Posts by Earnest

29

Were You Ever Interested In Early Watchtower History?

by minimus in

i also was intrigued by the russellites and the break away sects that formed before and after charles taze russell.

i can only imagine what the bible students were thinking when rutherford became the next watchtower president..

Earnest

minimus : What is the Witness view of the Evil Slave now?

The Watchtower of 15th July 2013 which discussed the new understanding of the faithful and discreet slave also spoke about the evil slave :

Was Jesus foretelling that there would be an evil slave class in the last days? No. Granted, some individuals have manifested a spirit similar to that of the evil slave described by Jesus. We would call them apostates, whether they were of the anointed or of the “great crowd.” (Rev. 7:9) But such ones do not make up an evil slave class. Jesus did not say that he would appoint an evil slave. His words here are actually a warning directed to the faithful and discreet slave.

58

Has anyone still in or otherwise heard anything about JWs think we only have 12 months before Armageddon?

by blablabluh in

i’ve noticed a change in family attitude recently, like there is just something extra on their mind.

i even had to call my brother to check if he was dying and too scared to tell me.

anyway, i saw a video last night my saying jws think we only have 12 months left before armageddon so thought maybe this is the reason for changes attitude.

Earnest

Sigfrid Mallozzi : John Kerry says humans only have 12 years before all humanity dies from the global climate crisis.

John Kerry (01/27/2021): Three years ago, scientists starkly warned us that we had twelve years in which to make decisions to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis.

2

Peter Bridle & Fred Smedley

by Paul Bonanno in

jw
friends

is there anyone from south africa who remembers peter bridle or fred smedley?

do you have any pictures of them?

they were missionaries..

The 1999 Yearbook, pp.162-168, reports that they were British graduates of Gilead who were assigned to Nyasaland/Malawi in 1949. There is no mention of them in the 2007 Yearbook which reported on South Africa.

5

Controversy Early Day's Watchtower

by vienne in

some of you may be interested in this: https://truthhistory.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-watch-tower-and-koreshan-unity.html.

Earnest

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Annie. I was amused that Ulysses Morrow wrote about his conversion to the Koreshan belief of a hollow earth from a previous "flat earth" belief. As "Jerome", the writer of the article says, Russell must have breathed a big sigh of relief when they parted company.

33

Memorial Prep question

by ExCircuitOverseer in

so are individual witnesses being told to prepare bread and have wine on hand for the zoom memorial?

are they saying it’s “vital” or is it just a “suggestion?” .

Earnest

The Watchtower of December 15, 2013, page 24 para.7 says :

As there was no need for augmenting or fortifying the value of Jesus’ blood, the wine used is not a type fortified with brandy or spices. Plain red wine should be used, a homemade wine or a commercial wine, such as Beaujolais, Burgundy, or Chianti.

18

Accepting the reason why the Watchtower Corporation and its top leaders are endeavored to brainwash people

by Rocketman123 in

taking a close look at the operation of the jws religion you can observe technics of brainwashing orchestrated through the literature the wts publishes for its members such as the watchtower .. everything these men have done had calculating agendas, which were to firstly attract attention to the literature they published, to cultivate power toward themselves, to intentionally take control over people's lives and of course draw in money.. brainwashing (also known as mind control, menticide, coercive persuasion, thought control, thought reform, and re-education) is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques.

brainwashing is said to reduce its subjects' ability to think critically or independently,[1] to allow the introduction of new, unwanted thoughts and ideas into their minds,[2] as well as to change their attitudes, values and beliefs.

Earnest

I remember that thread, TD, and fail to understand the difficulty in accepting the obvious inconsistency. Even now I fail to understand the insistence that Russell was right about 1914 when it requires such convoluted justification as overlapping generations to keep it above water.

You mention the book "1984" by George Orwell in your previous thread and I do wonder about those who are so certain about other forms of Christianity and even evolution when I consider your comment :

Jehovah's Witnesses don't appreciate this at all and vigorously deny it, but a lingering question remains: If you were no longer the master of your own mind, would you actually be aware of it? How would you even know?

