Posts by Fernando

9

The Tree of The Knowledge of Good and BadHave JWs got it correctly?

by Kalos in

as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die.

(genesis 2:17).

jws interpret this tree as the symbol knowledge of good and bad, right of god to set standards for us; hence eating of it means snatching gods right to rule over usthus self-rule means ruination and death, and conversely gods rule means blessings and eternal life.. this interpretation has some intrinsic problems!.

Fernando

Religion versus the gospel

Personally, I've come to conclude that both the "tree of life" and the "Holy Grail" are symbols of the same thing: the liberating gospel message of grace and peace sponsored by our creator.

Similarly, I believe that both the "tree of the knowledge of good and bad" and the "poison chalice" (containing the "wine" of Revelation 14, 16, 17, 18) are symbols of the same thing: religion (sponsored by the enemy of both God and man).

Related references:

A very graphic 20 minute portrayal in the Harrisson Ford movie "Indiana Jones and the The Last Crusade".
The book "Two Trees" by Robert Ingleson.

49

Terminology the Society Hates?

by toweragent in

in my most recent talk, i got counseled for using some terms that were not prefered.

for example i said "new testament" rather than "the christian greek scriptures".

i also used the term "gospel", but even worse, i made reference to the "synoptic gospels" and the "gnostic gospel".. i guess i never thought of it before, but when i looked at the societies information on the matter they always say things like, "the so-called new testament..." or "the so-called synoptic gospels..." why with all the "so-called?".

Fernando

Yup, they sure don't like the word "gospel".

Oddly enough it appears more than 3,000 times in the Watchtower Library 2012.

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".

Fernando

@keyser soze

According to Romans, none is more or less worthy of receiving revelation.

Personally I believe revelation can and should be commonplace.

How much information would you share with (reveal to) someone who ignored you and your message?

The same with our creator.

When we give time, energy, and money to religion we not only ignore, but also offend our creator.

His message is not religion.

As some interpret Karl Barth: "the revelation of God is the abolition of religion" and "religion is unbelief".

Our creator's message/plan/map has several names: the gospel, the good message, the good news, the evangel, the sacred secret, glad tidings, bissar (Hebrew), injil/injeel (Arabic/Urdu), Evangelium (Latin), and Euagellion/Evangelion (Greek).

Pursuit of this message/plan/map (instead of religion) is game changing, and the door to (commonplace) revelation.

Best wishes on life's journey.

Fernando

29

Do we know for sure what happens after death?

by Yondaime in

christian denominations say we go to heaven, witness say we stay alseep until ressurection.

quran says when we go we grt 72 virgins, unless we blow some people up.. .

i'm not really concerned with death atm, i'm not dead.

Fernando

@Yondaime

"I want to have faith in god but I don't see any evidence that proves he exists."

According to Romans 10:17, and according to my personal experience, Faith (a wide opening of higher dimensions and realities to our spiritual eyes) is a "free gift" that results from setting aside religion, and instead sincerely pursuing the map (hidden in plain sight throughout scripture), which is known variously as:

the 5 solas (of the reformation)
the liberating gospel of grace
the plan/message/map of salvation
the plan/message/map of liberation
the plan/message/map of reconciliation
the plan/message/map of restoration
imputed righteousness (justification)
imputed holiness (sanctification)
bissar (in Hebrew), injil/injeel (in Arabic/Urdu/Quran)

None of the priceless "free gifts" attached to this plan/message/map can be earned, deserved or paid for. This creates a very level playing field that anyone can choose to step onto at any time, without reference to any human/s or organisation/s.

By the way, this plan/message/map was revealed to Abraham who was not a Jew, Christian, or Muslim, although all these groups see him as their earthly spiritual father.

Abraham was also not a religionist.

Some reading that may help (in the Message Bible): Romans, Introduction to Galatians, Galatians.

Best wishes on life's journey.

Fernando

37

Am I the youngest one on here?

by Capstone in

jw
friends

i finally registered on here after reading on the forum for almost two years on and off (more often the last year).

to give you some background on who i am i can say that i'm a girl in my late teens and live in western europe.

my mom is a jw and my dad is not.

Fernando

Hi and welcome Capstone.

