14 pages long, this thread is. Even if Zedekiah was killed and Jerusalem sacked in 607 BCE, there's still a ton of biblical and mental gymnastics to apply the 'times of the nations' to a 2520 year period at the end of which hails Christ as king, but not of the millenium. This aspect of JWism really needs to die. Scholar, you might have a vested interest in this topic, but it's really about the most irrelevant nonsense in the world.
Posts by Cygnus
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349The 1914 Doctrine and The Threat of the Egibi Business Tablets
by VM44 incould the watchtower and the jehovah's witnesses survive the discarding of their 1914 doctrine?
the doctrine that in 1914 the end of the gentile times took place, jesus took up rule in heaven.
for some reason the jws think the outbreak of world war i in 1914 is proof their prophetic calculations were correct.
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22
Another JW sports star
by undercover in.
apologies if this has already been posted:.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?aid=/20051030/sports04/510300400
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Cygnus
Stories such as this one hopefully speeds up the mainstreaming of Watchtowerism. I'm sure any talented JW, be it sports or art or music, reading this will use it to their advantage and pursue meaningful and purposed careers. Of course this is nothing new; Kevin Garnett, Lou Whitaker, the Williams sisters, et al, have all paved the way for a JW to find fame and fortune in this wicked system of things.
As far as voting goes, in the more recent ambivalent way the WT dictates its expectations of its members, voting is still wrong but what you decide to do in the voting booth is between you and God. Essentially the WT has confused the Witnesses enough that they get a wink wink, nudge nudge from inspirationless elders. More of the usual silliness that exists in JWdom these days.
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I'm livid...
by Cady inwalking one of the kids i work with to school this morning and there's a dirty syringe on the sidewalk.
this is just two blocks from the middle school and tons of kids walk down that sidewalk on their way to school.. i used to not think much about drug use - my attitude was, you want to screw up your life, go ahead.
but now that i work with kids who've often been deprived of a good home b/c their parents are addicts...when i'm 100 feet from a shooting that is drug-related...and most of all when i see the dealers drive by in their rides and the kids ooh and awe over them and see that as some kind of shining example of where their lives could go...i'm becoming very disgusted and angry in general.
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Cygnus
I've done quite a bit of work in the ghetto of Buffalo (4/5 the whole city really) and have had to sidestep a ton of syringes and needles. The other night I watched a short documentary on HBO about junkies who were boy/girlfriend, living on the streets of New York, and how they'd lie, cheat and steal just for the night's fix. I'd be scared to death of taking hardcore drugs and shooting up in a vein in my arm. Yuck.
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What if they're right after all?
by Honesty inthe trinity, soul and body that are one and yet separate at death, heaven and hell, etc.
christendom's beliefs are deemed strange by many people but what if they are right?
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Cygnus
*** w89 12/1 pp. 13-14 Why We Need Accurate Knowledge ***
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Those who reject an accurate knowledge of the truth often choose the pathway of expediency. They no longer accept the responsibility of regularly attending Christian meetings or of participating in the house-to-house ministry. Some even go back to smoking! Others are happy that they no longer have to stand out as different over the issue of Christian neutrality and the misuse of blood. Oh, what freedom! Now they can even vote for one of the political parties of the "wild beast." (Revelation 13:1, 7) Thus, as unsteady souls, some have been seduced and misled from the straight path of accurate knowledge by those who, while ‘promising them freedom, are themselves existing as slaves of corruption.’—2 Peter 2:15-19.
