i am attempting to see if a comparison can be made to other religions.
obviously we all know that jw's have fip-flopped on many doctrinal issues.
but are there any other religions and cults that have done this?
The really difficult question for the religions to answer who claim a sole handle on "The Truth", as do Mormons, and of course the WT/JW brand, is :
"When did "the truth" (the brand or religion) become the "Truth" ?
When they were teaching error, it could not have been "The Truth" , so the subsequent question "How can you be sure it is now ?" is a bit of aposer for 'em !
visiting a nearby town during his thursday night service talk mentioned how poor meeting attendance is in the english-speaking u.s. congregations.
he said that when the gb reduced the weekly meetings from 3 to 2, there was a brief surge in meeting attendance percentages.
after a few months it began to slide and it hasn't stopped sliding.
I worked out years ago when I was in, that at any one meeting 25% of the publishers were missing,in our Cong. if things have got worse, my old K.H must look pretty empty most meetings !
visiting a nearby town during his thursday night service talk mentioned how poor meeting attendance is in the english-speaking u.s. congregations.
he said that when the gb reduced the weekly meetings from 3 to 2, there was a brief surge in meeting attendance percentages.
after a few months it began to slide and it hasn't stopped sliding.
Sorry about the blank post, fat finger, I wanted to say, Mad Sweeney , that the Booker prize winner is a better work of fiction to read than the WWReport !
visiting a nearby town during his thursday night service talk mentioned how poor meeting attendance is in the english-speaking u.s. congregations.
he said that when the gb reduced the weekly meetings from 3 to 2, there was a brief surge in meeting attendance percentages.
after a few months it began to slide and it hasn't stopped sliding.
"therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a new moon celebration or a sabbath day.
" colossians 2:16 niv (in some other translations, religious festival is translated holiday or holy day) .
Yes, but the "Flock" book is greater than the Bible, so Elders WILL judge you.
this thread is directed at those of you who are "lurking".
perhaps you visit this website frequently because you know something is wrong with the watch tower society, but you don't feel you know enough yet to form a solid opinion.. as you are aware, the society regularly uses the "increasing light" concept to excuse any scriptural advice or prophetic understanding that is subsequently reversed or changed.
put simply, the governing body would have us believe that god's holy spirit, which is guiding the organization, is deliberately feeding false scriptural information to the society as a "makeweight" until true understanding is revealed at a later stage (at this point, i would add that none of the scriptures quoted by the society in support of "increasing light" suggest that god's holy spirit would act in such a manner, but this is for you to discover for yourselves).. with all of the above in mind, please may i draw your attention to this advice, which was printed in the august 5th, 1979 awake!:.
BTTT
a recent article in the journal of philosophical psychology titled: 'how convenient!
the epistemic rationale of self-validating belief systems' by maarten boudry says that one of the defense mechanisms of self-validating belief systems is "multiple endpoints and moving targets" and cites jws to illustrate the point.
here are the sections that discuss jws:.
Thanks for posting Slimboy, I wanted to check one or two of the references , just for fun, but I do not have Uni. of Glasgow log-in, so was unable to do so.
I guess I'll just have to learn to be a fried Mars-bar eating Student so I can access the stuff !
I do admire how the academic mind is able to be so incisive, and see through what we could not, when we were " in the bubble ".
i came across this on another discussion board and thought i'd share .
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Thanks , dear 'cakes, the Jw's have a real problem with this, they have two choices, either try and deny all the "secular" evidence and go with the Bible as literal history, or say that the Bible is not literal, and then nearly all of their doctrine falls apart.
What to do for the average JDub and the Writing Comm/GB ? Ignore, as usual.
Ignore the Truth.
does anybody know how to find out specific details about the current gb members, such as: .
educationemployment history bethel or relatedsecularmilitary experiencemarriage(s)criminal and/or civil convictionsfamily background: childrenfamily members that are jwsreligious backgroundhow they "came into the truth"theocratic record: when baptisedpositions heldjudicial matters - were any of them every reproved or df'dnotable talents, skills or accomplishmentsqualifications - what, if anything, specifically and uniquely qualifies them to be a gb member please, do not say, "holy spirit appointed them!
"any other similar items of interestvirtually every other organization on earth puts out at least a "for public consumption" bio or resume sketch.
"How many are in any way, normal?"
on friday, november 22, 1963, i was in high school in the cafeteria in fort worth, texas sitting at a table filled with school chums.. my jehovah's witness buddy, johnny, was back from shaking john f. kennedy's hand in front of his hotel earlier that morning.. he and his family were (oddly) big fans of jfk.
go figure.... .
not less than ten minutes later the speakers in the cafeteria crackled to life and the principle, g.b.trimble announced that president kennedy.
Where did that come from Band ? Is it anything to do with this thread ?
If I have missed something, I apologise.
