Posts by AuntBee

7

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer...has anyone read it?

by White Dove in

anyone?

bueller...bueller...fry...

AuntBee

I haven't read it, but my 19-year old daughter just got it, and can't put it down. :)

aunt bee

18

Should Smoking Be a Mortal Sin?

by skeeter1 in

jdubs hang their hat on the fact that the wts was right about not smoking.

(the jdubs forget that the wts did not get it right on vaccinations or organ transplants...but that's for another post).

granted, saying "no" to smoke was a good, healthy decision.

I actually heard someone talking about this the other day. Do a Bible concordance search on the word "smoking". Then do a word search for "unicorn." The Bible talks about unicorns much more than it talks about smoking. LOL

60

Date tonight

by B_Deserter in

jw
friends

well, i have a date tonight.

predictably, i'm pretty nervous.

does anyone have advice as far as what are good conversation ice breakers and subjects that work well for date talk.

AuntBee

I have several daughters post high school age, and often listen to their gripes about guys! LOL. I totally concur with the previous posts on LISTENING. Listening actively, with interest, and ask questions to learn more. Ask about favorite books, movies, etc. What it was like growing up in her family. What she likes to do in her free time. Hopefully in some of that, you can find a common hobby/interest, and run with it. A little humor is great. --- People can tell when someone is just listening with glazed over eyes, and can't wait to get back to the most important topic - themselves! :) GOOD LUCK.

aunt bee

15

Will the WTBTS ever become mainstream like the WWCG?

by donny in

back during the 80's and 90's, i occasionally heard statements lumping the society in with the likes of the worldwide church of god who had very similar teachings and even believed in 1975 as being a year that god would act (1975 in prophecy!

by herbert w. armstrong).

clearly the roots of the wwcg were from the same as the societys and both groups were viewed as cults.

AuntBee

There is a video about this topic concerning the WWCG at this web site: www.lhvm.org/wcg.htm. (I hope that works. If it doesn't, the name of the organization is LIving Hope Ministries.) This video is very interesting; it's an amazing story.

24

SCANNED ARTICLE ON BLOOD FRACTIONS 'WORKBOOK'

by Mary in

i'm not sure if this has ever been posted, but here's the uh "workbook" that all jws are given regarding blood fractions.

of course, the hypocrisy shines through as when it asks "are fractions also covered by the command to abstain from blood?

we cannot say" and "your decisions should be your own and should not be based on someone else's conscience.

AuntBee

This is one of the strangest things I have ever seen in print, and I read a lot. It reminds me of Jesus' comment to the Pharisees:

"You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel." -- Matthew 23:24.

10

Critical Reading

by megs in

one of the most important things i learned in university was critical reading... when you read something, look at who's writing it, are they credible, do they have a known bias?

if they are quoting, is the quote taken in context?

the wts seem to be masters at trying to curtail critical thinking because then their bias, credibility and context would be shot.!

AuntBee

Speaking of critical reading, i just finished reading You Can LIve FOrever on Paradise Earth as a complete outsider. (the library had it...) Just for fun, I spent some time looking up the verses. It was so tedious and time-consuming, it made me wonder how many people actually look up all those verses to check out what is being said. It would take even more time to read not only the verse, but the chapter it's found in or at least the paragraph, with an awareness of the total context of that whole BOOK of Scripture. I found some verses that I thought just had to be type-o's, because i could not fathom any connection whatsoever. Some were obviously taken out of context, and some actually seemed to mean the exact opposite of what the book was trying o assert.

Does the WTBTS put out any books or articles on a more scholarly level? IF one is even remotely aware of church history, and the scholarly volumes on Biblical theology that have been written over the centuries by the likes of the early fathers, Augustine, the reformers, etc, the debunking of orthodoxy in a few pages just seems so superficial.

10

Critical Reading

by megs in

one of the most important things i learned in university was critical reading... when you read something, look at who's writing it, are they credible, do they have a known bias?

if they are quoting, is the quote taken in context?

the wts seem to be masters at trying to curtail critical thinking because then their bias, credibility and context would be shot.!

AuntBee

Speaking of critical reading, i just finished reading You Can LIve FOrever on Paradise Earth as a complete outsider. (the library had it...) Just for fun, I spent some time looking up the verses. It was so tedious and time-consuming, it made me wonder how many people actually look up all those verses to check out what is being said. It would take even more time to read not only the verse, but the chapter it's found in or at least the paragraph, with an awareness of the total context of that whole BOOK of Scripture. I found some verses that I thought just had to be type-o's, because i could not fathom any connection whatsoever. Some were obviously taken out of context, and some actually seemed to mean the exact opposite of what the book was trying o assert.

