Gladring

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Posts by Gladring

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  27

  How Does a Jehovah's Witness Prove Their Faith

  by passwordprotected in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  new freeminds blog (with the ability to leave comments!)..

  i examine how jehovah's witnesses are expected to prove their faith and what that shows about where their faith is actually placed.. i'd really appreciate your comments, either here or on the blog itself..

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  Gladring

  Hi Mark,

  I think your blog and article is well written and the arguments sound. My concern is that a JW reading it would just go "Of course I obey Jesus, and see how much Jesus trusts the Governing Body - he has appointed them over all his belongings. If Jesus trusts them, shouldn't I."

  I just find you get nowhere arguing with a JW. As a wise person told me recently "If you try and take something away from somebody, they only hold on tighter." In my personal experience I have found that just being nice to a JW works better than anything. They are primed to think that "apostates feigning love may try to lead you away from God's organisation". If you don't try to argue with them it is going against that false stereotype.

  That said, for those who have no commitment to the religion, your article will certainly innoculate against future infection.
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  6

  Any ex-Witnesses, DF, DA, faded in Ireland?

  by Gladring in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  is there anyone in ireland interested in making contact, please post here or pm me (if i don't already know you).

  especially anyone near the north/south border.. .

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  Gladring

  bump
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  6

  Any ex-Witnesses, DF, DA, faded in Ireland?

  by Gladring in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  is there anyone in ireland interested in making contact, please post here or pm me (if i don't already know you).

  especially anyone near the north/south border.. .

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  Gladring

  Bump
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  6

  Any ex-Witnesses, DF, DA, faded in Ireland?

  by Gladring in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  is there anyone in ireland interested in making contact, please post here or pm me (if i don't already know you).

  especially anyone near the north/south border.. .

  .

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  Gladring

  Thanks Wobble.

  Anyone else?
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  6

  Any ex-Witnesses, DF, DA, faded in Ireland?

  by Gladring in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  is there anyone in ireland interested in making contact, please post here or pm me (if i don't already know you).

  especially anyone near the north/south border.. .

  .

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  Gladring

  Is there anyone in Ireland interested in making contact, please post here or PM me (if I don't already know you). Especially anyone near the North/South border.
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  10

  Did Joseph and Mary leave town because....

  by cameo-d in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  they were trying to avoid the census????.

  does anyone have any historical research on exactly how the census was performed duing those days?.

  were people really expected to travel for days to go "turn themselves in"?.

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  Gladring

  The preamble from aforementioned article:

  I. The Basic Problem

  The Gospel of Luke claims (2.1-2) that Jesus was born during a census that we know from the historian Josephus took place after Herod the Great died, and after his successor, Archelaus, was deposed. But Matthew claims (2.1-3) that Jesus was born when Herod the Great was still alive--possibly two years before he died (2:7-16). Other elements of their stories also contradict each other. Since Josephus precisely dates the census to 6 A.D. and Herod's death to 4 B.C., and the sequence is indisputable, Luke and Matthew contradict each other.
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  10

  Did Joseph and Mary leave town because....

  by cameo-d in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  they were trying to avoid the census????.

  does anyone have any historical research on exactly how the census was performed duing those days?.

  were people really expected to travel for days to go "turn themselves in"?.

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  Gladring

  There is a fantastic, thorough study of the Nativity story here:

  http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/richard_carrier/quirinius.html

  It goes into a lot of detail.

  Short version: It really is a smoking gun that the gospel writers were making stuff up. The date of the census mentioned in luke conflicts with matthews account which places the nativity during the reign of Herod.

  Prophecy declared that the messiah should be born in Bethlehem. Everyone knew that Jesus was from Nazareth. The two gospel writers attempt to deal with this in two ways. In Matthew's account it appears that Jesus' family lived in Bethlehem and had to flee to Egypt because of the Massacre of the innocents - when they returned they settled in Nazareth. Luke has the family based in Nazareth, they go to Bethlehem for the birth, and return to Nazareth. The two writers deal with the problem in two different and conflicting ways and are caught with the pants down.

  Christian apologists have attempted to get around this problem in various ways, all of which are dealt with in the above link.
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  21

  FYI Here's p. 1 - Article 2 of 2003 Amended & Restated WT of PA Charter-GB still has liability

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  let's have some comments about this interesting document.

  barbara

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  Gladring

  I can't see either of those links?
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  28

  BIG - Irish Gov't Told to Set National Policy on JWs and Blood

  by skeeter1 in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  i can't get this important article to post, so here's the link.

  please read it.. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0404/1224244010408.html.

  this is the irish authorities that are looking into the jws and blood.

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  Gladring

  digderidoo said - "It's just a lot of hot air being stirred up by someone."

  ...and I tend to agree. This is fallout from a conference linked to in a post on page one by Mickey Mouse. It also follows on from a story I posted about last week here - http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/medical/173189/1/JW-Blood-Issue-on-Irish-Radio

  The conference tickets cost 350 euro, otherwise I would have liked to go along. I don't see why the need for urgent action on this particular story. From reading material on the Haemo-vigilance page the professionals involved seem to be quite aware of the ethical issues involved.
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  141

  JW’s & Atheists - Great (Cultic) Minds Think Alike

  by Perry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jws & atheists - great (cultic) minds think alike.

  in the jehovahs witness religion, there is a ceremony known in those circles as the memorial of christs death, or just the memorial for short.

  it is claimed and believed among members that jehovahs witnesses observe the exact same ceremony that is more widely known as the lords supper among christians.

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  Gladring

  Caedes said:

  ...then add on a supernatural omnipotent being that created it, this addition does not reduce the complexity of the universe, it adds to it.

  I think that is game, set, and match!