BCE and CE are also religion-independent terms for expressing dates. That's the main reason WTS publications use them, to not discriminate against non-Christian religions, i.e. against people professing not to be Christians.
Caminante
JoinedPosts by Caminante
-
7
Should it be BC or BCE ?
by james_woods inan interesting topic came up on my ferrari board today: bc or bce - which is right (or more right)?.
interesting debate running in world archeology magazine the last 2 issues - all over.
we's editorial stance is to always use bc/ad when.
-
-
-
36
Another 144,000 Question
by Cold Steel inokay, based on my reading, you're clearly better off being one of the 144,000. first, you get to reside in heaven, while everyone else is consigned to living on earth.
second, a spirit (in wts eschatology) is much better than being a flesh and bone human.
they can fly, read in a darkened room and they get to be with god for eternity.. but what of everyone else?
-
-
Caminante
Black Sheep: They evidently came to earth because they couldn't satisfy their unnatural sexual desires in heaven. Angels weren't created with the capability to reproduce, so I imagine they can't have sex either. They must have found out that married mates experience a special kind of pleasure while engaging into sexual relations and expressed a selfish desire to taste that one too.
Cold Steel: Fly, read in a darkened room? I'm not sure that applies to heaven. Note that form of existence in heaven is completely different than in our material universe (if it were, it could physically interact by a way or another with it). As to the annoiting, I'm not even sure that one professing to be an anointed can tell for sure whether the thing they feel is genuinely the impact of the Holy Spirit, or it's a purely human emotional sensation (since emotions are also expressed by the spirit component of the self). As to skills gained after reaching perfection in Paradise earth, I agree with DanaBug's statement: "[They leave ] a lot of possibilities. Who knows what the mind is capable of when it can be used at full capacity?"
-
24
How Much Power Does an Elder Have?
by Cold Steel ini keep seeing references to them and couldn't help but wonder.. how many elders does a kingdom hall have?
what is the extent of their powers and authority?
can they speak to someone who's been dfed?
-
-
Caminante
Usually elders should not express personal viewpoints as if they were Scriptural teachings. They should teach only on what's based on recent published material, issued by the "faithful and discreet slave".—Matthew 24:45.
All meeting parts where teaching is involved are being conducted by elders. There is no Sunday School (in the generally accepted sense) in Jehovah's Witnesses' congregations. Everything being taught is based on printed material approved by the Governing Body, as representative of the "slave" (public talk outlines, Watchtower study articles, Our Kingdom Ministry etc.)
-
24
How Much Power Does an Elder Have?
by Cold Steel ini keep seeing references to them and couldn't help but wonder.. how many elders does a kingdom hall have?
what is the extent of their powers and authority?
can they speak to someone who's been dfed?
-
-
Caminante
Yes, Cold Steel. The Greek term translated "overseer" is e·pi′sko·pos, which of course is the word the English bishop roots to. See Chapter 3 of In Search for Christian Freedom for an explanation of how the term got the connotation it currently has in Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.
-
24
How Much Power Does an Elder Have?
by Cold Steel ini keep seeing references to them and couldn't help but wonder.. how many elders does a kingdom hall have?
what is the extent of their powers and authority?
can they speak to someone who's been dfed?
-
-
Caminante
ColdSteel, let me try to provide some answers (note: not all answers may be correct, some of them are personal opinions based on logical deduction, experience and memory as far as I can recall it. I am not an appointed elder):
1) Number of elders per Kingdom Hall: Variable. First of all it depends on how many congregations share the Hall. Yes, the number of elders in a congregation depends on the number of publishers, and number of groups, and on the spiritual qualifications of the men assigned to oversee the groups (groups may be overseen by ministerial servants, if not enough elders are available). Our congregation has around 100+ publishers, and 8 elders.
2) The extent of their authority: Elders are appointed for both spiritual and administrative leadership in the congregations. The extent of their authority is defined by an array of factors (in the order of importance): direction by the organization (usually letters from the branch office and the circuit overseer), elders' manuals (Sheparding and Flock books), the Bible according to Witness interpretation, locally applicable secular law. One more thing: usually it's not what one elder says, but the body of elders in a congregation. The elders should collaborate in unity.
