Posts by yaddayadda

7

False "Reasoning from the Scriptures" (all rights reserved)

by yaddayadda in

the reasoning from the scriptures book lists 7 criteria for determining which religion is right?

putting aside for the moment the assumption in the societys question, that there is only one right religion, which 3 of the societys criteria do you think are the weakest and which 3 are the strongest, and why?

(those who dont believe that the bible is gods word please try and suspend your disbelief when answering) .

yaddayadda

The ‘Reasoning from the Scriptures’ book lists 7 criteria for determining ‘which religion is right’?

Putting aside for the moment the assumption in the Society’s question, that there is only one ‘right’ religion, which 3 of the Society’s criteria do you think are the weakest and which 3 are the strongest, and why?

(Those who don’t believe that the bible is God’s word please try and suspend your disbelief when answering)

*** rs 328-30 Religion ***

How can a person know which religion is right?

(1) On what are its teachings based? Are they from God, or are they largely from men? (2 Tim. 3:16; Mark 7:7) Ask, for example: Where does the Bible teach that God is a Trinity? Where does it say that the human soul is immortal?

(2) Consider whether it is making known the name of God. Jesus said in prayer to God: “I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me out of the world.” (John 17:6) He declared: “It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.” (Matt. 4:10) Has your religion taught you that ‘it is Jehovah you must worship’? Have you come to know the Person identified by that name—his purposes, his activities, his qualities—so that you feel you can confidently draw close to him?

(3) Is true faith in Jesus Christ being demonstrated? This involves appreciation of the value of the sacrifice of Jesus’ human life and of his position today as heavenly King. (John 3:36; Ps. 2:6-8) Such appreciation is shown by obeying Jesus—sharing personally and zealously in the work that he assigned to his followers. True religion has such faith that is accompanied by works.—Jas. 2:26.

(4) Is it largely ritualistic, a formality, or is it a way of life? God strongly disapproves of religion that is merely a formalism. (Isa. 1:15-17) True religion upholds the Bible’s standard of morality and clean speech instead of weakly going along with popular trends. (1 Cor. 5:9-13; Eph. 5:3-5) Its members reflect the fruits of God’s spirit in their lives. (Gal. 5:22, 23) So, those who adhere to true worship can be identified because they sincerely endeavor to apply Bible standards in their lives not only at their places of meeting but in their family life, at their secular work, in school, and in recreation.

(5) Do its members truly love one another? Jesus said: “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.” (John 13:35) Such love reaches across racial, social, and national boundaries, drawing people together in genuine brotherhood. So strong is this love that it sets them apart as being truly different. When the nations go to war, who have enough love for their Christian brothers in other lands that they refuse to take up arms and kill them? That is what early Christians did.

(6) Is it truly separate from the world? Jesus said that his true followers would be “no part of the world.” (John 15:19) To worship God in a manner that he approves requires that we keep ourselves “without spot from the world.” (Jas. 1:27) Can that be said of those whose clergy and other members are involved in politics, or whose lives are largely built around materialistic and fleshly desires?—1 John 2:15-17.

(7) Are its members active witnesses concerning God’s Kingdom? Jesus foretold: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.” (Matt. 24:14) What religion is really proclaiming God’s Kingdom as the hope of mankind instead of encouraging people to look to human rulership to solve their problems? Has your religion equipped you to share in this activity, and to do it from house to house as Jesus taught his apostles to do?—Matt. 10:7, 11-13; Acts 5:42; 20:20.

17

Wanted - two men of integrity at Bethel

by moshe in

i think a big change is due soon for jehovah's witnesses and it will come about because of changes from the top.

all it will take is two men on the governing body who somehow convince the rest to implement these three changes , for starters i see this:.

#1- they eliminate all rules and guidelines on all medical practices.

yaddayadda

The problem with your theory is that all change comes from the Governing Body, who hold all the power, not just any men at Bethel, and the GB only takes on new members who are already thoroughly indoctrinated and 100% loyal to the Society, having demonstrated for decades that they are totally committed to upholding the status quo. That is the whole point of being a GB member.

