Posts by Dawn

54

Christianity the biggest scam ever!!!

by William Penwell in

jw
friends

reading a number of posts here it seems like a fair amount of posters are still into and pushing the christian philosophy.

i would like to start a discussion here that objectively examines the evidence and not base a belief on "blind faith".

after leaving the jdubs, i have read a number of books over the past few years.

Dawn

Hi William:

I did honestly research this topic a few years back. I was studying various religions and trying to make a decision on what to do and decided to start with a clean slate - not taking for granted that Jesus or God even existed. I found that there is evidence of Jesus' existence outside of the bible and Christian writers - Josephus is only one example, there are other letters and historical documents from political leaders of the time that speak of Jesus and the christian movement. Perhaps you should do a little more research on this.

The thing that made me really believe in Jesus was studying prophecies that he fulfilled - mainly in Isaiah and Daniel. Since the Old Testament scriptures were translated into Greek (the septuagint ) prior to Jesus' birth we know they were in existence before he arrived on the scene. To add to this is the fact that a large portion of the Isaiah text was found with the dead sea scrolls - dating well before his birth. Isaiah contains numerous prophecies about Jesus including events surrounding his birth as well as how he would die.

Daniel outlines the time when Jesus would be born.

Daniel 9:25 Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven `sevens,' and sixty-two `sevens.'

...The First Coming occurred exactly 483 years after "the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem,". The Jews of that time knew the time table - hence the reason why so many asked both Jesus and John the Baptist "are you him"? They were expecting a messiah.

Combining that with the fact that this "Jesus" has made the largest impact on human history of any individual - even our calendars are based on his birth.

There have been individuals that have made huge impacts on history - but none have reached even close to the impact of Jesus - nor have they fulfilled prophecies on this level that could be proven were written prior to their existence.

12

God's Ride

by dustyb in

jw
friends

i always remember in the bible that god's preferred choice of transportation was a chariot.

why would god have a chariot though, instead of a nice new porsche 911 or a ferarri or something like that?

he'd sure be noticed more =d

Dawn

No way - he'd drive a Viper!!

(not mine - but my father in law's......I have gotten to ride in it but too scared to drive it)

or..........maybe something with more power - say a 440 Hemi

Now THIS one is ours

But if I had my choice I'd go for one of those cute 2 seat coup Mercedes Benz.......or perhaps a flying car?

34

The Passion of the Christ (Movie)

by Golf in

jw
friends

after hearing the pro's and con's about the movie, i went to see it this afternoon.

i know we all have differing views, but i'm interested in knowing what impression it left you.

for me, i went in with a critical eye and i was emotionally detached from the movie.

Dawn

Well - I have tickets for this evening but due to a family crisis won't get to go until this weekend (boo hoo) - but I gave the tickets to my son so he's going. I'm interested in hearing other people's comments too!

13

unused scriptures

by galaxy7 in

jw
friends

.

has anyone ever figured out how many scriptures the witnesses dont use in all their publications?.

it seems they use the same ones over and over

Dawn

Matthew 24:27 "For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man."

Pretty hard to argue his coming will be invisible with that scipture!

68

What is a Super Jehovah's Witness?

by Valis in

*lol*

Dawn

Well Super.....in checking your posting history - I'd say you are a pretty funny fellow.......but I think you better start taking your meds again. I'm worried about you!

68

What is a Super Jehovah's Witness?

by Valis in

*lol*

Dawn

You are afraid of super Jehovah's Witnesses because you know that they cannot so easily be neutralised.

Hmmmm.......I don't fear them at all. Why should I? It's the individuals that have not heard all the facts that worries me.

You have been given the information, have done your research, and made your decision. That's good.

Each person should have the freedom to make their own decision about what is the right course of action. What I feel is the right path may not be, and what you feel is the right path may not be - ultimately, we all answer to God for ourselves.

25

What if life is found on Mars

by gitasatsangha in

stuff like the allen hills meteor, and recent findgs from the rovers like signs of water, and this: .

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/opportunity_threads_040220.html.

..are starting to just possibly make me think that evidence for life (or past life) to be found on mars at some point.

Dawn

I guess I don't see the problem for a Christian - I'm a Christian and I think it would be REALLY cool to find life elsewhere.

The bible addresses MAN here on this earth only - that doesn't mean there is not other intelligent life elsewhere. If I write a letter to my daughter in Nevada does that, by default, mean I don't have other children elsewhere? Of course not.

Dawn.........(from the x-files class)

7

Achieving Salvation

by desib77 in

jw
friends

the other night, i had a couple of pastors over to try to answer some questions i had.

they came prepared to "save me" and even tried to do so.

tonight i bought a book that mentioned being saved by accepting the work of christ and asking jesus to save me.

Dawn

Hi Desib:

I do believe it is a personal thing - you don't have to accept Jesus in front of anyone if you don't feel comfortable doing so.

