Posts by sacdfan

87

DOES THE BIBLE really really EXIST?

by Terry in

the bible did not exist in jesus' day nor in the lifespan of his apostles.. people didn't walk around with one (bible) tucked under their arm.. christians didn't carry one (bible) door to door for preaching and teaching.. the closest thing to the bible was the septuigint greek translation of hebrew scriptures which not one person in a 10,000 had ever seen!.

creation of the septuagint (wikipedia article).

...in the third century bce[6].

sacdfan

I'm really confused by this quote by PSacramento:

"Christianity was about a PERSONAL relationship with God, though Jesus.

It was YOU - Jesus - God, period.

This was done via the HS, the Spirit of God that helped the believer understand God's Love.

Organised Religion and the heirachy it created, destroyed that personal realtionship and put the "organization" in the middle and the organizations tool of control was the bible."

How can we have a personal relationship with God through Jesus if we don't know anything about them? Where can I go to find out about God? The only place I know is the Bible. If the Bible isn't God's word, what else is there? I know we can look at creation and all that, but there must be something else. If the Bible isn't true, where does that leave us? I am feeling really bad about this - I don't know what to believe any more. I have tried so hard to get close to God through the Bible - and I've failed miserably. I thought this was my fault, but maybe it isn't all down to my failings if the Bible is a hoax....... sorry to ramble - totally confused!

41

Is regularly texting/phoning someone (not your partner) cheating?

by sacdfan in

jw
friends

hello - can i ask you all for your opinions?.

if your partner (husband/wife, gf/bf etc) was phoning and texting someone approx 20 times per day,would you find it unacceptable?

for example, if your wife was texting/phoning another brother (also married) 20 to 30 times a day, would you get suspicious?

sacdfan

From what I've been told, my sister wasn't aware that he was phoning or texting her - her husband hid the whole thing and she never even heard him speaking to the elder's wife on the phone - also I don't think she has seen the texts - I'll ask her later - maybe she can sneak a look.

41

Is regularly texting/phoning someone (not your partner) cheating?

by sacdfan in

jw
friends

hello - can i ask you all for your opinions?.

if your partner (husband/wife, gf/bf etc) was phoning and texting someone approx 20 times per day,would you find it unacceptable?

for example, if your wife was texting/phoning another brother (also married) 20 to 30 times a day, would you get suspicious?

sacdfan

Looking at some of the replies, I was wondering if this was quite common among pioneers - they spend a lot of time together each day - at least they do if they are pioneer partners (not married partners - just pioneering partners) - and it would be better if they partnered up with somebody of the same sex I suppose - otherwise they could get really close.

Think of it - in a divided household where the woman is a JW and the man isn't, if the sister was pioneering and spending all her time with a pioneering brother, the marriage could be at risk. She would be going out on the ministry each day without her husband, going to meetings and conventions without her husband - no wonder marriages get to breaking point when one is in and one is out - I'd never really thought of this before.

I think the whole thing is really unhealthy - I am going to see if I can get my sister to look at this website so she can read some of your replies - this will help her more than anything I can say to her.

41

Is regularly texting/phoning someone (not your partner) cheating?

by sacdfan in

jw
friends

hello - can i ask you all for your opinions?.

if your partner (husband/wife, gf/bf etc) was phoning and texting someone approx 20 times per day,would you find it unacceptable?

for example, if your wife was texting/phoning another brother (also married) 20 to 30 times a day, would you get suspicious?

sacdfan

Thanks for all the replies.

The situation is as follows (I can't give too much away). My sister (real, fleshly sister - sorry - I hate that expression too, but just clarifying) is married to a pioneer who has been doing the texting/phoning. We suspect the person he is texting (an elder's wife) has also been doing the same - texting/phoning many times a day for at least the last 6 months. My sister happened to check her husband's mobile phone bill and saw dozens of calls every day from him to her, and she realised that he has also been getting more texts and calls than usual.

The funny thing is, he has made calls to this woman at times when they were both in the house but she has NEVER heard him phoning her - so it is obviously being done in secret - in the garden, upstairs etc. She has never heard him having a conversation with her by phone - how odd! She checked some of his old phone bills and this has been going on for at least 6 months (as far back as she can find bills for). The elder's wife is also a pioneer and she is looked up to by most of the congregation.

My sister confronted her husband and he swears it is all to do with the ministry, calls, Bible studies etc. He says she is being ridiculous and it is entirely innocent. My sister is in bits - she had a feeling things weren't right - he has been pretty distant lately and goes out for long periods. Personally, I can't stand my brother-in-law - he is a total prat! But I don't really know what to say to my sister - I don't know how to advise her. I am not in the same congregation as my sister - she is up north - but we speak regularly by phone. I hardly go to meetings any more - I can't hack the hypocrisy and lies.

From your replies so far, and my own gut feelings, I definitely think there is more to this than 'ministry-related' stuff!

32

BLOOD and the Noahide Laws

by Terry in

i doubt one jehovah's witness in a thousand has ever heard of the noahide laws as such.

it isn't part of the watchtower teaching.. there are good reasons for that.. noah and family were not jews, israelites or mosaic law covenant parties because they were long before such things even existed.. they were the new progenitors of the human family and represented what we might well call gentiles as a category.. what was jehovah expecting from these 8 souls (and their progency from the flood's end forward?

become "righteous" in his eyes?.

sacdfan

Terry - this post is excellent.

No matter how hard I try, I can never get my head around the prohibition of blood. Why is something that represents life (blood) more important than the life it represents? God expects us to value life, our own included, and do whatever we can to prevent a preventable death. Can't the WTS understand this?