3) Speak with DF'd individuals? Short answer: Yes. Long answer: While they're the only ones officially allowed to speak (even spirituals things) with disfellowshipped persons, they do it only under certain circumstances.
4) Influence in judicial decisions: in theory—elders should judge things objectively, reasonably and lovingly, and decide the matters according to the Scriptures, without being influenced by personal feelings; actually, things happen sometimes differently. I can't comment on experiences, because all I heard of are rumors and I don't want to comment on them.
5) Is crossing an elder dangerous? Depends on the topic, I mean in what aspect is the elder being crossed. As a person or as an elder? (the latter usually is interpreted as violating Scriptural principles and is being treated according to procedure)
6) Qualifications: see Sheparding book/Flock book, and Paul's pastoral letters (especially 1-2 Timothy, and Titus). That's the short, official, and theoretical answer. In practice, to be able to be appointed as an elder, you have to have been baptized for at least 5 years and have served as a ministerial servant for at least 2 years. The brother desiring to serve as an elder must prove good teaching and preaching skills (reflected by his field service reports), loyalty to the organization (this is more important than loyalty to the Bible according to the charter of certain local corporations used by branches) and willingness to serve the interests of the congregation as a whole. The illustration of the "brown-noser" in 3Mozzies' post may prove 'beneficial' in certain congregations, but that's definitely not the general case. Many brothers who are considered by 'apostates' to be brown-nosers have sincere interests in serving, but that's their way of showing the willingness.
7) How long do they serve: Indefinitely, i.e. as long as their situation allows them, or while they do not engage in certain type of disqualifying conduct.
8) Direct supervisors: The bodies of elders directly report to the circuit overseer.
-
20
jw splinter groups
by bigmac injookbeard wrote:.
"they are globally united in their beliefs;.
not true there are many splinter groups and sects of the wts and they have the worse retention rates of any man made religious cult on the planet".
-
-
Caminante
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses_splinter_groups
Bigmac, check this Wikipedia page on general information. There's also a link on the several (more or less) independent Bible Students groups (collectively called 'the Bible Student movement'), more or less organized groups of individuals ceasing association with the Watch Tower Society before 1931, when they adopted the name "Jehovah's Witnesses". But the article centers around groups splitting off Jehovah's Witnesses after that time. For example, in Eastern Europe, during the Communist regime, many brothers did not accept changes in teachings such as using the term "religion" with regards to true worship (1950 Watchtower) or applying the term "superior authorities"/"higher powers" to secular rulers, rather than Jehovah God and Jesus Christ as it was understood before (1962 Watchtower).
-
1
Watchtower Library 2010 or 2009 English
by KW13 incan anyone send me a link via the old pm system?
.
-
-
Caminante
Sent you PM.
-
32
Shepherding Book Cover Guessing Game!
by yknot inlets play a guessing game to help us remain patient while the "shepherding' book is being scanned by more elders than i am gonna admit cuz i don't wanna embarrass the service department!.
so we know it is a softcover..... (if you are an elder and have yours-- mums the word-- please pass on playing and just enjoy the board speculation).
speculation:.
-
-
Caminante
Well, taking into account the latest trend on cover designs, I guess the Shepherding book will have a collage of pictures/photos from both first century and modern-day elders' activities. and the title printed in black to reduce costs (that way they have the same cyan, magenta and yellow plates for all the languages, and the black text goes overprinted when doing color separations).
-
2
Sealing of the Anointed..... ?!
by letsslatejws ini know that the anointed were meant to have been sealed in 1935 but due to the steady increase in the anointee numbers a recent wtbs article has said that 1935 is no longer the case... does anyone know the exact article and its date this information was detailed in?
.
-
-
Caminante
It was the "Questions from Readers" article in the May 1, 2007 Watchtower, pages 30-1.
-
3
NOVEMBER 1 TO DECEMBER 27, 2010. ORAL REVIEW ANSWERS
by yknot inexpression of praise recorded at 1 chronicles.
king to the least person in the nation.. (2 chron.
with 2 chronicles 20:17?
-
-
Caminante
No, it won't help, I would have liked the original one for the custom fonts MEPS is using for laying out text.