Posts by sd-7

9

"Faithful and Discreet Servant" Changes in RNWT (Matt 24)

by adamah in

i see the wts has now removed the reference to jesus' rendering punishment of death by sword, when the master returns and finds the evil servant abusing the other slaves; they've sanitized the reading of matt 24:51 as this:.

51 "and he will punish him with the greatest severity and will assign him his place with the hypocrites.

there is where his weeping and the gnashing of his teeth will be.".

sd-7

your punishment

--sd-7

15

What Will Be the Penalty For Using the Old New World Translation?

by LostGeneration in

jw
friends

so who here wants to run an experiment?

if you still attend the meetings, are you willing to cling to the "old" new world translation?.

keep using it in front of all of the rest of the cultists.

sd-7

"You don't fear the Old World Translation, you welcome it. Your punishment must be more severe." "Torture?" "Yes. But not of your body. Of your soul."

--sd-7

13

Here's what you have all been waiting for - The Revised NWT

by optimusprime in

the new bible is up at jw.org!.

sd-7

I'm actually rather pleased with some of the stuff in this New NWT. It's kind of a blend of what a lot of other Bibles already had--footnotes/alternate renderings (and the Reference Bible had that already, but it was rather large)--with the same old JW Bible. Some of their renderings of certain verses definitely appear to have improved, though they have maintained most of the doctrinal bias. It's actually pretty--I like the gray color and the font and while I see that much of the extra stuff is recruitment-related, it's still shiny.

Of course that's in no way relevant to the truth content of the material contained therein, but it's nice, I'll admit that. I guess all the rumors were true after all, huh, about a new Bible. I suppose a project that big couldn't possibly be conducted in total secrecy. As a drama queen/door mat/lost soul searching for meaning in life after being in a cult, this sort of thing could get me interested again in reading an ancient text about a divine being who is soon to murder me without so much as a phone call.

I, too, noticed the appendix about their use of the name Jehovah. The logic remains the same, I see. But without any original copies of any of the books of the NT, how can it be assumed that the divine name was ever there? The tradition of not pronouncing it was already in place long before the time of the first-century Christians. Are we to assume based on a couple of verses in the Gospel about Jesus 'making God's name known' that they broke with that tradition? If so, why do the Gospels contain no controversy about this man who was using the name of Jehovah over and over in his teaching despite the long-standing tradition of not doing so? Oh, right, because Jesus refers to God as 'the Father'. Huh. Kind of throws you for a loop, there.

But it's a lot like a Blu-ray Disc with special features and deleted scenes, except the deleted scenes have already been deleted and there's a note telling you somebody added the scenes to the movie later by mistake. Or whatever.

I look forward to downloading the .pdf version since I'm too disloyal to Jehovah and his organization to obtain a paper copy of the New New World Translation on my own. Hey, New New World Translation? It's like Futurama or something. "Not Sure If Old New World Translation Is Now Called Old World Translation Now, Or If 2013 New World Translation Should Be Called New New World Translation".

--sd-7

4

NI NWT John 1:1 still says "a god" ... but ....

by mindnumbed in

there is now a footnote that offers the alternative "was divine" ... which is the preferred rendering of jason d. beduhn ph.d. as stated in his book truth in translation.

sd-7

That was one of the first things I noticed about it. I actually appreciate the presence of the alternate rendering "was divine" there.

--sd-7

97

Did Jesus really exist?

by slimboyfat in

i had been wondering over the past few years whether there really was a historical jesus at all, until a few months ago when i read bart ehrman's latest book "did jesus exist?

" initially i was persuaded by his argument that the nt contains multiple sources that testify to jesus' existence.

but more recently i have been reading the christ myth position of richard carrier and his responses to ehrman.

sd-7

the Turin shroud

At the very least, this is proof that Turin Turambar, son of Hurin, existed, or else why have a shroud named after him? Right? Right??

