He's everywhere! LOL About 2 1/2 minute video.
Important to remember everybody who wrote about Jesus never met him.
a new book "zealot - life and times of jesus of nazareth" by reza aslan.
he converted to christianity from islam at 15 and journey to study the life of the jesus, and the vast disparity between the historical jesus and the evangelical jesus.. a couple of the points he touches on in the interview (link below):.
flaws in the nativity story...one being the census had nothing to do with galilee and there is no documentation of such.
He's everywhere! LOL About 2 1/2 minute video.
Important to remember everybody who wrote about Jesus never met him.
a new book "zealot - life and times of jesus of nazareth" by reza aslan.
he converted to christianity from islam at 15 and journey to study the life of the jesus, and the vast disparity between the historical jesus and the evangelical jesus.. a couple of the points he touches on in the interview (link below):.
flaws in the nativity story...one being the census had nothing to do with galilee and there is no documentation of such.
Alrighty then, on "The Daily Show" yesterday.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/wed-july-17-2013-reza-aslan
a new book "zealot - life and times of jesus of nazareth" by reza aslan.
he converted to christianity from islam at 15 and journey to study the life of the jesus, and the vast disparity between the historical jesus and the evangelical jesus.. a couple of the points he touches on in the interview (link below):.
flaws in the nativity story...one being the census had nothing to do with galilee and there is no documentation of such.
A new book "Zealot - Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth" by Reza Aslan. He converted to Christianity from Islam at 15 and journey to study the life of the Jesus, and the vast disparity between the historical Jesus and the evangelical Jesus.
A couple of the points he touches on in the interview (link below):
Flaws in the nativity story...one being the census had nothing to do with Galilee and there is no documentation of such. He says Luke knew of the flaws in the story and as well as the readers of the account which was several generations later. They knew no one had to go the place of their father's birth to be counted.
Interesting excerpt surrounding the temple cleansing and the paying taxes:
ASLAN: Well, I suppose the perfect example of this is the famous story of the cleansing of the temple. This is a story that of course is told in, you know, every Sunday sermon. Children read about this story in their kids' version of the Bible. It's an incredibly climactic moment in which Jesus is attacking not just the business of the temple but the temple authorities and indeed the Roman authorities, because the two are inextricably linked at the time.
And then something remarkable happens. The Jewish authorities come up to Jesus and they try to trick him, the Gospels say. They show him a coin, a denarius coin, and they say tell us, rabbi, is it lawful to pay tribute to Caesar or not.
Now, this is not a simple question. This is in fact the quintessential test of zealotry in Jesus' time. The zealots being deeply anti-Roman refuse to pay tribute to Rome. The tribute was seen as an abomination. It was sort of proof that the land belonged to Rome instead of God. And so by asking Jesus this question, should we pay the tribute or not, what they were really saying is, are you or are you not a zealot.
Jesus' answer, of course, has been famously understood throughout the centuries as render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and render unto God what is God's, and this has been interpreted as this kind of milquetoast compromise on Jesus' part, neither the priestly position of yes, we should pay tribute, nor the zealot position of no, we shouldn't pay tribute.
But you know, an attempt to say don't worry about the things of this world, focus on the things that matter: worship and obedience to God. But historically speaking, that's not at all what's taking place here. The word that Jesus uses - (speaking foreign language) - doesn't mean render, it means give back. And it's used in Greek as a means of paying someone back that which they owe.
In other words, what Jesus is saying when he looks at the coin and he sees the image of Caesar on here, is perhaps the most obvious example of precisely where Jesus falls in this question of whether it is lawful or not to pay tribute. He deeply is in the zealot camp.
Also interesting thoughts on Pilot and the crucifiction, the destruction of Jerusalem, the Gospels writings, and the Jews and Christians viewed as cults.
Anyway, I found Reza's journey interesting...loss of faith and going back to Islam. I love the history of it all. There is a link to the transcript as well as the audio interview below.
http://www.npr.org/2013/07/15/198040928/christ-in-context-zealot-explores-the-life-of-jesus
awake!
"if you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things.
because all the evidence in fulfillment of bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years... therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers.
@designs: you know we did! And brought in the new century dancing to Br Prince's song.
awake!
"if you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things.
because all the evidence in fulfillment of bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years... therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers.
Watchtower 1989 January 1 p.12 "He was laying a foundation for a work that would be completed in our 20th century."
(The 1989 Watchtower used the term "in our 20th century" in the magazine, but this was changed to "in our day" for the bound volume and the CD ROM library).
I vividly remember Freddie giving a talk at a special convention at Dodger stadium, early 90's I think, and from his mouth to my ears, he said that this system would not last the end of the century...in that voice. The US was at war, and I bought into the doomsday message from the WTBS, and I thought..."it could go any day now!"
Then 1995 generation change happened and my brain switched. I could see they were starting to change the story. When the world made it through 12/31/1999, I knew it was all BS and it was over for me.
this is the main series playlist:.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=plynx0om_bmgbfmnapjr_v5fe9_pf8sqa1.
this is the accompanying video appendix:.
LOL @ Ann, "King Nevvawaza." I'm usin' it.
an official jw.org youtube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/user/jehovahswitnessesen/videos,
Wow. Actually I think it's a smart move. I wonder if they brought in a marketing firm to advise them on the new strategy. Take Jah's name out, make the videos look like 'Toy Story"... Why don't we know the scoop I wonder.
Really really geared toward little kids. They can find YouTube up on smart TV's/ipads/computers, and kids can listen to the shiny happifying videos anytime they want...like a favorite cartoon. Interesting only focused on little kids...nothing yet out for kids 6yrs or so and up.
The "obey" message is loud and clear. It wasn't that way when I was a little kids. Yuck. But it's smart to keep up with the times and not put out more dreadful 192 pg books.
The message is shallow, and won't stick. Toy Story and Cars etc. have layers of excellent writing that all ages enjoy watching over and over. These WT videos are so simple they won't keep the attention span for more than a couple of viewings, I suspect.
yeah, this has been a question that has been on my mind for a while, but how do one know if he has been "marked" by the congregation?
do they announce it?
i have expressed doubt last year about the org, but i still have responsibilities within the kh.
We had a couple in the congo that was marked the way it is explained in the "Flock" sited here. I think it was the first time I think anybody in the hall ever experienced this "formal" marking announced from the platform. A couple had moved into the hall and they were just a mess. They fought, they were constantly going around the congregation in need, and basically, in hind sight, they craved the attention. But the PO did everything by the book...don't remember if he announced the names, but there was no question who he was talking about. Skip forward to today, 20 years. I was marked by a older elder, loong time (former) friend of the family. He told his family and my JW relative privately that I was marked for not going to meetings and there was to be no association whatsoever. My JW relative told my sister this, and she told me. We decided I should carry a Sharpie at all times so I could tell everybody I'm marked.
awake!
"if you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things.
because all the evidence in fulfillment of bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years... therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers.
** sigh**
Does that bring back memories.
What kills me is that I believed them. I hardly believe anybody...but I believed them! They never got a f****n thing right, yet I believed them. I really try not to carry the anger about it...but it is the one thing that still makes me feel like I've been punched in the stomach.
she was a 12 year old maltese.
the best pet in the world.
my wife and i never had kids, so she was our only daughter.
So sorry for your loss.