Posts by Morgana

6

Matthew 25:13

by S EIGHT in

monring all,.

i have decided to go back to basics and just read the bible alone, trying to eliminate wt influence from my mind as i read.

it's amazing what you see in the scriptures when you just look at the scriptures.. can anyone shed some light on the following - in particular verse 13:.

Morgana

Margaret Starbird has written an interesting and provocative book, "The Woman with the Alabaster Jar".

One reviewer at amazon.com writes:

I am very impressed with Margaret Starbird's scholarly work in her book "The Woman with the Alabaster Jar". It tells the story of the lost Bride and provides strong evidence for the sacred marriage at the heart of Christianity, that of Jesus and Mary Magdalen.
It is significant that all four Gospels record the anointing of Jesus by a woman with an alabaster jar of aromatic nard. In middle-eastern liturgical practices surrounding the ancient rites of the "sacred marriage" the anointing of the sacrificed bridegroom/king was a sacred ceremony reserved to his bride. The Gospel narratives describe the pre-nuptial anointing of Jesus by the woman with the alabaster jar and contain other elements from this ancient ritual.

On seven of eight New Testament lists of the women who walked with Jesus, Mary Magdalen's name is mentioned first on the list. She was clearly "first lady" in the eyes of the early Christian community. Some early Church theologians identified the Magdalen as the model of "church" (ekklesia) whom Christ "loved so much, that He gave his life for her."

More compelling facts from Scripture and history are included in Margaret Starbird's work. She follows a trail of evidence that leads through Egypt, to the south of France, and into important historical events in Europe.

Most significant is the medieval legend of the Holy Grail (sangraal), which secretly celebrated Mary Magdalen as the Bride of Christ. The "sangraal" is the "sacred blood" -- the royal lineage of Jesus. Because the legend of the Holy Grail contained and preserved the truth about Mary Magdalen, it was ruthlessly suppressed by the Inquisition. In an effort to discount her significance, Mary Magdalen was labeled a prostitute, but she was really the "Beloved" -- the bride of Jesus.

Restoring the sacred union of Jesus and Mary Magdalen to the heart of our Christian story provides us with a model of holiness based on the sacred union of the masculine and the feminine. It affirms the true holiness and significance of women as PARTNERS in the future practice of our Roman Catholic tradition.

I have talked with Margaret Starbird. When she embarked on her research, her intent was to disprove the possibility of Jesus' marriage, but the facts led her in a surprising new direction that provides a wonderful healing message for us all.

1

"gods channel" and "anointment"

by Morgana in

i just can't resist adding my two cents to this topic:.

there seems to be a general misunderstanding and confusion of what constitutes "gods channel" and "anointment" according to the biblical texts.. the kings - e.g., saul and david - were anointed but they were not yahweh's "channels"; they were strictly earthly, political rulers (though they had some ritual obligations, of course).

spiritual channels properly speaking were the prophets, and at times there were dozens or even many more of them around simultaneously, in the northern as well as the southern kingdom, and mostly acting individually and independently from each other (apart from some "schools" or "colleges" of prophets that were also mentioned occasionally).

Morgana

I just can't resist adding my two cents to this topic:

There seems to be a general misunderstanding and confusion of what constitutes "gods channel" and "anointment" according to the biblical texts.

The kings - e.g., Saul and David - were anointed but they were not Yahweh's "channels"; they were strictly earthly, political rulers (though they had some ritual obligations, of course). Spiritual channels properly speaking were the prophets, and at times there were dozens or even many more of them around simultaneously, in the northern as well as the southern kingdom, and mostly acting individually and independently from each other (apart from some "schools" or "colleges" of prophets that were also mentioned occasionally). And it was the prophets (and substituting and officiating for them, the high priest) who anointed the kings; the prophets themselves were never "anointed".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Edit: This was supposed to be a response to the "Saul and David" topic but accidentally has become its own post; it seems I pressed the wrong button - ah well...

41

Why didn't Jesus write his own parts of the bible?

by Aphrodite in

why leave the writing to inaccurate third parties who each saw things from their own perspective.

if his message was so important for posterity, why did he not write an accurate account of his message?

Morgana

The main reason why there was a general lack of interest in written documents within the early Christian church (i.e., during the days of the original Apostles and Paul) seems to be that they were convinced that it simply was not necessary: Why bother if the "end of the eon" was imminent? The founder of the Christian religion, Paul himself, was absolutely convinced that he would not die but live to see the "Christ" returning and lifting him directly up to heaven (read, e.g., 1 Cor 15).

The Jewish apocalypticists (of which Paul was one) believed that the messianic age would begin when the resurrection started (as opposed to the more mainstream Jewish Rabbis who thought it would begin with the restitution of a proper Jewish state under a Jewish government and the repossession of Jerusalem); and for Paul, it started with Jesus as the first one to be resurrected, and would immediately ... or imminently ... or soon ... or eventually ... well, at least yet during the time of his life and his generation ... (you get the picture) ... continue.

