Posts by Mad Dawg

347

Are You Paul or are you Saul?

by reniaa in

jw
friends

this was the same man at different times in his life yet he changed his name because he completely changed his ideals and goals too.

both were extremely zealous, both thought they were doing gods work, both thought they were working for the greater good.. acts 8:3 (new international version)3but saul began to destroy the church.

going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.. soul thought gods work was to destroy the christians but paul.... acts 20: 19i served the lord with great humility and with tears, although i was severely tested by the plots of the jews.

Mad Dawg

Pistoff,

The synoptic “problem” is not a problem at all. If 2 or 10 people saw the same events, wouldn’t we expect them to give similar accounts? We would also expect some differences in the perspective. This is what we find in the gospels. There is absolutely no evidence for Q or Marcan priority. If we take the gospels at face value, there is no need for Q or Marcan priority either.

The evidence for the miracles is the gospels themselves as they are eyewitness accounts.

Paul did mention the resurrection specifically. This was the lynchpin of the faith. The rest were not as significant. Why would Paul preach the resurrection and discount lesser miracles? He was simply using the best evidence that he had. In fact, if the resurrection were not widely known, why would he keep mentioning it? He refers to it because it had weight.

If any one had tried to put words into the mouth of Jesus after the fact, it would have been checked against the oral record and discovered to be a fraud. Societies that depend on an oral record have an amazing ability to keep it pure. I recently read an article of some people in New Zeland (I think) where a tribe had a legend of some people that had been dragged downstream by a river and started a new population miles away. The details were remarkable despite the passing of 8 centuries. DNA confirmed the link between the two cultures and supported the parting of ways 800 years earlier.

The point about Columbus is that just because someone doesn’t mention something doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen.

You said: My take is that the Q sayings are closest to what the historical Jesus said…

Do you have a copy of Q? I would be most interested in reading it.

What verse(s) in the gospels “caused” anti-semitism? There are those that twist verses to say what they were never inteded to say, just as the WTS does.

Yes, the moral standards in the Bible were an anomoly in their time. The interesting thing is that if we follow the sexual, dietary, sanitation, and other guidelines of the Bible; we would live a healthier life – today. Aids and other STD’s are rampant among promiscuous people – straight or gay. I don’t believe that these diseases are God’s judgement on anyone. I am convinced that God warns us against promiscuity to guard us from such diseases.

AK,

I have no need to google 'gnostics' as I have already read them in their intirety. They are bookmarked in my favorites. I don't know of any scholar that seriously places the writers of the gnostics as contmporaries of Jesus. In fact you are the first person I have seen try to do so. They were written in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. It is because they are so totally lacking in authenticity that they were not included in the canon.

5

Another Icon gone, Billy Mays....

by Quirky1 in

jw
friends

thoughts?

?.

Mad Dawg

I feel sorry for Billy and his family, but at least I will not have to hear him screaming fromt he TV anymore.

30

Guilt trip

by vikesgirl101 in

i got to thinking about something that happened a year ago.

i was drifting away from the org, when my sister-in-law told me i was being selfish.

she said she was at aloss for words as to what to tell her 11 year old daughter about me.

Mad Dawg

I was never a JW. My mother used to tell me when I misbehaved that "God was going to kill" me so that I wouldn't be a stumbling block to others.

347

Are You Paul or are you Saul?

by reniaa in

jw
friends

this was the same man at different times in his life yet he changed his name because he completely changed his ideals and goals too.

both were extremely zealous, both thought they were doing gods work, both thought they were working for the greater good.. acts 8:3 (new international version)3but saul began to destroy the church.

going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.. soul thought gods work was to destroy the christians but paul.... acts 20: 19i served the lord with great humility and with tears, although i was severely tested by the plots of the jews.

Mad Dawg

Double post, thankfully I still have 96 more to go today, instead of just 6. Woot!

347

Are You Paul or are you Saul?

by reniaa in

jw
friends

this was the same man at different times in his life yet he changed his name because he completely changed his ideals and goals too.

both were extremely zealous, both thought they were doing gods work, both thought they were working for the greater good.. acts 8:3 (new international version)3but saul began to destroy the church.

going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.. soul thought gods work was to destroy the christians but paul.... acts 20: 19i served the lord with great humility and with tears, although i was severely tested by the plots of the jews.

Mad Dawg

Pistoff, you have never said a word about Columbus discovering the new world. Does that mean that you do not believe that it happened? Paul was not obligated to write what would make you happy.

He was writing to different audiences about different topics. As he was not an eye witness (as were Mathew and John) or the disciple of an eyewitness (as were Luke and Mark), he would not have reason to comment on the events that were covered by those writers. Why should he provide yet another account of the things in the gospels?

Paul does mention the Resurrection. This miracle is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Except for the Resurrection and the virgin birth of Christ, none of the other miracles of the gospels have any bearing on Christian theology in themselves. Both Jesus and Paul spoke about Jesus being the only means of salvation, interpersonal relationships, God the father, and the work of the holy spirit - as well as quite a number of other topics.

