this topic, i'm sure, has been discussed many times, but today i am really contemplating the concept of god.. i remember vividly the old testament; the israelites slaughtering everyone in their path, men, women and children at god's direction at jericho, leaving no one alive.
i remember thinking then as a child how cruel that was.
there are many other examples.. then reading the news today i read a section in the world news about india.
This article might help you understand the concept of God better:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/concepts-god/
Hope it helps, but I think your question has to do with the problem of evil, which is a different question than the question of whether the concept of God is coherent.
[2 john 9 11, nwt].
[john 14:6, nwt] .
[john 14:6, nwt] .
Confession,
That's a fair enough response. I was concerned that your audience may have found the inclusion of that part overwhelming. Anyway, I'll look into Berman's claims some more. There's a lot of what I do like about your letter and I might use some of the same points in a letter of my own.
an elder mentioned yesterday in casual conversation how the end must be close 'because this is the first time in human history that a black man will probably be president of the us.
all other forms of government have had their day, now that a black man will be president, the angels, mankind and satan cannot claim that jehovah didn't give every possible chance for humans to make it without his rulership'.
almost verbatim!
What! A black president! The world is going to end for sure. Talk about racial panic.
Oh wait! Haven't you heard? Everyone will be black in the new system:
[2 john 9 11, nwt].
[john 14:6, nwt] .
[john 14:6, nwt] .
It's a very well written letter. Let us know how she responds to it.
However, I wouldn't have chosen to quote Jerry Bergman. I say this partially because most readers are not in the position to know whether Bergman's claims are correct and although I'm by no stretch of the imagination in favor of the Witnesses, I have a lot of reservations about Bergman. Just because someone is an ex-Witness, that doesn't mean his claims are accurate.
Other than that criticism, it's a good article.
my wife excitedly told me that she talked to the wife of an elder that just came back from.
the special training for elders in upper state new york and that the elders are being told .
to go back to their congregations and to get them ready for the great tribulation.. i said to her that is great news !!!!
"My wife excitedly told me that she talked to the wife of an elder that just came back from the special training for elders in upper state New York and that the elders are being told to go back to their congregations and to get them ready for the Great Tribulation."
Sounds like a rumor or somebody misunderstood what someone meant.
manuscript talk - denim is bad - then a whole item on low cut tops, tight clothing, long slits etc - and bra straps showing (you can not make this shit up) is also bad.
last but one item - desperate need for brothers to reach out - cant form congregations if brothers dont reach out.
The brand new cyanide and cool-aid campaign hopefully.
listening to the australia bethel dedication talks 1983 {avalible on cassette} loyd barry of the governing body tells of how an old missionary brother aproached him and said: "the society can change any doctrine they want...but please brother, don't change the doctrine regarding 1914.
" {he had hoped to live thru to paradise} loyd responds: "brothers, we have no intension of changing the 1914 doctrine.".
remember this was just after raymond franz handed out to the governing body members, copies of an article written by an elder dis-proving 607 and 1914....i think in 1979.. so, after loyd barry died, in 1993, the 1914 generation theory was thrown out...that missionary had long since died.
Raymond Franz also mentioned in Crisis of Conscience that Lloyd Barry insisted on keeping the 1914 doctrine as it was.
manuscript talk - denim is bad - then a whole item on low cut tops, tight clothing, long slits etc - and bra straps showing (you can not make this shit up) is also bad.
last but one item - desperate need for brothers to reach out - cant form congregations if brothers dont reach out.
The anti-denim talk is just another transition towards Amish attire. Men will be required to wear stove-top hats and women will wear white gloves.
i listened in to the conf call tonight.
one thing that i got from it was that apparently (and the wording might be a little wrong) is that elders or ms will be removed if they are going to college or university.
a person encouraging another to go to college will be removed as well.
They probably talk about the signs of the end instead of quoting scripture. "We're too deep in the time of the end to waste time even at a four year college" will be their rant.
listening to the australia bethel dedication talks 1983 {avalible on cassette} loyd barry of the governing body tells of how an old missionary brother aproached him and said: "the society can change any doctrine they want...but please brother, don't change the doctrine regarding 1914.
" {he had hoped to live thru to paradise} loyd responds: "brothers, we have no intension of changing the 1914 doctrine.".
remember this was just after raymond franz handed out to the governing body members, copies of an article written by an elder dis-proving 607 and 1914....i think in 1979.. so, after loyd barry died, in 1993, the 1914 generation theory was thrown out...that missionary had long since died.
What's the big deal about this? There already many statements in the publications showing their commitment to the 1914 doctrine.
