Posts by bennyk

19

From humble Bible Students to CULT MEMBERS under Rutherford's compulsion

by Terry in

first, pastor russell had joined adventist bible students in their enthusiam for end times chronologies.. next, russell teamed up with leading adventist thinkers like george storrs and barbour to publish these chronologies and apologies.. finally, russell used his private wealth to cut and paste ideas from all over the religious map into his own peculiar name-brand version of adventism which included pyramidology.. local congregations kept autonomy.

russell would have it no other way.

but, russell had died in 1916.. .

bennyk

Under Russell the 144,000 little flock were glorified resurrected christians who went to heaven along with non-glorified Great Crowd christians who also went to heaven.
Rutherford saw his membership figures climbing beyond 60,000 and threatening to exceed 144,000.
This would be embarrassing. Consequently, a doctrinal change or "new light" emerged making the Great Crowd an earthly group of Jehovah's Witnesses distinct in kind and nature from the heavenly anointed.

Your point about how membership numbers forced the new doctrine of the great crowd ...

The increasing numbers of Bible Students affiliated with the Watch Tower Society did not force the change in doctrine. The Watch Tower Society taught the following in the 1917 publication The Finished Mystery on page 103:

FM103

Was ten thousand times ten thousand, and
thousands of thousands
.— The number of the
Great Company will apparently exceed one
hundred millions. Num. 4:46-48 and Ex. 28:1
indicate but one priest to each 2,860 Levites,
which would make the number of the Great
Company approximate 411,840,000.— T118,
119; Dan. 7:10. 5:12

32

The end of the gentile times....

by digderidoo in

i have been having a serious dicussion on another site with a jw.

so far i think i have got my point across regarding 1914 and how the date wasn't actually predicted.

whereas he has come back and said that they did in fact predict "the end of the gentile times".. to a point he is right, russell and his associates did say this.

bennyk

Mr. Majestic writes:

I suppose a good question to ask them would be, if Jesus was inspecting for true followers, and the bible students were the ones ‘keeping awake’ to the times back then, why is it that both Russell, and Rutherford at the time of inspection believed that Jesus had been ruling for 40 years…..??
Neither of them believed Jesus presence started in 1914 at that time, and Russell never did. How can that be found ‘keeping awake’…??/

And yet the Greatest Man book states (chapters 131 and/or 132) that when Jesus arrived in 1914, only his true disciples saw it. So I guess that "proves" that Russell, Rutherford, and the Bible Students (later called JW's) were not his true disciples. The Society continued to teach that the Second Parousia began in 1874 until at least 1929 (Prophecy book).

32

The end of the gentile times....

by digderidoo in

i have been having a serious dicussion on another site with a jw.

so far i think i have got my point across regarding 1914 and how the date wasn't actually predicted.

whereas he has come back and said that they did in fact predict "the end of the gentile times".. to a point he is right, russell and his associates did say this.

bennyk

Yes; the 01. October 1907 WT article was reprinted in December 1913.

The quote from 1907 is found in the Reprints on page 4067

32

The end of the gentile times....

by digderidoo in

i have been having a serious dicussion on another site with a jw.

so far i think i have got my point across regarding 1914 and how the date wasn't actually predicted.

whereas he has come back and said that they did in fact predict "the end of the gentile times".. to a point he is right, russell and his associates did say this.

bennyk

Perhaps this would be of some use (from the article "KNOWLEDGE AND FAITH REGARDING CHRONOLOGY"):

But let us suppose a case far from our expectations: Suppose that A.D. 1915 should pass with the world's affairs all serene and with evidence that the "very elect" had not all been "changed" and without the restoration of natural Israel to favor under the New Covenant.(Rom. 11:12,15.) What then? Would not that prove our chronology wrong? Yes, surely! And would not that prove a keen disappointment? Indeed it would! It would work irreparable wreck tothe Parallel dispensations and Israel's Double, and to the Jubilee calculations, and to the prophecy of the 2300 days of Daniel, and to the epoch called "Gentile Times," and to the 1260, 1290 and 1335 days, the latter of which marking the beginning of the Harvest so well fulfilled its prediction, "Oh, the blessedness of him that waiteth and cometh unto the 1335 days!" None of these would be available longer. What a blow that would be! One of the strings of our "harp" would be quite broken! Watch Tower Reprints, p.5368 (December, 1913)

Hope this helps...

178

Singer Songwriters who should be household names....

by hillary_step in

over the decades musicians rise and fall like a spring wind.

some stay where they should never be, some never are where they should be; such is the roulette of time.

this thread is dedicated to singer songwriters who influence the rest of the best, but are seldom known - 'gamblers in the neon, clinging to guitars...' .

bennyk

Gary Brooker.

