Posts by jaffacake

22

Will we carry on living after death?

by greendawn in

jw
friends

is there life after death or does everything end there until the resurrection?

all ex jws were at one time taught that there is no life after death except for a tiny elite group who are destined to never taste death by immediately entering into a spiritual angel like body and will carry on living albeit in a different dimension.

far from dreading death to them it is a blessing since it sends them into a new far more glorious life.

jaffacake

Eternal union with God has often been portrayed by religious groups as the resurrection of the body - the whole person who lived on planet Earth.

Bible teaching is however explicit and clear. However fundamentalists systematically misinterpret it and even contradict what it plainly says. Consequently they get into silly questions like how old will the body be, how will atoms scattered across the universe be reassembled etc etc.

The Bible unambiguously denies that these bodies will ever be reassembled (1 Cor 15:37) The clearest ressurrection teaching is in 1 Cor chapter 15. (see 1 Cor 15:50) "flesh & blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God."

When the Saducees questioned Jesus about the resurrection of the dead, he replied that God was not a God of the dead but of the living. He did not comment on where or in what state Abraham Isaac & Jacob were, but they were clearly 'alive'.

The resurrection is the foundation stone of Christian faith. The absolute uniqueness of Jesus lies not in his teaching, or his life or death, but in his resurrection.

Just my hurried comments.

32

new member

by cyberdyne systems 101 in

jw
friends

hi everyone, i'm a newly registered member here.

left the witnesses coming up to two years ago, got df about 8 months after that, still struggle with life after the 'truth', feel resentful of it all, but know i'd never return to that brain washing.

anyway hello to everyone one, enjoyed reading posts i've seen so far.. arnie

jaffacake

Arnie,

A warm welcome. defd said don't forget about Jehovah. Well that's up to you. I would say most ex-JWs become athiests or agnostic, but quite a big minority become some form of Christian or have another form of belief. So whose 'fault' is it if folks forget Jehovah, I think the JW leadership must bear full responsibility.

Unfortunately for a Chrisian like me, some assume JWs are in some ways typical of organised religion.

My advice, keep an open mind, and if you are interested, keep researching.

32

new member

by cyberdyne systems 101 in

jw
friends

hi everyone, i'm a newly registered member here.

left the witnesses coming up to two years ago, got df about 8 months after that, still struggle with life after the 'truth', feel resentful of it all, but know i'd never return to that brain washing.

anyway hello to everyone one, enjoyed reading posts i've seen so far.. arnie

jaffacake

Arnie

5

Awake help needed please

by jaffacake in

jw
friends

my jw friend there was a major change in the mid-90s about the 1914 generation teaching.

he denied the strapline on awake magazine suddenly changed.. how can i fing out precisely when the change occurred, and even better, get my hands on awake magazines before and after?.

by the way, when and what was the sheep & goats changed teaching?

jaffacake

My JW friend there was a major change in the mid-90s about the 1914 generation teaching. He denied the strapline on Awake magazine suddenly changed.

How can I fing out precisely when the change occurred, and even better, get my hands on Awake magazines before and after?

By the way, when and what was the sheep & goats changed teaching?

12

Verbally abused by a JW - why?

by jaffacake in

jw
friends

i rang by best mate last night to see if his new job going okay - i had agreed to provide a reference & he got the job.

he said the job was good.

i told him i'd been to my cousin's funeral, which was pretty sad - he was only 46. my jw friend asked me whether i believed the bible to be the word of god to which i replied yes.

jaffacake

Thanks for all your thoughts.

Misspeaches - I have invested a year trying to point him towards the truth an=bout the truth, he's the only reason I joined this board or know anything about JWs.

We used to argue about the JW religion, but this outburst came after I have backed off for months.

He has suffered from depression and drink problems since before his baptism..

I rang him last night and he told me he had just sold a lifelong treasured posession, as suggested by the elders...perhaps this really broke him up....this thing has always meant a lot to him.

8

Hell

by jehu in

jw
friends

what really is hell?.

the watchtower describe it as nothing but the common grave.

in some places in the bible it is decribed as fiery.

jaffacake

JEHU

A very WARM WELCOME and I enjoyed reading your wise words.

The best thoughts I have read on this (and other) topics are contained in a used book I bought on Amazon: What the Bible Really Teaches, by Keith Ward. I recommend it most highly.

19

The "Trinity" doctrine blasphemes Jehovah and Jesus.

by booker-t in

jw
friends

this is the last time i will post or read about the "trinity" doctrine because in my mind jehovah and jesus has enlightened me to see the real source of the so-called holy trinity.

satan is the originator of this unbiblical doctrine.

after i left jw's i felt i had to accept the trinity doctrine in order to be "saved".

jaffacake

Hello Booker,

I am a Christian, and like you I do not believe the trinity doctrine. But I just don't buy all that stuff about Satan being behind it. For goodness sake, since the first century there was much debate about the nature of God, and frankly the Bible does not clearly support or deny that one of several attempts to explain the nature of God and the relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit that Jesus commanded us to baptize in the name of.

