Posts by slimboyfat

54

What Views or Beliefs Do Jehovah’s Witnesses No Longer Teach?

by minimus in

jw
friends

evidently they have changed their creative day from being 7000 years per day.

all blood transfusions were taboo but now blood fractions might be allowed to be taken into the body.

vaccinations were sinful at one time but not now.. can you name other views or beliefs that have changed from being considered “truth” to no longer “the truth “?.

slimboyfat

Don’t know if I’d agree with that jp! I could list a few more, such as no Trinity/Jesus created angel, paradise future, ransom, free will, no predestination, no personal Holy Spirit, no hellfire, Jesus is Michael, thousand year reign, annual memorial, preaching, no social gospel/politics -I am sure there are many more

60

Fifty years ago today: One quote to demolish the Watchtower

by JeffT in

jw
friends

i did not have any connection to jw's when they published this, about two weeks before i graduated from high school.

i'm now on medicare and collecting social security.

so much for their ability to see into the future.

slimboyfat

My thumbs don’t work, so can I just say: I endorse this post.

There are JWs I would like to share it with but not worth the hassle.

54

What Views or Beliefs Do Jehovah’s Witnesses No Longer Teach?

by minimus in

jw
friends

evidently they have changed their creative day from being 7000 years per day.

all blood transfusions were taboo but now blood fractions might be allowed to be taken into the body.

vaccinations were sinful at one time but not now.. can you name other views or beliefs that have changed from being considered “truth” to no longer “the truth “?.

slimboyfat

One of the most startling changes recently has got to be the identity of the “faithful slave” which new teaching basically implies that the faithful slave itself (now the Governing Body) didn’t know its own identity for most of its history. Not to mention the thousands of modern day anointed who lived and died under the apparent misconception that they were the “faithful slave”, only to be demoted retrospectively after death. What a mess. Surely this has got to disturb long time JWs, or they are just not paying much attention.

62

Reaction to GDPR / field service letter

by sir82 in

here is a thread on the new letter to be read to all congregations in all branches on adjustments in door to door work due to the gdpr:.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6274619758608384/2019-boe-elders-letter-may-13-england-ireland-data-protection.

i have...connections....to a foreign language congregation in europe.

slimboyfat

I can think of a way they could turn this around to their advantage.

The fact is that door to door preaching was never very effective anyway. Many converts have tended to come into the religion through extended family, friends, schoolmates, coworkers, and neighbours, rather than door to door work. This is true not only of JWs but for many conversionist religious groups. Informal networks have always produced more converts than formal preaching.

So Watchtower could lay a heavy stress on JWs trying to convert family, friends and acquaintances. They could say the new emphasis has been forced by Caesar’s law and they are obediently changing their method but not decreasing their zeal! They could emphasise inviting people to the meetings to see what it is like for themselves. Don’t just invite people but offer to pick them up and physically bring them along.

If this was part of a deliberate strategy then they could also consider improving the quality and enjoyability of their meetings, especially on the bring a friend day. Maybe even designate the first Sunday of the month “bring a friend” day. Include a practical talk on an interesting topic, allow discussion, and offer food after the meeting.

What door to door ministry remains could have a heavy focus on inviting people to the meetings on the first call, making definite plans, and again offering to pick them up and bring them to the KH.

Of course JWs face the problem that they are not supposed to keep close friendships outside the religion, but it’s a fine line that I am sure Watchtower could navigate to their advantage, if they wished.

This suggestion might not produce the heady growth they once enjoyed, such as the early 70s. It is likely nothing could produce such growth again, because society has changed. But this approach might just about ensure rising numbers rather than decline, if implemented effectively.

35

The Lords prayer ;Our Father prayer...."Let your name be sanctified " from Jesus.

by smiddy3 in

jw
friends

according to mathew 6:9 jesus instructed his followers in, vs. 9 " you must pray, then this way "our father in the heavens,let your name be sanctified ..... which rank & file jehovah`s witnesses have been led to believe for the past 140 or so years is to make a personal name of god namely jehovah known to all of the world ,because as they have so loudly professed christendom has kept that name away from the general public.. not true ,raymundus martinus a spanish catholic monk of the 13th-14th century first coined that name for god and it has been used in and on churches throughout christendom in the world ever since.. true christendoms emphasis has been on witnessing about jesus christ which is what the new testament is all about,not jehovah god, but jesus christ .

phillipians 2 :9-11. in the new testament ,( cgs ) jesus christ is never recorded as saying the personal name of god ever.. " " none of the apostles are ever recorded as saying the personal name of god ever.. " " none of his disciples are ever recorded as saying the personal name of god ever.. the new testament ,christian greek scriptures are all about bearing witness about jesus christ and after his time of bringing back people under his kingdom will he turn then it back over to his father, a thousand years when his rule is finished.. that is the message of the"kingdom interlinear of the christian greek scriptures" published by the wtb&ts ,says..

slimboyfat

Except the evidence indicates that the divine name in the form Yaho was in common use among Jews in the first century. Jesus using this form the divine name would probably have been unremarkable, which is why there was no controversy.

