Posts by skepticSam

7

WHAT JESUS REALLY MEANT Vs the GOVERNING BODY'S VERSION OF THE BIBLE.

by skepticSam in

i found these contrasts incredible, anyone who claims that following the watchtower's bizarre aloof teachings is a "insurance policy" needs to have their heads examined.

these people were once in line with the watchtower's leaders until they got tossed out of the organization during the great purging of anointed jws in 2012.. the more i am around the worldly people, the more i see how insane jws are and the lack of love they have.

their selfish, always wanting to mooch off each other, steal from their brothers and sisters, evade taxes, cheat and hate playing by the rules.

skepticSam

I found these contrasts incredible, anyone who claims that following the Watchtower's bizarre aloof teachings is a "Insurance Policy" needs to have their heads examined. These people were once in line with the Watchtower's Leaders until they got tossed out of the Organization during the Great Purging of Anointed JWs in 2012.

The more I am around the Worldly people, the more I see how insane JWs are and the lack of love they have. Their selfish, always wanting to mooch off each other, steal from their brothers and sisters, evade taxes, cheat and hate playing by the rules. I know so many JWs that are thieves and give talks at Circuit and District Assemblies, how can you really think this Organization is backed by Jesus Christ? Have you ever read any of Paul's Letters,'Oh, that's right, those are meant for the "Little Flock", yes, the entire Bible is meant for the GB,(Catholic Monarchy once taught that) not the common pubs!'. I see why Jesus said people who follow Cults deserve "twice the serving of Gehenna" than their leaders because these blockheads want their ears tickled!

WHAT JESUS TAUGHT
"This generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur.

(Matthew 24:34)

WHAT THE GOVERNING BODY TEACH JWS!

A generation of anointed Christians in the 20th century which overlaps another generation of anointed Christians, but does not include the next overlapping generation of anointed Christians, will by no means pass away until I return to earth to destroy the wicked people who refuse to follow the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

(Watchtower, 1/15/14, page 31) Note 3

http://www.faithsonsofgod.org/#!what-jesus-meant/c1vt5

7

Church of God pastor writes what could be to some a helpful synopsis of Ray Franz "Crisis of Conscience."

by AndersonsInfo in

jw
friends

http://www.thejournal.org/issues/issue92/crisiscn.html .

a 'crisis of conscience' opens eyes part 1.

he continues on page 346: .

skepticSam

Barbara how are you moving forward in your life, this terrible Cult has drained so many people's lives and taken their youth in pursuit of a lie. Your older than most here, how are you both moving forward because many good people here will continue struggling in pain, what advice can you offer to new members joining our ranks now knowing it was all a lie! What is your secret to waking up each day and trying to help victims of the Cult, how do you keep yourself together and with each passing day, do you ever ask yourself "It's all so clear, how come I did not see the truth earlier, the facts were there the entire time, why, why did I miss them?" What's the secret to forgiving ourselves we were tricked, thoroughly deceived by liars?

"On page 408 he writes:

"Life is a journey, and we cannot make progress in it if our focus is mainly on where we have been; that could lead to emotional inertia or even spiritual decline. What is done is done. The past is beyond our changing, but the present and future are things we can work with, focus on. The journey inevitably contains challenge, but we can find encouragement in knowing that we are moving on, making at least some progress, and can feel confident that what lies ahead can be fulfilling.""

Anderson

22

Was The Apostle Paul Out Of His Mind? Or Just An Eccentric Megalomaniac?

by Brokeback Watchtower in

i have some quotes from the new world bible from 2 cor 11&12 read them and give us your prognosis, he definitely thought very highly of himself, his vision that he received from the unconscious and inflated his ego for sure.

i'm sure this guy is over the top in his exaggerations about what he did and didn't do probably lots of denial about some of his own fraud being projected onto his boogie man rivals he sarcastically calls superfine apostles.. for i consider that i have not proved inferior to your superfine apostles in a single thing.+ 6 but even if i am unskilled in speech,+ i certainly am not in knowledge; indeed we made it clear to you in every way and in everything.....12 but what i am doing i will continue to do,+ in order to eliminate the pretext of those who are wanting a basis* for being found equal to us in the things* about which they boast.

