jeanV and done4good, thanks for taking the time to read my story.
Posts by gumb
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47Why I Stopped Apologising For The WTS
by NewWay inwhy i stopped apologising for the watchtower society - part 1. .
in response to requests for information on why i stopped being an apologist for the organisation, i have decided to write the following article.
what is written is not meant to attack the beliefs of jws, but rather to show why i personally came to the conclusion that i could no longer support the organisation.
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47
Why I Stopped Apologising For The WTS
by NewWay inwhy i stopped apologising for the watchtower society - part 1. .
in response to requests for information on why i stopped being an apologist for the organisation, i have decided to write the following article.
what is written is not meant to attack the beliefs of jws, but rather to show why i personally came to the conclusion that i could no longer support the organisation.
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gumb
Back in the summer months of 2002, I first became a member of JWD under the name 'NewWay'. After only a few weeks, due to continuing inner turmoil, I left the board. About seven months later, in the early part of 2003, I made a brief return as 'Shemittah'. Not long after that I felt, again, that I needed to distance myself from anything that even reminded me of the WTS. I was still bitter about the years that the organisation had stolen from me and wanted to start rebuilding my inner self. So much of my life had been taken up not only with meetings, 'field service' and studying as part of meeting preparation all of which focused my mind on the organisation, that it was very difficult for me to envisage enjoying a life without all that ritual and psychological dependence. It was also a challenge to start living my life in the present, since all my dreams had been invested in the future.
I hope my story will be of interest to at least some of the members here. Hopefully, sometime soon I'll get round to writing an update addressing my life over the past four or five years. I should let you know that when I wrote the original parts to my story, I had views and beliefs that I no longer hold to.
Alex.
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17
Lost
by youcanhaveago inhaven't been on here for months and months .. .
completely lost and screwed up.. please don't be offended but some stuff on here does my head in .... .
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gumb
youcanhaveago, please hang on. I have been there too, lost and alone, feeling that no one understands me. I've had to go it alone, with family members still going to the Kingdom Hall, knowing that I could not even speak to those who were closest to my heart. In time things will get better, even though at the moment there seems no hope. You need to speak about your fears, there is nothing worse than having no one to confide in; I'm sure there are many of us here who are concerned about you, even though may not even know you. (((youcanhaveago)))
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142
Trinity?
by BFD ini am reading the bible for the first time.
i was df'd in 1976 and lived my whole life thinking the jws have the truth and i just could not live up to the standard and was doomed to die at the big a without question.
until i found jwd 31 years later.
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gumb
In the book "The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls In English" (by Geza Vermes), on page 500, under the heading "The Heavenly Prince Melchizedek" (which is the title of one of the Dead Sea scrolls), the author makes this interesting comment:
"The heavenly deliverer is Melchizedek. Identical with the archangel Michael, he is the head of the ‘sons of Heaven’ or ‘gods of Justice’ and is referred to as elohim and el. The same terminology occurs in the Songs for the Holocaust of the Sabbath. These Hebrew words normally mean ‘God’, but in certain specific contexts Jewish tradition also explains elohim as primarily designating a ‘judge.’"
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142
Trinity?
by BFD ini am reading the bible for the first time.
i was df'd in 1976 and lived my whole life thinking the jws have the truth and i just could not live up to the standard and was doomed to die at the big a without question.
until i found jwd 31 years later.
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gumb
"I and the Father are one" (John 10:30-33)
"’I and the Father are one.’ The Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, ‘I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?’ The Jews answered Him, ‘For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make yourself out to be God.’" (New American Standard Bible)
Here Jesus speaks of "the Father" (God) and himself as being "one." John 17:22 & 23 shows that this is a oneness or unity of purpose rather than a oneness of being, for Christ's disciples are spoken of as being "one as we [the Father and Jesus] are one." When the Jews (not Jesus) claimed that he was "God", Jesus corrected their assumption by quoting Psalm 82:6, which speaks of human judges as being "gods", and phrasing a question in such a way as to ask them how he could possibly be accused of blasphemy since he said "I am Son of God" (not "God"). If he were really God himself then he would not have tried to correct their view.
