to indicate adaption to a new financial situation and it's not unreasonable to infer financial problems even if the precise nature and scope are unclear.

27

Making contact with family

by Crumpet in

jw
friends

some of you may know that my parents and whole family do not have any contact with me, apart from my dad who has provided his mobile number for "family business/emergencies".

i never try to contact them anymore after a negative experience after being beaten up trying to break up a streetfight last november when i called my dad and he hung up as soon as he realised it was me crying on the other end.. .

anyway - i decided that just because they want to forget about me i don't have to be the same anymore and i wanted them to know how happy i was.

slimboyfat

What a heartbreaking OP. JWs should be ashamed of themselves. The ones who behave like this anyway. I wish crumpet well, wherever she is.

37

Canada Branch Financials are Posted (The Bleeding Appears Very Real)

by berrygerry in

posted here:.

https://docs.zoho.com/sheet/published.do?rid=740aq85115d1a04174c4d867e056351ad6836.

biggest changes:.

slimboyfat

That doesn’t look good at all.

But it’s okay, I’m sure Morph will tell us that Watchtower is simply transitioning out of the money business and into the “living off thin air” business. It’s all part of the plan.

4

An old publication on JWs (1967)

by careful in

i was reading some old posts from years ago and ran into this one by past member richard:.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/68638/truth-hot-bath.

i did a google search and the book referred to is now available for free on the link below.

slimboyfat

Yes I’ve got this book. It suffered somewhat because it prematurely predicted the collapse of JWs over the 1975 date. But in other ways it was a good book from a relatively high profile defector.

Another old book well worth checking out is “Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah’s Witnesses” by Alan Rogerson.

https://archive.org/details/MillionsNowLivingWillNeverDieRogerson

88

British Sociologist Predicts Possible Collapse in Jehovah's Witness Numbers

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

a newly published article by british sociologist david voas argues jehovah's witnesses may be about to experience a collapse in numbers.

contrary to claims by american sociologist rodney stark who predicts strong future growth for jehovah's witnesses, voas shows that jehovah's witnesses' efforts at recruiting new members have become increasingly unsuccessful over the past few decades: the rate of increase has steadily declined, and the number of hours each publisher must preach to produce an extra convert has gone up substantially.

voas suggests a reason for the stagnation may be that there is a natural limit to the number of people in a given population that are susceptible to conversion to sectarian groups like jehovah's witnesses - the 'carrying capacity' of the population, and that the limit has largely been reached.

slimboyfat

Golden oldie thread on JW collpase. Interesting to note that a sociologist saw fit to talk about possible “collpase” of JW numbers.

I wasn’t convinced about collpase back then. But the facts have changed, and so has my opinion! Not like the collapse deniers, holdouts in the face of the facts.

20

Leah Remini to tackle JWs in new special

by betterdaze in

the star has a previous first-look production deal with the network to produce unscripted series following the success of her emmy-winning show “leah remini: scientology and the aftermath.” according to the hollywood reporter, remini will produce a special for the network during the break following season 3 of the acclaimed docuseries.. it notes that jehovah’s witnesses, while based on biblical teachings, have come under fire over the years for similar practices to the church remini left years ago.

for example, practices of ousting or shunning members who have dissenting views, a blanket refusal to participate in politics and government as well as not celebrating christmas or birthdays are all things that the special will reportedly cover.

additionally, the religion has predicted the literal end of the world several times, obviously to no avail.. .

slimboyfat

Yes they do appear very stressed, especially Loesch and Herd. I think they are in real trouble and they are finding it difficult to conceal.

The only exception I would say is Sanderson, who always appears pretty cheerful.

51

I just watched the final video from this years convention. OMG!!!

by NikL in

jw
friends

i am shaking all over right now.

i think it's worse that the bunker video.. i used to think there was no way that these people would actually "drink the cool aid" if you get my drift, but seeing this video i am now not sure it could never happen.. having a wife who i love dearly trapped in this cult is really freaking me out right now...

slimboyfat

Among many other things, one striking thing about the video is just how few JW survivors are depicted. It’s as if to acknowledge that JWs are becoming fewer in number. I remember the old illustrations of JWs going “up to the mountain of the house of Jehovah” included huge crowds of people from lots of nationalities in a line.

Are we supposed to think this scene happens in the United States or Russia? Is this scenario supposed to play out many times all over the earth. Is it a single congregation, or is it metaphorical somehow? (Synecdoche, where part represents the whole) The video leaves a lot of questions.

Maybe it is all worked out and makes good sense if you’ve payed attention to the context. But somehow I have a feeling that trying to make sense of the details might be as fruitless an exercise as trying to understand the “overlapping generation” teaching. No matter how hard you try there’s just no sense to be found.

40

Upcoming Tidal Wave of Media Onslaught targeting Jehovah's Witnesses ahead...

by TerryWalstrom in

at least three media venues have undertaken the daunting task of unpacking the insidious dark side of jehovah's witnesses' organization.1.

douglas quenqua is a writer based in new york.

his work has appeared in the new york times, wired, redbook, and cnbc.

slimboyfat

Yes I think we are at some sort of turning point. WT is being overwhelmed on multiple fronts.

You know I was thinking the other day about older JWs I knew when I was young, now dead. I’m kind of glad they didn’t live to see this. It’s sad.