Posts by garyneal

48

A few questions for believers

by keyser soze in

jw
friends

when confronted with all of the inconsistencies and atrocities of the bible, many believers invariably claim that they don't base their faith in christ on what's written in the bible.

so what is the basis then, if not scripture?.

and please don't tell me "the lord has revealed himself to me".

garyneal

So jgnat, do you think Jesus' teachings would have been preserved orally in the absence of scripture? I'll be honest, I think without the Bible the Jesus story might have been no more than a historical footnote. Could you honestly say you'd still be a Christian if you'd never encountered a Bible?

I don't think it was so much for the Bible that kept the Jesus story alive throughout the centuries but more of the history of the Christian church. If it had not been for Rome converting to Christianity and establishing the Roman Catholic church much of what we know and have today would not exist and the world would be much different.

8

History of the church/Christianity, etc.

by Joe Grundy in

i have learned a great deal from some of the very erudite posters on this site (thank you).. for many years i've been interested in the history of the development of christianity, not only from its earliest days but through the reformation, etc., and through to the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries when denominations, sects, cults took off in all directions like exploding fireworks.. i was aware, in broad terms, of luther, calvin and the development of protestantism from which so many denominations and sects (including jws) arose.

i was vaguely aware of the schism (1,000 years ago) between the western (catholic) and eastern (orthodox) churches and was tangentially interested as to why it happened (if the 'east' was the home of christianity, how come the 'west' disagreed with it?).

i was quite interested to read, while living in cyprus, a greek orthodox english language bible which had a large section in the back about the schism.

garyneal

The history of Christianity ( should I call it Christendom?) does not make for faith strengthening reading

Agreed but it does explain a lot in ways of why we have what we have today. I highly recommend it for anyone who really wants to learn the truth about the Christian faith.

80

Will JW.ORG actually harm the WT Society Long Term ?

by flipper in

jw
friends

my son and i were discussing this yesterday over coffee.

since the wt society in previous years virtually demonized going on the internet at all for jw's - now wt leaders are doing a complete turn around or about face probably so as to " compete " or keep up with all the anti-jw websites that are out there to give the wt society point of view.. however- it very well may backfire on them as once people start doing google searches looking for jw.org it will bring up all the other websites dealing with any jw issues and in the privacy of their own homes out of curiosity i'm sure lots of jw's are going to want to check out some of these sites to see what all the " apostate " hoopla is all about.

i wonder how many jw's will do this and will it have an effect in opening more minds to other views ?

garyneal

At the last memorial, I was carrying my tablet for entertainment. A young JW walked by me and showed me his tablet. He said, "JW.ORG!" I replied, "JWFACTS.COM!"

24

should i marry and have a child with my partner

by stevepill in

hi, iv'e been a regular observer on this site for a while and would be very grateful for input from witnessess and non-witnessess.

ti widll try keep it brief to avoid too much reading!.

background:.

garyneal

I do not recommend you marrying this person. I too am married to a JW who did not take her religion too seriously before and sometime after our marraige. Then she went running back to the bOrg after we had one child and another on the way. I will say she is more reasonable and more liberal than some of the others I read about but it was difficult for a while.

It might work out for you but why bother with such an iffy scenario? I would start setting boundaries with her now with the first one being that you two have to talk about things that concern you and set boundaries on how you will raise any kids you have together. Sadly, if she is anything like my wife, she will break boundaries later to get what she wants at your expense.

80

Will JW.ORG actually harm the WT Society Long Term ?

by flipper in

jw
friends

my son and i were discussing this yesterday over coffee.

since the wt society in previous years virtually demonized going on the internet at all for jw's - now wt leaders are doing a complete turn around or about face probably so as to " compete " or keep up with all the anti-jw websites that are out there to give the wt society point of view.. however- it very well may backfire on them as once people start doing google searches looking for jw.org it will bring up all the other websites dealing with any jw issues and in the privacy of their own homes out of curiosity i'm sure lots of jw's are going to want to check out some of these sites to see what all the " apostate " hoopla is all about.

i wonder how many jw's will do this and will it have an effect in opening more minds to other views ?

garyneal

It certainly seems like the watchtower is attempting to bury its past. How long before all the old literature begins to disappear from the kingdom hall libraries? They are beginning to look more and more like the Catholic church with each passing year.