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Unless such ones repent and return to the truth, they expose themselves to the judgment that Paul outlined: "For if we practice sin willfully after having received the accurate knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice for sins left, but there is a certain fearful expectation of judgment and there is a fiery jealousy that is going to consume those in opposition." How unwise and shortsighted it is to abandon the accurate knowledge of Jehovah God and Christ Jesus for the apostate teachings of Christendom
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w88 4/1 p. 22 God’s Judgments Must Be Declared ***Just as Jehovah kept sending his prophets to Israel and Judah, he has sent his witnesses to hammer away at the message of his coming judgment. (Jeremiah 7:25, 26; 25:4, 8, 9) Especially since the spiritually invigorating year 1919, the anointed remnant of Christ’s brothers fearlessly presented God’s judgments, powerful messages of calamity, to Christendom. (Compare Jeremiah 11:9-13.) In that year the magazine The Golden Age was launched. Over the years and with its changed titles, Consolation (1937) and Awake! (1946), it has served to expose Christendom’s religious lies and its pseudo-Christianity...
The Jeremiah role was expanded through the use of other publications, such as the Watchtower magazine, booklets, and books. For example, in 1926 the book Deliverance included a powerful exposé of Christendom’s misleading teachings. On page 203 it states: "False doctrines were freely introduced [into apostate Christendom] and substituted for the truth. Amongst these were and are the doctrines of the trinity, immortality of all souls, eternal torture of the wicked, the divine right of the clergy and the divine right of kings to rule
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w81 8/1 pp. 23-24 Harvesting in the "Time of the End" ***For centuries the clear identity of the "wheat," or true "sons of the kingdom," had been obscured by the proliferous "weeds," or apostate Christians, who claimed to have the heavenly hope as heirs to the Kingdom. Only after 1919, when the truly spirit-begotten Christians were delivered from Babylon the Great, the Devil’s world empire of false religion, did a clear difference become visible between the "wheat" and the "weeds."
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The symbolic "weeds" include all counterfeit Christians, not excluding any modern-day apostates who teach "things that cause stumbling," as well as "persons who are doing lawlessness." This would include the "evil slave," the ‘foolish virgins’ and the "wicked and sluggish slave." (Matt. 24:48-51; 25:1-12, 14-30) Their being ‘bound in bundles’ ready to be burned up does not represent their being grouped into the various churches and sects of Christendom, for it can hardly be said that the angels are responsible for such apostate church systems. Furthermore, the binding and bundling takes place during the "harvest season," at the "time of the end," whereas many of the religions of counterfeit Christianity have existed for centuries. The binding of "weeds" in bundles means that since 1919 the separation between true and imitation Christians has become ever clearer, both in the people’s minds and by actual separation... For decades now, counterfeit Christians, and particularly the "man of lawlessness"—Christendom’s clergy—have bewailed the fact that "the sons of the kingdom," Jehovah’s anointed witnesses, have been pelting them with hard-hitting Scriptural truths, exposing them for what they really are: "sons of the wicked one."***
w81 8/15 pp. 28-29 Serving Jehovah "Shoulder to Shoulder" ***From time to time, there have arisen from among the ranks of Jehovah’s people those who, like the original Satan, have adopted an independent, faultfinding attitude... They try to sow doubts and to separate unsuspecting ones from the bounteous "table" of spiritual food spread at the Kingdom Halls of Jehovah’s Witnesses, where truly there is ‘nothing lacking.’ (Ps. 23:1-6) They say that it is sufficient to read the Bible exclusively, either alone or in small groups at home. But, strangely, through such ‘Bible reading,’ they have reverted right back to the apostate doctrines that commentaries by Christendom’s clergy were teaching 100 years ago, and some have even returned to celebrating Christendom’s festivals again, such as the Roman Saturnalia of December 25!
Interesting ideas here, no?
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54
Name a person you admire for any reason
by JH in.
it can be family or a stranger, just anyone you admire for some reason.
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Cygnus
Somebody said Joe Satriani. Excellent! He still puts on a great live show, and it's hard for me to believe I first saw him 16 years ago, when he had hair!
Other people I admire:
Thomas Paine, for telling it like it was.
