Posts by Inquisitor

24

Is the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society an Anti-Christ Organization?

by OUTLAW in

the wbt$ certainly puts themselves as mediator between god and mankind..very unchristian.....in many cases the wbt$ would have us ignore the words of jesus and have us rely on them,for any meaning the bible may have..as in the case of the september 15th 1968 watchtower artical "why are you looking foreward to 1975??

?..the writer tells us "this is no time to be toying with the words of jesus!

"..the end is very near..this was on a thread by another poster a few days ago.....we all know that armageddon did not arrive as predicted by the wbt$ in 1975..but..to work up the 1975 frenzy,jw`s were told to ignore the words of jesus.....is telling people to ignore the words of jesus,anti-christ behavior?.....outlaw

Inquisitor

Christians I have talked to,believe Jehovah`s Witness`s are being terribly mislead (sic)

Oh yes, and they would know..

I gather you are already satisfied with your little consensus. There will always be mainstream Christians who are waiting to chime in that the WTS is the Anti-Christ. <surprise, surprise>

But where does that leave the other candidates for this title? Churches have long accused the Roman Empire, Nero, the Pope, tzar Peter the Great, George Bush, etc of being the Anti-Christ. Now we can add WTS to the list. But for what reason? For failing to do a proper communion? For failing to glorify Jesus to the role of God? Is that all it takes to qualify? Aren't they supposed to actively go against Christ? Perhaps skewing or repressing His teachings and slaying His followers? Was that not how political tyrants of the past earned the title? WTS has accomplished this on a similar scale? How?

No one on this thread, as yet, has addressed how it is their theology that makes them relegate Christ to Son of God, hence the "heretical" practices they adopt.

INQ

24

Is the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society an Anti-Christ Organization?

by OUTLAW in

the wbt$ certainly puts themselves as mediator between god and mankind..very unchristian.....in many cases the wbt$ would have us ignore the words of jesus and have us rely on them,for any meaning the bible may have..as in the case of the september 15th 1968 watchtower artical "why are you looking foreward to 1975??

?..the writer tells us "this is no time to be toying with the words of jesus!

"..the end is very near..this was on a thread by another poster a few days ago.....we all know that armageddon did not arrive as predicted by the wbt$ in 1975..but..to work up the 1975 frenzy,jw`s were told to ignore the words of jesus.....is telling people to ignore the words of jesus,anti-christ behavior?.....outlaw

Inquisitor

emptywords,

The WTS has much to answer for their Pharisaical abuse of the RnF. I take that very seriously.

But calling JW behaviour unChristian (which appears to be the point you are trying to make) is very different from calling them the Anti-Christ! Their manipulative techniques, their use of conservative codes to punish "sinners", their politics - are these traits completely absent from other churches?

Has the basis of judging that JWs are the antiChrist been applied equally to the Vatican and the right-wing evangelical lobby groups in the USA?

INQ

24

Is the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society an Anti-Christ Organization?

by OUTLAW in

the wbt$ certainly puts themselves as mediator between god and mankind..very unchristian.....in many cases the wbt$ would have us ignore the words of jesus and have us rely on them,for any meaning the bible may have..as in the case of the september 15th 1968 watchtower artical "why are you looking foreward to 1975??

?..the writer tells us "this is no time to be toying with the words of jesus!

"..the end is very near..this was on a thread by another poster a few days ago.....we all know that armageddon did not arrive as predicted by the wbt$ in 1975..but..to work up the 1975 frenzy,jw`s were told to ignore the words of jesus.....is telling people to ignore the words of jesus,anti-christ behavior?.....outlaw

Inquisitor

I think calling them "Anti-Christ" is rather harsh. JWs do not "demote" Christ out of spite. Their theology defines him as Son of God, hence a lesser figure compared to Jehovah, The Father. Their central figure of worship will always be God the Father.

This sets them apart from mainstream Christianity which (esp. Protestant) has strongly embraced the notion that Jesus IS GOD, and to detract any honor from Jesus makes you HERETIC. Teaching from an Athanasian lens, mainstream Christianity has long stamped the face of Jesus on God (though not always historically).