41

Is regularly texting/phoning someone (not your partner) cheating?

by sacdfan in

jw
friends

hello - can i ask you all for your opinions?.

if your partner (husband/wife, gf/bf etc) was phoning and texting someone approx 20 times per day,would you find it unacceptable?

for example, if your wife was texting/phoning another brother (also married) 20 to 30 times a day, would you get suspicious?

sacdfan

Hello - can I ask you all for your opinions?

If your partner (husband/wife, gf/bf etc) was phoning and texting someone approx 20 times per day,would you find it unacceptable? For example, if your wife was texting/phoning another brother (also married) 20 to 30 times a day, would you get suspicious? If your partner said it was innocent and all ministry-related, would you believe them? Would it still be unacceptable?

Some of you may need to go back to your JW days - how would you have felt as an active witness - knowing how important the ministry was supposed to be - would this make it ok?

15

SISTERS ON THE RAMPAGE!!

by highdose in

jw
friends

it was well commented on by the older ones in the borg that the sisters were on the rampage when it came to trying to get themselves married.. it was normal practice for sisters in the same click or age group to visvously stab eachother in the back, exlude them as much as possible from social events and gossip about them as much as possible.

by the time i had left this was such an established practice that it seemed normal.. all this in the hopes that they would be able to bag one of the rare single and sane brothers... at least this is what it was like in my part of the world... what about yours?.

sacdfan

This is probably why so many JW marriages fail - for a so-called Christian group, the failure rate is pretty horrendous. But then, people are extremely limited - they have to find a partner in their local kingdon hall or perhaps further afield at a nearby hall - but basically they have to choose another JW. In the world, you can choose anybody you like - you have the whole world to choose from.

I feel so sorry for so many JW women - women outnumber men in many congregations. So many times I have seen them forced to choose from the dregs of society - abysmal men who wouldn't get a decent woman to look at them outside the confines of their congregation - but in the hall, with so many desparate sisters to choose from, they can afford to be picky. Personally I'd rather stay single than touch any of the guys in my kingdom hall - they're pretty appalling! But being married, I suppose I'm out of the picture!

23

do you really know what a cult is?

by redjeep in

jw
friends

a cult is a religion that is said to be unorthodox or that emphasizes devotion according to prescribed ritual.many cults follow a living human leader,not jesus or god.and they live a part from the rest of human society.their meetings are in hiding, not just anyone can attend.you have to be a member.

sacdfan

Well I've been 'irregular' for a long time (not DFd or DAd..........yet) but I have family and friends still in so I still keep up with all the bits and bobs of JW life.

One of my friends asked me to join their small group to encourage me - it was nice of her but I said I was working that evening (just my excuse).

She apologised a little later and said that the group couldn't go ahead after all.

The elders were worried that the group would encourage wrong/independent thinking.

Good grief - all 'thinking' must come from the Society - you are not allowed to think for yourself. They're probably afraid that eventually someone in the small group might stumble upon scriptures that have been totally misused/misrepresented/misquoted by the Society!

S

23

do you really know what a cult is?

by redjeep in

jw
friends

a cult is a religion that is said to be unorthodox or that emphasizes devotion according to prescribed ritual.many cults follow a living human leader,not jesus or god.and they live a part from the rest of human society.their meetings are in hiding, not just anyone can attend.you have to be a member.

sacdfan

For all those lurking JWs out there who are having some doubts, think about this.....

As a Christian, one is required to read the Bible. What could be more beneficial than to read the Word of God if you are a Christian - it's the most natural thing to do, otherwise how would you know what Christ taught if you weren't able to read it.

Is there anything wrong with reading the Bible?

Is there anything wrong with talking with friends and discussing what you have learned?

Is there anything wrong with coming together as a small group to encourage one another by discussing a portion of God's Word?

Then WHY does the WT Society stop people from doing exactly that?

Since they dropped the book study group in homes, some JWs I know decided to get together on that night to do their own study. All hell broke loose! The elders of their congregation went mental! Anyone would have thought they were getting together for a satanic ritual! They were told that they were not to take it upon themselves to form their own group as this was dangerous and erroneous thinking would creep in.

Can't JWs see the irony in this? A so-called Christian group bans its members from reading the Bible? WAKE UP all you JWs out there, please wake up! If this isn't a high-controlling cult, I don't know what is.

sacdfan

9

District Convention at Hayesbridge, Surrey?

by sweet pea in

jw
friends

my dad informs me that the dc this year for many is at hayesbridge assembly hall.. now that is bizarre.

i can't imagine what everyone must be thinking?

i think i'd have been relieved in one respect (no having to trudge over to twickenham and cope with the little ones at a stadium that is not particularly child friendly) but on the other hand there was something special about being together with such a 'great crowd of witnesses' and seeing people you hadn't seen for a long time, etc, etc.

sacdfan

Hello - I'm a long time reader of forum - used to have an account - can't remember my old login or even username - it was back in 2003 that I joined.

Can I just ask Diva, what do you mean by 'the parking is now free'? Our congo still has to pay for parking tickets - it works out cheaper than going on the coach but the elder organising the tickets won't let anyone have one. We are all supposed to go on the coach and we have been 'advised' to contribute £12 per person per day - if you have a family it will cost mega bucks. Just for a couple to attend all 3 days will cost £72. A family of 5 will end up forking out £126 because kids go half price (£6). A car park ticket is cheaper at £10 per car per day but nobody is allowed to have one.

I don't understand - why are they charging for car park tickets if it is now free? What is free? Are they no longer being charged to park at car parks surrounding Twickenham? If so, why are they charging us?

I am interested in this because it made my blood boil when I heard it will cost so much - I can't afford it - but then I don't want to go to their poxy convention! I feel sorry for those who do and have to pay through the nose!! How they expect people to fork our over £100 quid for a weekend is beyond me!

sacdfan