There are a couple of other churches that have common roots with the Christadelphians such as the Church of God General Conference and the Church of the Blessed Hope (also known as the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith, which was founded by Benjamin Wilson). There are also some offshoots from the Watchtower Society such as the Chicago Bible Students.
Earnest
JoinedPosts by Earnest
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24
From Paradise Lost To Paradise Regained: Is the WTS the sole promoter of this doctrine?
by Pallbearer inhowdy folks,.
i am interested in learning whether or not the watchtower society is the only religious entity that teaches the "from paradise lost to paradise regained" idea.. the "idea" is that god's original purpose for man and the earth has not changed.
god purposed for adam and eve and their offspring to reproduce and fill the earth and live forever upon it; but the problem of sin entered into the picture and temporarily interrupted that purpose from being completed.
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Earnest
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New Approach to Discussing Deity of Christ with JW's
by Sea Breeze in5:27; 9:59; 18:22; jn.
9:48; [21:8]; 24:47; jn.
21:12, 17;] jn.
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Earnest
That's an interesting application of Isaiah 26:19, but the speaker who refers to "my dead body" is not God which is obvious from the context, but the choir which verse 1 refers to.
In Barnes Notes he says "it is not the language of the prophet Isaiah, as if he referred to his own body when it should be dead, but it is the language of the choir that sings and speaks in the name of the Jewish people. 'That people' is thus introduced as saying 'my' dead, that is, 'our' dead, shall rise", i.e. they will be restored to their privileges and land.
How could "my dead body" (nblthi) refer to a collective dead? Well, it does as can be seen in Leviticus 11:11 ("...you are to loathe their dead body [nblthm]"), Psalms 79:2 ("They have given the dead body [nblth] of your servants..."), Isaiah 5:25 ("... and their dead bodies [literally "their dead body", nblthm] will become like the offal..."), Jeremiah 7:33 ("And the dead bodies [literally "dead body", nblth] of this people must become food...").
Likewise, Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament says of this expression, "my corpses will rise again" (יקמוּן נבלתי, nebēlah: a word without a plural, but frequently used in a plural sense).
This understanding is clear in both the LXX ("those in the memorial tombs") and Vulgate ("my killed ones") translations of this verse. Barnes suggests that this is a parallelism (common in the Hebrew Bible) with "my dead" [nblthi] in parallel with "your dead ones" [mthik] and refers to the remnant who were civilly dead but will be restored to their homeland, in contrast with the tyrants of Babylon in verse 14 who will not rise up again.
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48
JWs are bigger and more successful than the Mormon church
by joe134cd injust saw the following you tube video.
it’s 3 hours long, but thoroughly interesting.
if you want to save yourself 3 hours, basically the active mormon church is about 3 million.
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Earnest
joe134cd : [LDS] has annual income of $US400 billion that it generates off its assets.
Just a small point, joe, but I believe the claim is that the LDS have $400 billion worth of assets like stocks, land, buildings, real estate which could generate income. If we assume an interest rate of 7% that would be an annual income of $28 billion. Then, of course, you add to that the tithing, bequests etc.
Another interesting remark by Simon Southerton when discussing the Ensign Peak/Huntsman case was
What's moral and what's legal ain't the same thing and if you start following lawyers, and the church does it, you are going to do things that stink.
I couldn't help thinking that is true of Jehovah's Witnesses as well.
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I remember reading somewhere a long time ago
by mickbobcat inthat rutherford or russell were into phrenology.
anyone have any info on this and is there anything in the tower or other publications going back about it?
thanks.
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Earnest
Anony Mous : The first two articles seem to suggest that phrenology is true ...
The second article is talking about the shape of the brain, not the shape of the skull which is what phrenology measures. The pertinent section in the article is discussing that those who possess particular qualities of mind are naturally drawn to God. It is not talking about measuring the skull or the brain in any way. It (Watchtower Reprints, 03/15/1913, p.5201) goes on to say :
Man was created in the image of God. The fall has greatly marred that image, but no one is totally depraved. All have unbalanced brains, some in one direction, others in another. When the truth comes in contact with those whose organs of veneration or conscientiousness are less impaired, they are drawn to investigate it, with the hope of being drawn close to God. Those whose organs of veneration and conscientiousness are more impaired, do not have this experience, and are not drawn unto God, if haply they may find him.
I really don't think there is any endorsement of phrenology here. In fact, in the first article, which does talk about phrenology, it specifically says "without claiming that any has learned to read accurately from the shape of the human skull the various traits of character therein represented", which settles any doubt a reader might have that such a claim is being made.
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Greetings and Request for Help
by AGuest-Again init's been awhile since i've been on this board and i am not here to stay (so stay calm, please, simon).
a good, dear friend of mine... and possible yours... outlaw needs some help and i've come back solely for the purpose of asking for that.
a couple of days ago, outlaw lost everything... and i do mean everything... to one of the wildfires burning in british columbia:.
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4
I remember reading somewhere a long time ago
by mickbobcat inthat rutherford or russell were into phrenology.
anyone have any info on this and is there anything in the tower or other publications going back about it?
thanks.
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Earnest
The Watchtower of July 15, 1907 says in an article on the Tabernacle (p.4028) :
Without claiming that phrenology has reached a perfection of development - without claiming that any has learned to read accurately from the shape of the human skull the various traits of character therein represented, even while admitting that such a reading of character might be defective, and particularly so with those whose characters have been transformed by the renewing of their mind through the begettal of the holy Spirit - nevertheless we may admit that phrenology so far as understood fully corroborates the picture given us in the arrangement of the Tabernacle of Israel surrounded by the camp.
