neverendingjourney

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Posts by neverendingjourney

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  30

  Finds in Jerusalem shore up biblical account of Babylonian conquest (586 BCE date)

  by Hecce in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is a nice article about archaeological finds, what caught my attention is the use of 586 bce as the date for the destruction of jerusalem.. according to biblical descriptions, in 586 bce, the babylonian king nebuchadnezzar vanquished the judaean king zedekiah and razed his capital city, jerusalem.

  the babylonian captain of the guard nebuzaradan was dispatched into the city, where, as told in the book of jeremiah, he “burned the house of the lord, and the king’s house; and all the houses of jerusalem, even every great man’s house, burned he with fire.”.

  http://www.timesofisrael.com/new-jerusalem-finds-shore-up-biblical-account-of-babylonian-conquest/.

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  neverendingjourney

  Dates are becoming more and more irrelevant to WT doctrine, the days of the heavy duty interpretations and conclusions are gone.

  The 607 date doesn't really matter in practice anymore. As you say, the days of complicated prophesy analysis are behind them. In its place is a lot of "just around the corner" sloganeering and overlapping-generations nonsense that nobody can explain with a straight face.

  Pride, ignorance, and the fear of disfellowshipping is sufficient to keep most of the Witnesses in line.

  They may let 1914 slide into the dustbin of history without formally dropping it, just like they did with the thousand-year creation days nonsense that led to the 1975 hoopla. They never formally renounced that view, either. They just stopped teaching it.
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  30

  Finds in Jerusalem shore up biblical account of Babylonian conquest (586 BCE date)

  by Hecce in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is a nice article about archaeological finds, what caught my attention is the use of 586 bce as the date for the destruction of jerusalem.. according to biblical descriptions, in 586 bce, the babylonian king nebuchadnezzar vanquished the judaean king zedekiah and razed his capital city, jerusalem.

  the babylonian captain of the guard nebuzaradan was dispatched into the city, where, as told in the book of jeremiah, he “burned the house of the lord, and the king’s house; and all the houses of jerusalem, even every great man’s house, burned he with fire.”.

  http://www.timesofisrael.com/new-jerusalem-finds-shore-up-biblical-account-of-babylonian-conquest/.

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  neverendingjourney

  Am I missing something ? They haven't dropped the significance of 607 have they?

  No, but I suspect they will at some point. That's what I meant.
  
  
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  30

  Finds in Jerusalem shore up biblical account of Babylonian conquest (586 BCE date)

  by Hecce in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is a nice article about archaeological finds, what caught my attention is the use of 586 bce as the date for the destruction of jerusalem.. according to biblical descriptions, in 586 bce, the babylonian king nebuchadnezzar vanquished the judaean king zedekiah and razed his capital city, jerusalem.

  the babylonian captain of the guard nebuzaradan was dispatched into the city, where, as told in the book of jeremiah, he “burned the house of the lord, and the king’s house; and all the houses of jerusalem, even every great man’s house, burned he with fire.”.

  http://www.timesofisrael.com/new-jerusalem-finds-shore-up-biblical-account-of-babylonian-conquest/.

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  neverendingjourney

  It is only the uniformed, or those with an agenda, who support any other date (including, but not limited to, 607 BC).

  Whatever happened to that "Scholar" guy who used to show up on every 607 post? I always hoped he lived long enough to see the WT drop the significance of that date.
  
  
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  16

  Have you ever looked back at your early posts on here?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  no doubt we are all overjoyed at how we have progressed since breaking the shackles of the society!.

  for those that have been here on this forum for some time, have you ever looked back at the version of "you" that first started posting here, and compared yourself with where you are at now?.

  i am overjoyed at how much i have grown as a person!.

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  neverendingjourney

  When I started posting I thought I'd be disfellowshipped in due course and was preparing myself mentally to deal with it. That's primarily what was consuming me along with dealing with the aftermath of learning everything I held dear was wrong.

  To my surprise, eleven years out and my family has never interrogated me about why I stopped going to meetings. Outside of one courtesy phone call from the presiding overseer, the elders have left me alone. It helps that I moved far away.

  I have been able to maintain a decent relationship with my family and there's an unspoken understanding among us not to bring up the topic. It works for us.
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  21

  New Kingdom Halls in Strip Malls & Real Estate Listings

  by 4thgen in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i met with a jw today and they showed me a picture of the new style kh build.

  the building was located in a ***strip mall**** in florida.

  i'm always amazed (and disgusted) at the new and inventive ways they think of expanding their real estate holdings.. along that vein...i recently discovered this: .

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  neverendingjourney

  This came up in a thread some time back. I suggested it was a money-making operation by the WT. Get free labor to build a commercial space that can be used as a KH for a while and after a few years, it can be more easily sold as a commercial strip mall property than a stand alone building. Build a new strip mall using free labor. Rinse and repeat.