Are Catholics Marian slaves? Do some Christians have a Crucifix fetish? Are JWs anti-Christ? Is it not blasphemous of Christians to say God made a son with a human woman?

It is easy to demonise other people's cherished beliefs if we judge them based on OUR religious priorities.

We're getting ahead of ourselves when accusing JWs of stealing authority from Christ, replacing him with men. I mean, they do that for Jehovah too if you really want to talk about their high-control techniques. When JWs say they raise their kids in the "ways of Jehovah", i.e. no birthdays, no Christmas, plenty of witnessing, no college education, are they not really saying that their parental skills are shaped in the ways of the WTS?

So they're not deliberately going against Jesus. They're not anti-Christ. They're just attempting to worship God the Father, but in reality being manipulated by men.

INQ

30

Grammar test what is wrong with these sentences ?

by 5go in

jw
friends

i am trying to find an online c.l.e.p.

test.

yesterday i found one on grammar.

Inquisitor

You are wrong and I don't know why I just have the answers.

Then I am only wrong because you and the textbook (?) authors say so. No reason = no credibility

INQ

30

Grammar test what is wrong with these sentences ?

by 5go in

jw
friends

i am trying to find an online c.l.e.p.

test.

yesterday i found one on grammar.

Inquisitor

I'll give it a shot

1: Johnson (1) has (2) no equal as a salesman; his commissions are (3) larger than those made by ~~almost~~ any other (4) salesman.

2: (1) If people (2) had helped ~~solved~~ to solve the energy crisis,(3) it might (4) of have been a lesson to humanity.

3: The student (1) had thought that (2) the lecturer had (3) referred (4) to The Communist Manifesto.

4: He (1) ~~has~~had always been negligent (2) about his health, ~~and~~ so he (3) is feeling the (4) effects of his carelessness now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In my opinion, there is more than one error in both sentences 2 and 4. If I'm wrong I'd love to know why.

INQ

16

Non-JW seeking help

by mamaof3 in

jw
friends

i've got a jw meeting with me every week.

she's been coming for 4 months.

i don't want to give up on her.

Inquisitor

I concur with what NathanN is getting at.

If a JW needs any sort of help, it is to learn to think critically, not embrace a different flavour of Christianity. I'd love to help you with the questions but you probably won't like how they challenge your own religious beliefs.

INQ

40

Comments You Will Not Hear at the 7-1-07 WT Study (SUFFERING END SOON)

by blondie in

comments you will not hear at the 7-1-07 wt study (may 15, 2007, pages 21-25)(suffering soon to end).

where is the love?.

17) "god is love.

Inquisitor

I asked a JW a similar question: people got the point a thousand years ago so why does God keep on letting us suffer? The JW who is doing my "bible" study told me that Jehovah wants to demonstrate how EVERY type of govenment and ALL attempts by man to end suffering on his own will ultimately fail. And Jehovah had to go all the way up to stuff like gene-splicing and other inventions that have just now come out - that's why we had to wait. But, now that everything has been invented and man still is suffering under his own rule, Jehovah proven His point and will end the trial shortly. - tioga joe

And how do you feel about that answer, TJ? Does it make sense that God had to test every kind of government that humans could think of before deciding the obvious? At what price must humans give this God His majesty and Pride? If He must be THAT thorough, shouldn't He have done the same with Job?

Perhaps Job excels at feigning loyalty when the kids die, his masterial assets vapourise and his skin breaks out in zits.

Perhaps Job wouldn't do so well if Satan had tempted him with a big-breasted hooker? Rulership of the kingdoms of the world? Beastiality? Pedophilia? The possibilities are endless.... Why wasn't Job tested till he drew his very last breath?

DNA technology is doing very well, unless you have an Evangelical for a country leader. I don't know why Jehovah is being so nosey with the progress of genetic studies. What has that got to do with His sovereignty? Doesn't He already know how it works?

INQ

40

Comments You Will Not Hear at the 7-1-07 WT Study (SUFFERING END SOON)

by blondie in

comments you will not hear at the 7-1-07 wt study (may 15, 2007, pages 21-25)(suffering soon to end).

where is the love?.

17) "god is love.

