Cold Steel

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Posts by Cold Steel

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  28

  Taking the Bible Lessons And Going To a KH For First Time

  by Cold Steel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've taken the bible lessons but have never attended a kingdom hall.

  i was curious as to what point they begin to tighten the screws of control?

  let's say you're a baptist.

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  Cold Steel

  Pale.Emperor » But for all that... you'd think they'd at least find a sword or an arrow head or a Nephite/Lamanite pot or something. All those people and battles?

  You're absolutely correct.

  Book of Mormon archeology is one of the most fascinating aspects of the Book of Mormon and there's considerable evidence that the events described therein occurred in Mesoamerica, not the northern part of what is now the United States.
  

  Although there's a very vocal LDS group that disagrees, the Book of Mormon appears to take place in a tropical setting. There's no mention of snow, crossing frozen rivers, casualties from exposure. It also appears in an area of volcanic activity. In one case, poisonous serpents prevent travel through a narrow stop of land for five years. This would be impossible in a land where there was snow and ice. The Mexican people, however, have traditions of areas populated with such serpents. In one case, they directed immigrants into an afflicted area hoping they would perish (so as not to pose a future threat to them). Unfortunately for the existing population, the immigrants were snake eaters, and they soon cleaned the area of the fire snakes and they thrived and eventually conquered them.
  

  You can read more about some of the research being done at http://www.bmaf.org/articles_list.
  

  LisaRose » The book of Mormon is a joke, full of anachronisms and errors. Large portions of it were copied from the King James Bible. In fact, errors that existed in the King James bible of the time were replicated by Joseph Smith, which would be expected if he just made the whole thing up, but hard to explain if it was actually dictated by God.

  Sounds like you've been reading anti-Mormon stuff. The people who write it are completely unqualified to evaluate the Book of Mormon because they're not archeologists, anthroplogists, geologists or historians. And when people say the types of things you say, it's clear the criticisms are not theirs, but the published views of others.

  So what kind of anachronisms and errors?
  

  I frankly don't know why the Lord used the King James translation, though I have some personal theories. The bottom line is that it's a translation, and Joseph Smith didn't use conventional means of translation. The only thing we have to answer is, is it a correct translation? Yes, if it was translated by the gift and power of God. Given the translation process, it would have been difficult to do a word for word copy and, indeed, parts of the Isaiah passages quoted by Nephi bear more of a resemblance to the Septuagint in critical places. The Book of Mormon also employs complex chiasms, an ancient style of writing found in both Hebrew and Mayan. It was virtually unknown in 1830.

  For those who are interested in the evidences for the Book of Mormon, check these videos out.

  
  http://youtube.com/?#/watch?v=YL-NXToiksQ

  http://youtube.com/?#/watch?v=V38jsyMnyIs
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  583

  What is the purpose of life?

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  while reading the magazines the other day it occurred to me that jws never really had a very good answer to that question.

  because it was aimed at young people and it said something along the lines, "if you believe in god you have a purpose, but if you don't believe in god your life has no purpose or meaning".

  i think that is a faulty analysis of the situation.

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  Cold Steel

  ...we each decide what our purpose is in life.

  I don't think we can determine that. We're here for what? Who determines why we're here collectively? From a theological standpoint, the JWs don't do a good job of explaining why God created man. The psalmist wrote that God made man a little lower than the elohim, or gods. Man is His crowning creation, even greater than the angels. But why did He do it? And what did He want man to accomplish that the angels couldn't? Why did He make both in His image? Indeed, why does God need a head, arms, feet, nose, mouth or hands? Yet we're told that He made man in His image, and that Jesus was in the "express image" of the Father. This means he looked exactly like the Father. So if Jesus looked human, the Father is the same in appearance.

  It's also clear that if God knows all things from the beginning, He also knew that man would fall well before He created him. Perhaps it was His intention all along that man fall. That way, through the atonement, man would be elevated far beyond his expectations and far beyond the angels. In that case, man would have had a purpose that went beyond life in a crummy garden. (Being in Eden would have relegated us to nothing more than pets.)

  Again, in the New Testament it states that when the elect see God, they "shall be like Him, for [they] shall see Him as He is." (1 John 3:2). Adam was nothing like God. He was a hollow imitation with no knowledge of good and evil. The only way for man to gain this knowledge was to choose it; God could not foist it upon him. Thus, man had to choose to fall.

