Bible Students are Russellites like JWs. I got their Russell pamphlets in the mail. They are not WT, but basically the same thing (only much smaller, a splinter JW group). Russell was wrong, so avoid both groups. Mormons and JWs both deviate from biblical, historical, orthodox Christianity. They are the largest pseudo-Christian cults in the world. They have centralized, authoritarian structures (one has the popes of the GB and the other has LDS prophets/popes). They started in the 1800s around one uneducated person's ideas (Russell; Smith). Their beliefs and practices have similarities that are extra/contrabiblical. Being part of them is little better than being Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist. False religion is from Satan. Only biblical Christianity, the true God, the true Christ will save one (cults deny essential truth, but may be right on some peripheral areas).
godrulz
JoinedPosts by godrulz
-
80
Struggling
by anniegirl76 ini have been df-ed for almost 9 years.
just out of curiosity, has anyone decided to find another religion or belief after being jw?
i struggle with my feelings, my mom and brother, aunt, cousins are all jw.
-
-
-
45
"and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
by Chalam inhi jwners!.
i had the opportunity to speak to a witness aquaintaince today.
the lord had put him on my heart some years ago.
-
-
godrulz
Fact and Design: You are confusing modalism/oneness/Sabellianism/Jesus only heresy (google it) with trinitarianism (common WT rookiei mistake). Oneness says that Jesus is Jehovah/God and that He is the person of the Father in the NT, the person of the Son on earth as a man, the person of the Holy Spirit in the Church Age. So, Jesus is God and He is one person who steps into different offices/modes. This is an easy heresy to refute (WT is right to say that who did Jesus pray to? Himself?, etc., but they are refuting modal monarchianism, not trinitarianism).
The triune view does not confuse the nature/substance/essence/being/ontology of God and His personal distinctions. There is one true God, uncreated spirit, YHWH. There are not 3 gods in 1 god; not 3 persons in 1 person. Within the one eternal spirit nature of God are 3 personal distinctions. We can show that the Father is YHWH, the Son is YHWH, and the Holy Spirit is YHWH. We can show that the Holy Spirit is personal, not impersonal ('active force'). We can show that the Father, Son, Spirit are distinct in one sense (each has will, intellect, emotions and relate to each other in love, fellowship, communication). Once we show that Jesus is Creator God, not creature (Deity of Christ) and that the Holy Spirit is personal and Deity, then the triune understanding follows. This is based on revelation and the parameters of Scripture, not reason. 3 gods in 1 god is illogical, but 3 personal distinctions in one nature of God is revelation and not a contradiction. God is compound unity (showing that love, fellowship, communication are eternal and that God Himself can come to earth as a man, not possible if He is solitary). Unitarians, JWs, Jews, Islam sees God as a solitary being. He could be this way, but He has revealed Himself as having plurality within unity (also possible if that is the way He truly is). Just as it is impossible for finite creatures to understand how God has always existed (something usually does not come from nothing), so we cannot exhaustively understand how the one God can be triune, yet He is (based on parameters we do have). Father, Son, Spirit are the one God as to common spirit nature, yet they are distinct as to conscious centers. There is nothing else like God (analogies about one cluster of grapes, one army many soldiers, one family many members, etc. illustrate compound unity, but they are limited; husband/wife are two, yet one; time is past/present/future; water is solid/liquid/gas).
The WT always misrepresents the Trinity. Jews failed to understand progressive revelation. They were right about monotheism, but wrong to reject God's full revelation in Christ given in the NT (Jesus claimed to be God and also taught us about the personal Spirit...hence triune statement in Mt. 28 which does not say in the name of God the Father, the Son Michael the created angel, and the name of an active force, not a person Spirit?!).
