a branch overseer of an asian country who happened to be visiting some of his family members in our area, gave a talk this evening in the hall that i used to attend.
i have not been attending meetings for months, but decided to go when my mother, a devout jw, came to visit me last week.
the branch overseer had just returned from attending the annual meeting in new york.
Since the WT is a quasi-eschatological sect that believes in progressive understanding of God's purposes, there is no blaming them for constructing a more contemporarily relevant message for today's world.
The only fair criticism that could be made against the WT's teachings in this regard (i.e. what the "good news of the kingdom" means) is if you claim that the "end" occurred in 70 CE.
all credit and many thanks go to our dear brother osarsif for making the hourglass2 outpost archives 1996-2001 online internet resource a reality: .
http://www.geocities.com/osarsif/h2o.htm.
that's right, all 6 years!
Cool beans.
Joe Malik sent me CDROMs of the libraries a couple of years ago and when I need a good laugh I go through them. It's fun to see how so many of us have changed so much over the years -- and to see how some things have NOT changed at all!
i have a simulated discussion with chris, a christian and john, a witness on my web site.
they discuss whether jesus is really a master worker.
see what you think.. http://www.towertotruth.net/masterworkerpt1.htm.
John should read pgs. 245-261 of Rolf Furili's book and then come back and kick Chris' arrogant butt.
about yourself.... my pc is in my bedroom.
i do, in fact, have a pc in each room connected by a lan, but this is my pc and this is my very comfortable corner where i like to chill out, play mutliplayer games over ther internet, and of course post numerous fluff posts at jwd.
just by me is a window which, until last week, looked out on some beautiful trees.
I work on chimneys and fireplaces so I am always on ladders.
Today I went back to work for the first time in nearly nine weeks. Climbed on two roofs. No sweat.
(I have only fallen twice, from ten feet -- but I sure have had enough close calls!)
the watchtower society seems to have the power of re-writing history!
i got most of these quotes from http://quotes.jehovahswitnesses.com.
*** live forever book (1982 edition), page 179 ***.
ChristianObserver,
Since the authors of your holy book have committed the very same offenses you castigate the WT for (and BTW, Jesus' disciples were unlettered men; I bet you'd be asking Phillip for his scholarly credentials too), I suggest you pause before you offer such criticisms. Pot, kettle, dark grey, and all that....
the watchtower society seems to have the power of re-writing history!
i got most of these quotes from http://quotes.jehovahswitnesses.com.
*** live forever book (1982 edition), page 179 ***.
Ok, UnD. Let's see what we have to work with here.
The men of Sodom. I see the words used: "apparently," "the scriptures indicate," "Jesus' words indicate..." The relevant Bible verses are vague and difficult to make perfect sense of, so no wonder the Society has had difficulty nailing down an exact answer to the question of whether the men of Sodom will be resurrected. And like this issue, one way or the other, is a faith-determining matter or will change the outcome of Armageddon.
The 20th century sentence was certainly a goofup, and a funny one at that since we are now knocking on the door of 2003. Yep, not unlike how the apostles probably had a good chuckle when they remembered how they were asking Jesus in 33CE if the kingdom was going to manifest itself at that time. (Of course, the New Testament author for some reason left that embarrassment in his story, whereas the WT clearly tried to make it go away.)
In the Truth book, by 1981 it would have been silly to to keep the "15 years" portion of the quote. But otherwise it was still a relevant quote. And in many places the world was indeed very dangerous to live in during the mid-1970s. Also, how silly to publish a book in 1981 that points to possible hunger problems in 1975. Would you expect them to leave such language in the text?
If you read the WT's explanations for Heb 1:6, you would see why "worship" is entirely acceptable, but the WT happens to prefer "obeisence." Most people associated the English word "worship" to mean absolute dedication and reverence towards an ultimate authority, and in Greek, the word simply does not carry that connotation.
I agree with the WT that numerous children are not dying every year. I disagree with AJWRB's speculation that 'thousands' die from the blood policy. Other than some number games I don't see the evidence for it. The quote that thousands of youths have died in the past for putting God first is written sloppily, but does not necessarily mean that today the same number of thousands are also dying for refusing blood transfusions. It simply means that today some youths are following the example of those thousands of yesteryear. If thousands of children have died then where are all of these stories? Why do only a handful exist at the Watchtower Memorial website?
There are certain things the WT has written that are competely untrue or contain misleading language. Text found in the Creation book, historical references to the pre-1927 Bible Students' beliefs, the defense of the 607BCE date -- these things are undeniably huge WT falsities. Rewrites of books which basically make changes to rather insignificant teachings or simple updates to other peoples' remarks hardly constitutes disingenuous behavior.
Let's see you go back 15/20 years and maintain that the remarks you said back then is still pefectly true and relevant today.
i have seen (edited to add the word "posted" here, for clarification purposes) on this board that bill bowen is still a jw at heart, and i have seen posts and transcipts of his where he refers to the "christian" way of handling matters.
i have it on good authority that bill is not concerned with the bible, and that he is as far from being a jw as could be (religiously speaking).
bill has refused to answer my inquiries as well as others' when asked about his position on religious/jw matters that have a bearing on his silentlambs credibility based upon direct statements made by him.
roybatty,
It is about credibility. I don't know Bill Bowen from John Ashcroft. If he is going to say certain things about certain people and yet maintain a complete silence on critical, sensitive issues, then why should I believe anything he says, and why should I lend any support to his organization at all?
I am all for WTS leaders getting beat over the head, but it has to be done right, and without looking like complete fools.
i think she was the one who gave up a tv career in favor of being a jw.
confirmed on yahoo news:.
thu oct 10,10:24 am et.
It hasn't been my practice lately to criticize JWism very much, but Graves' story made me sick to my stomach.
I hope "D" went on to find someone else who would try to understand him instead of haughtily condemning him.
i'd like to inject a note of sanity into this wasp's nest of disgusting apostate vermin.
between all the bickering and backbiting, you have, as the scriptures foretold, not noticed that the day is upon you.
already it is the auspicious month of october.
LOL. Great job, whoever you are. I'm sure those little slip-ups were on purpose as giveaways that this is a parody. Stellar performance!
i have seen (edited to add the word "posted" here, for clarification purposes) on this board that bill bowen is still a jw at heart, and i have seen posts and transcipts of his where he refers to the "christian" way of handling matters.
i have it on good authority that bill is not concerned with the bible, and that he is as far from being a jw as could be (religiously speaking).
bill has refused to answer my inquiries as well as others' when asked about his position on religious/jw matters that have a bearing on his silentlambs credibility based upon direct statements made by him.
Venice, I see how using someone's own textbook against them could be useful. However, Bill has never commented on the scriptural veracity of the two witnesses rule, as far as I know. And the Bible DOES SAY do not take a brother to court. I simply believe that if he is indeed not a Bible believer, he should either condemn the WTS for following the Bible, or leave the Bible and Christianity out of it and concentrate on other matters. And if he is a Bible believer, then I want to know what his real criticisms are based upon the WTS' _current_ policy, which is that nobody is to be prevented or discouraged from reporting suspected abusers to the authorities, and that elders have an obligation to investigate internally.