  However, there was another poster who said he had personal experience in commercial real estate and claimed it wasn't an effective money-making model because strip mall properties, according to him, have next to no value.

  So, who knows?
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  30

  Comparing Total Numbers Baptized During the 1990s and the Last Ten Years:

  by steve2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  sometimes, comparing raw numbers provides a more clear-cut numerical picture of growth or otherwise than percentages.

  below are the numbers for peak publishers (rounded off so that 4,1 represents more than 4,100,000) for each year throughout the 1990s and those for the last ten years.. year: peak* baptisms.

  * peak publishers abbreviated - simply to show annual baptisms in relation to peak publishers.. the main point: .

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  neverendingjourney

  Slightly off topic, but I wonder how much of an impact the 15 minute arrangement had on the peak publishers statistic. How many old people were they able to continue counting as active publishers who would have otherwise fallen off the roles?

  And it's not just the 15 minute arrangement itself, but the wink-and-nod to elders to do everything in their power to ensure these elderly folks don't fall into the ranks of the inactive.
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  36

  Jupiter protects the earth... another example of intellectual dishonesty and an argument against design

  by cognisonance in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'm taking a university astronomy course, and i must say it's really fun to read about this field.

  anyway, i remember the jws used to use jupiter (and probably still do) as an example for how unique and special our solar system is (and thus designed) -- namely, that jupiter protects the earth from astroids, comets, and meteors.

  convincing if one doesn't know any better, especially circa 1994 when jupiter stepped in front of a comet for us... but this isn't the full story!

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  neverendingjourney

  @waton

  I have no idea what you're talking about
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  36

  Jupiter protects the earth... another example of intellectual dishonesty and an argument against design

  by cognisonance in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'm taking a university astronomy course, and i must say it's really fun to read about this field.

  anyway, i remember the jws used to use jupiter (and probably still do) as an example for how unique and special our solar system is (and thus designed) -- namely, that jupiter protects the earth from astroids, comets, and meteors.

  convincing if one doesn't know any better, especially circa 1994 when jupiter stepped in front of a comet for us... but this isn't the full story!

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  neverendingjourney

  The problem with the "if you change this one little thing, life on Earth wouldn't be possible" line of reasoning is that life evolved specifically with the Earth's conditions in mind. Of course changing things around would be fatal for life on Earth. But life evolved to survive in these specific conditions, not any other.

  There are likely trillions of worlds (including moons) in the universe, each with a unique blend of conditions specific to them. We know the vast majority of them don't have the conditions to host complex life as we know it, but eventually a world would have the specific mix of criteria just right for life as we know it to develop. The Earth is one such world.

  More difficult questions arise with the "if you change this specific factor, the universe as we know it wouldn't exist" line of reasoning. Modern physics seeks to get around this conundrum with multiverse theories, but such theories are untested and perhaps untestable. That doesn't mean "God did it" is the correct answer, though.
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  10

  Time for a new type/anti-type, G.B? 2033 is the new 1975!

  by The Fall Guy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a well known scripture says, "however, do not let this escape your notice, beloved ones, that one day is with jehovah as a thousand years......." (2 peter 3:8) .

  using this divine calculation of time, let's apply it to a prophetic type/anti-type scenario:.

  matthew 16:21 says, ".....the christ would suffer and rise from among the dead on the third day...", while john 21:1 reveals that it was at the very beginning of that third day - "on the first day of the week, mary magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and she saw that the stone had already been taken away from the tomb.

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  neverendingjourney

  Charles Taze Russell used the same basic prophesy-interpretation framework as William Miller to arrive at 1914. Miller originally picked a 677 B.C. start date instead of Russell's 607 B.C. (because why not?) and arrived at 1844.

  He, like Russell, made the mistake of not accounting for there not being a Year 0. Miller moved the end date from 1843 to 1844. Russell moved the start date from 606 to 607.

  Clowns, the both of them, plucking dates at random. But at least Miller admitted his mistake and faded into obscurity.

  Miller's "proof" chart below:

  
  
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  20

  My 1 Year Update - I've Been Disfellowshipped One Year Today

  by pale.emperor in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  what a journey!.

  it was a year ago today that i was announced from the platform by brother paul "twofaced" castley that i was "no longer one of jehovah's witnesses".

  i didn't go to that meeting to hear the announcement because i already didn't believe the watchtower religion.. how was my first year?

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  neverendingjourney

  Sometimes, even now, i get the urge to pray before im about to eat.

  Routine is a powerful influence. I had the urge to pray before going to bed for years after I left. Sometimes I would give in and say a monotonous little prayer even though I didn't believe in God, because, why not.

  It's been about 14 years since I began to realize it wasn't the truth. About 11 since I stopped going to meetings altogether. Every now and then I still find myself reacting to a certain situation in pre-programmed JW way.

  It sounds like you're doing quite well and finding your way in life. You're certainly further along than I was 1 year out.