Just because someone cannot fully comprehend a doctrine does not make it false. The Bible says that man cannot fully comprehend God. Human reason has limitations, but we cannot compromise revelation (the triune understanding deals with all the evidence, not just some OT verses). The WT book Reasoning from the Scriptures also recognizes that humans cannot understand everything about God. About his eternal nature: 'Is that reasonable? Our minds cannot fully comprehend it. But that is not a sound reason for rejecting it.' This statement can be applied to the trinity which is defensible from Scripture. It would be easier to believe the Jewish or WT view (easier to explain), but it is still wrong and contrary to Scripture (the personality of the Spirit is easy to show; WT says impersonal because of denial of trinity, not because Scripture demands it; the Deity of Christ is also clear in my mind and the few objection verses Arians use can easily be interpreted as non-contrary to this). Books are written defending the trinity and refuting Arianism. How objective are you willing to be?
-
3
Elders Manual PDF
by naeuca ini'm trying to get hold of a copy of the elders manual.
would anyone have a pdf version of the manual (old or new version) that they could send me please.
i would be most grateful!
-
-
godrulz
What are the changes between the versions? True churches do not have secret manuals with something to hide. This is about power, not biblical principles.
-
37
The meetings used to make me physically sick.
by FifthOfNovember init's 9:10 sunday morning.
i'm dressed already, and just finished rushing through my watchtower a few seconds ago.
now i need to wait for my ride to pick me up (i couldn't drive yet).
-
-
godrulz
I almost died of boredom and sadness/madness at the Memorial and Conventions. I have never been a JW, just an Acts 1:8 witness of Jesus. JWs funerals are oppressive, like burying a dog (body not even there?!). When I go church, I am filled with love, joy, peace, power, the presence of God. We meet with God and experience the risen Christ by the Spirit. We don't just meet for lectures, indoctrination, dead songs, boring speakers, book studies, salesman training, etc. Worshipping God in spirit and truth is not emotionalism, but being a rigid religionist is not God's intention for His people. The presence of God is not sensed where Christ is not worshipped and the personality of the Holy Spirit is denied. There is a reason JWs do not see healings, miracles, spiritual gifts, joy, power, peace, etc. like many evangelical churches do (they would be like Pharisees and attribute these things and the presence of God to demons/Satan!?).
-
19
Have a good Easter weekend.
by tec ini'm going to my parents for this long weekend, along with my boys, my aunt and her twin boys (same age as my oldest), and our pup.
will be a busy and bustling weekend, seeing as the basement recently flooded, so that area is now off-limits.
so for the next five days, the four and a half hour drive tomorrow is going to be the only quiet time i think i'm going to get, lol.. however, my mother is going to have a big pot of homemade chili waiting for us... and that alone would be worth the drive and the craziness :).
-
-
godrulz
In church today, we celebrated the resurrection of Christ and sensed His power and presence. I just realized the JW Memorial was devoid of resurrection references. With the emphasis on Jewish?! Passover at Memorial, do JWs emphasize the resurrection in a meeting 3 days later like Christians do who commemorate Good Friday (with death/ communion) and Easter (resurrection)? I imagine an aversion to 'pagan' Easter might preclude an emphasis on resurrection just as an aversion to Christmas downplays Christ's birth (since JWs deny the incarnation of God and the physical resurrection of Christ, I can see why they focus on the oddly titled 'Lord's evening meal' alone). Incarnation and resurrection are biblical truths. We don't have to observe the trappings of Santa and Easter Bunnies/eggs, do we!
-
209
The trouble with Christianity. TRINITY.
by whereami ingotta love pat.. "ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions.
ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them; and no man ever had a distinct idea of the trinity.
it is the mere abracadabra of the mountebanks calling themselves the priests of jesus.
-
-
godrulz
The trinity and hell are rooted in Scripture and the first century. Russell was a rationalist who put his own false view of what God should be like ahead of revelation. My view is not based on a Church, but the Bible. I will defend it from Scripture properly translated (unlike NWT) and interpreted (unlike GB).
-
80
Struggling
by anniegirl76 ini have been df-ed for almost 9 years.
just out of curiosity, has anyone decided to find another religion or belief after being jw?
i struggle with my feelings, my mom and brother, aunt, cousins are all jw.