28

Can the holy spirit be a person???

by leaving-jws in

my mom and i got into a debate about the trinity doctrine.

she claims that the holy spirit cannot be a person which invalidates the trinity doctrine.

she says in genesis that the holy spirit was depicted as "roving about the earth" as an "active force".

Morgana

I've not been brought up in a very Christian environment; but when I later learnt about it, the doctrine of the "Trinity" has never been a particular problem to my understanding.

God (if there is one) is certainly such a complex, multidimensional reality that with our human instruments of cognition we can at best gain a tiny, minute glimpse of some insignificant trace of his whole being...

To me it is not so hard to comprehend the eternally unknowable God as manifesting or revealing Himself in many different ways and with many names (!), many more then just three -- be it as El-Shaddai (the God of Abraham), as El-Elyon (the God of Melchizedek), as YHWH ("Jehovah" - the universal creator and at the same time the individual God of Israel), as Abba ("Father" - the personal God-Image of every human), as Yeshua ("Jesus" - the Son), and as Holy Spirit, just to name a few.

Seen in this way, it does not make any sense to speak of the Holy Spirit as "part of God"; rather, the Holy Spirit is one of the many, many ways God reveals Himself to us.

17

July 15, 2008 Watchtower study edition PDF

by song19 in

.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ho0hje.

.

Morgana

Thanks for making this available.

(Where I am living, I don't normally get WT as a printed version, at least not without some major "embarrassment"; but I still like to remain up-to-date for some odd reason.)

42

your personal favourite books that freed you from the JW's

by ninja in

1/captives of a concept.....fantastic....thanks don...you freed my mind completely .

2/visions of glory...barbara harrison....fantastic insights......(god can't kill arnold) .

3/jehovah lives in brooklyn.....ricky francis.....he sums all jw's up brilliantly....love this book .

Morgana

What really started me thinking independently was:

Arthur Schopenhauer: Prize Essay on the Freedom of the Will (ISBN: 0521577667)

In this little book (142 pages), Schopenhauer really gets to the point. With rigor and clarity he helped me to ask serious questions (and to understand why it is much more important to become able to ask the right questions than to find quick and easy answers).

Much later, I began to seriously study the Bible (or more precisely, the Torah) in a traditional-liberal (Jewish) way but with a sceptical mind, which was an eye-opener for me, too, and seems to bring me slowly back from my atheist phase that was the logical consequence of my JW involvement to some new kind of religiosity and appreciation.

From my "atheist library", two really good books that I have read and found enlightening deserve to be mentioned:
God: The Failed Hypothesis. How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist, by Victor J Stenger (ISBN: 1591026520); and
Atheism: The Case Against God, by George H. Smith (ISBN: 087975124X)

14

Black Magic and Jehovah

by sinis in

ok, i bought a book on black magic, and it is very intense to say the least.

what i have found interesting, and perhaps some could shed some light, is on the subject of evocation and the use of jehovah and his angels.

now why does this form of black magic evoke known angels, not demons, and why does it use jehovah to bind them?

Morgana

Originally, this had nothing to do with "Black Magic" - that is a vile defamation and distortion of an ancient holy prayer.

Actually, this invocation is taken from an evening prayer in the standard Jewish prayer book (the Siddur) that many Jews all over the world pray every evening (with their children) at least since the time of the Babylonian exile if not long before, evoking the protection of the four (sic!) major archangels and the presence of YHVH for the night, usually followed by psalm 128:

"In the name of YHVH, God of Israel: May Michael be at my right hand, Gabriel at my left, in front of me Uriel, behind me Raphael, and above my head the Presence of God."

(There are several editions of the Siddur; in the "Authorised Daily Prayer Book" for the United Hebrew Congregations (2006 ed.), e.g., this prayer is on page 251.)

In prayer, BTW, the divine name YHVH is pronounced "Adonai" (my Lord) in the more liberal circles, and "ha Shem" (the Name) in orthodox Jewish Circles.

14

Bible translations

by Ex-smoker in

jw
friends

before i got ahold of the info about the jws on the net i had started to read the christion greek scriptures.

now that i know about changes of words in the nwt i want to read a different traslation.

any suggestionis as which one i should go with?

Morgana

For the Hebrew bible, very good and helpful for understanding the original meaning is The Jewish Study Bible (ISBN: 0195297512) which has extensive footnotes (some members of the translation team were also involved in the New Revised Standard Version which I also love).

And for the Torah (i.e., 5 books of Moses) alone, my favorite English translation is The Bible with Sources Revealed by Richard E. Friedman (ISBN: 006073065X) which shows the different text sources in different colors and printing styles; Friedman also has published the wonderful Commentary on the Torah (ISBN: 0060507179) which also contains the complete text in Hebrew and English in parallel. I would recommend Friedman's translations even if you speak Hebrew as I do - they provide a lot of insight into the background and true ancient meaning of the Scripture.

Finally, if you want to dig even deeper into the Hebrew text, have a look at the JPS Bible Commentary series (you can do a search at amazon.com) - very expensive, but the best there is.

