Posts by Jeffro

posted

71
Did Adam and Eve Partake of Literal Fruit or is it Symbolic?
by Stauros in
1. watchtower
2. bible
was it real fruit they ate or does the fruit represent something else?.

e..
Jeffro

Stauros:

[The Death of Jesus]
[Jesus Pierced on his Ribs]
[The Bride of Christ (Women)]

It's certainly possible that the writers who made up stories surrounding Jesus' death were alluding to the stories about 'Adam and Eve', just as many of the other stories about Jesus were deliberately written to supposedly 'fulfill' alleged 'messianic prophecies' (most of which bear no resemblance to the context of the 'prophecies').

However, that doesn't automatically imbue any special significance on aspects on the earlier story about Adam and Eve itself, which is an origin myth derived from earlier Babylonian stories (including the details about a snake and a magical plant that gives life and enlightenment), written around the 6th century BCE, which 'coincides' with exposure of Babylonian culture to the Jewish people.
11
What the hell is a "land?"
by stillin in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
the service reports for jw's always toots their horn about all of the "lands" that the good news is being preached in.. has anybody got a clue?

how many lands are there, total?

are lands the same as countries?.
Jeffro

The JW use of "lands" almost equates to "countries". The exceptions are mostly islands that are actually sovereign territory of another country or constituents of a larger island group. They also count a couple of disputed territories as separate "lands". For more information, see the footnotes at the Wikipedia article, Jehovah's Witnesses by country. A few years ago, they stopped counting Alaska and Hawaii as separate "lands".
32
Another Revised NWT Thread - subtly sowing seeds of doubt with chart
by mindnumbed in
1. watchtower
2. bible
pages 1744 thru 1746 feature a chart of the kings of the southern kingdom, ending with zedekiah in 607.. praise the new bible and all of the teaching aids .... draw attention to kings list and how convenient that is ... but, strangely, i decided to look up information in an encyclopedia about the different kings, and the dates are not the same ... so i checked a couple of sources and they are all different than the chart in the bible .... why would that be?.
Jeffro

Added shading to chart to show periods of co-regency a bit more clearly...
71
Did Adam and Eve Partake of Literal Fruit or is it Symbolic?
by Stauros in
1. watchtower
2. bible
was it real fruit they ate or does the fruit represent something else?.

e..
Jeffro

Stauros:

Was it real fruit they ate or does the fruit represent something else?

That's a bit like asking if Cinderella's fairy godmother really turned a pumpkin into a carriage.
97
Unconfirmed 2014 Year Book Numbers - Peak Pubs, Baptized, Hrs, Reg Pio & Studies
by OwnAccord in
1. jw
2. friends
i bethelite sent this email out - can't really give out names.

we wrote these figures as quickly as possible, but could not keep up 100%).

you get to check these figures out when you get your 2014 yearbook.
Jeffro

Calebs Airplane:

WAIT... THERE'S STILL 2 MONTHS LEFT IN THE YEAR, AND THEY ALREADY HAVE NUMBERS?

The JW "service year™" starts in September and ends in August. Because of the reason. (Most likely because Tishri generally begins in September, and Tishri is magical in JW dogma.)
38
Do You Still Wear "Meeting" Clothes?
by minimus in
1. jw
2. friends
i have dozens of suits.

i still buy them .

i wear ties sometimes too.
Jeffro

blondie:

I haven't worn a skirt for a long time; I have gradually given away my dress clothes.

Sister Blondie! Surely you don't wear... pants/slacks!! How very shocking! Even worse if they're... denim.
17
About 1914?
by Slidin Fast in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
the following appars in the new, new world translation bloatware section under "the message of the bible".

"about 1914 c.e.. jesus hurls the serpent, satan, to the earth, confining him there for a short time.revelation 12:7-9, 12.".

err, urm, err ok?
Jeffro

London111:

In the past, it appears they were very specific, even nailing down to the day: 3/26/1918.
Oops. You are correct.

Yeah, what were you thinking?! They'd never say that. That would be crazy.
17
About 1914?
by Slidin Fast in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
the following appars in the new, new world translation bloatware section under "the message of the bible".

"about 1914 c.e.. jesus hurls the serpent, satan, to the earth, confining him there for a short time.revelation 12:7-9, 12.".

err, urm, err ok?
Jeffro

Londo111:

In the past, it appears they were very specific, even nailing down to the day: 3/26/1918.

No. It says "by the time of" that date, which means some time before. They never said it happened on that date.
17
About 1914?
by Slidin Fast in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
the following appars in the new, new world translation bloatware section under "the message of the bible".

"about 1914 c.e.. jesus hurls the serpent, satan, to the earth, confining him there for a short time.revelation 12:7-9, 12.".

err, urm, err ok?
Jeffro

Londo111:

I believe they taught that Satan was kicked out in 1918,

No. However, they also do not officially believe that Satan was 'cast out of heaven' in 1914, but only that 'war broke out in heaven' then, leading up to evicting Satan. They are fairly vague about how long that imaginary event took.

The most specific thing they've said (in 1968) is:

*** w68 7/1 p. 413 Letting All Men See Jehovah’s Victory Processions ***
In modern times Jehovah won a great victory by means of the Greater David, Jesus Christ, when he and his angels cast Satan and his angels out of heaven between 1914 and 1918.
17
About 1914?
by Slidin Fast in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
the following appars in the new, new world translation bloatware section under "the message of the bible".

"about 1914 c.e.. jesus hurls the serpent, satan, to the earth, confining him there for a short time.revelation 12:7-9, 12.".

err, urm, err ok?
Jeffro

Faithful Witness:

Or, do they just mean "about," as in "regarding 1914?"

No.