Posts by jwfacts

29

I AGREE WITH THE JWs: THE 'SOUL' DOESN'T EXIST

by NAVYTOWN in

jw
friends

i agree with the witnesses about almost nothing, but i do think they have the right idea when it concerns the 'soul'.

it is my belief that there is no such entity as a 'soul' that resides in a human being.

the idea originated in ancient, pre-scientific eras.

jwfacts

One good thing about being raised a JW is the lack of fear of the afterlife. There is a fear of dying but not of what is after death.

57

Was the Biblical Canon Directed by God?

by Chris Tann in

this is a question a sincere christian may agonize over after learning that some books of the bible were rejected by certain early christian groups,while other books that did not make the canon were accepted.

also,when one realizes that so called inspired writers of the greek scriptures quote from apocrypha,that most christians reject today,one wonders if these writings that include these quotes should even be in the bible.. it is true that when it comes to the christian greek scriptures the canon has been closed for many centuries.

also, these books have been accepted by christians ever since the second,perhaps first,century.

jwfacts

Your OP misses the mark in that you don't identify which Bible Canon that you believe to be the correct one. There are several in use by different Christian groups. That point in itself is good indication God did not direct the selection of books.

40

Jehovah's Witnesses are the only people who don't practice war and who preach worldwide!

by EndofMysteries in

this is what somebody has been telling me, trying to convince me aside from anything one can say or cause reason for doubt, as the evidence that they are the true religion and true people of god.

they are convinced because while 'all other' christian and other religions support war, troops, etc, jw's don't and they are the only one's who carry god's name and preach.

nothing else matters.

jwfacts

Ask why there are more Seventh Day Adventists and more Mormons that JWs if only JWs preach? How do they and other religions grow?

33

Slip Sliding Away :I went to a 1 day assembly-Why?

by MissFit in

jw
friends

i have not attended anything jw related for over a year.... until last week when i went to our one day convention.. why you ask?.

i can do what i want i'm a grown adult.. ok...ok...so my jw childhood friend who i have not seen forever, came by for a visit.. i mentally went through the check list:.

is she pioneering and need extra time?.

jwfacts

How did you find it?

The only concern I have is that you could be setting yourself up to be hurt by a woman that cannot really be a friend to you anymore.

38

The Present Truth is the Truth and the Old Truth is the Truth, even if they contradict.

by garyneal in

that is the conclusion you must accept if you are a jehovah's witness as my wife tries to explain to me that even if what they are teaching today contradicts what they were previously teaching, they had the truth then and they have the truth now.

the difference is, they (the witnesses and the governing body) simply believed that what they were teaching at the time was the truth but when they discovered new information they adjusted their thinking.

so since they formerly believed it to be the truth, they were in the truth.. an example she gave involved people who once believed the earth was flat.

jwfacts

Basically she is claiming it is the sincerity of her belief that is important, not the accuracy. Ironic, since the Watchtower repeatedly says thise in other religions are unacceptable to God regardless of how sincere they may be.

31

"The Waters" of Jehovah are drying up in Australia...65% young ones leave!

by Witness 007 in

at the international convention last week i caught up with my old congregation and asked about the young ones...there were 2 answers.

1. they flat out left got a boyfriend etc.

and 2. havent seen them for awhile meaning they faded or went off the grid so as not to be disfellowshipped.

jwfacts

Even the younger ones who stay in are often just nominal JWs. They have learned to play the JW system. I've a few teenage / early 20 relatives who are baptised but essentially lead lives that aren't much different to their "worldly" peers. It's all about social networking , playing XBOX / PS4 games , hanging out in pubs.

i think that is an important point. For many it is becoming a cultural religion. They believe in God but don't take the GB or 1914 too seriously. But they may as well put in nominal worship with their friends and family.

The big divide between JWs and Christians is the belief in paradise on earth. It is easy to be a nominal Christian and hope you are worthy of heaven at death. But for a JW they need to hope for armageddon so that they don't die, or are at least non existent in the grave for just a short time. The longer time goes on from 1914, the harder a "soul sleep" based religion will find it to retain members.

