Fernando

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Posts by Fernando

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  17

  Could the Watchtower Religion be Anti-Christ? Let them tell you

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

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  Fernando

  JWN is having a wobble!

  Or was, since I can see the whole thread.
• 
  15

  That's one fancy trick

  by N.drew in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  revelation 6:1-2. the watchtower has jesus in heaven with the one seated upon the throne (revelation 5:1) pictured as a lamb (revelation 5:6)and at the same time (6:1) as a rider on a white horse (revelation 6:2).

  one of the four living creatures says (with of voice as of thunder) come!

  all authority had been given jesus in heaven and on earth.

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  Fernando

  I still haven't had an opportunity to fully read and digest this series on "Jesus: Victor over Religion" as the dominant theme of Revelation: http://www.christinyou.net/pages/revel.html .
• 
  20

  How Did I Ever Trust Something Called the 'Watchtower Society'?

  by breakfast of champions in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i mean, the 'watchtower society'?

  just the name connotes some weird, masonic, secretive organization!.

  how did we ever fall for this!.

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  Fernando

  3rd generation born in who accepted the "reality" I was presented with but saw and experienced much that was wrong and distressing. There was no context or alternative reality to deal with the many red flags until I experienced a spiritual awakening through pursuing the Bible's version of the gospel or "good news" instead.
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  61

  Have your faith been made stronger or made weaker since coming here?

  by jam in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  me personally, considerably weaker.

  in fact i have.

  become an agnostic.. since i discovered this site over 6-7 yrs, we have.

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  Fernando

  I am not convinced that being Agnostic is a bad thing, and I still need to learn and understand more. I am wondering if Agnosticism is the opposite of Gnosticism?

  However I am certain that religious Gnosticism, of which the Watchtower is a foremost supporter, is from the "god of religion" who Jesus described as the spiritual father of the Pharisees. Gnosticism postulates that one can be right with God by following and embracing the "right" knowledge as determined by other fallen, dysfunctional and bankrupt humans - a road to nowhere at best.

  (Compare John 17:3 NWT vs Greek KIT both by WBT$)
• 
  61

  Have your faith been made stronger or made weaker since coming here?

  by jam in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  me personally, considerably weaker.

  in fact i have.

  become an agnostic.. since i discovered this site over 6-7 yrs, we have.

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  Fernando

  Thanks, Tammy! Peace to you too!
• 
  61

  Have your faith been made stronger or made weaker since coming here?

  by jam in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  me personally, considerably weaker.

  in fact i have.

  become an agnostic.. since i discovered this site over 6-7 yrs, we have.

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  Fernando

  Hey Knowsnothing! The Watchtower has taught us that a "believer" is someone who believes in and keeps a set of religious doctrines (and rules), and an "unbeliever" is someone who does not believe in and keep a particular set of religious doctrines (and rules). That makes all Pharisees (religionists) "believers", and all who disagree with them "unbelievers" including Jesus.

  Sorry, its plain wrong and also unscriptural.

  (James 2:19) . . .You believe there is one God, do you? You are doing quite well. And yet the demons believe and shudder.

  That having been said, I think I would tend to go along with your observation.
• 
  61

  Have your faith been made stronger or made weaker since coming here?

  by jam in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  me personally, considerably weaker.

  in fact i have.

  become an agnostic.. since i discovered this site over 6-7 yrs, we have.

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  Fernando

  May I suggest that all having been born spiritually blind none of us had any FAITH to begin with. The Watchtower stole the FAITH meant for us, redefined it, and gave it back to us as BELIEF. So at worst/best we have lost our BELIEF in the Watchtower - which in my view is a big step UP and FORWARD.

  This is not unusual. All religion does this. Just look at the many "statements of FAITH" which then proceed to list BELIEFS.

  The two are NOT the same. BELIEF emanates from man. FAITH emanates from God - he alone can and does grant it.

  What is FAITH? It is a wide opening of our spiritual eyes which allows us to transcend our 5 senses and see, discern and understand things from another time, place and realm (higher dimensions).

