Posts by Doug Mason

2

JW-related material at archive.org

by Doug Mason in

if you go to .

http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=jehovah%27s%20witnesses.

and then click "date added" under sort results (on right), you'll get the latest uploads with the jw tag..

Doug Mason

If you go to

http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=jehovah%27s%20witnesses

and then click "date added" under sort results (on right), you'll get the latest uploads with the JW tag.

16

Look what I found!

by agonus in

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6kkd4i4gem.

check it out at 3:11 (think about the numerical significance).... .

hmmm..... .

Lars was trying to make some big deal about Dec 25, and I am pointing out that even as recently as 100 years ago, Christmas was not universally celebrated on the day he makes such a fuss about. I assume some might be interested in searching the truth of the gradual shift from Dec 6 (with Grampus and Black Peter) to Dec 25.

Further, I don't see anything religious being contemplated on 25 December, what with feasting (pork included) and barbecues, Santa Claus, selfishness, spending money, wild partying, and the focus on all things secular being the theme of the day.

Doug

16

Look what I found!

by agonus in

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6kkd4i4gem.

check it out at 3:11 (think about the numerical significance).... .

hmmm..... .

Doug Mason

When my Mum was a young girl in Vienna (born 1911), Christmas was celebrated on 6 December.

Doug

16

A Sucker Bet , err, contract, to use on "End is Near" JWs

by Open mind in

so i'm getting mentally ready for the big un-thanksgiving celebration our extended jw family is planning for this friday.

turkey and all the fixings of course, but a day late, and wt-approved.. almost inevitably at our big jw family gatherings (tm), someone will make a statement or observation along the lines of "armageddon's so close" or "we're in the last minutes of the last days", you know the drill.

om: your house.

Doug Mason

One day as I was going along the road, I saw a man holding a sign, "The End is Nigh".

And he was right. When I went down the road the next day, he wasn't there.

19

My brief "Bible Study" with the Jehovah's Witnesses

by garyneal in

my wife called and told me she was going to a book study but my daughter did not want to go.

could i come pick her up my wife asked me.

sure, i went over as soon as i could.. when i got there, they were discussing encouragement and building others up.

Doug Mason

I provide my views on the HLCs in my Study at:

http://www.jwstudies.com/Loyalty_Test.pdf

It is my view that no member of an HLC would be able to know whether a patient is receiving the part of blood that is forbidden or permitted by the Governing Body of JWs, unless they obtain information. And that information cannot be obtained legally when legislation exists that enshrines patient confidentiality.

Except that the WTS says their right to know is greater than the laws made by human governments.

Doug

5

Kingdom of Heaven Like a Mustard Seed

by cameo-d in

"the kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed which a man took, and sowed in his field:.

"which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

why is the kingdom compared to a bitter seed?.

Doug Mason

The "Kingdom of God" is the rule by God. This means that no human organisation (ekklesia) is the Kingdom of God.

On page 177 of Ladd's book, he writes:
"Do we not therefore have the Scriptural precedent to identify the Church with the Kingdom of God? Only in this sense: the redeemed are a kingdom because they shall reign upon the earth. ... The Church is a kingdom because it shares Christ's rule. The Kingdom of God ... is not the realm of God's reign; it is God's reign itself, a reign which is shared with those who surrender themselves to it.

"Revelation 1:6 is to be interpreted in light of this verse. The Church is both a priesthood and a kingdom. The redeemed share the prerogative of their Great High Priest of entering into the very Holy of Holies and worshipping God. They are priests. The Church also shares the prerogative of their Lord and King. They are granted the right to rule with Christ. They are a kingdom, a nation of kings.

"The Church therefore is not the Kingdom of God; God's Kingdom creates the Church and works in the world through the Church. Men cannot therefore build the Kingdom of God, but they can preach it and proclaim it; they can receive it or reject it. The Kingdom of God which in the Old Testament dispensation was manifested in Israel is now working in the world through the Church."

I provide the chapter that contains this page from Ladd's book at: http://www.jwstudies.com/Kingdom__Ladd__chapter_8.pdf

Doug

5

Kingdom of Heaven Like a Mustard Seed

by cameo-d in

"the kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed which a man took, and sowed in his field:.

"which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

why is the kingdom compared to a bitter seed?.

Doug Mason

cameo-d,

For you, and for anyone else interested in the Kingdom of God as described in the Parables, I scanned a chapter from the book by G. Eldon Ladd on the subject. You will find it at:

http://www.jwstudies.com/Kingdom__Ladd__chapter_4.pdf

Doug

5

Kingdom of Heaven Like a Mustard Seed

by cameo-d in

"the kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed which a man took, and sowed in his field:.

"which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

why is the kingdom compared to a bitter seed?.

Doug Mason

In this parable (Mark 4:30; Matt 13:31-32), we see that the parable says the Kingdom of God is like a man (God) planting a seed. It is not speaking of its harvest.

Jesus was telling his followers that even though what they were seeing was tiny and insignificant, yet it really was the “Kingdom of God”, which must therefore not be despised by them, even though it had come in a form they had not expected.

Jesus was showing them that the Kingdom of God was already present and active among men but it had come in a form they had not expected. The story is not about how the how the Kingdom would grow or about how the Kingdom would come in the future.

In ancient Semitic idiom, the mustard seed was a proverbial symbol for that which is tiny and insignificant. Given the principles of parabolic interpretation, nothing else should be seen or implied; the remainder of the parable is simply colouring.

Doug

14

Moses's mistake

by highdose in

ok heres another thing that always worried and puzzled me... moses made great sacrifices to lead the isrealites and endured great hardship to do so... but he makes one mistake and suddenly all that counts for nothing and he gets no rewards for his pains at all!????!.

this has never seemed fair to me.

basicly what is seems to be saying is that you can lead a exemplary life at great cost to your self, but if you make one mistake... thats it youv'e blown it!.

Doug Mason

WTWizard,

I assume your reference to David relates to the book of Chronicles. The writers of that history, who were living at least 150 years after Babylon fell, were trying to influence their community when they wrote it, and their focus on David is shown by the number of chapters they devoted to him.

At the time, the Davidic monarchy had disappeared and the priesthood had taken over that authority. So for some local reason the writers of Chronicles manipulated the historical record to assert the Davidic heritage.

The example of their record of the King Manasseh illustrates their approach. Manasseh is the epitome of a sinner in the book of Kings while the writers of Chronicles made out he was a repenting sinner. This was the only way that the Chronicler could explain away the long reign by this evil king. So he invented a story of Manasseh's contrition. Likewise with his manipulation of the stories of David (whether he really existed was irrelevant).

"The Chronicler is not a historian in the strict western sense. To him Israel’s history was pregnant with spiritual and moral lessons, which he brought to birth through a kind of historical midwifery. He is not concerned so much with the bare facts of Israel’s history as with their meaning. If all valid historical writing is interpretative, the Chronicler’s is highly interpretative.." ("Old Testament Survey", page 542, Lasor, Hubbard, Bush).

Doug

29

the name Jehovah in the New Testament

by jahrule in

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Doug Mason

I would class WTS theology as semi-Arian, and that Arius would class the WTS as heretical.

Arius taught that the Holy Spirit was a Person, but that he was created by the Father and the Son together, and that the Holy Spirit was subservient to them.

Doug