Posts by Awakened07

56

Alarming statement in today's study article in WT...

by Mickey mouse in

paragraph 15: "as we get nearer to the outbreak of the great tribulation, we may well receive some detailed instructions.

our safe journey through those troublesome days will depend on our keeping in step with other loyal servants of jehovah.

" this in the context of a wt discussing the israelites' exodus from egypt and how jehovah had them into a position where there seemed "no way out".

Awakened07

I think this is just the usual scare tactics to make those on the fringes to 'straighten up and fly right' (or get out already), the studies to take a stand, and the already zealous to do even more. Same ol' same ol'.

(Parody: )

Early 1900's:

"The door of the Ark is going to close."

1940's:

"The door of the Ark is closing."

1960's:

"The door of the Ark is almost closed."

1970's:

"The door of the Ark has closed, but it's not locked yet."

2020:

"The door of the Ark has closed and locked, but just as the woman who banged on the door of the judge and finally got her right, people may do the same now."

2050:

"The door of the Ark is closed and locked, but the Watchtower can provide the keys - but you must hurry up."

2070:

"The door of the Ark is closed, locked and barred and it's started to trickle, but the Watchtower can show you a hole in the wood flooring which you can sneak aboard through."

18

Can You Trust the Bible?

by MissingLink in

hey guys.

can anyone point me to good references on whether the bible is accurate or not.

like a rebuttal of the november 2007 awake?.

Awakened07

There are a few sources you can research. However, it pays to listen to both sides of the argument. There are too many people who jump on anything negative about the Bible they can find, and sometimes that's doing yourself a disservice, because some of the claims can be explained by apologists, and then you may look the fool. Research both sides and arguments and keep the things you find that can't be refuted by other means than the purely supernatural. The purely supernatural can explain anything, though. *poof* - it's there. *poof* - it's not.

http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ <--- use with caution.

I found this thread enlightening, but must confess I haven't double checked the content yet. Also - the opening post is missing a word here and there, probably because it's a copy/paste job (doesn't always work well on this forum):

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/92759/1.ashx

To those who want to believe though, it's all about the ever elusive 'faith'. To them, the less they know and the stronger their faith is in spite of it, the better it is.

As for the November 2007 Awake, we went through it in this thread: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/142851/1.ashx

47

"This change shows how close the end we REALLY are..............."

by Warlock in

according to one of my relatives, the co said, on a recent visit, that the offer of "everlasting life" will be brief and to the point.. when street witnessing, if people refuse, do not chase them.

in the door to door work, if someone is not interested, do not persist, just leave.. according to my relative, these changes really show "how close to the end we really are".. why is it that every change is interpreted as "this change shows how close to the end we really are"?.

i have come to realize that the wts are masters at jerking people around, and i really hate it!.

Awakened07

It is a continuous "bitch" session of "Ain't it Awful".

I'm not going to go into the particulars of your post, but it seems we are more in agreement on a few matters than I'd (and probably you'd) have thought. Obviously we also disagree on a few things, but that's not too important here. Suffice to say I had already made my mind up about JWs and the Bible before I found out about the various 'scandals' of the org.

47

"This change shows how close the end we REALLY are..............."

by Warlock in

according to one of my relatives, the co said, on a recent visit, that the offer of "everlasting life" will be brief and to the point.. when street witnessing, if people refuse, do not chase them.

in the door to door work, if someone is not interested, do not persist, just leave.. according to my relative, these changes really show "how close to the end we really are".. why is it that every change is interpreted as "this change shows how close to the end we really are"?.

i have come to realize that the wts are masters at jerking people around, and i really hate it!.

Awakened07

proplog2; all your sources have one thing in common.

-What is it you really want to say, though, I'd like to know? I think I've understood that you're something as rare as a non-theistic, secular JW apologist? If so, is your point that it's better to have a false hope than no hope at all? Strange as it may seem, I may agree to a point. It's what the people who tell you about that hope tell you to do with your life that can make it dangerous. If I'm told I'll eventually inherit a million dollars, that's a nice hope to have (especially if true), but if I'm told I have to give up on having children, or give up certain medical treatments in order to be granted that inheritance? The hope of the million dollars in itself could lead to unsound decisions too though, for instance I might think "Well - soon I'll be a millionaire, so if I spend all the money I currently have now, it won't matter in the end". If the 'hope' turns out to be real, then perhaps it all pans out, but a lot of people have lived entire lives already based on false hopes and made bad decisions because of it.

Or are you certain aliens will come rescue us all, and that these prophecies really are from them, and therefore have truth to them even if not supernaturally (not trying to be smart, but I honestly seem to remember this being part of what you believe)?

Tell it like it is, and don't hold back, I guess is what I'm trying to say here.

22

Its a shame to see you throw your life away at Armegedon...

by darth frosty in

well that what my mil told my wife.

since she is not going to the hall, she will die at armegedon.

you have to love these loony a$$ witnesses.

Awakened07

To reply a little more on-topic: I myself used to think - about people who got DFed or DAed - "How can they be so dumb as to do that now, so close to the end!?"

I felt it would indeed be a shame to throw ones life away like that.

I'm sure it was also what the JWs who lived in the early 1940s felt, when they chose to put off having children because Armageddon was so close.

12

The Number of the Wild Beast

by Isaiah8V30 in

please read the blog and watch the video.. http://matthewsgeneration.blogspot.com/.

here's the intro to my blog:.

if the scriptures in the bible are really true, then at some time we should be able to measure them against tangible events, which are actually occurring in our recent history.

Awakened07

If the scriptures in the bible are really true.

41

WT Comments (1/28 STAND FIRM) FEATURING RICHIE RICH

by V in

Awakened07

Perhaps I've been away too long, but I seem to remember the study articles being better than this? I mean, really. I could've written this article when I was 13.

Yes, Jehovah will save his people, just like he did over two and a half thousand years ago. And just like when he more recently supernaturally led all JWs unscathed through the walls of the Nazi camps, and from being raped and killed in Malawi.

Being God's people should give you some perks. At least it apparently used to.

22

Its a shame to see you throw your life away at Armegedon...

by darth frosty in

well that what my mil told my wife.

since she is not going to the hall, she will die at armegedon.

you have to love these loony a$$ witnesses.

Awakened07

If you die of a heart attack a second before Armageddon, however...

36

If the end does not come in 10 years then...........

by TooBad TooSad in

if the end does not come in 10 years then nothing is going to change.

here is my reasoning.. in our hall we have friends whose grandparents thought the end was coming in 1914 then in 1925.. well they died and still our friends believe the end is near.

our friends had parents who.

Awakened07

"The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. | Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, | waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!"

"The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter, the mighty man cries aloud there. A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements."

These passages were written two hundred years ago, and people are still waiting.

Oh - sorry - it was written ~ two thousand years ago. My bad.

25

"If 1000 years is as one day" (another "ug" fwd email)

by inkling in

if 1000 years is as one day someone did the math of the 1000 years = one day equation (2 peter 3:8).. .

this is interesting: since a thousand years are in the eyes of jehovah as one day, we can look at history from jehovah's point of view like this:.

adam was created six days ago and jehovah made immediate plans to restore what he had lost for his offspring.. .

Awakened07

I don't know... I think this way of interpreting/understanding that scripture shows a lack of reading comprehension.

It says: "But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."

The way I read it, it simply means that time is irrelevant as far as God is concerned, not that one day is literally a thousand years or vice versa. How can it literally be both?

You'd have to do the math the other way around as well then, at least, to be intellectually honest. Every day in human history being a thousand years. Let's do that... That'll be inspirational, I'm sure...