There have been a fair number your age and sometimes even younger, who have awoken to the lies and falsehoods of (this) religion. On JWN they are probably the minority.

According to a PEW study though, around 2 out of every 3 brought up as JWs, no longer follow the Watchtower organisation.

Many of us wish we had also awoken at an earlier age and made better use of our youth.

It would probably be very wise to keep your thoughts to yourself when you are with religionists who are not ready or mature enough to deal with viewpoints that threaten their myopic (small) and intransigent (hard to shift) worldview or mindset.

Personally I am delighted that my awakening (although later in life) has allowed me to see how any and all religion is hostile (in varying degrees) to genuine/organic faith and spirituality based on the 5 solas (of the reformation).

Religion is about hierarchies, power, control, fear of death, clericalism, magisterium, hypocrisy, self-righteousness, works-righteousness, dogma, sectarianism, fundamentalism, irrationality, legalism, moralism, conservatism, and apostasy.

The liberating gospel of grace was designed specifically to set us free from all these things (and is therefore surreptitiously resisted and obfuscated by religion/ists).

At any rate, I wish you wisdom, success, prosperity and happiness on life's challenging journey.

Greetings

Fernando

South East Queensland, Australia

42

What are the ODDS Jehovah's Witnesses are the ONLY TRUE religion?

by Terry in

the entire organization shoves all its chips into the center of the table on one bet: they are the only mouthpiece of god on earth.. what are the odds to this bet?.

the statistic for christian denominations make jw's 1 out of 41,000 opinions.. a chance of 1 in 41 thousand is a tough bet.. _________________________.

if abc tv broadcasts shark tank and your tv receives mister ed .

Fernando

Great summary Terry.

Personally, I have come to conclude that ALL "religion is a snare and a racket" as Judge Rutherford explained in his books Enemies (1937) and Religion (1940).

On that basis the Watchtower is definitely a front-runner.

They push religion to the max (apostate legalism, apostate moralism, supremacist ethnocentrism/doctrine, supremacist religious Gnosticism).

Therefore for me the Watchtower is indeed one of the TRUEST snares and rackets (religions).

No religion I know of, has accomplished more in telling their followers they are "publishers of the Good News" whilst deliberately keeping them ignorant of this same "Good News".

55

Jehovah's INEFFECTIVE Witness...(Why no TV ministry???)

by Terry in

jw
friends

what if i asserted the following as true?

the watchtower bible and tract society has no interest in an effective evangelical program of conversion.. would that sound silly?

disfellowshipping would lead to having a big target placed on the ex jw's back at armageddon.. .

Fernando

Maybe Terrymiah should be claiming royalties from GB 2.0?

33

"When you see the disgusting thing"... (let the reader use descernment)

by Ish Elon in

it is widely known that the roman army was the disgusting thing in the 1st century.

examine the statements below: 1. the dt was within the 1st century governing body in jerusalem.

take a look at the picture of apostles and elders in the "insight" book.

Fernando

Welcome Ish Elon.

What unky punky said in his first post.

For many of us it takes a lot of courage to make our first post on a site like this, heart pounding, palms sweating and more as we battle cognitive dissonance and the enemies of transformation and wakening.

Ish, hopefully you are able to get through the rough patches, stick around, and share your evolving journey with those that have gone before.

Humour and humility can go a long way...

24

I Would Like To Know Exactly What JWs Believe Or Not Believe In

by minimus in

i hear people saying it is not the same religion that i knew.

what is the major difference?.

.

Fernando

JWs will believe anything the GB (Sanhedrin) tell them.

Of course only until the penny drops that these "fine upstanding" persons are nothing of the sort, but instead malicious purveyors of apostate clericalism and magisterium.

4

consciencious objection.

by zeb in

it seems in some countries brothers subject to military call-up can accept non military service instead but in others as in korea they regularly go to jail.. are they offered alternative service in korea ?.

in the book "i wept by the rivers of babylon" by terry walstrom, the author gives clear insights into the ever changing wts opinions on this matter at least in the us.. can anyone enlighten me.. please?.

.

Fernando

At one point (around 1984 I believe) the Watchtower Organisation accepted alternative service provided it was under a criminal conviction.