Posts by ablebodiedman

71

What is the main "idea" of the bible?

by KateWild in

as jws we were often told what the theme of the bible is, we were taught that it was the promised seed.. i was recently asked the question.... what is the main "idea" of the bible?.

for me the whole purpose of the bible is about control.

it features a god that punishes and rewards.

ablebodiedman

We were created with freewill.

One of the most amazing things that ONLY freewill makes possible is, love.

Love has to be voluntary!

The main idea of the bible, is how that in the end, a remnant of volunteers will be gathered from the earth to live in a place with others who understand this.

Revelation 21:22-27

　And I did not see a temple in it, for Jehovah God the Almighty is its temple, also the Lamb [is]. 23 　And the city has no need of the sun nor of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God lighted it up, and its lamp was the Lamb. 24 　And the nations will walk by means of its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 　And its gates will not be closed at all by day, for night will not exist there. 26 　And they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. 27 　But anything not sacred and anyone that carries on a disgusting thing and a lie will in no way enter into it; only those written in the Lamb’s scroll of life [will].

abe

22

College Class about JWs .... book suggestions?

by Shepherd Book in

i have the opportunity to take an independent study class through my university this summer.

my advisor, a history professor, suggested i choose jehovah's witnesses as a topic.. we are now trying to formulate a syllabus.

she suggests i write two papers: one on the history of jws, and another on their doctinal approach.. so now my question is...what books/articles/videos do i list on my syllabus as sources i intend to read and use for the papers?.

ablebodiedman

The Proclaimers Book!

Don't miss the page where they describe how "God's Spirit Directed Organization" is organized!

God's Spirit Directed Organization

13

For fellow Beroeans, Gen 49:27

by jonahstourguide in

i thought this was worth sharing.. .

where did the interpretation of gen 49:27 come from ?.

tms review question 4. .

ablebodiedman

Genesis Chapter 49 is being fulfilled right now!

In the final part of the days.

The 12 "end time" sons of Jacob are here.

10 of them have given their power to the wild beast and rule one hour with it.

The other 2 are standing before the Lord. (the two witnesses)

Genesis 49:1-2

Later on Jacob called his sons and said: "Gather yourselves together that I may tell YOU what will happen to YOU in the final part of the days. 2 　Assemble yourselves and listen, YOU sons of Jacob, yes, listen to Israel YOUR father.

The video explains:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xecgDMTueEA

abe

37

Shared some TTATT with my wife and now she wants us to have a weekly personal bible study

by suavojr in

jw
friends

here is the situation.... a young 19 year old in our congo had a fallout with his parents because of all the restrictions and jw dogma and moved out of the house last wednesday.. to make the story short, the parents went running to the elders and what was the comfort?.

coe said: i saw that coming!

your son never reached out to get baptized.. then the other elder said: don't worry, you still have one left that will be saved.

ablebodiedman

sauvojr,

Watch this video and remember the sequence of scriptures.

It examines what Paul said about the "man of lawlessness" entering "THE" temple.

Really a paradox for JW's who believe that they ARE, "THE" temple!

Understanding how to discuss that one paradox will sow a giant seed that will hopefully grow.

Don't let the title of the video stop you.

I named it in the hopes that JWs might actually watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXiA-djrIGs

abe

28

When and where is the War in Heaven, supposedly?

by jam in

1)when did this war breakout or did i miss it.. many commentators conclude that the battle between michael.

and the dragon occurs roughly at the start of the church age.. some even argue that the battleground is the church itself.. others say this scene describes the dispute between michael.

and satan for the body of moses (jude 9) or the long-ago.

ablebodiedman

1)When did this war breakout or did I miss it.

I attempted to find the answer to this question by looking for an extraordinary manifestation of "lightning" in the public record around the year 1914.

Using what was at the time a relatively new Internet search engine called "Google".

I looked around the year 1914 simply because of what I had learned as a Jehovah's Witness and also because of what Jesus Christ said; "At that he said to them: "I began to behold Satan already fallen like lightning from heaven."

I was and still am very excited about what I discovered.

Made a video about my endeavor here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTKjvInShZQ

abe

37

Photography and HDR

by ILoveTTATT in

as i have mentioned before, i love photography, and specially a technique called hdr.

hdr stands for high dynamic range, and it means the ratio of the "lightness" of the lightest spot in the picture to the darkest.. .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/high-dynamic-range_imaging.

ablebodiedman

Another thing you could try is to use a ND filter and/or smaller aperture so that you could have a much longer exposure.