The other factor is that the GB members apparently actually sincerely believe that they are the 'sole channel' that all revelation from Jehovah comes through. They sincerely believe they are the faithful and discreet slave class chosen and cleansed in 1918 and appear thoroughly deluded by this fancial notion. So there will never be wholesale changes of the type you surmise about for the simple reason that for them to have gotten so many things wrong for so long it would imply that Jehovah's spirit has not truly been on the Society all along. The suspisions of the rank and file would be aroused.

The most precious thing to the GB is not their relationship with Jehovah, rather it is maintaining their glorified status and position in the eyes of the rank and file as those to whom Jesus has delegated all spiritual feeding.

The whole thing is a self-perpetuating group-think that has become such a powerful machine that any one or two cogs in it who try and turn the opposite way will just get mashed and spat out, ala Ray Franz.

16

607 website - part 1

by Jeffro in

adherents of jw dogma are boastful of a new website (http://www.jehovahsjudgment.co.uk/607) which they claim has "irrefutable" proof for their 607 doctrine.

it is full of problems, and i will indicate these section by section, as time permits.. why is 607bce an important date to jehovah's witnesses.

the introduction paints jws as the persecuted underdog.

yaddayadda

In any event, whether its 586 or 607 is neither here nor there because the 'tree' that was chopped down is obviously the Babylonish world empire, not Jerusalem. The 'tree' vision and the 'image' vision (head of gold was Nebuchadnezzar) were parallel visions, both starting with the Babylonian world empire. The 'holy watcher' that chopped the tree down was the angel that wrote 'mene mene tekel parsin' on the wall in Belshazzar's royal court in 539 on the very night of Babylon's overthrow by the Medes & Persians. The 7 times therefore started in 539BC. They are not 7 x 360 years; the words 'seven' and 'times' are just figurative and simply mean some divine period of time being perfectly completed. The '7 times' is thus nothing more than a symbol of the limited period of time that God has set for human world rulership over the earth until Christ finally takes power as the one who has the 'legal right'.

156

Thirdwitness -- An Agent of the Governing Body?

by AlanF in

thirdwitness -- an agent of the governing body?

this evening i was talking with an old friend about recent postings on this forum by jw defenders.

we concluded that something unusual is going on.

yaddayadda

Wouldn't surprise me if Al and 3witness are gay lovers. The inside scoop is that Al is a young man who has admitted he was/is a homosexual. He has revealed to some of his supporters on his website that as a result of his gay experimenting he caught a serious disease and in fact may not have much longer to live. This helps explain why he is so easily influenced by domineering male figures and prone to wild swings of mood and opinion. First he was dominated by e-watchman and now he is totally dominated by 3witness - one extreme to the other. It was 3witness who convinced him e-watchman was wrong.

It's pathetic really.

49

"Giving Your Wifely Due"

by love2Bworldly in

jw
friends

did anyone hate that expression as much as i did?

my husband and i are separated right now, and my jw sister reminded me on the phone the other day to make sure i gave him 'his wifely due'.

that expression makes me want to barf.

yaddayadda

"Did anyone hate that expression as much as I did? My husband and I are separated right now,.."

Errm anyone see a connection here? LOL

14

Why call themselves "Christian"?

by poppers in

never having been a jw i don't quite understand why they call themselves "christians".

if jesus is not god and is not to be worshipped as such, but is something "lesser", then it doesn't make sense to think of themselves as christians.

to claim to be christian, then, seems to me to make themselves hypocrites from the very beginning.

yaddayadda

What??? Why on earth does someone have to believe Jesus is God for them to be a Christian?? Your assumption of course is that only Trinitarians have the right to call themselves Christians. Poppycock.

6

Bookstudy moved to Saturday am

by yaddayadda in

i heard that one of my local congo is going to experiment with moving all the bookstudys to saturday mornings just before fs.

can't tell if this is just a local thing or part of something bigger happening in the org.

anyone know?

yaddayadda

I heard that one of my local congo is going to experiment with moving all the bookstudys to Saturday mornings just before FS. Can't tell if this is just a local thing or part of something bigger happening in the org. Anyone know?

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