Posts by sd-7

14

This generation and a key weasel word

by Socrateswannabe in

in this past sunday's watchtower lesson, which has been discussed at length on this board, the gb/writing committee used a key weasal word that we will probably see again.

the exact quote is: "we understand that in mentioning 'this generation,' jesus was referring to two groups of anointed christians.".

this goofy teaching is merely a patch until they can devise something more plausible, or until some event occurs that they can latch onto that will make this teaching more acceptable to the r&f.

sd-7

"We UNDERSTAND that in mentioning 'this generation,' Jesus was referring to two groups of anointed Christians."

There's a lot going on in this sentence, more than just a weasel word. 'We understand' is another way of saying 'you believe because we told you to believe it and we're always right that....'

And I'm particularly impressed with how the words 'this generation' refer to two groups of anointed Christians. The Jesus of the Gospels sometimes spoke with illustrations and signs, but seriously? He doesn't say anything about either anointed or Christians in this verse, much less two groups of anything. Also impressive is how singular "generation" becomes plural "two groups". It's a very good case in point of how even basic reading comprehension goes out the window when the WT essentially rewrites the Bible by saying stuff like this.

(Also, hi, how are you? Hope you guys are doing well.)

--sd-7

45

I am having trouble believing in God...

by thedepressedsoul in

i was raised a jw and i am still one but recently i have been having trouble believing in a god.

this is not meant to offend anyone who does, i am just curious to see if i am the only one who thinks this..... to start, i am a very black and white person.

if 1+1=2 it makes sense to me and i can agree with it.

sd-7

May I also add "Jesus, Interrupted" and "The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings" by Bart Ehrman--the former is a summary but the latter goes really deep into the cultural background of the Bible writers and how the NT came to be. Eye-opening stuff.

Your questions are good. Keep asking more, and keep reading.

--sd-7

74

Here we go again. Dan 4 and 1914

by leaving_quietly in

wtbts published a new article on jw.org (http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/daniel-4-bible-chronology-1914/) entitled "what does bible chronology indicate about the year 1914?

" in it, it points to daniel 4 as the prophecy and uses the same leaps of insane logic to get from the first and only fulfillment of that prophecy to 1914, using 607 as the starting point and 2,520 years as doubling the 1,260 years in revelation.

of course, there is no accounting for the difference in our solar years and the bible's lunar years, which makes the math have a very different outcome.

sd-7

Recycling. A very ‘green’ way of promulgating false prophesy.

LOL! Classic.

--sd-7

33

Today I Da'd -Twenty-five years ago. Regrets -some.

by Xanthippe in

yes twenty-five years ago today we sent in our da letter.

some regrets, not about leaving the cult obviously, but sometimes when i read about people slowly fading and keeping in touch with family and friends i wonder if we should have done that.

of course it was before the internet in 1989 so we didn't know about people fading.. one day we were driving along and we had been talking about moving congregations because we knew something was wrong but of course we thought it was local.

sd-7

Sounds like it worked out for you in the end. You got a chance to live life as it was meant to be lived, to some extent.

Me? Sure, I've got tons of regrets about it. I certainly wish I hadn't involved anyone else in it all, but...I guess I was smitten at the time and couldn't let go of the woman I loved. My greatest regret is having her be a part of my decision to leave the JWs. She had her own life and wanted to be amongst the JWs. We were going in opposite directions and it just happened that we met at the worst possible intersection on the way.

Would've preferred to start a new life on my own and start building from the ground up, figuring myself out, learning to forgive and love myself, and expanding my knowledge and enjoyment of life free from having to argue with someone about whether it's okay to watch 'Avatar' and stupid stuff like that. Guess I've had my chances for that normal life and blew them all because it just wasn't in me to let go.

Beyond that, naw, it's been awesome. I can finally choose what I want to watch or read or listen to on my own. You know, more or less. Still plenty of road ahead, I hope, and plenty of good stuff out there to be experienced.

--sd-7

53

Did Jesus say his followers would be witnesses of Jehovah?

by blondie in

jw
friends

what did jesus say?.