  But to the WTS, Adam died and got what he deserved. He had a chance to live forever in a garden for trillions of years and he passed it up for all of us.

  Bastard!

  So no, there's no discernible purpose for man unless you're of the anointed class. Then you get to roam the universe, visit other worlds and traverse time and space. But if you're one of the great crowd, you get to tend a garden and have family reunions for eternity. I'd rather go at Armageddon.
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  33

  If I Became a JW, Could I Have My Cat on Paradise Earth?

  by Cold Steel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  would i?

  i wouldn't mind if he slept through eternity (he sleeps most of the time anyway).

  i'd just like to be able to move him around occasionally.

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  Cold Steel

  They pass over the rainbow bridge into the elysian fields where they romp....barbaro the beautiful would have been triple crown winner is there as well.....

  Well, the Rainbow Bridge leads to Valhalla, where the warriors await the great day of Ragnarök (Armageddon), whereas the Elysian Fields were in the Underworld and required the crossing of the River Styx, the black river, by ferry. Cats don't require the requisite coin under the tongue. They go free of charge!

  Now about those photos....

  
  

  
  

  
  
  
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  11

  The Jewish Temple(s) In Egypt. (Circa 5th Century BCE)

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the web address on the above sketch is misleading as the sketch (it seems) was included originally, in a article in a peer reviewed archaeological journal by a stephen rosenberg.. there is little doubt that the temple was genuine and it demonstrates that the ot stories about the role of egypt in the formation of judaism do not tell the truth about the complete relationship between israel and the egyptian empire.. we know that this temple on elephantine island was genuine.

  some papyrus correspondence has survived .

  there is also another (claimed) jewish temple that an archaelogical team explored last century, but the precise location has been lost.. more on the above temple tomorrow..

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  Cold Steel

  https://youtube.com/watch?v=Hjx1c3NAVTQ
  

  https://youtube.com/watch?v=_CYqCti5rQM

  https://youtube.com/watch?v=f6OTD7plobA
  

  https://youtube.com/watch?v=CUCUvu2l64I
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  13

  You're fired!...Damage control in October broadcast

  by ab.ortega in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  this new broadcast features interviews with bethelites from south africa that were fired reassigned to the ministry field.

  i almost feel sorry for these people who gave their all thinking they would be taken care of for who-knows how many years.

  however they were let go in the blink of an eye.

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  Cold Steel

  I almost feel sorry for these people who gave their all thinking they would be taken care of for who-knows how many years. However they were let go in the blink of an eye.

  Yeah, but Armageddon is sooooo close!

  
  

  
  

  
  
  
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  33

  If I Became a JW, Could I Have My Cat on Paradise Earth?

  by Cold Steel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  would i?

  i wouldn't mind if he slept through eternity (he sleeps most of the time anyway).

  i'd just like to be able to move him around occasionally.

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  Cold Steel

  Cats don't need field service. They're doing YOU the favor by being resurrected and letting YOU feed them. They let YOU bask in their presence. Can't you tell that from the above photo? And am I going to be the only one posting photos of my cat?

  What if one named their cat Jehovah? Would the elders appreciate the humor?

  (You DO know God's real name was Yahweh?)
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  33

  If I Became a JW, Could I Have My Cat on Paradise Earth?

  by Cold Steel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  would i?

  i wouldn't mind if he slept through eternity (he sleeps most of the time anyway).

  i'd just like to be able to move him around occasionally.

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  Cold Steel

  In the resurrection, I believe you'll come back as you were in your prime. But you'll most likely be able to appear as any age you wish or even change your appearance. But I'd sure hate to be trapped in a crummy garden for eternity. I'd definitely want to be one of the anointed and to streak around the Universe at will and watch solar systems being created and others dying out. See black holes destroying massive stars. That would be better than going to a family reunion at the water fall for the 8,000th time!

  So don't worry. You'll be a young 70! And it won't hurt when you pee.
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  33

  If I Became a JW, Could I Have My Cat on Paradise Earth?

  by Cold Steel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  would i?

  i wouldn't mind if he slept through eternity (he sleeps most of the time anyway).

  i'd just like to be able to move him around occasionally.

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  Cold Steel

  Well, how about the animals that are living on Paradise Earth? Do THEY die or do they live forever?