William Shatner, whose Captain Kirk won all the fights and got all the girls on Star Trek, and for uttering this line from Sat Trek V: "I don't want my pain taken away. I need my pain!" Also for his famous "get a life" skit on SNL, his "Mindmeld" DVD with Leonard Nimoy - truly touching. And of course his 2004 record "Has Been." I don't think there exists a record where the artist gives so much and lets his fans see so much of his heart and his very person.
Jim Kelly, of Buffalo Bills fame, for becoming a great family man in more ways than I can type out.
And of course my mother and father. My dad for working as hard as anybody and providing us with a family business, and also his sage advice and always being on my side with much love. And my mother who is tireless, sympathetic to a tee, charitable with her time and energy, and an absolute saint who everybody loves.
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Halloween Party pics!
by whyamihere ini went to the huge madison wisconsin halloween event.
oh my god it was so much fun.
my friend danielle and i went totally 80's theme.
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Cygnus
Thanks clear. I'm left with just a few scars and bruises, no big deal. I'm glad I was able to dress up a little for Halloween, though it takes forever to button buttons and get suspenders on with hands that hardly work. For what it's worth, the girl clerk at Borders knew who I was trying to look like so I consider it a success. :)
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RACISM Behind 1909 Watch Tower Magazine Name Change
by West70 infrom 1879 through 1908, the magazine owned, operated, and edited by charles taze russell (not the zion's watch tower tract society) was offically named "zion's watch tower and herald of christ's presence".
with several changes caused by the move from pittsburgh to brooklyn to escape maria russell, her lawyers, and the pennsylvania courts, it was decided that the official name of the magazine be changed to "the watch tower and herald of christ's presence".
here are the official reasons for dropping the word "zion's", as stated in the december 15, 1908 issue: .
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Cygnus
A girl I know who has been associated with JWs for over 20 years says that in Shreveport, Louisiana and many other southern localities, segregation among JW congregations was the norm up to the 1980's. I don't know all the particulars however to pass judgment.
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Halloween Party pics!
by whyamihere ini went to the huge madison wisconsin halloween event.
oh my god it was so much fun.
my friend danielle and i went totally 80's theme.
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Cygnus
Thanks for sharing. It's a great time of the year, eh?
I didn't get the codpiece I wanted cause paying overdue bills is a little more important, but I did manage to get the false eyelashes, suspenders, bowler hat, wig, boots and cane for my Alex DeLarge outfit tonight. :)
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Lets be real
by acuragirl inhey everyone lets take a poll.how many of you actually believe in god without a doubt?
whether it be jehovah whoever how many believe there is a supreme being and remember if you believe there is god then you must believe there is satan right??
there is good and evil right?
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Cygnus
acuragirl, guilt is like a bag or bricks. Who are you carrying around that heavy bag for anyway? God? Let me give you a little inside information about "God"........ etc etc.
As I've often said, it no longer matters to me whether God or many gods exist(s). It doesn't concern me other than the occasional interest in the subject, and doesn't affect my daily decisions. 98% of the time even believers/theists go about their business unconcerned with "God." Being with the family tonight is a lot more important than worrying if you're displeasing an ancient semitic tribal sky deity.
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Can a person get Disfellowshipped for cursing out the elders?
by booker-t ini remember years ago a my cousin was being "harrassed" by the elders in her hall about not going out in field service, being "wild" etc; my cousin was only 20 years old at the time and i think she just wanted to have some fun in her youth.
my aunt who has been a jw's for over 40 years was extremely strict on my young cousin.
i think my cousin just could not take it anymore so when the elders called her in for a committe meeting for the upteen time my cousin told me she just snapped and cursed all four of the elders out.
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Cygnus
I would answer by saying it's entirely up to the discretion of the elders chosen to be on a judicial committee (likely not the same elders who were "cussed" at). Remember, too, people are not necessarily DF'd for wrongdoing, but their attitude and level of repentance and works of good faith. I have heard that about 20% of JWs who find themselves in some sort of trouble aren't DF'd but either publicly or privately reproved. From what little I know, I'd say that'll be the case here.