Inquisitor

Q13, 14) Why did Jehovah choose not to destroy the rebels in Eden? Satan's rebellion raised a question regarding the rightness of God's sovereignty.

It took Job less than a lifetime to prove that God's servants can be loyal to Him.

It took Job less than a human lifetime for God to tell Satan that the Almighty had won the bet, time for the Devil to buzz off and time to bless Job for his integrity.

How long has it taken to resolve the issue of sovereignty? The Big Bet of the Ages is still running (at least 6,000 years now by some Christian estimates; countless of human lives have come and gone). Rather odd isn't it? Millions over the centuries have sacrificed lives, loved ones, and material possessions in hopes of ushering God's Victory Party. Millions have taken the Job stand and proven they want Theocracy. But where is He?

How come the snappy divine intervention on Job's behalf (which NO SECULAR HISTORICAL RECORD or LIVING HUMAN has ever witnessed) has not similarly occured in our day for the issue of God's Sovereignty?

Perhaps, even the Almighty doubts His own candidacy?

Should we call out LOUDER to Him? Perhaps He is stuck in the Celestial Loo without heavenly toilet paper? Or is He sitting on the Throne reading the paper, unaware He's won the Bet? Gee, why is this taunt so familiar?

"Call atthe top of YOUR voice, for he is a god; for he must be concerned with a matter, and he has excrement and has to go to the privy. Or maybe he is asleep and ought to wake up!" - 1 Kings 18:27

And it is with this Royal No-Show in context that fundamentalist Christians say skeptics do "not grasp" God's nature or "lack faith in God's promise".

INQ

21

Education Talk from Follow the Christ DC

by FadingAway in

jw
friends

justitia themis had a topic 'disgusting comment re: education from tacoma 2007 district convention' regarding a talk on education that those pursuing degrees would be d.e.a.d.

unfortunately that stupid comment was not made at the dc i attended, but i am providing the audio to let ones know how far the society is going in discouraging ones from pursuing college by using weak and tired arguments.. http://www.box.net/shared/s523re4c7i.

Inquisitor

Thank you Fading Away! It is really useful to have an actual recording of the talk. I like to have the facts confirmed before confronting my opponents.

INQ

27

Adam & Eve question???

by tan in

one of my workmates just asked or stated...why did eve have to have a rib from adam and all of the the other animals were just created?

funny thought but interesting.

Inquisitor

why did Eve have to have a rib from Adam and all of the the other animals were just created?

(1) God wanted her to be modest.

"I will not create her from the head for she may carry herself haughtily; nor from the eye for she may be too inquisitive; nor from the ear, for she may be an eavesdropper, nor from the mouth for she may be too talkative; nor from the heart for she may be too jealous; nor from the hand for she may be too acquisitive; nor from the foot for she may be a gadabout. I will create her from a hidden part of the body that she may be modest." - taken from rabbinic sermon from the Middle Ages

(2) Some Jews associated bone properties with (patriarchal definitions of) femininity.

"Man is easier to pacify than woman because he is made from a clod rather than from a bone. Water will soften a clod at once, whereas a bone will remain hard even after being soaked in water for days. Another Jewish tradition explains why only woman needs perfumes. Man is made from dust which does not increase in odor no matter how long it is kept, but woman is made from a flesh-covered bone which will soon reek if not sprinkled with spices."

(3) Puts her in her place in relation to man

It was right for the woman to be made from a rib of man ... to signify the social union of man and woman; for the woman should neither use authority over man, and so she was not made from his head; nor was it right for her to be subject to man's contempt as his slave, and so she was not made from his feet.- Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica, 1, q. 92, 3

that she should be made of a rib taken from under his arm, to show that she ought to be under the hand and guidance of her husband 19 - Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, 3, 38.

(4) Puts her nearest to man's heart (whoever wrote that, either felt the pinch of misogyny or they needed some from their wives)

Adam, in Paradise Lost, speaks endearingly of the formation of his "other half": "Out of my side to thee, nearest my heart." - John Milton, Paradise Lost, 4, 11. 484 and 488

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Points roughly summarised from Theology Today article, Adam's Rib: Bone of Contentionby William E. Phipps

INQ