29

Newly discovered Dead Sea Scrolls with the tetragrammaton within the Greek text

by dropoffyourkeylee in

big news from israel, some previously undiscovered dead sea scrolls have been found with portions of the ot in greek.

it says the name of god is included in hebrew letters within the greek text.. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/world/middleeast/dead-sea-scrolls.html.

"the new fragments contain verses from zechariah 8:16-17, including part of the name of god written in ancient hebrew, and verses from nahum 1:5-6, both from the biblical book of the twelve minor prophets.".

Earnest

Ding : If it was important to include the Hebrew Tetragrammaton in the Greek text, why didn't the New Testament writers do it as well?

The fact that the tetragrammaton was included in the Greek text of the OT is a strong basis to accept that the New Testament writers did it as well, especially when quoting from the OT. None of the extant mss/papyri of the NT are earlier than the second/third century CE by which time the tradition of using the nomina sacra had developed.

38

Watchtower Change On Origins from 42,000 Years to the "Day Age" Theory

by Sea Breeze in

does anyone know when and how the change took place?

is the "day age" theory still the current position of watchtower?.

Earnest

The importance of the year 1975 was based on the idea that the seventh day was 7,000 years and that in 1975 there were 1,000 years to go (the millenium). When nothing happened it was clear that either the chronology was wrong or that a creative day was not 7,000 years (or both). It was only after 1975 that the lengths of the creative days became blurred.

There is an interesting article in Awake! of 9/22 1986 which discusses "Scientific Dates for Prehistoric Times".

35

An exchange with a JW about the blood doctrine.

by Giles Gray in

i recently had an online exchange with an active jw about the blood issue.

he originally wanted to talk about the potential dangers of transfusions but i pointed out that the risks of transfusions have nothing whatsoever to do with the reason that jws reject blood, and therefore i didn’t see any value in debating that topic.. not able to let it go, he then insisted that the blood mandate was a common theme throughout the bible, quoting acts 15:29.. it’s been a while since i looked into the subject, and i admit i’m now a little rusty when it comes to recalling where to find biblical quotes, but i remembered that there are passages in both the new and old testaments that, when read in the context of the time they were written, call into question the watchtower’s rendition of acts 15:29.. i offered to do some bible research and get back to the jw, suggesting that rather than letting our discussion become combative, we could have an informative and interesting exchange of ideas.

i reassured him that i was not looking to undermine his convictions, in fact i was more than happy to be corrected if my thinking was wrong.

Earnest

stan livedeath : Didnt former member Cofty write the same thing a year or 2 back ?

St George of England : "Former Member"? Have I missed something?

cofty stopped posting about four months ago, saying :

"I can't no longer be part of the irrational and hateful environment that has come to dominate this forum."

35

An exchange with a JW about the blood doctrine.

by Giles Gray in

i recently had an online exchange with an active jw about the blood issue.

he originally wanted to talk about the potential dangers of transfusions but i pointed out that the risks of transfusions have nothing whatsoever to do with the reason that jws reject blood, and therefore i didn’t see any value in debating that topic.. not able to let it go, he then insisted that the blood mandate was a common theme throughout the bible, quoting acts 15:29.. it’s been a while since i looked into the subject, and i admit i’m now a little rusty when it comes to recalling where to find biblical quotes, but i remembered that there are passages in both the new and old testaments that, when read in the context of the time they were written, call into question the watchtower’s rendition of acts 15:29.. i offered to do some bible research and get back to the jw, suggesting that rather than letting our discussion become combative, we could have an informative and interesting exchange of ideas.

i reassured him that i was not looking to undermine his convictions, in fact i was more than happy to be corrected if my thinking was wrong.

Earnest

Bobcat : ... does anyone know where the article is wherein WT encourages JW healthcare workers to report blood use (or other WT health infractions) by other JWs to their elders?

You may be thinking of the article "A Time to Speak" - When in the Watchtower of September 1, 1987, pp.12-15. However, the illustration given in that article is on abortion not blood use, although clearly the same principles would apply.

Atlantis had a post on the article here.