11

Will They Continue To Take Your Money After Booting You Out?

by steve2 in

automatic bank payments & being disfellowshipped.

as noted on this site, the organization has in place numerous electronic provisions for people to donate money, ranging from one-off payments through to monthly automatic payments from donors' bank accounts into the organization's.. this is all well and good - and consistent with what lots of organizations - religious or otherwise - do.. but, should a donor be disfellowshipped - or disassociated - is the pre-selected donation provision stopped by the organization itself?

do they have any policy at all on it?

jwfacts

Forget donations from ex-JWs. What about known prostitutes and known drug dealers who visit the kingdom hall? Do you think they will be debarred from donating money? No.

There is an elder in Parramatta that is very wealthy through trading in stolen goods prior to baptism. His donations are eagerly accepted and he is considered a pillar of the congregation. It is easy for him to push people into full time service when he is worth a fortune and does not have any financial concerns.

12

17 y.o. Sydney Boy Threatens to fly the black flag over the White House

by fulltimestudent in

i think i'm going to get flamed for this, but it needs to be said.. this kid is full of bravado, and if his head is as stuffed full of muslim ideology, as my head was once stuffed full of christian ideology, he probably believes that allah (the other face of yahweh) wants him to do it, and that if he dies in the effort, he will be rewarded in paradise.. before i post his story, please consider that the ideology of martyrdom, has both a christian face and a muslim face.

ignatius, the second bishop of antioch, wanted to die for jesus, just as the young man in the following story, likely imagines that he is willing to die for allah.. ok, that's out of the way, so here's the story:.

bankstown boy threatens prime minister tony abbott in islamic state recruitment videodate: october 21, 2014 david wroe and natalie o'brien.

jwfacts

consider that the ideology of martyrdom, has both a Christian face and a Muslim face.

There are a lot of Muslims saying they are being misrepresented and Islam is a religion of peace. On the other hand, Christians are claiming Islam is a religion of violence and Christianity is about love and peace. The fact is, if you take their respective holy books at face value, both religions promote bigotry and violence.

Modern Christianity and modern Islam both promote peace, but that is because ignore their own texts in order to bring their religious belief systems up to date with our more enlightened times.

The root of the problem is that faith - belief in the unproven - results in vunerable people being easy to convince that the evils they do are actually holy and a requirement of God.

32

HELP! Elder bombarded me with scripture...& I don't know what to do.

by Smoky in

i have been lurking on this site for many years.

i rarely post anything, because my english isnt the best and not sure if anyone understands.

i just recently had a run in with an elder, have not seen him in a few years.

jwfacts

I don't understand. If you are an atheist, why would you want to refute things he raises from the Bible, which as an atheist carries no authority.

If you want to have a comeback, it is a futile mission, but realise that he has cherrypicked a few scriptures, out of context and misapplied. Here are some articles that show how.

"only those who invoke the name of Jehova will be saved"

Jehovah never appears in the New Testament. He is referring to Romans 10:13, which is a dishonest translation in the NWT. The name referred to is actually Jesus. jwfacts.com/watchtower/jehovah.php

....go preaching.

jwfacts.com/watchtower/preach.php

"even if you progess, keep doing this routine" ....go to meeting.
"encourage each other, and keep hands, you will receive gift for your work" ....paradise for preaching work.
"like the days of noah, people eating drinking, etc. people will not listen to god"....be in the arc of gods organization, or die.
"keep doing work till the End"....cant stop going to meeting and preaching till the end.
"look for god, and he will find you, leave god, and he will leave you forever"....

All of these apply equally to any Christian religion. The Watchtower is a doomsday religion, that has acted as a false prophet for over 100 years pronouncing specific dates for the end that never came true. See Deuteronomy 18:20-22 to find out how God feels about people making false predictions in his name. Therefore the Watchtower is not a religion worth considering as a place to gather for salvation, encouragement etc.

32

Is there ANYTHING Jehovah(TM) doesn't hate??

by punkofnice in

...apart from door knocking, meetings and kingdom melodies?.

.

jwfacts

He doesn't hate the haters.