10

Acts 7:59

by civicsi00 in

riddle me this about acts 7:59.. ok, so last night i pulled out the 1985 kingdom interlinear and just started perusing through it.

after a while, i arrived at acts 7:59 where stephen "appealed" to jesus.

this is what i also found:.

bennyk

From The Message Bible:
2 Cor 12:8-10 At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,

My grace is enough; it's all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.
Notice the ease with which the apostle connects God and Christ?

Actually, the Apostle does not "connect God and Christ". The Message Bible is a paraphrase, which has both advantages and disadvantages; but here it is in error. The Greek text itself is firm in reading kurios (i.e. "Lord") in verse 8. (Nestle-Aland 26th Novum Testamentum Graece shows no variations in this verse.)

25

Watchtower Blood Component/Fraction Deception

by jwfacts in

the watchtower attempts to create a semblance of logic to its allowance of blood fractions by presenting the concept that blood consists of four primary "components".

use of these components are unchristian.

these components can be broken into "fractions", which are acceptable to use.

bennyk

Doubting Bro writes: "I believe there will come a time in the not too distant future (either a sucessful lawsuit or the death of the major forces with Bethel that are behind the ban) when the medical use of blood will be viewed as an organ transplant."

I agree. And they've already prepared the way.

(Credit to bulldozer [18. September 2006])

***g73 6/8 p.15 Blood Transfusions - a Biological "Sin"***
Since the blood cells are normally destroyed in sixty days and the liquid content turnover is even more rapid, a blood transfusion is a temporary or a transient transplant of a liquid organ. Indeed, this is undoubtedly the reason for its general acceptance at a time when organ transplantation is considered experimental.
***g74 3/22 p.21 My Life as a Surgeon***
Blood transfusion is now recognized as a dangerous procedure-as hazardous as any other organ transplant.
***bq p.41 Jehovah's Witnesses and the Question of Blood***
Consequently, whether having religious objections to blood transfusions or not, many a person might decline blood simply because it is essentially an organ transplant that at best is only partially compatible with his own blood.
***hb p.8 Blood Transfusions - How Safe?***
a transfusion is a tissue transplant.
***g90 10/22 p.9 Gift of Life or Kiss of Death?***
As cardiovascular surgeon Denton Cooley notes: "A blood transfusion is an organ transplant. . . . I think that there are certain incompatibilities in almost all blood transfusions."
***g99 8/22 p.31 Are Blood Transfusions Really Necessary?***
Blood is an organ of the body, and blood transfusion is nothing less than an organ transplant.
*********************************************************************************
Perhaps this was intended to introduce a change in the Blood policy?
***g00 1/8 Pioneers in Medicine***
[Footnote]
Jehovah's Witnesses view organ transplant operations as a matter of individual conscience.

97

2008 Keep Yourselves In God's Love--PDF!

by Atlantis in

2008 keep yourselves in god's love--pdf!

bookmarked searchable reduced to 2.4-mb from (anonymous-5) please note the "appendix" of this book!

click the link at the bottom of the next page.

bennyk

This is rich!

19
At times, we are called upon to withdraw our fellowship from one who has been a member of the congregation. This situation arises when an individual who unrepentantly violates God's law is disfellowshipped or when one rejects the faith by teaching false doctrine or by disassociating himself from the congregation. God's Word plainly tells us to "quit mixing in company" with such ones. * ( 1 Corinthians 5:11-13 ; 2 John 9-11 ) It may be a real challenge to avoid someone who had perhaps been a friend or who is related to us. Will we take a firm stand, thereby showing that we put loyalty to Jehovah and his righteous laws above all else? Remember that Jehovah places a high value on loyalty and obedience.
Chapter 3

Let's see now. I "quit mixing in company" with (i.e. 'withdrew fellowship' from) the Watch Tower Society when they were teaching that the Resurrection began in 1918, and the "heavenly calling" had closed in 1935, and the Governing Body serves as representative of the "Faithful and Discreet Slave Class" (supposedly appointed by Christ over all His earthly belongings).

Whew. According to the Society's own most recent publication, it is they who'd rejected the faith. "I done good."

95

State Truthful Facts About JWs That Make Them Look Bad, Weird, Foolish

by minimus in

you don't need to exaggerate the foibles of jws to get the point across that they are not "the truth".

can you state some facts that show that jehovah's witnesses are not "normal' and that their religion is weird and simply abnormal?.

bennyk

How about the fact that they refer to their religion as "The TRUTH"...

74

News Flash !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by TooBad TooSad in

my wife excitedly told me that she talked to the wife of an elder that just came back from.

the special training for elders in upper state new york and that the elders are being told .

to go back to their congregations and to get them ready for the great tribulation.. i said to her that is great news !!!!

bennyk

Please forgive me for shamelessly plugging my own old thread:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/118225/1.ashx ("Deliverance at Hand!!!!!!!")