Posts by passwordprotected

49

Billy's Comments You Might Hear at the 10-12-08 WT Study (MAINTAIN LOYALTY)

by Billy the Ex-Bethelite in

comments you will not hear at the 10-12-08 wt study - august 15, 2008, pages 7-11 (maintain loyalty).

review comments will be in red.

wt material from today's wt will be in black.

passwordprotected

Billy, great commentary, much enjoyed in this household, sir.

49

Billy's Comments You Might Hear at the 10-12-08 WT Study (MAINTAIN LOYALTY)

by Billy the Ex-Bethelite in

comments you will not hear at the 10-12-08 wt study - august 15, 2008, pages 7-11 (maintain loyalty).

review comments will be in red.

wt material from today's wt will be in black.

@reniaa - the Bible is a fairly deep book, surely Jehovah's Witnesses, the only organisation on earth to fully understand and have the ability to interpret the Bible accurately would be able to grasp the finer points in this Biblical account without having it dumbed down. Should the WTS in it's role as God's sole channel of communication on earth pander to the lowest common denominator?

Perhaps if they actually encouraged JWs to, y'know, get an education and thus be able to critically analyse a portion of Biblical text, perhaps using some of Christendom's commentaries and dictionaries, they wouldn't need to dumb their articles down. It's a bit of a double-edged sword, their frowning upon further education, isn't it? On the one hand it creates a worldwide body of people who not only aren't Christians and deny the body and blood of Christ and don't look further than the pages of their WT magazine for life's answers (good), but need to have their scriptural truths bottle-fed to them (bad).

Are you an apostate yet, Reniaa?

The WTS choosing to feature this, yet another OT Jewish prophet account for their flagship meeting, has me wondering at their motives. Are they actually trying to turn people of their God Jehovah by spending an hour picking over an account where two of Jehovah's spokesmen on earth talk at cross purposes, one misleading the other to the other's unfortunate death. It's an account that, even to me as a Christian, leaves a bit of a nasty taste in the mouth.

Reniaa, are there no Christian examples that could have been used to demonstrate the great urgency of the preaching work in the face of this horrible, materialistic world? I just wonder.

7

Most damning portion?

by Slappy in

apparently this didn't post the first time...or my comp is just acting up; sorry if there ends up being two of these.. *************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************.

is luke 23:39-43 the single most damning portion in the bible for the jw, mormon, and other similar 'religions' that profess to believe in the god of the bible?

when did the thief do good works in order to attain his salvation?

passwordprotected

I've used this to help a couple of friends of ours to see that the JW obsession with works is bogus. I also used it with my parents to prove the same thing. It's an excellent section of Scripture.

24

Is there a breaking point for JW?

by BonaFide in

jw
friends

in 1989, when the wt said, "the preaching work will be completed before the end of this century", i believed it.

then when they changed it in the bound volume, i was a little nervous, but i didnt say anything.. but then when i was a missionary, and i personally went to the branch office about a pedophile, and they told me to leave it in jehovah's hands, and that jehovah will erase the girl's mind and to stay out of it, that really bothered me.

i couldnt sleep.

passwordprotected

There is a breaking point, I believe, for individuals. It may be some spurious piece of doctrine, or a harsh elder, or a story in the news re. child abuse or the like.

As I've said before, my breaking point was binning the BSG due to 'gas prices'.

44

Personal Update

by passwordprotected in

for those who haven't read 'my story' thus far, here are the links;.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/9/159554/1.ashx.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/9/159683/1.ashx.

passwordprotected

@scotsman - Alpha isn't a religion or an organisation, it's just the brand name of a 'study' course run by churches of several Christian denominations. Even Catholic churches run it.

I've got my cult radar on and so far have detected nothing malign about their warmth and friendliness. If fact, it showed up on my system as "normal human behaviour" and I even know some of the people attending the course. However, I'll keep running tests to look out for any traces of 'love bombing' ;-)

44

Personal Update

by passwordprotected in

for those who haven't read 'my story' thus far, here are the links;.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/9/159554/1.ashx.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/9/159683/1.ashx.

passwordprotected

It's not as straightforward as it could be (when is it ever?). Locally, there's a which hunt against several members of a local congregation, to the point where they're, get this, hounding DFd ones to get 'the dirt' on some alleged local apostates. That's how desperate the elders are.

I know we won't get peace from this as our names are being mentioned in the same breath as the ones they're trying to enough 'dirt' on to DF. Plus, we've got young children who may - or may not - blab about our church-going activities. Do we want any of this hanging over us, or is a clean break the solution?

18

Apostasy from JWs? That's not what the Bible says...hmmmm

by Awakened at Gilead in

i have been called an apostate in the past week by my sil, my stepdad, and my soon to be ex-wife.

it didn't help that apostasy was featured in this past weeks wt study, a point my ex was quick to remind me.... .

i have done a quick search in the wt cd rom to see how many times the word apostate or derivatives appear (i searched "aposta*").. .

passwordprotected

The scripture I was thinking of was Matt8:11. There are others, particularly the ones that say Jesus was worshiped and the need to be born again.

18

Apostasy from JWs? That's not what the Bible says...hmmmm

by Awakened at Gilead in

i have been called an apostate in the past week by my sil, my stepdad, and my soon to be ex-wife.

it didn't help that apostasy was featured in this past weeks wt study, a point my ex was quick to remind me.... .

i have done a quick search in the wt cd rom to see how many times the word apostate or derivatives appear (i searched "aposta*").. .

passwordprotected

An apostate is literally someone who renounces a religious or political belief system. The Elder's book states that the beliefs in question include those beliefs 'unique to Jehovah's Witnesses'.

When you consider that JWs believe that the GB is God's sole channel of communication on earth, deciding that you do not believe that is acting in an apostate way, you're standing away from or renouncing that unique JW belief.

It probably hasn't been since around 1981 that the WTS properly outlined and defined what apostasy is. To me, this shows that they are keeping their options open.

If you no longer believe;
- 144,000 is a literal number and is the full quantity of Christians who go to heaven
- Jesus appointed the WTS as the 'faithful and discreet slave' class in 1919
- Jesus mediates only for the 144,000
- the Bible explicitly talks about a 'great crowd' of 'other sheep'
- salvation comes through association with the 'faithful and discreet slave' class
you're standing away from or renouncing beliefs unique to JWs and are, by their own definition, an apostate.

Slight tangent; I pointed out to my mother recently that the Bible, to JWs, is an apostate book.

21

A knock-down argument against the WBTS interpretation of Matt 24:45-47!

by yadda yadda 2 in

the wbts teaches that in 1919 jesus inspected all of christendom and appointed the wbts "over all his belongings" in fulfillment of matthew 24:45-47: "who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time?

happy is that slave if his master on arriving finds him doing so.

truly i say to you, he will appoint him over all his belongings.".

passwordprotected

You can also point out that Jesus said in Luke 12 that he'd be looking for people who were waiting for him, ready to open the door at his return and that they'd be regarded as faithful and discreet. How could the WTS open the door to his knock in 1914 when they believed he'd actually returned in 1874?

44

Personal Update

by passwordprotected in

for those who haven't read 'my story' thus far, here are the links;.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/9/159554/1.ashx.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/9/159683/1.ashx.

passwordprotected

There's a 3rd option;
Drift through life feeling relentlessly guilty, still believing all of the WTS lies and knowing that you're going to snuff it at Armageddon.I know one DFd JW who is suicidal through guilt and fear of Armageddon. No joke.

And a 4th option;
Get into Eastern philosophy and meditation, along with yoga and Tony Robbins seminars.*

*I know an xJW who does all of that.