  I came to FAITH before coming here to JWN. I do not regret coming here. I have met persons here who have also come to FAITH "independently" of me, my views and my experiences. What we have in common is a metaphysical understanding of the real, full and true gospel (not the apostate Watchtower version).

  FAITH is not available to those who don't want it. On the otherhand FAITH is available to ANYONE who does want it, no matter what they have done, where they have gone, who they are, what they possess or not. God's message is "come as you are". The message of Pharisees is "measure up" (which none of us can) - thereby setting us up for the futile pursuit of the unattainable.

  No one can continue an honesthearted pursuit of the real, full and true gospel indefinitely without being granted FAITH and spiritual vision.

  The real, full and true gospel oddly enough exits in the Watchtower library (in a badly fragmented form), but definitely not in the hearts, and not on the lips of Watchtower (or any) religionists.

  Only for those that want FAITH (and spirituality) here is a simple suggested recipe for recovering what the Watchtower has stolen and kept from us (Rom 10:16,17):

  1. Pray for strength and endurance to pursue to real, full and true gospel to its zenith or ultimate.
  2. Find and underline the word "gospel" or phrase "good news" in your Bible. It occurs ±152 times - not just once (in Matt 24:14) as per the Watchtower. The Watchtower library search tool is excellent for this as is www.bible.cc and www.biblegateway.com or a downloaded Bible.
  3. Start reading where you have underlined in the books Romans through Hebrews. This is the "good news" according to Paul - which you will recall is not taught, believed, or practiced by Watchtower followers. More than half the Bible's references to the "good news" are by Paul!

  Lastly by continuing to accept and use FALSE Watchtower definitions of key concepts such as FAITH, spirituality, prophesy, apostasy and the gospel, we afford the apostate Watchtower indefinite or perpetual influence in and control over our lives and families.
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  49

  What are the best Bible Translations?

  by Londo111 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  growing up in a jw family, my parents and my grandparents had many versions of the bible...not just the new world translation.

  sometimes i read these.

  but i always bought the hype that the new world translation was the most unbiased and most consistent in rendering hebrew and greek into the modern language.

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  Fernando

  Terry, if I may offer a different perspective?

  Martin Luther and the first reformation made a monumental contribution in reforming society - not religion, which is an irreformable enemy of God and man. We now have many freedoms we take for granted and which were punishable 500 years ago.

  Martin Luther and the first reformation made a monumental blunder in delivering "freedom of religion" instead of "freedom from religion". When we as a society are able to tell the baby (faith and spirituality) from the bathwater (religion) we will advance to the next level and address much of the remaining dysfunction that still plagues us.

  Londo111, sorry for going off-topic and devolving, hopefully someone can help us back.
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  49

  What are the best Bible Translations?

  by Londo111 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  growing up in a jw family, my parents and my grandparents had many versions of the bible...not just the new world translation.

  sometimes i read these.

  but i always bought the hype that the new world translation was the most unbiased and most consistent in rendering hebrew and greek into the modern language.

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  Fernando

  The very best Bible translation is the one that is interpreted on the fly by the Holy Spirit! That covers most Bible translations!

  Some, including myself, although knowing almost nothing about Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic, have experienced on the fly corrections of translation errors, during contemplative reading of the badly mangled NWT!

  The NWT does have quite a number of good features which I personally also like eg Hades/Gehenna and the more descriptive "undeserved kindness" for "grace". Not that Watchtower followers actually believe, teach and practice "grace" which is totally missing from their horrendously truncated and apostate version of the "good news".
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  20

  After 100+ years, the Watchtower Society can be summed up in one word...

  by Glander in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hubris['hju?br?s], hybris.

  pride or arrogance2.

  (literary & literary critical terms) (in greek tragedy) an excess of ambition, pride, etc., ultimately causing the transgressor's ruin [from greek]hubristic , hybristicadjthey have been able to attract a core of followers, and, like the bullies they are, hold them through a combination of a fear shunning and the childish vision of eternal life in a new world.

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  Fernando

  Definitely "hubris"!

  Corruption is not sustainable - just ask Enron, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and so on...