Posts by M*A*S*H

39

Glory of creation is still untouched!

by Pinku in

according to plato, the universe thrives on its own, dies and gets rebornall on its own and within itself.

the wise symbolized this concept in ouroboros, a serpent eating its own tail.

[even more wonderful is the marvel called a fruit-bearing treeit does not even eat its own fruit, but simply subsists on mostly what we may consider as dirt/refuse; and trees collectively perform yet another marvel of photosynthesis that make use of our wastes and give us oxygen, food, water, shelter, fiber..........................................[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/20/opinion/to-save-the-planet-dont-plant-trees.html?_r=0].

MAS*H

Pinku, who exactly was your professor? Dumbledore? In my experience educators teach their pupils to be critical of everything... prove the good and ignore the unfounded.

Because man has been given the ability to become gods (to progress indefinitely) or demons (to lead lives of destruction). He never uses messengers or books, but has left the teaching to the mother Nature.

If god does not give revelations to mankind how do you know the above? Guess work? How do you know god doesn't use books, because presumably you have no way of knowing that?

'Mother Nature' is one of the cruellest, most unforgiving, irreverent teachers one could invent - what lessons is this proposed god of yours attempting to teach?

If you attempt to answer my last question, I expect people will just ask... well how do you know as your god does not reveal anything to you?

12

US Marines Praise Jehovah

by Pterist in

http://youtu.be/0mtdyrdy4fu.

.

MAS*H

Personally I find that terrifying.

280

the flood, mammoths, elphants, and food.

by Crazyguy in

my question is since it looks as though mammoths were alive after the flood and we know elephants are then how much food was needed to feed just these four animals for the time they were on the ark.

also was the ark, 500 feet long, big enough to hold the amount of food needed for just these 4 animals.. .

.

MAS*H

What I want to know is, did rainbows exist before the flood?

250

Biblical Prohecies That Came True?

by Viviane in

recently there have been several claims made regarding prophecies that came true.

i've not personally seen a prophecy that i would consider as having come true.

i would consider the following as the requirements to say something is a prophecy and evaluate whether or not it came true:.

MAS*H

Vivian. I am getting into this now...

Firstly I would like to support my argument by pointing out that you probably hate god and this is why you probably do not understand.

We also have the words of Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek, Roman, Hindu, Islam Zoroastrian, Semitic and other religions from thousands of years ago. Are those also here because of divine intervention?

If you managed to take time from your sinful life to think about things more clearly, you would probably agree that the Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek, Roman, Hinduism (possibly), Zoroastrian have little influence in today's modern world and are not understood by us good Christians . Islam and Semitic religions are Abrahamic religions and covered by the prophecy.

My counter-argument here is that what special knowledge is required? Lots of people say things will last forever. Religions say that all the time. Why is it special that, out of all of those claims, one happened to maybe be right (since we can't ever prove it came true)?

That kind of demonic baby eating logic demonstrates how disingenuous you are; basically you have just made it clear you would not accept any prophecy as being provable. If I predicted an asteroid will hit earth tomorrow - and one did - even if I could demonstrate this could be unknowable by science you could just brush it off saying "Well people are predicting asteroid impacts all the time, you just got lucky".

You ask what special knowledge is required. I could write an endless list of the journey of the Abrahamic religions and claim "that" is the knowledge required to make the claim. I could pick one thing - the special knowledge that Constantine the Great would convert and help the religion on its way.

If you are soooooo smart why don't you try and write a book that will still be around in 2000 years - case closed. You are so close minded.

Right I'm off to pray for some sick people... saves actually doing anything.

250

Biblical Prohecies That Came True?

by Viviane in

recently there have been several claims made regarding prophecies that came true.

i've not personally seen a prophecy that i would consider as having come true.

i would consider the following as the requirements to say something is a prophecy and evaluate whether or not it came true:.

MAS*H

I do agree it is impossible to say that this prophecy has been fulfilled in the best sense.

I understand your argumentation with regards;

To illistrate [sic] : I will go on record, right here, right now in predicting that this post will endure forever.

However, if in two thousand years a worldwide religion had spread based upon your post made on a backwater internet forum, I am sure some may start to claim divine inspiration on your behalf.

From my perspective, it seems the writers of the bible were essentially claiming their words would last forever. These books are some of humankind's first moral teachings, stories, philosophy, etc.. written down either created or borrowed from oral tradition. The claim they would endure into the world we know today and have the influence they do is quite remarkable; evidence for some of divine intervention, evidence of the power of memes for others, for me... suggestive that despite all our advances the human mind still lingers closely to that of our forebears that first walked upright.

Again, I do understand that the prophecy does not fit exactly into the crtieria required. However, I think it could hit the 'special' knowledge requirement - there were many religious views around at the time, who could have known that this tiny religion would grow to dominate the western world and still be going strong in 2014!? I do understand your point re the quote above - but I am playing advocate.

250

Biblical Prohecies That Came True?

by Viviane in

recently there have been several claims made regarding prophecies that came true.

i've not personally seen a prophecy that i would consider as having come true.

i would consider the following as the requirements to say something is a prophecy and evaluate whether or not it came true:.