  Now the GB had never revealed what our relationship with God and the anointed class is going to be on Paradise Earth after the Millennium. Will the great crowd be able to see Jehovah God? Will they be able to converse with the Heavenly Class? If the Heavenly Class are "like God" (1 John 3:2), how hard would it be to recreate a cat with the same memories, the same looks and a better attitude? (After all, everyone who is resurrected will be recreations of what they were. You won't be the same person you are now; you'll be an exact copy. The resurrected you will have the same memories, same thoughts, will look and sound the same. But in the end you'll only be a carbon copy. So just recompose my cat! 🐱)

  Oh, and while you're at it, can you also put Meg Ryan back the way she was?

  
  
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  16

  The Anointed Class: Do They Have Spirits?

  by Cold Steel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i realize that the anointed class inherits heaven while the great crowd inherits a renewed planet earth, but how and when are the anointed chosen?

  are these people born with spirits or do they grow them as they live?

  when they die, they don't sleep but go right to heaven, right?

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  Cold Steel

  I realize that the anointed class inherits Heaven while the great crowd inherits a renewed Planet Earth, but how and when are the anointed chosen? Are these people born with spirits or do they grow them as they live? When they die, they don't sleep but go right to Heaven, right? But what if an anointed person doesn't make it? What if he/she has lunch with a shunned person or commits some other grievous sin? Do they live on after death?

  As for those who live on Earth, they live forever, but forever is a long time. I don't care if the climate was perfect, I never grew old, all my meals were made by Chi-Chi's and I never had to shower, shave or brush my teeth, forever is a long time -- one hell of a long time! I can't even conceive of five hundred years, much less a million or a trillion.

  Do any of these questions come up at the old KH when people are sitting around just chewing the proverbial fat? I see the Paradise Earth pictures and it looks okay for a week's vacation, but trillions of years?? Do people evolve over that time?

  What's the current thinking?

  ------------------

  For STAR TREK Voyager Fans: Remember the episode where they free the trapped Q? He was imprisoned because he was deemed a threat to his own life because, after experiencing it all, he wanted to commit suicide? Even though he was an omnipotent being, there was nothing new left for him to experience. And it was up to Captain Janeway to decide whether to let him. (She ultimately did.) I'd think that unless people could progress and grow that after awhile they'd go bonkers. (In the case of the suicidal Q, the answer was simple. Had I been the Continuum, I would have let him keep his powers, but I would have wiped his memory and merely let him start over!

  I'm afraid I'd have to push for the same thing if I had to spend a long time on Paradise Earth!

  
  

  
  
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  33

  If I Became a JW, Could I Have My Cat on Paradise Earth?

  by Cold Steel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  would i?

  i wouldn't mind if he slept through eternity (he sleeps most of the time anyway).

  i'd just like to be able to move him around occasionally.

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  Cold Steel

  Ha...Jehovah hates cats! Love it.

  JWs say animals were not made to live forever and the resurrection hope doesn't apply to them.

  Actually, in all seriousness I strongly believe cats (and even dogs as much as I'm loathe to admit it) have immortal spirits and are covered under Christ's atonement. When I look into their eyes I see an intelligence that can't be just snuffed out. Each had a personality and when they die their bodies look every bit as empty as a human shell.

  I've had many friends in law enforcement over the years and one thing I'm amazed to hear is that people, when they've been dead for awhile, look more like manikans than actual people. Cops hear it all the time when visiting crime sites, from witnesses and other cops. Yet no one compares people on the beach to manikans. In fact, when I was a kid I was both fascinated and repelled by funeral parlors and bodies of people I had known. Anyway, there's just this absence of something that's difficult to describe. The animating force early Christians believed was the spirit within man was certainly not a Greek idea that became embedded in Christian dogma three centuries after the apostles vanished, but it's a popular theory amongst adventist sects.

  Anyway, I've never been clear on the whole Paradise Earth thing to begin with. Do animals born then die or are they immortal? And if they're immortal, isn't that unfair to the animals that came before? If they're not immortal and die, then Jesus did not exactly defeat death. But then, if an animal is born and is subject to death and if it fails to receive it back again, it could be argued that Jesus failed to redeem that animal from the fall. (And if you don't think a cat isn't self aware, just try not feeding it!)

  "Imagine a cat. Now take away its independence, its cleanliness and intelligence. What you have left is basically a dog."

  From 'Dear Kitten'

  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3yNSF7ljOoU