13 for such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of christ.+ 14 and no wonder, for satan himself keeps disguising himself as an angel of light.+ 15 it is therefore nothing extraordinary if his ministers also keep disguising themselves as ministers of righteousness.

skepticSam

FT it's great we can have discussions with Broke-back because he is actually asking questions and providing his input instead of insulting us. I like him, I like you and I like the poster who brought in different ideas about "Paul never existing" so we can learn more and have fun topic discussions without the hate! Thank's for the link Brokeback, working on it now. .Broke-back, how do you think the Jews made it to China by the time Marco Polo traveled there, was it due to the Khans and their tolerance and bringing order to that region why?

If you have not had the time to read John Marcos Allegro's works on the Essene Culture I recommend checking his ideas out because something made him change his entire view of Christianity chasing a story about a community in Quram all kicking back, a vegetarian culture where both sexes were considered equal. New myth writers claim St. Paul killed all of the Essenes or at least those who would not follow him. Paul changed them to "meat eaters", "downgraded the roles of females as inferior(Don't see that in Paul's writings, he was emphatic on taking care of the poor and needy widows, attacking men who left women abandoned as "worse than a dog!". Why was Paul's message met by the females with eagerness, he had something about him that made the marginalized feel good and have hope, something the Religious kept hidden from all non-elect Jews.

23

Are Jehovah's Witnesses Christian or Cult, Do JWs Offer Solutions for Local and Global Problems of life?

by skepticSam in

the awake on "hope for the homelessness" was one of the worse illustrations how the cult has no love for anyone that can't provide donations to further this spiritual ponzi scheme!

the premise of this awake made no sense, i've read many books and took classes on social issues affecting mankind, the awake does not help fix the problem.

what did this magazine offer those who are suffering the humiliation of living out of their cars or "tent city" or under a bridge?

skepticSam

"JWs are definitely on the 'Christian' spectrum. However, they view Christianity in a different way than the mainstream religions do, and there are reasons why it is this way.

How they contribute to solving the troubles that plague humanity is done at a personal level, one a person at a time so to speak. Let me explain. In my Spanish cong there are several examples of individuals whose lives we lived while drinking in excess, smoking, drugs, and other unwise ways; since becoming JWs, these same people seem to live a better quality, cleaner life. So, rather than distributing food at the KH, the teachings dispensed there are spiritual food that, when put into practice, help the subject to take ownership of behavior and adjust it for a better outcome.

SL

While working on Kingdom Halls we have many people show up and ask if we had a "Mercy or Food Aid" to help the poor. A station-wagon with three crying hungry babies and two tweaked parents, not the first time and not the last. Piously we showed them our building and handed them a few donuts and snacks the congregation brought to help the workers. They were not really impressed and neither was I, I have seen from decades of being a elder and longer being a JW, we don't help like you claim. Maybe it's because I've been in the Mandarin, Spanish, Aremenian, Tagalogog, Hindi, French, English, and Japanese groups, perhaps I was too busy helping form these new language groups while attending two sets of meetings to see how we help them.

The first time I attended a local church (Non JW) that was deeply invovled in the community, I was shocked at how calloused our religion is. Than researching the Early Christian Church and how people benefited greatly by knowing a group that opened up it's arms to all instead of focusing on itself, that's when I realized JWs are not Christian, they are a offshoot of a White Adventist Religious Movement with no ties to anyone outside their congregation(as if being in a congregation is a guarentee the JWs will help their own. Many here have proof that JWs don't give shit about their own, so why would they care about the World and it's Poor?). This is just the ramblings of a Elder who is burned out after helping brothers start many language groups, often the new language people after learning English bailed on us because we offered them nothing of value, we don't preach Grace and boy do we judge each other's works harshly!