--sd-7

97

Did Jesus really exist?

by slimboyfat in

i had been wondering over the past few years whether there really was a historical jesus at all, until a few months ago when i read bart ehrman's latest book "did jesus exist?

" initially i was persuaded by his argument that the nt contains multiple sources that testify to jesus' existence.

but more recently i have been reading the christ myth position of richard carrier and his responses to ehrman.

sd-7

As Douglas Adams wisely put it, he was nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be if everyone was a little nicer to each other. No matter how improbable, then, if we engage Improbability Drive, Jesus not only existed, he even came back, at least twice, ordered snacks, and then left to consume them. They were excellent snacks.

--sd-7

7

Parody of Memorial Song - 7 verses just means perfection

by sd-7 in

--my wife has this as a ringtone on her cell phone, so i can't get the darn song out of my head.

thus, i had no choice but to lampoon it.

in order to do so perfectly, i knew that making seven verses--rather than six, which would be handling the matter imperfectly--was not only necessary, but wise.

sd-7

those darn mp3s Kingdom maladies.

Indeed. Our neighbors must think we're from another planet, when that stuff's blaring out of the speakers...so you're not alone, Magwitch :) Thanks, though one wonders if I have a gift or a curse that I can write such things...fine line between genius and madness and all that...

I did have to stop watching "Today's Special," where a department store mannequin magically came to life. Sounds perfectly logical to me.

Wasn't there a movie called 'Mannequin' with that premise, or was that the name of the movie and I've just forgotten? There are so many products with the word 'magic' in them that it's almost worth writing a Beast-Tower article about their use...but I've been out of practice.

Honestly, I feel like maybe my hormones played the role of Leeroy Jenkins in my life...that could be another Beast-Tower article there, 'Who Make Up the Antitypical Leeroy Jenkins Class Today?' Those who rush ahead of Jehovah's organization, heedless of the consequences, would surely in large part fit this description...

Okay, maybe not so out of practice, after all...I haven't read any WT literature in...well, probably not since looking at that new book with the chapter about Abel. How do you write a chapter about a guy who gets introduced and then killed in like, half a page? But I digress...

I am one tired dude...I'm surprised this song was viewed so many times. I feel honored. "A god's voice and not a man's!" [Falls over eaten up by worms]

--[the 'evidently' immortal soul of] sd-7

7

Parody of Memorial Song - 7 verses just means perfection

by sd-7 in

--my wife has this as a ringtone on her cell phone, so i can't get the darn song out of my head.

thus, i had no choice but to lampoon it.

in order to do so perfectly, i knew that making seven verses--rather than six, which would be handling the matter imperfectly--was not only necessary, but wise.

sd-7

Nice_Dream--Thanks.

Also, blasted cell phones these days (well, not mine, since I got mine for free but she has a more advanced one, I've been too cheap to upgrade mine) have the ability to play MP3s, so of course JW music can be used the same as any MP3 file...hence the ringtones.

Thirdly, thanks--I, too, am a big Zelda fan, though motion sickness while playing some of the later games made it hard to keep playing them. Ocarina of Time is the last Zelda game I finished. I chose the avatar in response to my mom's sudden JW-inspired rejection of all things Zelda after having allowed us to play them for decades... Talk about nerd alert, are you excited for the 3DS game 'A Link to Two Worlds' or what??? Also related to nerd alerts, I just now finally discovered the origin story of this Leeroy Jenkins thing. I was afraid I was going to die laughing, seriously. It was scary for a moment. But beautiful, nonetheless.

LoisLane--I'm only smiling on the outside. Deep down I'm crying. "You might join me for a weep!" Ha ha ha ha!

3rdgen--A wise choice. I have a feeling this would go well for someone who was incredibly drunk and red-faced, because people would be wondering when the song was going to end, and it would get really awkward. But then they'd clap at the end, like, two of them.