4

Resolved to do Right? (Big puke alert)

by WTWizard in

the june 15 washtowel has an article about resolving to do what is right.

the preceding article had a subheading about fleeing from fornication, which merits a puke alert (yup, stifle that sex drive and stay away from anything that might make you sexually attracted to someone else).. this is the second study article, which has things to pursue.

paragraph 4 is a prime example.

Morgana

Any volitionally chosen act that is good for self or society is morally good. Meaning any volitionally chosen act that is going to do oneself and/or society good is righteous, and anyone choosing such acts is pursuing righteousness. There is nothing morally wrong with forming a romantic attachment to anyone that is not of the same belief!

Yes, I agree. Whoever follows the "Washtowel's" advice will not only "lose many an opportunity for romantic adventure" and "pass up opportunities to help people in ways that mean something", but really poison his or her life and relationships, because it would lead to unnatural and therefore unhealthy, forced behavior.

A great teacher (Immanuel Kant) has stated more precisely and stringently in philosophical terms as the Categorical Imperative what is sometimes called the "golden rule" (Matthew 7:12); he has given several formulations of the same principle:

"Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law."

"Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end and never merely as a means to an end."

"Therefore, every rational being must so act as if he were through his maxim always a legislating member in the universal kingdom of ends."

Kant here postulates a foundation of morality that does not rely on any divine revelation or given "law" but on our inherent humanity. If we only were able to listen inside we would receive all the guidance we need in relation to moral or ethical questions - i.e., if our innate sense were not distorted by all these wrong teachings like, e.g. (W08 06/15 p.13 #9): "In our sinful state, we cannot manifest perfect godly devotion." What a hypocritical rubbish! It is sickening teachings like these about our alleged "sinful state" that alienate us from our true nature in the first place!

Or as another great teacher stated this principle even more succinctly:

"Love is the law, love under will."

28

2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and then what?

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

in just a few weeks, this year will end and a new one begins.

nothing special, just 2006.. but when you analyse the jw doctrine, it is another nail in their already 91 nail studded coffin.

the watchtower has for decades taught that jesus' presence and rulership began in 1914. since changing the generation of 1914 doctrine, a whole decade has passed, with little in the way of anything new.

Morgana

If you have carefully followed the subtle developments in WT theology up to and including the latest "generation" change, you may notice some emphasis directed toward 2034.

This is only one fairly clear example of several (from Watchtower 2003 12/15. p. 15-16):

Warned
of "Things Not Yet Beheld"

6
In Noah’s day, Jehovah declared: "My spirit shall not act toward man indefinitely in that he is also flesh. Accordingly his days shall amount to a hundred and twenty years." (Genesis 6:3) The issuance of this divine decree in 2490 B.C.E. marked the beginning of the end for that ungodly world. Just think what that meant for those then living! Only 120 years more and Jehovah would bring "the deluge of waters upon the earth to bring to ruin all flesh in which the force of life is active from under the heavens."—Genesis 6:17.
7
Noah received the warning of the upcoming catastrophe decades in advance, and he wisely used the time to prepare for survival. "After being given divine warning of things not yet beheld," says the apostle Paul, "[Noah] showed godly fear and constructed an ark for the saving of his household." (Hebrews 11:7) What about us? Some 90 years have passed since the last days of this system of things began in 1914. We are certainly in "the time of the end." (Daniel 12:4) How should we respond to warnings we have been given? "He that does the will of God remains forever," states the Bible. (1 John 2:17) Now is therefore the time to do Jehovah’s will with a keen sense of urgency.
8
In modern times, sincere students of the Bible have learned from the inspired Scriptures that this system is doomed to destruction. Do we believe this? Notice what Jesus Christ clearly stated: "There will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again." (Matthew 24:21) Jesus also said that he would come as God’s appointed Judge and would separate people as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. Those found unworthy would "depart into everlasting cutting-off, but the righteous ones into everlasting life."—Matthew 25:31-33, 46.
9
Jehovah has kept these warnings in front of his people by means of timely reminders through the spiritual food provided by "the faithful and discreet slave." (Matthew 24:45-47) Moreover, every nation, tribe, tongue, and people are called upon to "fear God and give him glory, because the hour of the judgment by him has arrived." (Revelation 14:6, 7) An integral part of the Kingdom message preached earth wide by Jehovah’s Witnesses is the warning that God’s Kingdom will soon remove human rulership. (Daniel 2:44) This warning is not to be taken lightly. Almighty God always keeps his word. (Isaiah 55:10, 11) He did in Noah’s day, and he will in our day.—2 Peter 3:3-7.

This whole string of argumentation over the last few years, and now the renewed strong emphasis on "[t]he fact [sic!] ... [of] an extended period of time" and "time of Noah" in last week's study article, seems to build up to some "new light" - the "FDS" may finally have become aware of the looming desaster (i.e., for them and their whole evil "system of thought") and are now grsasping for a last theological straw... After all, 2034 is not that far away, sub specie eternitatis.