23

Are Jehovah's Witnesses Christian or Cult, Do JWs Offer Solutions for Local and Global Problems of life?

by skepticSam in

the awake on "hope for the homelessness" was one of the worse illustrations how the cult has no love for anyone that can't provide donations to further this spiritual ponzi scheme!

the premise of this awake made no sense, i've read many books and took classes on social issues affecting mankind, the awake does not help fix the problem.

what did this magazine offer those who are suffering the humiliation of living out of their cars or "tent city" or under a bridge?

skepticSam

DJ, a percentage have caused their own plight depending on which political party one has ties with. The Republicans never think helping the poor is a good idea, though they enjoy all the social programs their given too. When Mitt Romney ran for President, who was his VP? The VP who faked helping in a Food Kitchen, a VP whose father died and his mother lived off SSI because they had not enough money. A VP Candidate that showed no compassion towards those who are suffering what he went through because he's rich now! That's the problem with people, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have more money than several countries and refuse to turn a blind eye to social problems.

We have Republicans like Arnold, Tiger Woods, Micheal Jordan who are not known for charity, they all are the most selfish people and reflect the true "Self Made Man" spirit. Corporate America is aware the outsourcing they use is "slave labor", do they care, only if they get caught. Selfishness is something people don't like but if we are truly animals than why fight this quality? These same political figures say 'at least the 6 year old girl has work, better than starving to death", yes that's the spirit that will turn the White Republican Party in to a Dinosaur of the past. Even Ann Coulter is seeing the light, she knows they are going to become doomed because they are so greedy and don't care about humanity, she's actually cool off the air and in person!

23

Are Jehovah's Witnesses Christian or Cult, Do JWs Offer Solutions for Local and Global Problems of life?

by skepticSam in

the awake on "hope for the homelessness" was one of the worse illustrations how the cult has no love for anyone that can't provide donations to further this spiritual ponzi scheme!

the premise of this awake made no sense, i've read many books and took classes on social issues affecting mankind, the awake does not help fix the problem.

what did this magazine offer those who are suffering the humiliation of living out of their cars or "tent city" or under a bridge?

skepticSam

DJS, did you read my article and miss this key point?" It's the Watchtower that insinuated a Band-Aid solution, not me. The dynamics of all the homeless are beyond what any one agency can handle, no way in Hell a tract is going to solve these issues. That of mental illness(Republicans throwing out all the mentally ill on the streets when Ronnie Reagan did his famous "Great Dump" putting them outside to fend for themselves or locate a church to help them not starve to death. My post flowing, filled with factious comments how the Watchtower's twisted thinking that "Hope for Homeless" is based off "attending the Kingdom Hall", getting "cleaned up" and "Finding a home" thanks to the grand efforts of the Kingdom Hall members! It's not me who is claiming this works, I know all too well how complicated this issue is! It's the Watchtower who watered down the problem, their the ones who make it all sound so easy, don't you think DJS? You are probably one of my top 3 favorite posters, I thought you of all would catch my scathing sarcasm against these Dark Lords, peace to you DJ!

"The solutions are so simple and we all know what simpletons JWs are, they will read this magazine and think "Oh, those people are alcoholics, drug addicts, lazy and don't want the "lifesaving message of the Truth!" reinforcing the faulty statement I started this paragraph with, the solution to all these problems is far from simple, it's exhausting to the professionals who deal with this problem on a daily basis and must find ways to turn this off when they get home. I know people who work with teenagers that have babies living on the street, these church members seek them out, give them diapers, enough for half-a-week(If you give them a bag, some do take them back to the store for credit to buy beer and let the kids soak in fecal matter) and help get food for the mother and baby. The Social Workers are stumped, one of my friends read the magazine and asked "Are the writers 5 or 6 year-old because they make the issue so simple and vague, it's a way of shirking their responsibility towards the poor!""

30

Dawn Bible Students Association and Ken Fernets

by Hold Me-Thrill Me in

jw
friends

the dawn bible students association has a problem.

ken fernets, when on the phone, shows his true colors to women who call.

he engages in flirtatious speech.

skepticSam

Work's for me, I like women between 39-58 to flirt with, younger girls don't have all the skills of the older gals. Maybe he's developing some online Tinder or Craigslist Casual Encounters for Bible minded Men and Women?