It then goes on to say that if we imagine the human skull spread out flat that the central part of it would correspond to the Tabernacle and its court. It's very strange but it is hardly an endorsement of phrenology.
There is also a reference to the shape of the brain in the March 15, 1913 Watchtower (p.5201) but that is not talking about phrenology.
The drawing power which the Almighty exercises over humanity is in different degrees. Some have a strong desire to worship God, others have a weak desire, and others have no desire at all. This difference is due to the shape of the brain. Mankind are born with differences in this respect.--Psa. 51:5
In the Watchtower of July 15, 1978 in an article on the Human Brain (pp.14-18) it says :
By the use of electrodes, areas of the cerebral cortex have been mapped out, showing what functions are performed and where. Some false beliefs have been removed, such as phrenology—the study of “character traits” by feeling bumps on the head. The shape of the skull is not determined by the shape of the cerebrum, nor is it possible to assign “character traits” to specific areas of the brain.
So, really not very much at all. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some mention of it in the Golden Age but couldn't find any.
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Afghanistan-Kabul falls to Taliban - U.S. Embassy staff evacuated by helicopter
by fulltimestudent inin a scene reminiscent of the fall of saigon, the usa embassy staff have been evacuated by helicopter.. for a third time in asia ( a fourth, if you count usa supported chiang kai shek's defeat in mainland china) usa supported forces have been defeated.
more than 1 trillion dollars wasted and a huge deathtoll (both sides) afghanistan is back to where it started,.
will the taliban behave differently this time ?
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Earnest
Redvip2000 : You forgot a big important factor. A lot of armament was sold and used, pockets were lined and wallets got fat. The goal of the war was achieved.
In Civilization: The Six Killer Apps of Western Power, London (2012), Niall Ferguson reports (p.309) that
By the end of World War II Britain had amassed an immense debt of £21 billion. Much of this was held in foreign hands, with around £3.4 billion being owed overseas (mainly to creditors in the United States), a sum which represented around one third of annual GDP.
On 31 December 2006, Britain made a final payment of about £45.5m and thereby discharged the last of its World War II war loans from the US.
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East Pennines A$$emb£y Hall
by punkofnice inso, my spies tell me that the east pennines a$$emb£y hall is being sold and all proceeds going to jobo hq.
there's a surprise.....not!.
i understand there are other properties too.
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Earnest
The Hall was set up and run as a separate charity, however the Kingdom Hall Trust holds title as a custodian to all land and buildings.
These are the EPAH accounts 2016 - 2019 :
2016 : Income £332.74k Expenditure £441.62k (£212.78k donated to WTBS)
2017 : Income £333.43k Expenditure £460.85k (£272.25k donated to WTBS)
2018 : Income £349.92k Expenditure £462.69k (£258.06k donated to WTBS)
2019 : Income £281.71k Expenditure £332.15k (£148.34k donated to WTBS)
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The parable of the trees! (Judges 9:8-15
by slimboyfat indo you recall reading this passage before?
i came across this it yesterday while preparing a bible presentation on trees.
i had no idea this passage existed.
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Earnest
As FFGhost reported, there was an article in the 15th March 1935 Watchtower entitled "Prophecy of the Trees" (pp.83-90). In part it says (para. 7) :
Both good and bad trees appear in this prophetic parable recorded in Judges nine. In symbol the inanimate objects represented the following :
The olive tree in the parable symbolically pictured Gideon, Christ Jesus, the Greater Gideon, and the faithful remnant.
The fig tree symbolically pictured Jether, the first-born of Gideon, and the “holy nation”.
The vine symbolically pictured Jehovah’s royal house, Christ Jesus the Head thereof in charge of the royal house, together with the others who will have a part in the vindication of Jehovah’s name.
The bramble, or thorn tree, in the parable symbolically pictured the visible rulers of this world that constitute the official element of Satan’s organization in the earth.
Abimelech, the bastard son of Gideon by his concubine, played in the drama the part of the active and visible ruling elements of the world since 1914.
Shechem, the city and the residents thereof, particularly the Levites, pictured the religious element, that is, the clergy element of “Christendom”, including “the man of sin” class.
The “seventy sons” of Gideon pictured the followers of Christ Jesus engaged in doing the Elijah work of the church prior to and up to 1918.
Jotham, the son of Gideon who uttered the prophecy of the trees, pictured the remnant.
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Need help...Resurrection JW beliefs from the 50'6 and 60's.
by Snoozy inwas talking with a gal that is most likely going back to the religion after 20 or 30 years.
we got into a discussion about having babies after "armageddon ".
she was talking about being normal ( she is practically bedridden but only in her 50's.
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Earnest
In a Question from Readers in the Watchtower of 15 August 2014 it says :
For years, our publications have said that Jesus’ words about the resurrection and getting married likely refer to the earthly resurrection and that those resurrected to life in the new world will evidently not marry. [e.g. The Watchtower, June 1, 1987] (Matt. 22:29, 30; Mark 12:24, 25; Luke 20:34-36) While we cannot be dogmatic, is it possible that Jesus’ words refer to the heavenly resurrection? Let us examine what Jesus said.
It then discusses several questions which that raises, including :
Third, if Jesus’ words about the resurrection and getting married apply to the heavenly resurrection, does this mean that those who come back in the earthly resurrection will be able to marry? God’s Word does not give a direct answer to that specific question. If Jesus was, in fact, talking about the heavenly resurrection, then his words do not shed any light on whether resurrected ones on earth will be able to marry in the new world.