Keep in mind that Q and Marcan priority are based on arguments from silence- there is no physical or textual evidence to support them. These were invented to deny the possibility of inspiration of the synoptic gospels.

The idea that the Catholic church created the canon is false as well. The Catholic Church was not established as it is today. It was well on its way, but not there, yet.

What they did was go through what had aready accepted as authoratative by earlier generations. There were few books that there were any real dispute over - perhaps a dozen. Most books were rejected because they simply were not regarded as autoritative by the general Christian population. There were books, such as the Shepherd of Hermas, that were considered to quite valuable if not inspired. It is sad that most churches today ignore these books entirely.

AK said:

There were literally hundreds of 'books', 'letters', and accounts written by persons contemporary with Jesus, who laud him and his God, and accepted him as something akin to God, at least as a Savior of some sort.

AK, I find this a most interesting statement. What are these books? Who are the persons that wrote them? Usually the argument is that there are no contemporary accounts that proclaim him to be anything more than a man. And the few that acknowledge his existance made it up. If you have found “hundreds”, I am most interested in reading English translations of them.

45

another Michael Jackson joke... add yours (no accounting for good taste :P

by SnakesInTheTower in

so you heard that with all the surgeries michael jackson had over the years that he was probably 99% plastic?

after the autopsy is done, the body is to be shipped to the lego factory.

...yeah, they are going to melt him down into legos........ .

Mad Dawg

As for the plastic Michael, truth may be stranger than fiction:

MJ to be "plastinated"

421

70 years = 607?

by allelsefails in

70 years of captivity?.

i myself have always believed that when archaeology disagreed with the bible the bible must be right.

that is how i dismissed the idea that jerusalem was destroyed in 586/587 bce.

Mad Dawg

After begging “Scholar” (MD post 181):

Scholar! Wait! Before you run off again, please oh please oh please oh please explain how you can show from the Bible ONLY, that Jerusalem fell 607 years before the common era. You have a start by showing that the exiles returned 70 years later. Can you establish that the return was 537 years before the common era using only the Bible? PLEASE?

Scholar replied (1664):

Your question is too easy for starters if you want scriptural proof for 537 BCE for the Return then you only need to read the last few verses of 2 Chronicles and then proceed to read Ezra 1:1 until 3:1. This contains all of the esential historical and chronological data that you need. Enjoy the feast. (emphasis added)

BTW, no where does the verses cited mention 5 centuries of time.

Now “Scholar” says (post 1716):

537 BCE is not guesswork but a defined date calculated with the secular and biblical evidence if you have a better date then please put it up.

So, where does that leave us?

Ø After repeatedly asking scholar to “Prove that Jerusalem fell 607 years before the common era,”

Ø Scholar repeatedly claims that this is an easy thing to do… BUT

Ø Never produces… THEN

Ø “Scholar” finally admits that he needs “secular evidence” to do it.

“Scholar”, how can you expect me, or anyone else, to take you seriously when you have been entirely unable to make good on your grandiose claims? You said both that you can do it using the Bible only, and that it can’t be done using the Bible only. Why should we believe anything you say?

421

70 years = 607?

by allelsefails in

70 years of captivity?.

i myself have always believed that when archaeology disagreed with the bible the bible must be right.

that is how i dismissed the idea that jerusalem was destroyed in 586/587 bce.

Mad Dawg

Yep, and in spite of his swagger and braggadocio, he has yet to man up and show, from the Bible only, that Jerusalem fell 607 years before the common era.

7

Just what are JW's eager for?

by Mad Dawg in

i have read over and over that the false prophecies of the wts are really not false prophecies.

they where just folks who were over eager and were keeping oil in their lamps and so forth.

it occured to me today to wonder "eager for what?

Mad Dawg

I have read over and over that the false prophecies of the WTS are really not false prophecies. They where just folks who were over eager and were keeping oil in their lamps and so forth. It occured to me today to wonder "Eager for what?"

The parables that JW's cite show an eagerness, the eagerness is for the Bride-Groom to come.
Didn't he come in 1914?
It seems that they are eager for the World Wide Slaughter.
Can anyone show from the Bible where we are to be eager for the start of the Big A?
Why don't JW's ever say, "I hope Armageddon doesn't come too soon so I can have more time to bring loved ones into the faith."?
I have heard many protestants say the above in regards to the Rapture, which they believe is the next item on the prophetic calendar.
Do protestants love their families more than JW's do?

My thanx goes to all who try to help me understand this.

MD

35

...The End...

by OUTLAW in

jw
friends

enough of all the shit in life.. and..wanted to just end it?.

check out and not come back?.

fall asleep and not wake up?.

Mad Dawg

The first time, I was 12, the gun jammed. The next day I made a bloody mess of my wrists. I have over dosed a few times. The last time my wife sat next to me for hours and shook me every time I stopped breathing. It has been a couple of years since I have had those impulses. I am doing well now. I do believe that it is behind me - finally.