22

Was The Apostle Paul Out Of His Mind? Or Just An Eccentric Megalomaniac?

by Brokeback Watchtower in

i have some quotes from the new world bible from 2 cor 11&12 read them and give us your prognosis, he definitely thought very highly of himself, his vision that he received from the unconscious and inflated his ego for sure.

i'm sure this guy is over the top in his exaggerations about what he did and didn't do probably lots of denial about some of his own fraud being projected onto his boogie man rivals he sarcastically calls superfine apostles.. for i consider that i have not proved inferior to your superfine apostles in a single thing.+ 6 but even if i am unskilled in speech,+ i certainly am not in knowledge; indeed we made it clear to you in every way and in everything.....12 but what i am doing i will continue to do,+ in order to eliminate the pretext of those who are wanting a basis* for being found equal to us in the things* about which they boast.

13 for such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of christ.+ 14 and no wonder, for satan himself keeps disguising himself as an angel of light.+ 15 it is therefore nothing extraordinary if his ministers also keep disguising themselves as ministers of righteousness.

skepticSam

Meglomaniac Definition

1. A psychopathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of wealth, power, or omnipotence.

2. An obsession with grandiose or extravagant things or actions.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Meglomaniac

Psychopaths are destructive and eventually blow themselves out unless they have power (Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot) are examples of men who had positions except one of them did eventually go away after his destructive, emotionless and pitiless wicked actrocities on humanity.

Comparing Paul's writings in 2 Corinthians to a "psychopath" or any psychological destructive personality abnormality, I don't see what your seeing. Can you explain how Paul might be like a "sociopath" or "psychopath" in his qualities? Psychopaths toy around with humans like a cat and a mouse, they lack the ability to have empathy, love and other normal qualities some of us are plagued by having too much love and empathy for our fellow man.

Reading all Paul's Letters I read about a man who is worried the followers of Jesus Christ are going to get snatched up by con-men, men who are two-faced like Peter(Galatians 2) and treat the Flock with contempt. If Paul was here do you think he would allow the Governing Body to rob each person of their Christian Freedom? The followers of the Myth claim "Paul was too relaxed, he allowed followers to eat at temples or indulge from the meat sold by followers of Mithra", all because Paul said "Don't allow anyone to control your consciece", if Paul was a Meglo as you assume, he would be like the Governing Body that demanded total obedience!

Paul in the book of Acts, he commends the Beroeans who were making sure what he taught was found in the Hebrew Scriptures, can you imagine a Watchtower Leader commending people for checking the entire Bible to make sure what they taught was not personal opinion but the message of the Prophets and Moses? No, once you found fault with their teaching, they would walk away and shun you, Paul was proud all these followers made sure they were obeying the Scriptures, not men! His entire premise is to have Christian Freedom and making sure your not being lead astray by every new teaching (Galatians 1-3), "Avoid men that are trying to mutilate the skin" "(Philippians 1-3)

Are you of the mind Paul infiltrated and killed off the "Vegan Essenes" or believe the works of John Marcos Allegro's "Magic Mushroom" Jesus and Essene version of history? Those who accuse Paul of being this monster rely on texts that are not originals, they are made by enemies of the Christian movement and have some very strange ideas that don't reconcile with the Jewish Culture. The followers by Quram, until the Dead Sea Scrolls were found we knew very little about their life and interactions with humanity as a whole. Paul does not write like the Gnostic, I am sure they hated him because he warned about all the strange teachings that would come forward.

If anyone tried to force their own minds on people the Gnostic and their rituals and blind obedience and claims "The only way to the Divine Forces through following one of the Gnostic leaders that achieved the level" "All material is bad" and "All Spirit is good". Which author did you read that lead you to your premise Paul was a psychopath, I would like to see which of the authors you read so I can enjoy them and see their source material, most people don't arrive at these conclusions, usually we need a nudge from someone with a different look on early history or anti-Christian writer, can you post the link you visited?