As for the faith vs. works thing. An interesting study for you - look in a biblical concordance for the New Testament verses about eternal life - you will find in every verse that this is a "gift" - it is always a "gift" - it can not be earned through any action of our own. (Heb 11: 7-9 - saved by faith).

Now there is a second thing spoken of in the New Testament - and that is "rewards". If you look in your concordance for the verses speaking of "rewards" you will find that rewards can be earned by works, and also can be lost.

So to put it simply - by accepting Jesus as your savior you receive a free "gift" of life. You can't earn this - if you could, well then, what reason would you need Jesusl? But you can't earn it - it is given to you because of your faith. Once you have received this free gift you can earn "rewards" (I suppose something that is given you in heaven - remember the 'storing up treasure in heaven' scriptures).

The reason this is confusing is that JW's combine the two - the gift and the rewards - and say that everlasting life must be earned through works.

Now for that scripture - faith without works is dead. Well - isn't that true? If we REALLY have faith, then our life will show that in some way - not through our own doing but because Jesus is working through us. It's not something we do - it's something HE does in us that makes us change. This scripture is pointing at those who simply say they have faith, but really don't, and have not accepted Jesus as their savior. Read it in context and it will make more sense.

I hope this has helped you.

16

How long has man been on earth - an epiphany of sorts

by Dawn in

jw
friends

i am a believer, but have struggled with some bible subjects.

the one that has caused me the most questions, and for the longest time (even as a jw) is the geneology of jesus found in the first 17 verses of matthew.. on the one hand there is an incredible amount of scientific evidence supporting man's existence here on earth for well past 6,000 years.

i did a thesis paper in archeology on dating techniques so i am familiar with these techniques and i believe they are credible.. i could toss this section of matthew aside as some sort of mistake except for another type of evidence - the mathmatical codes contained in these verses.

Dawn

I am a believer, but have struggled with some bible subjects. The one that has caused me the most questions, and for the longest time (even as a JW) is the geneology of Jesus found in the first 17 verses of Matthew.

On the one hand there is an incredible amount of scientific evidence supporting man's existence here on earth for well past 6,000 years. I did a thesis paper in archeology on dating techniques so I am familiar with these techniques and I believe they are credible.

I could toss this section of Matthew aside as some sort of mistake except for another type of evidence - the mathmatical codes contained in these verses. For example, verses 1-11 (the first main section) there are 49 Greek words used (divisible by 7), of these 49 words, The number of those beginning with a vowel is 28 (again divisible by 7), the number of words beginning with a consonant is 21 (divisible by 7), the total number of letters in these 49 words is exactly 266 (divisible by 7)...for the sake of posting length I will stop here and not list all 24+ mathmatical codes found in the Greek text that are divisible by 7 in this particular section. However - it is clear that there is something special about this set of scriptures - the geneology of Jesus. It seems as though God wanted to make it clear to those who were searching that this was correct - this was the actual geneology - it was not a mistake.

So now I have colliding data......physical data on the one hand that supports man's existence longer than 6,000 years, mathmatical data on the other hand that supports divine inspiration of a set of scriptures that say the opposite.

There must be some answer that explains this and encompases both sets of facts/data - something beyond our current understanding. Then it hit me.....the epiphany.........what if the answer isn't what it's all about?! What if it's the search, the journey to the answer that really matters? I remembered the scripture in Matthew when Jesus said to keep knocking, and to keep seeking. If the answer was the most important thing, wouldn't he give it the first time we asked? But he puts the focus on the searching part - not the answer. Then I remembered that old piece of eastern wisdom "sometimes the journey is more important than the destination".

So perhaps there is an answer that explains it all - but to find it we have to be willing to open our mind to other possibilities, put down our biases, and really see the world, the universe with a "new" mind. And maybe that's the purpose of these tough riddles - to help us grow.

I will still struggle over this riddle and will toss around possibilities, probably until the day I die. But I realize something now - that's ok. Finding the answer isn't what's most important - it's the fact that I have the freedom to search for it. I no longer have to accept whatever doctrine is spoon fed to me by the "society" and close my mind off to any other facts or possibilities. I have the freedom to wonder, to discover, and to learn. And maybe that's what IS most important.

15

What are you doing this Sunday if not going to the kingdom hall?????????

by BLISSISIGNORANCE in

jw
friends

i went out with girl-friends last night so i slept in this morning.

had breakfast with hubby as the kids are out and about, and read the paper.. i will potter around home a bit and tidy up, then hubby and i will go to do a bit of shopping and throw some wts cardboard cases into the recycling depot.. later on this afternoon we are meeting some friends down at the lake to watch an open air screening of tropfest which is a competition to find the best short film, made by unknown film makers in australia.

some music, wine and fine food...........should be great.. then home to get ready for the next week of work........... and not one second regretting my choices!.

Dawn

Church........I like going to my church now. Then my daughter and I are having a tea party.....then lots of yard work (spring is on it's way!)