Posts by Gladring

19

June 15 Study Watchtower now on jw.org

by dozy in

notably contains an article on "the faithful steward and it's governing body".

only skimmed over the account , but it seems to cover a number of bases - eg.

anointed individuals are not to think they are above "god's channel".

Gladring

This article is hilarious, I just listened to the whole thing.

Paragraph 3 says that Christendom's commentators interpret the "steward" to be those who hold responsibility in the Christian churches. But obviously Jesus wasn't talking about all the different leaders of all the different sects of Christianity. Jesus speaks only of one steward - so this must mean all of the annointed!!!

So let's get this straight - Because Jesus spoke of one slave only, this rules out multiple "slaves" in the churches -- but this one slave means 144000 people??? Do these guys read this stuff before they print it???

Paragraph 12 is great. The question is about how one knows if one is spirit annointed. In answering this they quote Rom 8 14-17 which says, in part - "For YOU did not receive a spirit of slavery causing fear again, but YOU received a spirit of adoption as sons."

Ok, maybe I'm just dumb, but did these guys just say that you know that you are a member of the slave class if you did not receive a spirit of slavery?????? Maybe I'm too thick to be a dub.

19

June 15 Study Watchtower now on jw.org

by dozy in

notably contains an article on "the faithful steward and it's governing body".

only skimmed over the account , but it seems to cover a number of bases - eg.

anointed individuals are not to think they are above "god's channel".

Gladring

I gave this article a quick listen. It will be much easier to analyse when in print, but I do agree that it represents a greater stress on the GB. Even the title of the article - The Faithful Steward and Its Governing Body - makes this clear. In one of the opening paragraphs the article says that the steward is appointed over other slaves, but is a slave itself. This (to my mind) relegates the "slave class" to the same level as the great crowd, whilst insisting that the "slave" has a governing body.

This is more of the heavy mind control we should expect from the kool aid edition.

150

Article: The Atheist's Dilemma

by BurnTheShips in

campos: the atheist's dilemmaby paul camposwhy is stanley fish so much smarter than richard dawkins?

that question occurred to me last week, while attending a lecture at which fish, the well-known literary and legal theorist, did the thing he always does, which is to make the following point over and over again:.

"no believer will find his faith shaken by evidence that is evidence only in the light of assumptions he does not share and considers flatly wrong.".

Gladring

On the subject of Behe - here is a link for the website of the university at which Behe works: http://www.lehigh.edu/bio/news/evolution.htm

Here they make the statement:

"While we respect Prof. Behe's right to express his views, they are his alone and are in no way endorsed by the department. It is our collective position that intelligent design has no basis in science, has not been tested experimentally, and should not be regarded as scientific."

According to the information on this link http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/%5Cnews.aspx?id=15939

" Behe earned tenure at Lehigh before becoming a proponent of intelligent design."

Would Behe have earned tenure if he had been a proponent of ID at the time? Behe is an embarassment to Lehigh, but it is very difficult to remove someone once they have tenure.

45

Atheists/Theists: What is the best argument FOR theism (a God's existence) you have heard?

by Spook in

i have lived for the last 3 years with two phd philosophers as roomates, both in the last year of their dissertation at reputable institutions (notre dame, penn/uic respectively).

they are both moderate semi-christian theists after having been fundamentalists as youths.

i have a sceince and engineering background and am a naturalist atheist former jw.

Gladring

Chalam, may I remind you:

Me: From your quotes from the book of Hebrews, may I take it that your definition of faith is "to believe something with no evidence"?
You: With respect, this definition is wrong and it is a common mistake.

Proof according to the self same www.merriam-webster.com thesaurus-

Proof: something presented in support of the truth or accuracy of a claim.

Synonyms attestation, confirmation, corroboration, documentation,evidence, substantiation, testament, testimony, validation, witness

If you cannot be consistent in your definitions and use of language I see no point in continuing. I mean this in all sincerity, it would be like we are speaking two different languages.

I did watch that video that you posted a link for. I enjoyed the early discussion of the theological history of the predestination doctrine, but as time went on I felt that the preacher was just shouting at me. I know he's enthusiastic, but if his points are that good, then why shout? I would also disagree with his reasoning and conclusions, but perhaps it's not my place to debate the personality of a god which I do not believe in. I am trying to be fair and listen to other points of view, but I did find it hard to listen to.

7

I'm an ex-dub in Dorset, England, which isn't a very good place to be an ex-dub

by Psychotic Parrot in

jw
friends

most people here in the poole/bournemouth area of dorset (and i know i'm generalising) are not very... well, inquiring minds seem to be an aquired taste around these parts.

i mean, there are lots of intelligent people, but they tend to be the ones who steer clear of 'the troof'.

those who are in 'the troof' around here don't tend to have the neccessary brain capacity required to realise they are in a cult & thus they don't leave in great numbers, & those who do leave tend to do so for shallow reasons (they want sex) as opposed to my reason for leaving (i realised it's all a bag of shite).

Gladring

When I was a kid, we were in Swanage, Dorset.

84

In Germany, the Watchtower logo must be removed from all kingdom halls

by processor in

according to german april issue of our kingdom ministry, the watchtower logo must be removed from all kingdom halls:.

it sais that the watchtower logo - a stylised watchtower or a watchtower with a bible - is used by the watchtower society.

thus, it should not be used by congregations or private persons, neither on kingdom halls, stationary or anything else.

Gladring

Purps - what date is on that KM? I don't see it on the scan.

9

THE EUCHARIST-The "Facts" Behind The Ritual!

by Chalam in

i sometimes go on the wt site to have a look to see what they have to say for themselves.

being a born-again christian i find some of the stuff make me laugh, some makes me sad and the odd thing makes me mad.

mostly i see insidious deceit in amongst the material presented.. anyhow, here is the latest article, no doubt with the "memorial" coming up.. the eucharistthe facts behind the ritual.

Gladring

Hi Chalam,

Just for the interest, were you ever a JW yourself? I mean, have you always been a born-again Christian, or did you become one when you left the JWs?

45

Atheists/Theists: What is the best argument FOR theism (a God's existence) you have heard?

by Spook in

i have lived for the last 3 years with two phd philosophers as roomates, both in the last year of their dissertation at reputable institutions (notre dame, penn/uic respectively).

they are both moderate semi-christian theists after having been fundamentalists as youths.

i have a sceince and engineering background and am a naturalist atheist former jw.

Gladring

Thanks Elsewhere, that really cheered me up.

Chalam - I don't think I can go anywhere here without a working definition of faith that we can both agree on.

25

Using the bible, can you show proof of the date 1914?

by Quirky1 in

jw
friends

well?

i need proof....

Gladring

It is impossible to prove any date from the bible alone. The bible uses relative dating, ie. in the tenth year of the king in the third month...

To provide an absolute date, you must rely on archaeology and other secular sources.

13

I was tricked by Jehovahs Witnessess!

by rebel8 in

jw
friends

bobby henderson of the flying spaghetti monster fame posted this 2 years ago.

i just came across it while looking for something entirely unrelated to jws.

he has an interesting take on an encounter with jws.. did you feel the preaching tactic/magazine topics that started out talking about something completely different than religion....were deceptive?.

Gladring

Bobby Henderson truly is a great prophet.

!RAmen

p.s. like the link