22

Was The Apostle Paul Out Of His Mind? Or Just An Eccentric Megalomaniac?

by Brokeback Watchtower in

i have some quotes from the new world bible from 2 cor 11&12 read them and give us your prognosis, he definitely thought very highly of himself, his vision that he received from the unconscious and inflated his ego for sure.

i'm sure this guy is over the top in his exaggerations about what he did and didn't do probably lots of denial about some of his own fraud being projected onto his boogie man rivals he sarcastically calls superfine apostles.. for i consider that i have not proved inferior to your superfine apostles in a single thing.+ 6 but even if i am unskilled in speech,+ i certainly am not in knowledge; indeed we made it clear to you in every way and in everything.....12 but what i am doing i will continue to do,+ in order to eliminate the pretext of those who are wanting a basis* for being found equal to us in the things* about which they boast.

13 for such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of christ.+ 14 and no wonder, for satan himself keeps disguising himself as an angel of light.+ 15 it is therefore nothing extraordinary if his ministers also keep disguising themselves as ministers of righteousness.

skepticSam

Your post struck a nerve with me, not you yourself but a husband and wife team I debated about seven years ago who made some very bold assertions about Simon Magus while they simultaneously attacked Jesus Christ and the entire Gang as a historical figures, they made no sense. You might have read their book or fictional work, the title was "Simon Magus the real Messiah",, HTBWC, it was not you that made my blood boil, the British couple did that years ago speaking to a captive audience on a radio show. When I called them to ask how they can deny Flavious Josephus words about Jesus and accept his reports about Simon-the-Magician from Samaria, the couple squirmed not realizing I was way ahead of them. I wrote my first blog on Simon Magus back in the 1990s making up short fictional stories about him and his followers after his failed attempt to buy the powers of Peter.

I deleted by Blog I wrote because the consensus started to teach Josephus was a fraud too and being young I felt I was not competent enough to defend his existence, I was only 26 years of age. They convinced me that Flavious was a propaganda artist created by the Christians or Romans, so why bother learning if everything is tainted. That killed the desire to learn as much about the mythics until someone explained "everything is in doubt if you allow it, fight them by asking them to prove their version of history Have you read any of Carrier's and author of Jesusneverexisted.com"? Don't you find it dishonest using how authors use history they deemed "unreliable" and "distorted" to draw conclusions on? The British Couple were great at dodging legit questions while they called St. Paul and Peter "frauds", if their claims that "Simon Magus was the Messiah", how could they claim both Peter and Paul never existed? The Gnostic writings are strange, catching things they wrote and applying rituals the Apostles spoke of to back up claims does not work.'

Mystics asset Paul writings about the "Lord's Evening Meal" was actually speaking about the practice done by followers of Mithra, very little is known about Mitra's followers of Mysticism extrapolate volumes of material, how? The drinking of blood figuratively speaking was taken from ritualistic Mithra's followers of taking a young bull in a cave and cutting it's throat so they could drink the bull's blood while warm, putting cup or vase large enough to share it's blood and power. Still since we don't know anything for sure, how do they make these claims if they deny all First to Fourth Century history as corrupted? '

Skeptics have been trying to destroy Josephus's works since he probably wrote them in the 2nd century, do you see how hard it is to take the scholars or writers works seriously while they deny or doubt we can know anything during that time period because there are no originals or autographs in tact?

22

Was The Apostle Paul Out Of His Mind? Or Just An Eccentric Megalomaniac?

by Brokeback Watchtower in

i have some quotes from the new world bible from 2 cor 11&12 read them and give us your prognosis, he definitely thought very highly of himself, his vision that he received from the unconscious and inflated his ego for sure.

i'm sure this guy is over the top in his exaggerations about what he did and didn't do probably lots of denial about some of his own fraud being projected onto his boogie man rivals he sarcastically calls superfine apostles.. for i consider that i have not proved inferior to your superfine apostles in a single thing.+ 6 but even if i am unskilled in speech,+ i certainly am not in knowledge; indeed we made it clear to you in every way and in everything.....12 but what i am doing i will continue to do,+ in order to eliminate the pretext of those who are wanting a basis* for being found equal to us in the things* about which they boast.