(acts 1:8)8 but you will receive power when the holy spirit arrives upon you, and you will be witnesses of me both in jerusalem and in all judea and samaria and to the most distant part of the earth.

by "divine providence" what did jesus' followers become known as?.

sd-7

Ah. I see I've entered a discussion that must be way out of my league. Filiogue?

--Edited--wait, I Googled it. Never mind. Gotcha.

--sd-7

48

Do you pray over your meals? If so why? If not, when did you stop and why?

by BU2B in

jw
friends

to answer my question, no i do not pray over meals anymore exept for when i am with other jws i do a 15 second head bow for appearances sake.

i just came to the realization god had nothing to do with whether i ate or not.

many believers are starving right now whilst many non-believers are eating like kings.. also why should god give me food while he lets little children in dprk concentration camps starve to death.

sd-7

Not anymore. I realized that I was talking to no one. At some point, I finally had it out with what I imagined was God and pretty much told him off. He never did reply before or after that anyway.

I also recognized the absurdity of thanking the person who, if he's the same guy from the Bible, actually condemned man to 'eat bread in the sweat of your face', the same guy who cursed the ground and made it harder for man to grow crops. So why would I thank the person who makes it hard for me to earn my food every day? If anything, I would manage to eat in spite of God's efforts to prevent humans from eating, not because of him.

The food still tastes the same without saying thanks to anyone. So...apparently no harm done.

--sd-7

53

Did Jesus say his followers would be witnesses of Jehovah?

by blondie in

jw
friends

what did jesus say?.

(acts 1:8)8 but you will receive power when the holy spirit arrives upon you, and you will be witnesses of me both in jerusalem and in all judea and samaria and to the most distant part of the earth.

by "divine providence" what did jesus' followers become known as?.

sd-7

John 8:14-18

New International Version (NIV)

14 Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. 16 But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. 18 I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”

Huh. So maybe that answers the question. Jesus was bearing witness to himself, and his Father was bearing witness to him.

John 18:37

New International Version (NIV)

37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

John 14:6

New International Version (NIV)

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

If you put all that together, it kinda sounds like Jesus was bearing witness to himself, as the means of approaching the Father. Whereas JWs seem to focus on the Father's name/qualities as the means to understanding Jesus or some such thing, like you can only understand Jesus by knowing Jehovah (and "his organization", of course) first.

I may be wrong here.

--sd-7

24

CIRCUIT ASSEMBLIES KEEP SHRINKING IN SIZE - WAY TO GO!!

by steve2 in

the recent boe letter announcing changes to the duration of circuit assemblies was warmly received by congregations the worldover.

it was as if the brothers and sisters were already in the new world for, upon hearing this news, there were no tears at all.

instead, it is a humble acknowledgement from the gb of the mind-numbing, yawn-inducing 2-day circuit assemblies.. .

sd-7

I never really understood the point of them anyway. I mean, reprogramming is the obvious point, but it's basically just you, crammed into a seat for 8 hours of the same stuff you've been hearing at every meeting anyway, maybe presented in a different way. Except for the verbatim WT quotes cut and pasted into the talk outline, that is. I recognized quite a few of those over the years.

--sd-7

13

Watchtowers Prophesy Date's DON'T ADD UP! .

by Londo111 in

snarky's version is much more entertaining:.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqluxvfvalm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu7030iiabu.

sd-7

Also, if that's the Snarky Apologist, I rather like his videos, though I don't watch much ex-JW stuff on YouTube these days. He's a funny guy. I think I've commented on one of his threads at some point.

--sd-7

13

Watchtowers Prophesy Date's DON'T ADD UP! .

by Londo111 in

snarky's version is much more entertaining:.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqluxvfvalm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu7030iiabu.

sd-7

Marked. No, we can't just say "Marked", we have to give a talk that mentions this specific thread without mentioning any names, but only the situation, thus sending a signal to all who visit here to limit association with it.

"Some individuals believe the 'faithful slave' has failed in matters of Bible prophecy. They reason that the numbers don't add up. Perhaps they have been listening to some who think they are smarter than Jehovah and his organization. We would do well to turn away from such ones and continue trusting in and partaking in the fine spiritual food Jehovah has provided through the faithful and discreet slave."

There. Marked.

--sd-7