Posts by Earnest

144

Hailstone message AND everyone will be saved? Questions

by slimboyfat in

i’ve not been paying close attention to watchtower developments, but talking to a jw yesterday it occurred to me the society (yes, still use that term - old school) have been sending out mixed messages in recent years.

from what i gather, a few years ago the gb announced that during the great tribulation jws would be required to preach a “hailstone message of judgement” which involved telling people it was too late for them to repent and they were definitely going to be destroyed.

there were hints that this could be very soon, “any day now” preaching could stop and the hailstone message come in, kind of thing.

Earnest

slimboyfat : The “millions” who were expected to survive Armageddon were currently unbelievers who would accept the truth in the new world in large numbers and never die.

Yes, slim, you've got that right. In the convention at Los Angeles in August 1923 Rutherford gave a talk on the parable of the Sheep and the Goats. This was reported on in the October 15, 1923 Watchtower (pp.307-314), the sheep were identified as those in Christendom who were sympathetic towards the Bible Students and their message. It says, on p.313 :

There is a large number of people in the denominational churches and outside of them who do not claim consecration, but who now see enough of the truth to convince them that the kingdom is at hand and who rejoice in the fact that the King is here. It is not at all unreasonable to conclude that there are millions now hearing about God’s plan of salvation who will pass through the time of trouble and never die, being amongst the first that will have opportunity for a trial for life everlasting.

An additional thought has occurred to me of the importance that it is no longer necessary for unconverted relatives and friends to die before the Great Tribulation in order to live in paradise. There have been a number of cases where a JW has murdered close relatives. There seems little doubt that the perpetrator was mentally unstable, but even so the thought that he was saving them from eternal destruction (as they would get a resurrection) apparently played a part in some such cases.

40

Dates and times

by jhine in

last night at my bible study group we looked at 1thessalonians ch 5 .

we have been working through the whole letter.

verses 1-11 start with .

Earnest

jhine : You must know that faithful JWs sold houses and cars to donate the money to preaching work . Then when it didn't happen none of the money was paid back .

It's true that some JWs sold their houses prior to 1975. But the purpose was to finance themselves to be able to preach full-time in the remaining months, not to donate the money for others to do the work. If I spend my money on myself, why should I be paid back?

35

Visited the Russell gravesite yesterday

by dropoffyourkeylee in

wife and i visited the russell gravesite in allegheny (pittsburgh) pennsylvania yesterday.

i’ll post photos if i can get them to upload on the hotel wifi..

Earnest

Diogenesister : Is Lorena Russell Charlie Russell's wife? Or sister??

Apparently she is unrelated. See the link provided by "vienne".

39

Faithful Slave Appointment: What are the assumptions of Watchtower Matthew 24:45-47 Eschatology?

by Vanderhoven7 in

text: matthew 24:45-47.

45 “who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?

46 it will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.

Earnest

At the time of the appointment of the faithful slave in 1919 it was understood to include all anointed Christians, and at that time all Christians were anointed. So it's a bit of nonsense to say that the faithful slave was appointed at Watchtower Headquarters. Or to say it included Watchtower directors as it included everyone. Or to speak of the appointment being passed on to subsequent Watchtower directors.

It was only in 2012 that there was a change in understanding that the faithful slave only referred to the Governing Body collectively (not individually).

7

Comedian Katt Williams Wrongly Disfellowshipped By Jehovah's Witnesses!!!

by Golden4Altar in

comedian katt williams wrongly disfellowshipped by jehovah's witnesses!!!.

here is the link: https://jehovahstruth.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=59.

golden 4altar.

Earnest

00:59 - 01:08 "Anything that I'm going to do is going to fall out the guidelines but I'm not going to let you tell me what I'm going to be ..."

01:34 - 01:40 "Don't try and disfellowship me for sexual acts and I'm a virgin."

It's not quite clear why the disfellowshipping is described as wrong. He was apparently (according to his words) disfellowshipped for sexual acts which he justified because he didn't lose his virginity. Without knowing any further details it is simply conjecture, but sexual acts + lack of repentance = disfellowshipping. Case closed.

45

How Do Jehovah's Witnesses View Education?

by southyukon in

i have a question about this article.. https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/jw-education-school/.

higher education can lead to moral and spiritual dangers.

a bible proverb says: "the shrewd one sees the danger and conceals himself.

Earnest

Balaam's Ass, the same paragraph is in the October 2023 "Shepherd the Flock of God" edition.

16

Elder abuser in Sunshine Coast down under (?)

by carla in

not sure if this has been posted or not, apologies if it has.

i did a quick search and did not see it.

https://archive.md/5zcdi -a sunshine coast jehovah’s witness figure accused of horrific sex crimes has been remanded in jail for fresh offences which allegedly occurred the same day he attended court.. and https://archive.md/r2o6x -a sunshine coast jehovah’s witness figure who allegedly used his position in the church to sexually assault young men has been arrested by police.

Earnest

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5071208429649920/senior-jw-member-australia-charged-sex-crimes-torture

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5138666075193344/another-bad-egg

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6247931447869440/sunshine-coast-evil-elder

30

FDS 1919 Declaration Date

by NotFormer in

did rutherford have any "prophetic" justification for 1919 as the date that jesus declared him (ahem, the wt organisation) the fds?

such as some calculation attached to 1914?

that in 1919, jesus would come looking for his true organisation?.

Earnest

Malachi 3:1-3 mentions an inspection of the spiritual temple, followed by a time of cleansing. But the justification for the year 1919 can be found in Revelation 11 and the prophecy about the "two witnesses".

It describes a short period of 42 months when the "two witnesses preached in sackcloth" (from Autumn 1914 to Spring 1918). They were then symbolically killed (by imprisonment) but were brought back to life in the early part of 1919. This is discussed in a Question from Readers in WT November, 2014.

45

How Do Jehovah's Witnesses View Education?

by southyukon in

i have a question about this article.. https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/jw-education-school/.

higher education can lead to moral and spiritual dangers.

a bible proverb says: "the shrewd one sees the danger and conceals himself.

Earnest

TTWSYF : Isn’t it bizarre that an organization that boastfully prides itself on “true” scriptural interpretation would look suspiciously at theological studies?

Not at all. Theological studies often includes source criticism, form criticism, redaction criticism, tradition criticism and/or canonical criticism, all of which discount inspiration of the scriptures. They say there are no atheists in foxholes. It is truer to say there are no believers in theological colleges.

45

How Do Jehovah's Witnesses View Education?

by southyukon in

i have a question about this article.. https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/jw-education-school/.

higher education can lead to moral and spiritual dangers.

a bible proverb says: "the shrewd one sees the danger and conceals himself.

Earnest

There should be no problem studying electronics or electrical engineering. Subjects which might disturb a young Christian student would include classes in philosophy and theology as well as sciences related to evolution like biology, geology, genetics etc.

A friend of mine who was contacted while studying electrical engineering at university was encouraged by the circuit overseer to complete his degree before making any decisions about pioneering.