GLTirebiter

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Posts by GLTirebiter

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  16

  Did Ancient Jewish Worshipers Ever Make Changes to the "Holy' Scriptures?

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you have the time and the means to visit israel right now, you can see something that few modern people have seen.. at the israel museum in jerusalem, a very special document will be on display.

  the museum's website heading describes it as:.

  genesis retold: an exceptional dead sea scroll.. .

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  GLTirebiter

  There are questions we should ask. Was there ever a master copy of the OT? If so, where was it kept?

  Since much of it (the Pentatuch) predates a written Hebrew language, the Master Copy was an oral tradition. It was transcribed after the fact. After that was done, the best candidate for the master copy would be those kept in the Ark of the Covenant, so it is long lost.

  If you want word for word accuracy, sorry, it's no longer possible. Nor would it be possible when reading a translation, because there is not perfect agreement in vocabulary, grammar, etc. between languages (especially when there are multipel translations: ancient Hebrew, to Aramaic, to Latin, to the archaic English of the KJV, to the English we speak now.)

  But if you want the meaning of the message, it is there. As the article noted, it extended the conventional text, it did not replace or contradict it.
  
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  41

  Who deserves the title of king of apostasy ?

  by Chook in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i think this would be a noble endeavour..

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  GLTirebiter

  Henry VIII deserves consideration
  
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  21

  Wives With Unbelieving Mates

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i knew many witness wives with unbelieving mates who pretty much led a double life.

  “my husband says i have to go the workplace christmas party.” or my mate tells me i have to make a thanksgiving dinnner.

  or “ my mate insists i do things in the bedroom that i know the watchtower has talked against.

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  GLTirebiter

  Yes it's a curious feature of JW rules that they have not outright banned JWs from marrying non-JWs.

  If there were enough eligible JW brothers for all the sisters, they might try it. But with the slim pickings available at most Kingdom Halls, they would lose many sisters who, if forced to choose, would leave to wed their unbelieving beau instead of staying in the congregation as a Watchtower spinster.
  
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  39

  a question after my first JW meeting

  by bleak in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i attended my first jw meeting recently.

  first, i would like to say what i agree with about the jehovah's witnesses beliefs and practices.. 1. they don't consider israeli's as "god's chosen people" and they don't worship israel as some holy land filled with righteous jews (although there are some there) as most so-called "christians" (christian zionists) erroneously believe they are instead of the "hypocrites" and "vipers" that it is actually filled with.. 2. they don't celebrate "holidays" like easter and christmas which are, in fact, remnants of earlier pagan practices.. 3. they don't put nation before god and christ.

  they don't believe in war or going to war because of some crazy government/cia secret agenda.

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  GLTirebiter

  They know their Bibles. I don't think anyone can dispute this.

  They know their Watchtower magazines very well. They know the Bible proof-texts given in the Watchtower very well, and the specific assigned passages for daily reading. But they do not have as much comprehension of the whole Bible, taking all its books and viewing them in context. My impression is that they treat their Watchtowers as equal to the scriptures, sometimes as even more authoritative.
  

  How they interpret different parts of the Bible is another matter.

  How they made their own translation also is another matter. For the most part, it is a fairly literal word-for-word transliteration. But it loses the power of the original poetic language, which better translators try to preserve where possible (in Psalms, the Song of Songs, etc.). The way the ideas are expressed, the style, the majesty, the rhetorical impact, the word choices, the rhythms: all covey the teachings just as much as the plain words. The Bible is not a prosaic textbook!
  

  The peculiarities unique to the NWT are unjustifiable: the Hebrew version of the holy name would never appear in New Testament works written in Greek, and reverent Jews (such as Jesus and the Evangelists) would not use that name so freely as it appears in the NWT.
  
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  25

  WT predicting smartphones back in the 20s?

  by paradiseseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've come across a jw friendly article about watchtower predicting smartphones in the 20s.. .

  of course, in the comments section there are a lot of jws freaking out saying "there is no doubt that this is the only true organization!

  ", "thanks jehovah that used his faithful and discreet slave to tell us some useful information about the future!

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  GLTirebiter

  Dick Tracy beat them to it!
  
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  121

  Did man really go to the moon?

  by atomant in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  l have researched this subject and come to the conclusion that no we didn't.what do others think?.

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  GLTirebiter

  The conspiracy theorists typing away in mama's basement proliferate, while the brave ones who risked space travel pass on. RIP, John Young!
  
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  52

  US violent crimes and murders rose in 2016, the FBI says

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. current

  i can't remember the exact topic but i think a few people predicted the same thing - that the blm movement would cause an increase in violent deaths of young black men, ultimately doing more harm than good.. and so it has: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41391333.

  an 8.6% rise in the homicide rate is pretty appalling by any standard unless it started at very low levels, which we know it didn't.. this is why i object to movements based on false premises and invented media lies / selective coverage.

  the people who suffer the most are not the ones marching in the streets.

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  GLTirebiter

  While it is not BLM specifically, the widespread anti-police attitude apparently is the motivation behind yesterday's ambush killing of the sheriff's deputy in Colorado. The (deceased) murderer posted many anti-police rants on social media, lured law officers to his apartment on the pretext of a domestic dispute, then opened fire on them when they responded.
  
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  83

  The Scientific Method

  by cofty in

  1. social
  2. humour

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  GLTirebiter

  Scientist sad

  That's where the meme is wrong. When the data tells us something that we were not expecting, is precisely the point where the investigation gets interesting and the scientific method gets down to work.
  
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  5

  Charles Take Russell was an "American That Mattered"

  by Wild_Thing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  according to this website ... http://www.americansthatmatter.com/charles-taze-russell/.. fairly accurate.

  it must be new.

  i haven't seen it before.

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  GLTirebiter

  I did notice something in this article. It refers to Russell as "the first leader," not "the first president." Russell was secretary-treasurer in the early days; he did the writing and publishing.

  The president of the organization before it became legally incorporated was William Conley. He provided the majority of the start-up capital, but stayed with Zion's Watchtower for only a few years. Today's WTBTS does not say much about the first president; he was their first notable apostate!
  
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  78

  Pacifism is Morally Indefensible

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been surprised recently to see so much support by ex-jws for the watchtower's refusal to fight and kill.

  in my opinion it is a vice masquerading as a virtue.

  of course war should always be a last resort but there are occasions that it has to be done.

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  GLTirebiter

  When Douglas Murray said on Question Time that he was elated at Osama bin Laden's death, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown said 'that makes you as bad as him'

  Though gloating over his death is not justified, "Is as bad as him" is hyperbole.

  Bin Laden's death was a appropriate use of military force to abate evil. A moral choice is a reasoned response, neither giving in to blood lust nor insisting on a do-nothing stance.