An exposure long enough to smooth out the ripples in the lake and make the reflections more mirror like.

37

Photography and HDR

by ILoveTTATT in

as i have mentioned before, i love photography, and specially a technique called hdr.

hdr stands for high dynamic range, and it means the ratio of the "lightness" of the lightest spot in the picture to the darkest.. .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/high-dynamic-range_imaging.

ablebodiedman

Any thoughts?

That is a nice photo!

I like photography too.

It is a relaxing way to remove stress when I can get my thoughts thinking only about how I want the outcome of a photograph.

A way I suggest to improve on the photograph above would be to try and get something in the foreground.

A rock, tree stump, vegetation on the near shoreline or in the water close to the shore...............

Also I think the white line on the far shore that divides the lake from the trees makes the photo more interesting.

Is there a way to emphasize that line and or extend it across the entire far shore?

I do like the sky better in the underexposed frame than the final HDR.

Can you use a brush to turn down the exposure and increase some contrast in the two spots in the sky which have a lot of highlights, bring the clouds back? Use the "burn" part of the "dodge and burn" technique?

abe

25

Mr. Pierce...Mr. Pierce...Mr. Pierce... Mr. Guy Pierce

by confusedandalone in

jw
friends

a few minuites ago talking to my sister who is finally seeing the watchtower for what it is and is scrutinizing it alot brought something to myu attention that troubled my longtime jw mother dearly.

she said after reading the article about the death of guy pierce she noticed that they never refered to him as brother pirce.

she said everytime they mentioned his name they refered to him as mr. pierce.. .

ablebodiedman

Ezekiel 43:8-9

Now let them remove their fornication and the carcasses of their kings far from me, and I shall certainly reside in the midst of them to time indefinite.

132

the bible and its prophecies

by Crazyguy in

i have been doing a lot of research on the bible and its roots so to speak and its becoming clearer that the jews like other races took gods and stories from others and made them their own.

its also become clear that many of the books were written later then stated, like daniel probably written about a hundred years before christ and some of it maybe even after.

but what i don't get is the prophecies.

ablebodiedman

Here is my accreditation:

Everything Jesus Christ said would happen, is really happening!

All the credit goes to him! (not me)

He is awesome and deserves ALL the glory!

"but he that seeks the glory of him that sent him, this one is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him."

abe

132

the bible and its prophecies

by Crazyguy in

i have been doing a lot of research on the bible and its roots so to speak and its becoming clearer that the jews like other races took gods and stories from others and made them their own.

its also become clear that many of the books were written later then stated, like daniel probably written about a hundred years before christ and some of it maybe even after.

but what i don't get is the prophecies.

ablebodiedman

Abe,

The youtube has not been compiled by a bible scholar. The video is not a credible source of information. Bart Ehrman is a credible bible scholar watch this promotional video instead. I don't believe the bible is from God and this lecture was very interesting. Let me know your thoughts Abe, I watched your video. Kate xx

Kate,

I watched the video well into the question period.

Yes, he gives some very good examples of the problems faced in copying manuscripts.

A far as credible or accreditations go, yes, seems like the man probably has some letters written after his name.

So, where in the bible does it say that it will be men like these who will understand?

It doesn't!

The creditations in the bible for people who will understand is simply a love of the truth.

Also that knowledge is a gift.

Not something earned by spending years going to a college and getting letters put after your name.

You are using a secular point of view that completely opposes what the bible itself indicates, to dismiss the bible.

The Jews used your same argument against Jesus Christ himself:

John 7:15-18

　Therefore the Jews fell to wondering, saying: "How does this man have a knowledge of letters, when he has not studied at the schools?" 16 　Jesus, in turn, answered them and said: "What I teach is not mine, but belongs to him that sent me. 17 　If anyone desires to do His will, he will know concerning the teaching whether it is from God or I speak of my own originality. 18 　He that speaks of his own originality is seeking his own glory; but he that seeks the glory of him that sent him, this one is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

In regards to Bart Ehrman's accreditations the bible says this:

1 Corinthians 1:19-21

　For it is written: "I will make the wisdom of the wise [men] perish, and the intelligence of the intellectual [men] I will shove aside." 20 　Where is the wise man? Where the scribe? Where the debater of this system of things? Did not God make the wisdom of the world foolish? 21 　For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not get to know God,

The exact opposite of what you are suggesting above!

abe