--sd-7

7

Parody of Memorial Song - 7 verses just means perfection

by sd-7 in

--my wife has this as a ringtone on her cell phone, so i can't get the darn song out of my head.

thus, i had no choice but to lampoon it.

in order to do so perfectly, i knew that making seven verses--rather than six, which would be handling the matter imperfectly--was not only necessary, but wise.

sd-7

--My wife has this as a ringtone on her cell phone, so I can't get the darn song out of my head. Thus, I had no choice but to lampoon it. In order to do so perfectly, I knew that making seven verses--rather than six, which would be handling the matter imperfectly--was not only necessary, but wise. Let us all heed the solemn words of this Memorial parody song.

Jehovah, Godfather in heaven

Oh this is a sadistic night!

It was Nisan 14

And how gory the scene --

And all this to prove that you're right.

They beat up your Son very badly

While his friends left him so high and dry.

Then men cut up a tree

In the shape of a T

And they nailed up your Son till he died.

Before all that your Son Christ Jesus

Had meals with his self-righteous friends.

There was bread and some wine

They were symbols divine

Or perhaps they were merely at hand.

For thousands of years man has ate them

Expecting this man to come back

And it turns out that he

May well still be deceased

Or he may have already come back (in-vis-i-bly-y-y, why won't you sing with me-e)

We pass bread and wine down the aisle

For no apparent reason at all

Because most of us don't

Get to eat while we're home

And no evening meal's here for us.

But thankfully there are anointed

Who can eat this meal in our steads

And we'll jump every day

Just as high as they'll say

In field service until we're all dead.

We know, God, there isn't a fourth verse

But there is some more here to add.

For most anointed ones were just ousted by some

Wow, they must have made Jehovah sad!

For they're no longer of the slave class

If they do not work in New York

Then again, let us eat

For then we'll become kings

Without e'en doing half of the work

Oh, right, let's get back on this Jesus

We celebrate now that he's dead

But his resurrection is a date that we shun

All because of a rabbit and some eggs

We're glad that this meeting's an hour

We'll have veggie pizza and eat out

And we'll pass this short time

With that study who's fine

And is wearing a lovely short skirt

So now that we know you're in charge and

You'll murder us if we are bad

We have nothing to say, save that we will obey

We'll humbly attend Kingdom Halls.

I wonder if it would be an option

For us to just sit and talk this out?

But we know what you'll say

With a loud voice: "No way!

There is no other choice here at all!"

We end this song with seven verses

For we know that number is perfect

If we close one eye and look

Inside this year's Yearbook

We know some of us you'll protect

It's bird food, yes, death for the others

Who fail to just turn in their time

So we'll live in their place

Yes, their bones we'll cremate

And at last we'll be living in style!

--sd-7

153

Shocking talk from 2013 District Convention urges parents to shun disfellowshipped children

by cedars in

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yldwe_6jsu.

.

cedars.

sd-7

Have to reiterate my thoughts from my own convention, as posted on my previous convention thread. Sadly my music was not up loud enough to drown out this particular talk on Saturday...

"They also blamed "unbelieving family members" for causing division. So...whose religious leaders tell who to shun who here? Is there something difficult to understand about your own policies? Why do you think you can tell people the opposite of the truth (a lie) and--okay. It's a lie--family members are typically baffled and legitimately concerned when their relative's religion causes them to start withdrawing from the family like they've got a disease. I guess I called to mind how they railroaded the late Ray Franz, who was kind enough to write good articles giving family members a chance to reconnect with DF'd relatives. A shame. Shame on them.

"The wrongdoer has changed his relationship with Jehovah and thus his family members." "The DF'd person chose to leave Jehovah and us." <--That one really pissed me off. The DF'd person left a religion and did NOT leave his family, his family abandons him, shuns HIM. The religion tells the family to shun HIM, not the other way around. If a family member is to be held hostage by the dictates of the religion for fear of losing his family, well, "Let's review: It's a cult!""

--sd-7