13

Cable vs the Antenae tower

by Quarterback in

jw
friends

i kind of wanted to know if some have made this transition from escaping the satellite/cable monopoly to the large antenaes that require no monthly bills.

does it work?

is there a good quality such as hi def?

garyneal

I live on the peninsula in the HR area of Virginia and we have a good number of local stations broadcasting in the area. For us, rabbit ears are adequate for our televisions and we get a good number of channels. Some are high def, mainly the mainstream networks like cbs and nbc. They are either clear when the signal is fair to good or glitchy (like a scratched dvd) when the signal is poor.

13

What Are Jehovah's Witnesses Known For In Helping Humanity? What Can They Brag About?

by BucketShopBill in

catholic churches were known for starting schools, orphanages, resthomes, hospitals along with other ideas like universities.

we can debate who started what but you will be missing the point.

i know some of the best colleges were started by religion, what has the watchtower contributed to society as a whole?

garyneal

Protestant and Fundamental groups are helping start "Water Projects", Cooking and Schools in Africa now, what is the Watchtower doing to make the World a better place since their inception?

I've had this conversation with my wife a number of times and the answers range from "We can't make this world better, the only one who can is Jesus," to something like what donnye said though I doubt what he says is 100% factual in all circumstances but it makes them sound good.

47

Divorcing my husband of 13 years...

by 2pink in

jw
friends

my husband and i were both born ins.

i left in 2009, and he followed me out a bit later.

we were one of those couples who followed the script, married young and ended up having nothing in common other than the religion.

garyneal

http://www.alternet.org/belief/how-playing-good-christian-housewife-almost-killed-me

Hey, if this helps, I found this blog by a former Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) who was part of the quiverfull movement. Some of her circumstances are similar to yours. It sounds like you are doing what is best for your health and that of the kids. No one should remain married to an alcoholic, especially if he/she is in any way abusive.

My wife has a JW aunt who is married to an alcoholic and even though he and I are both 'unbelieving spouses' I would join the chorus of individuals who thinks she should leave him. She won't sadly and it has taken a toll on her kids. The oldest is doing semi ok and managed to leave the house and get married. The second oldest stood up to his dad and got kicked out and became a drifter for a while. As crazy as this sounds, he was actually 'saved' by a group of IFBs and now considers himself to be a devout IFB if you can believe that. The youngest is doing quite badly and became addicted to drugs and is currently a drifter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIH5XRIVYjY&feature=player_embedded

36

Where Will Jesus Come When He Comes?

by Cold Steel in

according to both christian and jewish eschatology, the messiah will come to jerusalem, where he will deliver the jews from hostile nations "round about.

"since the jehovah's witnesses and other adventists don't believe his coming will be literally fulfilled, but figuratively fulfilled, they simply believe he will return to the earth, where he will slay the wicked and the righteous will be caught up to meet him in the air.. first we have a christian declaration:.

and when [jesus] had spoken these things, while [the apostles] beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

garyneal

Crisis of Conscous: I like your cartoon but I think Ken Ham will disagree.

Ken Ham

12

QUESTIONS and ANSWERS with NT scholar Prof. Bart Ehrman

by Terry in

the following is a tiny excerpt from bart ehrman's blog of which i'm a member.. this particular entry contains questions and answers about the nature of translating the new testament.. .

did the fact that early christian scripture was written in koine greek have an effect in how the religion was perceived by the pagan elites and imperial family?

in other words, did that make the religion look bad or koine greek was acceptable?

garyneal

Terry, how did you get on this blog? I would like to join too if it is possible.