MAS*H

It seems I am now playing devils advocate for a (kind of) biblical prophecy - how have I got myself into this mess?

To start as any good apologist should I would like to point out, you failed to ackowledge any merit in my post and just flippantly brushed it off without consideration almost as if you are not really interested in exploring the possibilities, it seems you are just baiting to beat down posters.

You have slightly shifted the burden of proof with your question. If there is a prophecy that god's word is enduring, just because there are potentially false versions of biblical texts, if just one true version remains the prophecy would be still on track. Also the "covenant" both new and old, depending on your theological leanings are well understood and could be said to be enduring. As an atheist I can honestly say I have an understanding of the "His covenant" such as it is laid out in the bible (which ever version) - it has so far proved enduring.

250

Biblical Prohecies That Came True?

by Viviane in

recently there have been several claims made regarding prophecies that came true.

i've not personally seen a prophecy that i would consider as having come true.

i would consider the following as the requirements to say something is a prophecy and evaluate whether or not it came true:.

MAS*H

As a non-believer I offer the following Psalm 111:7-9; the promise that god's word essentially will be enduring.

Personally I hope this one will fail soon, unfortunately it seems to be taking a while, and (IMHO) my judgement of its failure would come with the death of the Abrahamic religions. However, if I was a believer, I would be pointing this one out saying 'this is prophecy made 2+ millennia ago and is proving true': Believer or not - this is a very bold statement to make - however I would guess that all religions make similar claims so perhaps that disqualifies it (or maybe adds more weight)?

That said - this is not exactly a prophecy - it’s a divinely inspired poem of sorts however the 'see also' back it up.

Psalm 111:7-9
7 The works of His hands are verity and justice; All His precepts are sure. 8 They stand fast forever and ever, And are done in truth and uprightness.
9 He has sent redemption to His people;
He has commanded His covenant forever:
Holy and awesome is His name.

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

by cofty in

yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.

MAS*H

Sorry for jumping in... but I am not sure I really believe that Jesus sacrificed anything if the biblical story is to be believed. Jesus was fully aware of his divine nature, he knew he would survive this earthly death and be taken back into heaven - just what exactly is the sacrifice?

I would like to apologise in advance to those that take offence at me even asking the question, as for some this is an affront. I try to liken my point to the popular Christian belief in the rapture, this is an event very much looked forward to, at no point has anyone suggested this is a sacrifice in anyway despite the similarity in concepts.

Another interesting view comes from the Jewish religion. Obviously they believe they are still waiting for the return of the messiah and do not recognise Jesus' sacrifice... and yet they make no blood sacrifice. They believe the Old Testament provides grounds for forgiven of sins without blood sacrifice; this is achieved through prayer, good works, observance and charity; this viewpoint seems pretty sensible given the Old Testament reason used (see here http://www.jewfaq.org/qorbanot.htm). It is difficult to argue with this position; it seems to me the Old Testament implies that by living a good life, observation of the law and prayer forgiveness can be achieved. Now some of the laws may be considered 'odd' by modern standards, but did this really require a human sacrifice to amend?

As a non-believer I still find the whole concept of human sacrifice and blood offerings as payment of 'sins' completely alien to the concept of justice, divine or otherwise... this is without touching on the 'sins of the father debate'. Surely the only person that should be punished and\or make recompense for the 'adamic sin' would be Adam? I always struggle to understand why so many are so willing to accept that a third party can absolve them of their sins or make up for the original - nowhere else would they ever accept such a concept. If the mother of a murderer offered to sacrifice herself on account of her son's wrong doing to allow her son to walk free - would that be justice?

8

THE WBATS AND THEIR CONSTANT HEADACHE SINCE 1914!

by ADJUSTMENTS in

jw
friends

the wbats and their gb have done some major pr damage control with the "old" new light of the overlapping generation in 2010, and the recent new light of the fds arrangement in 2013, it has helped stave off some of their bleeding.

i can remember at the time when it was first announced it went completely over my head, i didn't even bat an eye or loose a step.

i just didn't understand at the time (not completely understanding jw doctrine and chronology, and just what the jw cult leadership bets on for the rank and file when releasing new light) how critical of a so-called "adjustment" that was, until several years later and being able to finally see some old light through research and connecting the dots.

MAS*H

I find it funny how all the 'nu-lite' appears to those outside JW.borg as flip flopping, scrambling around in desparate fits to keep the religion going; to those still in it is proof that G is guiding the organisation and moving it forward. They need new light in some ways - otherwise what are the FDS for really?

30

Well, IT HAS BEGUN. See the future of the WTBTS in print.

by DATA-DOG in

i hate to read the wt, but i skimmed the july 15 study edition.

i found many examples of propaganda, of course, but a couple things really stood out.

1) the future of the preaching work.

MAS*H

Do you think when God's active force is 'spirit guiding' (not inspiring of course) the JW.borg writing department, he now 'guides' directly in HTML? There must be the odd time J is sat on his throne looking down at some writer's screen thinking, 'bloody hell man, float that div right' or 'oh come on, that's much easier to do in jquery'.

Oh dear, sorry, that turned into a kind of geeky developer joke.