Does the WTBTS put out any books or articles on a more scholarly level? IF one is even remotely aware of church history, and the scholarly volumes on Biblical theology that have been written over the centuries by the likes of the early fathers, Augustine, the reformers, etc, the debunking of orthodoxy in a few pages just seems so superficial.

34

Few Jehovah's Witnesses bother to GRASP THEIR OWN THEOLOGY!!!

by Terry in

keep this one fact in mind about jehovah's witnesses.

they exist in three parts throughout their history.. 1. honest bible students attracted to the gimmicks of russell (charts, graphs, chronologies, pyramid inches, etc.

) expected the end of the world to come and they wanted to know more.. 2.contrarian hard heads under rutherford wanted to prove everybody was wrong about everything except themselves.

AuntBee

Terry's #2 is such a great insight! I spoke at length with an older JW couple. I asked them how they happened to become JWs. The answer didn't involve any profound belief concerning the Bible or theology. THey said they were REALLY REALLY mad at their Lutheran church! wow, that one left me speechless.

17

Martin Luther Sounds like He's talking about the WTBTS in the 1500's!

by AuntBee in

usually i'm just a lurker.

i'm a chrirstian concerned for a jw teen, and wanting to understand what he's going through, and where he's coming from i don't usually post, but this morning i came upon this while reading from the sermons of martin luther , volume 1. he's speaking about luke 21:28.. "the godless fanatical preachers are to be censured who in their sermons deprive people of these words of christ and faith in them, who desire to make people devout by terrifying them and who teach them to prepare for the last day by relying upon their good works as satisfaction for their sins.

here despair, fear and terror must remain and grow and with it hatred, aversion and abhorrence for the coming of the lord, and enmity against god be established in the heart; for they picture christ as nothing but a stern judge whose heart must be appeased by works, and they never present him as the redeemer, as he calls and offers himself, of whom we are to expect that out of pure grace he will redeem us from sin and evil.. such is always the result where the gospel is not rightly proclaimed.

AuntBee

Drew - Thanks for sharing your concerns. I should not have juxtaposed "trying to unerstand where he's coming from" with the Luther quote. That was misleading. In reading a lot of the bios, i thought the Luther quote was something a fair amount of the members would appreciate.

I'm just starting to learn about the "mind-control" aspects. It's one thing to read about that, but it's another when you are becoming so fond of someone in your life who is living it. :( I"m a mom, and honestly, aspects of what i'm seeing here are heart-breaking to me.

17

Martin Luther Sounds like He's talking about the WTBTS in the 1500's!

by AuntBee in

usually i'm just a lurker.

i'm a chrirstian concerned for a jw teen, and wanting to understand what he's going through, and where he's coming from i don't usually post, but this morning i came upon this while reading from the sermons of martin luther , volume 1. he's speaking about luke 21:28.. "the godless fanatical preachers are to be censured who in their sermons deprive people of these words of christ and faith in them, who desire to make people devout by terrifying them and who teach them to prepare for the last day by relying upon their good works as satisfaction for their sins.

here despair, fear and terror must remain and grow and with it hatred, aversion and abhorrence for the coming of the lord, and enmity against god be established in the heart; for they picture christ as nothing but a stern judge whose heart must be appeased by works, and they never present him as the redeemer, as he calls and offers himself, of whom we are to expect that out of pure grace he will redeem us from sin and evil.. such is always the result where the gospel is not rightly proclaimed.

AuntBee

Usually i'm just a lurker. I'm a Chrirstian concerned for a JW teen, and wanting to understand what he's going through, and where he's coming from I don't usually post, but this morning i came upon this while reading from The Sermons of martin Luther , Volume 1. He's speaking about Luke 21:28.

"The godless fanatical preachers are to be censured who in their sermons deprive people of these words of Christ and faith in them, who desire to make people devout by terrifying them and who teach them to prepare for the last day by relying upon their good works as satisfaction for their sins. Here despair, fear and terror must remain and grow and with it hatred, aversion and abhorrence for the coming of the Lord, and enmity against God be established in the heart; for they picture Christ as nothing but a stern judge whose heart must be appeased by works, and they never present Him as the Redeemer, as he calls and offers himself, of whom we are to expect that out of pure grace he will redeem us from sin and evil.

Such is always the result where the GOspel is not rightly proclaimed. When hearts are only driven by commands and threats, they will only be estranged from God, and be led to abhor Him. "