Posts by Jeffro

169

Are the statistics out yet?

by slimboyfat in

isn’t it about time they released the report for the service year?

or have they stopped publishing it?

did they released selected figures at the annual meeting as they usually do, such as the memorial attendance or record number of pioneers?

Jeffro

slimboyfat:

As I recall your argument (feel free to provide a link) it leans heavily on the fact that the publisher number includes unbaptised publishers as well as baptised JWs.

No.

Your comparisons of growth rates between JWs and other denominations are invalid because most denominations count all attendees as members, which results in higher membership stats but lower growth rates. This is also the reason that secular surveys of JWs report higher membership numbers. And despite some cherry-picked relatively high secular growth rates for JWs for selected countries (though apparently, just New Zealand), that is not the norm.

I have previously provided examples of routine scenarios where the JW method of counting members demonstrably inflates their reported growth rate compared to analogous scenarios for denominations counting typical membership.

169

Are the statistics out yet?

by slimboyfat in

isn’t it about time they released the report for the service year?

or have they stopped publishing it?

did they released selected figures at the annual meeting as they usually do, such as the memorial attendance or record number of pioneers?

Jeffro

slimboyfat:

Your only argument boils down to the claim that the definition of “publisher” this year may be a bit more liberal than the definition of “publisher” last year

No. Not a valid representation of my position at all. I have explained the reasons previously and you either don’t understand, or you ignore the reasons why JW rates of growth seem higher than for other denominations because it goes against your narrative.

169

Are the statistics out yet?

by slimboyfat in

isn’t it about time they released the report for the service year?

or have they stopped publishing it?

did they released selected figures at the annual meeting as they usually do, such as the memorial attendance or record number of pioneers?

Jeffro

slimboyfat:

The JW numbers look “bad” … until you compare them with most other Christian groups which are in severe decline in the west. Compared with other Christian groups the growth of JWs bucks the trend of decline.

Apples and oranges, just like this time last year. The way JWs count membership inflates their growth rate at the expense of the stated number of members, as explained last year.

349

Who really is the Faithful and Discreet Slave?

by Godlyman in

if anyone were to come up to you claiming that they are the faithful and discreet slave, how would you go about proving them to be false, based upon scripture?.

estephan.

Jeffro

Disillusioned JW:

Vanderhove7 (and others): In the verse who or what is the household and what is the food?
If " the faithful and wise servant" "is every Christian to whom Jesus will say, “Well done my good and faithful servant!” at his parousia", then who are the servants whom "the faithful and wise servant" has been in put in charge of? Are the other servants (the ones at the receiving end instead of being the ones in charge) also Christians? If not, who are they?
Is the household each congregation of Christians (in the sense of the people who congregated together) or some congregations of Christians (in the sense of the people who congregated together)?
Is the food scriptural statements (such as explanations of scripture) made to people, whether done vocally or in writing? Is it the reading out loud of the scriptures to others? Is the food literal food which is fed to people hungry for literal food to feed their literal tummies?

No. It's a parable. It isn't necessary that each and every element 'means something'. (Especially in Protestant denominations there is a tedious tendency to insist that every little statement in the Bible has some 'greater meaning'.)

Household 'servants' were responsible for preparing meals. The original audience would understand that it is a typical function of the 'servant' in the parable to prepare meals for the household.

Notice also that the admonition in Matthew 24:49 is about beating fellow slaves (i.e. other Christians) rather than denoting any kind of leadership role over any separate hypothetical 'class' of 'domestics'.

16

Clever Misdirection

by TD in

jw
friends

i was looking at the (mostly) wrong answers to a riddle that's making the rounds on social media and thought it was a good example of how something simple (in this case, grade school math) can be distorted with words.

the riddle goes like this:.

i bought a cow for $800.. i sold it for $1000.

Jeffro

Fisherman:

As it relates to Bible prophecy, count the money (prophits) at the end of the day.

The only way this relates to 'Bible prophecy' is that both are examples of misdirection.

17

Will JWs throw you under the bus if you have a transfusion?

by Vanderhoven7 in

mark writes.

"if a person accepts a blood transfusion, the jehovah’s witness elders are required to “investigate” to see if the person is sorry for “cowardly” saving their life.

if the person doesnt beg and grovel to the elders for allowing the doctor to save their life (or that of their child) then the elders can take this as a sign that he/she has disassociated from the congregation - and tell the congregation to start shunning them.. if someone willingly takes blood, perhaps because of being under extreme pressure, the committee should obtain the facts and determine the individual’s attitude.

Jeffro

Will JWs throw you under the bus if

Regardless of how that sentence ends, the answer is generally ‘yes’.

169

Are the statistics out yet?

by slimboyfat in

isn’t it about time they released the report for the service year?

or have they stopped publishing it?

did they released selected figures at the annual meeting as they usually do, such as the memorial attendance or record number of pioneers?

Jeffro

slimboyfat:

I was responding to Hopeless1, and before I read your post.

Sorry about that.

I seem to recall it being published on Boxing Day in previous years.

There isn’t any exact date. The release of the report has varied each year since the yearbooks were discontinued in 2017.

169

Are the statistics out yet?

by slimboyfat in

isn’t it about time they released the report for the service year?

or have they stopped publishing it?

did they released selected figures at the annual meeting as they usually do, such as the memorial attendance or record number of pioneers?

Jeffro

slimboyfat:

Thanks, but from my reading of that announcement it sounds like the 2022 report will be published as normal.

Yes, which will likely be “in the last week of December or first week of January”.

169

Are the statistics out yet?

by slimboyfat in

isn’t it about time they released the report for the service year?

or have they stopped publishing it?

did they released selected figures at the annual meeting as they usually do, such as the memorial attendance or record number of pioneers?

Jeffro

It is generally released in the last week of December or first week of January.

In the January 2023 Watchtower they boast about the attendance of the 2021 Memorial but there has been no mention so far of the 2022 attendance, suggesting the 2022 attendance was less impressive.

98

Who raised Jesus from the dead?

by Blotty in

i have seen arguments surrounding jesus' resurrection being proof of "the trinity" - now while in some cases it's a good argument the evidence for it remains very weak.

(bible quotes are from the nwt but other bibles are referenced, use whichever you please) this following version of it is a good example.. "the bible indicates that all [persons] of the trinity was involved in jesus’ resurrection.

galatians[1:1] says that the father raised jesus from the dead.

Jeffro

Blotty:

burden of proof lies on atheist's to disprove majority of scholars on Jesus never existing
the "never left any writings argument" is extremely weak

Is that meant to be satire? Whether Jesus existed isn’t relevant to atheism, so atheists obviously have no burden of proof to ‘disprove Jesus’ existence’. The broad scholarly consensus is that Jesus likely existed but was not magical (though this is usually dressed up with loaded words like ‘divine’, which doesn’t have any actual clear meaning) . Though some atheists might also hold a view that Jesus didn’t exist at all, that isn’t a majority view or one that is specific to atheism. It is entirely mundane that there may have been an itinerant rabbi in the first century who was executed by the Romans about whom stories were later embellished.

My great grandmother never left any writings (nothing for that matter) are you going to dispute she existed?

🤦‍♂️ That is an especially poor analogy since your great grandmother necessarily existed in order to have descendants. Are you suggesting Jesus had children? Talk about ‘burden of proof’! 😂 Seriously, this is meant to be satire, right?!