13 for such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of christ.+ 14 and no wonder, for satan himself keeps disguising himself as an angel of light.+ 15 it is therefore nothing extraordinary if his ministers also keep disguising themselves as ministers of righteousness.

skepticSam

Now I understand how people outside the Organization felt when we pulled out "Dates" and other interpretations out of the air and expected us to accept it as gospel!

You agreed with a poster who is either ignorant or academically dishonest, no two ways around this! He drops out the name "Simon Magus", a name that first enters history from the Bible, the Book of Acts! Acts is considered by many Bible historians as "St. Paul's Defense documents". Since writing tools were very expensive during the First and Second centuries, (Acts of Apostles) manuscripts were not very common as people think. The claim is made that "Theophilus was the benefactor and Dr. Luke collected all the data from the beginning for use at Paul's Trial and his defense team". This "Dr. Luke" is the same person who was with St. Paul, they traveled together at various points of Paul's Ministry.

Now here's a very fascinating part, "Simon Magus(Simon the Magician) make's his first appearance in history in Acts 8:9. All other information we have of him is based off myth, ask yourself "If Paul never existed than Luke never existed either. If Luke''s words are fraud, we can delete everything from Luke's account and all the Christians too. Finally, If "Acts of Apostles is a fraud" as dropped in his claim, how in the world can you have Simon Magus and believe everything he wrote with any sanity? He wrote:

"

HowTheBibleWasCreated3 hours ago

I don't think 'Paul' ever existed but was a litery creation of a second century church leader named Marcion. This story in 2 Coringthina 11-12 is taken alot from Simon Magus and Aollonos of Tyre. The reason for these text is ligetimize the celestrial diety Christ as having spoken to 'Paul' this making the Marcion church true to 'the gospel'..... which .BTW was heavy in gnosticism.

I thought about sending this to Bart Erhman so he could see how the creators of myths are doing and what their producing, still have not decided because I am still trying to make any sense of his logic, it's really far out there!

This make's no sense whatsoever, making a square-circle would be easier in my opinion than making his claim real.

Your aware Simon Magus is the man who was suppose to fly? The Jews tried to mix up him with J.C. long after the fact. Simon Magus by legend is flying up in the air to prove he is the Messiah only to fall to his death when St. Peter made a prayer to Jesus Christ? So really, are you now going to except Simon Magus as a real figure of history while denying a well documented historical figure?

What kind of person tells you "Paul is not real", "The Bible is not real" and preaches a person from the Bible we have no verifiable evidence was competing with the Apostles as Messiah? Critical thinking skills are very healthy if your are trying to be skeptical, otherwise everything is game and all dogs hunt!

9 A man named Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years, amazing the people of Samaria and claiming to be someone great. 10 Everyone, from the least to the greatest, often spoke of him as “the Great One—the Power of God.”11 They listened closely to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his magic.

12 But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized. 13 Then Simon himself believed and was baptized. He began following Philip wherever he went, and he was amazed by the signs and great miracles Philip performed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Simon_Magus

"The apocryphal “Acts of Peter” gives a legendary tale of Simon Magus' death: In order to prove himself to be a god, Simon performed magic in the Forum, and levitated up into the air. The apostle Peter prayed to God to stop his flying, and he stopped in mid-air and fell, breaking his legs. The previously non-hostile crowd then stoned him as an impostor, and he eventually died of his injuries despite the attentions of a sympathetic banished sorcerer named Castor.

The Death of Simon Magus from the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493) (fromhttp://altreligion.about.com/library/
graphics/bl_simonmagus4.htm)

Another apocryphal document, the “Acts of Peter and Paul”, gives a similar but slightly different version of the events, whereby Peter (along with the Apostle Paul who was also present) was imprisoned by the Emperor Nero for his actions in bringing down Simon Magus. Nero ordered that Simon's body be kept carefully for three days after his death in the hopes of him rising again

http://www.witchcraftandwitches.com/witches_magus.html