I am not a trinitarian, but I don't think Satan inserted that Scripture to mislead people about the nature of God. Why can't we just accept that we all sincerely hold different views.

Some of your argumant may be influenced by the publication "should you believe in the trinity". Have you checked the many sources quoted (and misquoted) in that booklet. They run into dozens. If the case is as clear cut as you suggest, then why the need for such intellectual dishonesty, which only 0.01% of readers actually check out the quotations etc.

136

Something I want to tell you apostates

by LeftBehind in

jw
friends

i want you to know that you have destroyed a family because of your lies about jehovah and his organization.

a family member went apostate and has turned his back on jehovah.

he told us he is never coming back and i know he went and visited internet sites.

jaffacake

Dear leftbehind,

I don't understand how you can call everyone on this site apostates, when you do not know us. That is name-calling. I am a Christian who has never been a JW. However some people I love have been destroyed and their families torn apart by some cruel people in the name of Jehovah. Not as a result of truth but because of untruths. According to the Bible, Jehovah has never had or needed a human organisation - how can you not see that?Have you followed Christ's command to keep testing the faith you are in?

Out of respect for you I will only ask you to read the following texts from Awake magazine and the Bible:

Awake Magazine 2000 June 22 p. 6 The Manipulation of Information

Name-Calling

Some people insult those who disagree with them by questioning character or motives instead of focusing on the facts. Name-calling slaps a negative, easy-to-remember label onto a person, a group, or an idea. The name-caller hopes that the label will stick. If people reject the person or the idea on the basis of the negative label instead of weighing the evidence for themselves, the name-caller’s strategy has worked.

[examples of name-calling such as ‘opposers’, ‘apostate’ ‘haughty’ slap “a negative, easy-to-remember label onto a person, a group, or an idea”

Do these labels convince witnesses to “reject the person or the idea on the basis of the negative label instead of weighing the evidence for themselves”? ]

Matthew 7:3-5 (

“Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own? How dare you say to your brother, let me take the splinter out of your eye, when all the time there is a plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye.”

44

Regarding the holy Trinity

by kristiano1122 in

i want to know why jw dont accept the holy trinity even though there is enough biblical evidence in the bible regarding this.

the following passages are from the book of john .

1:1. in the beginning was the word: and the word was with god: and the word was god.

jaffacake

The Trinity is a relatively late doctrine. At best an attempt at approximating the nature of God and the relationship between Father, Son & Holy Spirit. If it was and is so clear in the Bible, then why did the doctrine take hundreds of years to evolve. There are far more important things for Christians to debate. We need an open mind on such doctrines instead of just accepting what our denomination says.

I am no longer a trinitarian, but the JW teachings are a mile farther from Scriptural truth than trinitarian teaching. JWs are not actually Christian at all.

9

Do convereted jews believe that Jesus is Jehovah?

by RevFrank in

jw
friends

when i debate with witnesses and it comes to scripture about jesus making statements that lead to jews thinking jesus is making statements that he is god..many of witnesses denie that jesus was telling the jews that he was god.

i make them turn to john 10:33--->>>there the jews argue about it.

and when they read it..they try to explain,witnesses, it states something different.. witnesses do denie the exsistance of the trinity.

jaffacake

Thanks for reply Yadda.

Having said that, most Christians religions pray to Jesus and worship him to the almost total exclusion of the Father. This flouts Jesus own words that we should render sacred service to the Father only, and his instructions for how we should pray.

I tend to agree with your viewpoint, but I have not personally experienced the practice you describe in my fairly limited involvement with Catholic & several protestant denoms. In the latter, the greatest emphasis was always on the Lord's prayer, or alternatively approaching God through Jesus, for which there is scriptural support. But hey, I've hardly set foot in any churches for more than 20 years.

JW's do not deny that Jesus is divine. Theos in John 1:1 means of the divine nature. They acknowledge that he is a divine god, but that he is a lesser God than the Father.

This is where I really struggle with JW teaching...a lesser God!? Having studied the meanings of the Hebrew & Greek words used in many texts, I believe Scriptures refer to the one true God or false Gods. Are there references to more than one true God?

I do not agree with you that the entire emphasis is on Christ in the Christian Scriptures. If you read Jesus own words in the Gospels you cannot but be struck with how much Jesus talks about the Father and tries to put the emphasis on the Father. The overall testimony of Jesus himself is damning to the notion that he was in any sense God like his heavenly Father is. It is only from Acts onwards where the emphasis shifts 80-90% to Christ and not 'God'.

A fair point, I chose the wrong word "entire" emphasis. But we should ask whether it was God's will that so much emphasis in the Christian scriptures, outside the gospels, should be placed on His son, and why. I think the message is - the way to one is through experience of he other. I agree the JWs are wrong to emphasise the OT, but some Christians go too far the other way. I do believe however that the Messiah fulfilled and negated at the same time much of the OT.