It is worth noting that in the ancient Greek text from which our translations of the Bible are made, the word for "god" ("theos") is lacking the definite article (i.e. "the") which usually accompanies "theos" when reference "the" Almighty God, which means that a legitimate translation could be "a god", rather than "God." Such a translation would tie in well with Jesus’ reference to "gods", for God himself is not part of a collection of minor "gods" or spirit beings or human judges, since there is only one Almighty God. At the time that Jesus lived on the earth people understood the word "god" to reference someone with real (or imagined) superhuman powers, or a divinely appointed position of authority. In ancient Rome, emperors were sometimes called "gods."
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More Christian Humor
by moomanchu instory of elijah .
the sunday school teacher was carefully explaining the story of elijah the prophet and the false prophets of baal.
she explained how elijah built the altar, put wood upon it, cut the steer in pieces, and laid it upon the altar.
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gumb
"After these things I heard what was a loud voice of a great crow in heaven" (Revelation 19:1 - The New Bird's Translation of the Holy Scriptures)
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More Christian Humor
by moomanchu instory of elijah .
the sunday school teacher was carefully explaining the story of elijah the prophet and the false prophets of baal.
she explained how elijah built the altar, put wood upon it, cut the steer in pieces, and laid it upon the altar.
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gumb
"When I was a babe, I used to speak as a babe, to think as a babe, to reason as a babe; but now that I have become a [mature] woman, I have done away with the traits of a babe" (1 Corinthians 13:11 - The New Woman's Translation of the Holy Scriptures).
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The CATHOLIC doctrine of the Faithful and Discreet Slave??? Yes!!
by Terry inmajesterium (sacred tradition) is a technical theological term used in some christian traditions, primarily in the roman catholic and eastern orthodox traditions, to refer to the fundamental basis of church dogma.
the term refers to the "deposit of faith" that these churches hold was communicated by jesus christ to his first followers, and which they hold has been passed down (latin tradere, to hand over or hand down) through succeeding generations.
the church as a community, therefore, was the initial receiver, and has remained the guardian and codifier, of sacred tradition.
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gumb
AkiChristian, sorry I missed that scripture, so here goes.
1 Timothy 3:15 talks about the 'church' of Christ, but in all the years that I have studied the Bible it is clear to me that this means the collective body of Christians, not some spiritual 'mother' figure comprising of a supreme leader and priesthood. Remember the 'faithful slave' served God's household (i.e. fellow Christians), it was not a form of authority over the flock. I've explained previously why I think the Catholic Church cannot be trusted, but from your response it is clear to me that you are firmly committed to your religion. So, we will just have to agree to disagree.
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Why does the great crowd go to memorial?
by *jeremiah* in"do this in remembrance of me"...... ...those words jesus utters,..according to the wt,...is specifically for "the annointed",...right?.
if jesus at the last supper is speaking directly to "the annointed class",...that they should parttake and "do this in remembrance",...then why do the r & f even go to the memorial?.
looking at it through jw eyes,...jesus didn't invite members of "great crowd" to the last supper,...right?
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gumb
Well, someone's got to be at the Kingdom Hall to pass the bread and wine around, and I suppose it's the thought that counts. :0)
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If you had to, what religion would you choose to be?
by Crumpet inyou can answer this as seriously (lt) or as inanely (buttlight) as you like!
i was reflecting having read someone's thread about blowing off non jw family that actually it would have been so much better if i had a larger family, preferably not completely jw saturated and this random train of thought led me to thinking that if i could choose i would be catholic, because then i would have a huge family, go to really nice gothic churches with lots of candles and tortured saints and be able to go to confession (instead of lt's mobile).
also the colours of the whore of babylon always were a lot more enticing to me than the mild blues and undistracting beiges of the khs.. i think we all have religions which would suit our personalities so much better.
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gumb
Crumpet, I didn't know that female converts to Judaism had to be circumcised!