-
-
godrulz
I think most can support the person's journey, but true healing can only be found in Christ. If our friend dies tonight and goes to hell, then we are no better than Job's useless comforters. The gospel is the power of God, not pop psychology. A person needs to be ready to receive, but if all we do is coddle people without sharing truth, we are not loving or wise. Feel free to ignore posts/posters that are not to your liking.
-
209
The trouble with Christianity. TRINITY.
by whereami ingotta love pat.. "ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions.
ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them; and no man ever had a distinct idea of the trinity.
it is the mere abracadabra of the mountebanks calling themselves the priests of jesus.
-
-
godrulz
Trinitarianism is strictly monotheistic (compound unity vs solitary). Islam and Judaism are also closer to WT view, but that does not make them right for today. We all have different interests, aptitudes, styles, etc. I would hope speaking up for biblical truth is not considered derailing a thread. Others may be content to diss religion in general, but it would be unloving to not point people to truth and warn them about their loss for rejecting it. I would rather obey God than man, be principled, than popular. I trust that I speak truth in love, but am as angry at the WT as those who have left it (I have never been in it). It is not pejorative to call it a mind control cult if it actually is. The religious people of Jesus' day were His greatest enemies, detractors. I think it says more about your heart than mine to be offended by someone who is defending and proclaiming truth.
-
209
The trouble with Christianity. TRINITY.
by whereami ingotta love pat.. "ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions.
ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them; and no man ever had a distinct idea of the trinity.
it is the mere abracadabra of the mountebanks calling themselves the priests of jesus.
-
-
godrulz
SDAs used to be non-trinitarian, but they are now trinitarian (same with Armstrong's World Wide Church of God). Unitarians are not authoritarian, but inclusivists. They deny the Trinity. All pseudo-Christian cults deny the trinity (Mormons, JWs, etc.). Oneness/Jesus Only says Jesus is Jehovah, but strongly deny the trinity. The triune view is the biblical, historical, orthodox view. No wonder Satan attacks it so much (just because Catholics are right on it does not mean they are right about their other distinctives).
-
45
"and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
by Chalam inhi jwners!.
i had the opportunity to speak to a witness aquaintaince today.
the lord had put him on my heart some years ago.
-
-
godrulz
Evangelicals use the name 'Jehovah', but we recognize it is speculative for YHWH. We also reject the conspiracy theory that someone took the name out of the NT. The WT is wrong based on 1000s of extant MSS. Other names/titles are used of God. The important thing is to have a sound doctrine of God, not start a cult around misinformation about His name. The arguments for the Deity of Christ are strong, but JWs have a defense mechanism by wrongly thinking we are saying Jesus is the Father (that is modalism heresy). The Jews also choked on His claims to Deity. JWs and Pharisees have much in common. Many Jews and JWs now worship Jesus as God, as do hundreds of millions of Christians. This is what separates Christianity from every religion. He is the only way to the Father and proved this by rising from the dead. If He was not God, there are other religious options. Because He is God, He is the only way to eternal life. We would have to look at the biblical evidence and handle the objections. I believe this is more than possible and necessary to do so. I wish you could trust me (I know that I know after 30 years research), but the Spirit must illuminate it from the Word (no one confesses Him as Lord God apart from the Spirit). Robert Bowman, Jr. and J. Ed Komoszewski "Putting Jesus in His place: The case for the Deity of Christ" (see amazon.com) is a readable, scholastic look building the case. There are simpler books, but this is up-to-date on biblical research and definitive. Some of the JW counter-cult books (including ones by Bowman on the Trinity, Deity, John, etc.) are very helpful to expose WT shoddy scholarship. The WT and Satan are totally lying about who Jesus is. He is King of kings and Lord of Lords, the Alpha and the Omega, the I AM, Lord God, YHWH, etc. He is worthy of worship only because He is God (Heb. 1:6; Rev. 4-5; Mt. 2 wise men worship, etc.). The WT obeisance distortion does not stand up to Greek scrutiny.