The number of scholars who support the idea that the New Testament originally used the divine name continues to grow.

Mussies, G. (1971). The morphology of Koine Greek as used in the Apocalypse of St. John: A study in bilingualism (Vol. 27). Brill Archive.

Howard, G. (1977). The Tetragram and the New Testament. Journal of Biblical Literature, 96(1), 63-83.

Trobisch, D. (2000). The First Edition of the New Testament. Oxford University Press.

Gaston, L. (2006). Paul and the Torah. Wipf and Stock Publishers.

McRay, J. (2008). Archaeology and the New Testament. Baker Academic.

Shaw, F. (2014). The Earliesr Non-Mystical Jewish Use of IAW. Peeters.

If the New Testament intended to show that the divine name is no longer important, then it is odd that Jesus himself should have a name which means “Jehovah is salvation”, or that Acts should say Christians are a people taken out of the nations “for his name”, and so on. References to the divine name are legion in the NT.

62

Reaction to GDPR / field service letter

by sir82 in

here is a thread on the new letter to be read to all congregations in all branches on adjustments in door to door work due to the gdpr:.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6274619758608384/2019-boe-elders-letter-may-13-england-ireland-data-protection.

i have...connections....to a foreign language congregation in europe.

slimboyfat

Going door to door will seem increasingly pointless and surely will decrease. One saving grace of the carts is perhaps that it has been preparing JWs for a new era of increasingly ineffective and apparently futile forms of preaching.

Abandoning reporting of time (suggested on another thread a few weeks ago) seems all the more realistic now. And if time goes, then pioneering goes. The work would be slowing down, indeed. Soon, will there be anything left of JW religion?

15

A POMO father's letter to his PIMI son (Warning: This is long!)

by Roger Kirkpatrick in

my dear son, c---n:.

i am writing you to express my love for you and the pride that i feel for the man you have become.

you need to know that i accept you and love you dearly just for who you are and i am immensely proud of the wise choices you made with regard to your education and your career.. as i write you this heartfelt letter, i pray that you will read it entirely and give it your careful consideration.

slimboyfat

Aha, okay, I admit I only skimmed the post. So the situation is not as it first appears?

When offering such a long post I don’t think there is any harm giving some context and a short explanation of the meaning of the post.

Understanding the full meaning only at the end may be satisfying, but how many will make it that far without knowing?

15

A POMO father's letter to his PIMI son (Warning: This is long!)

by Roger Kirkpatrick in

my dear son, c---n:.

i am writing you to express my love for you and the pride that i feel for the man you have become.

you need to know that i accept you and love you dearly just for who you are and i am immensely proud of the wise choices you made with regard to your education and your career.. as i write you this heartfelt letter, i pray that you will read it entirely and give it your careful consideration.

slimboyfat

This is too long I am afraid. I am reminded of the Mark Twain witticism: I wrote you a long letter because I didn’t have time to compose a short one. There is much truth in this. Brevity requires real thought and consideration: and it pays off.

You need to know that I accept you and love you dearly...

I come to realise that we ourselves need to accept that no one else needs to do anything. In fact other people invariably won’t do anything just because we want them too. They don’t have to listen, or accept, or see our point of view, if they choose not to. They need to want to themselves.

13

New Watchtower president

by neat blue dog in

the main corporation is two words "watch tower" society of pennsylvania.

don adams took over for milton henschel in 2000 when the governing body cut all corporate ties, and when he died robert ciranko took over for him in 2014.. the next major corporation in line is the one word "watchtower" society of new york.

the jw's first black corporate president, leon weaver jr., was president of this one up until recently.

slimboyfat

I think the message was that JWs should believe that downsizing and selling assets is a progressive step forward for the organisation. Plus the gratuitous implication that JWs are the best to do business with because they are uniquely honest and trustworthy.

62

Reaction to GDPR / field service letter

by sir82 in

here is a thread on the new letter to be read to all congregations in all branches on adjustments in door to door work due to the gdpr:.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6274619758608384/2019-boe-elders-letter-may-13-england-ireland-data-protection.

i have...connections....to a foreign language congregation in europe.

slimboyfat

Sir82 hit the nail on the head. When laws affect the life and liberty of ordinary JWs then Watchtower is bravely defiant. (Germany, Russia, Malawi, South Korea, and so on, the list is endless)

But when laws threaten loss of Watchtower funds or property then Watchtower can be incredibly flexible and amenable to changing their practices to avoid financial loss.

Do JWs notice this double standard? Does it disturb anyone in terms of their priorities?