Posts by forsharry

When he was resurrected... was he 'perfect'? Not according to the JW's way of teaching. Supposedly he was resurrected to an 'imperfect world'... and so would die again.

This is in reference to Lazarus, and that got me thinking...so I did a little bit of research (collective gasp) and come to find out that the "Lazarus Story" as an example of midrashic style of story-telling. The basis of the story was that Lazarus was excommunicated and Jesus went against temple authorities by reversing the excommunication and bringing him "back to life." Jesus assumed authority and it was accepted by those around him.

Jesus was notified when Lazarus was in the early stages of excommunication---he was "sick." Lazarus' "death" was the completed excommunication. This suggests that during the 1st century era, to be excommunicated was equivalent to being "dead."

When Jesus arived and called for Lazarus to "come forth," Lazarus was brought back to "life" by Jesus' authority. This would have put Jesus in opposition to the Temple authorites who likely would have issued the excommunication in the first place thereby putting himself (Jesus) in the position of being a 'divine representative' .

The type of judaic sect that Jesus' belonged to practiced excommunication...much in the way that our modern day nemesis does. It wasn't a physical death, but a 'spiritual' one that jesus brought Lazarus back from. With this 'story' taken into a more literal midrashic sense, it doesn't create the type of paradoxical situation that was spoken about above.

I know it's a little off topic but I'm a little surprised that the 'possibility' of Lazarus' death being of a social or spiritual natural instead of a literal one wasn't brought up. :)

22

Lexapro

by cruzanheart in

jw
friends

does anybody take this stuff?

i took my first pill today and have decided i'd rather be depressed.

what a horrible day!

forsharry

I take this. 20mg a day. It was a rough first two weeks...but I've been on so much medication, that the first two weeks of any type of antidepressant is not pleasant...however, and PLEASE believe me on this...it does get better!

I've been on lexapro for almost two years and most likely will be on antidepressants for the rest of my life. Getting on the meds wasn't easy, but looking back to what I was experiencing before the meds and therapy that there is NOTHING and NO ONE that could make me go back to that.

Please hang in there cruzan...pm me if you have any further questions...I've been on a lot of psychiatric meds...I'm no expert, but I'd be more than happy to give any insight i have available.

17

Lost

by youcanhaveago in

jw
friends

haven't been on here for months and months .. .

completely lost and screwed up.. please don't be offended but some stuff on here does my head in .... .

.

forsharry

breathe.

take it day by day...or minute by minute if the larger incriments become too much.

there's a lot of mental downloading that goes on and a lot of it doesn't make sense...just take care of yourself...the answers come in time.

::BIG HUG::

17

Logos

by Schism in

jw
friends

i have figured out why i never log on anymore.

once i come in here and start chatting, i become addicted and can't get off.

i end up spending 3 days straight in here and never getting anything done in my real life!!.

forsharry

the problem is that all your artistry means bunk when it comes to the computer programs out there.

I've been working with photoshop, illustrator, quarkxpress, indesign, freehand, etc. as a graphic designer, and I am pretty good artist...but it's hard to translate it over to these programs because of the learning curve behind them.

If you want to draw something using a program...i'd suggest illustrator because you can use a pen tool and create curves and them manipulate the line over your drawing.

15

Adam's Error and the Butterfly Effect

by jgnat in

in 1962 meterologist lorenz simulated weather patterns with some simple mathematical formulas on his computer.

for a while the results were predictable.

but then, with very minor changes, the results went wildly erratic.

forsharry

I always felt it was a cruel joke against us.

Here, I'll make you perfect, but in essence, you'll have no free will cause if you do anything i don't like I'll punish you big time.

Now you've gone and done it. No eternal life for you...and since you ruined it for everyone...no perfection for them either. I hope you're happy with yourself!

Oh, hello new baby...sorry but you gotta die. Oh, and by the way, you have to live up to all of the rules of perfections which would be no problem if you were perfect, but since you aren't you'll struggle with it for you entire 'grief' filled life and then you'll die. tee hee!

I mean, you buy into all of that, God's got a wicked evil sense of humor here!

47

Classical music anyone?

by zagor in

lately i've been listening more and more to classical music.

went to several concerts, opera and a ballet..

just wondering if anyone else loves classical music or maybe modern incarnations like styles of vanessa mae, maxim mrvica, bond, amici and alike.

forsharry

Debussy''s Claire de Lune is my alltime favorite...

it brings tears to my eyes every single time i listen to it without fail.

41

wow, what a response!

by Matt_fs in

i simply asked a friend of mine to explain to me deut 20:20-22 and he wrote this:.

"its really quite simple what i think about deut.18:20-22. i don't.

the hebrew scriptures describing aspects of the original law convenent ended when the new convenent came into place by means of christ's death.

forsharry

yeah, what they all said before me.

I just wanted to say that i broke out in a cold sweat when i read that response. It's simply chilling just how closely the response mirrored the ones I received when I questioned the cracks in the leaking dyke.

I would love to read your response back to your 'friend'...but I'm sure you know your ticket's been punched. :}

30

I'm in Wisconsin

by JH in

jw
friends

i decided to take a car ride to see my good friend buttlight, who lives in wisconsin.

the first thing i did was to go in her basement .

then, to feel right at home, i ate a home made poutine .

forsharry

Poutine - french fries with cheese curds and gravy on top. :)
it's a very HEALTHY traditional Canadian dish. ;)

20

THE BIG SWINDLE

by Terry in

http://www.theatlasphere.com/columns/070323-sowell-swindle.php.

i try to give both sides of issues a fair read.. all of you who have been convinced by scientific evidence that global warming has been caused by man and can be stopped by man should read the above.. how about specific comments pertaining to the above for a change rather than simply policy wank rants??.

global warming swindleopinion editorial by thomas sowell - mar 23, 2007britains channel 4 has produced a devastating documentary titled the great global warming swindle.

forsharry

hmmm...

I'm of the theory that it can't hurt to be a little more eco-conscious.

legano, nil legano...is grey area.