Posts by TTWSYF

4

JWs and nuetrality - Trump

by Listener in

for those that are receiving messages of doom and gloom from jws, they might like to remind them about obedience to their organization and what they were told in the april, 2016 watchtower which was studied only a few months ago, in august.these are some of the highlights-.

although the bible teaches that god’s adversary, satan, has authority over political systems, it does not say that he directly controls each leader or official.

(luke 4:5, 6) we should therefore avoid implying that a particular official is controlled by the devil.

TTWSYF

I thought anyone not a JW was under the power of Satan, no?

25

2016 death of my father who told me don't come back if your a Witness...still hurts my soul! Warning you all!!

by Witness 007 in

i last spoke to my father in march 1990. we finished a "quick build" kingdom hall and i had a 17 year old spiritual awakening and decided to drop high school to pioneer full time.

(yes i was a dumb ass) he was not happy since my parents were divorced he was catholic.

we had a arguement and he said stay in school get a degree...and dont come back if your a witness!!

TTWSYF

I'm sorry for your lose Witness!

You can still pray for your Dad. You can still honor your Dad by your choices and the paths of your life.

God bless you and yours!

10

Starting a 'Bible Study' - The Basics

by Joe Grundy in

i never was a jw.

i was brought up in a fairly fundie sect (pb) and have been for many years an interested atheist.

i am an admirer of the work of bart ehrman (and recommend his blog).. from time to time, jws call at my door and invite me to partake in a 'bible study'.

TTWSYF

Cold Steel- I respectfully disagree. The bible IS a catholic book.They did give it to the world. They compiled it, they confirmed which books that they wanted for their faith. They put it together, they defended it and kept it thru the eons. They did not add or take away books, they merely chose those books that they wanted to express their faith.

They had criteria that they used to identify what could and could not be used. IE, All books had to be well circulated among the faithful. They had to be old enough to be true as opposed to later books [hello-gospel of Mary, Judas and Peter to name a few]

So it really is common sense to seek out where it came from AND why it was written. It was written to put the catholic faith to paper as well as to the spoken word [which is how Christianity was spread for the first few hundred years.] The Catholics used the Septuagint as the old testament reference as that was the most common form of OT that was available to the masses that surrounded Judea. Many church fathers referenced the Septuagint. It was only later that other men thought that they knew better.

The Catholic church traces it's roots to Jesus himself AND his apostles. Traceable history. EVERY other form of Christianity traces it's origins to a man or woman [Hello Paster Russell]

Not meant to be snotty, if that's how it sounds. Just historical facts.

10

Starting a 'Bible Study' - The Basics

by Joe Grundy in

i never was a jw.

i was brought up in a fairly fundie sect (pb) and have been for many years an interested atheist.

i am an admirer of the work of bart ehrman (and recommend his blog).. from time to time, jws call at my door and invite me to partake in a 'bible study'.

TTWSYF

Another question to ask a bible study host is 'What was Christianity before the bible?'

The bible wasn;t confirmed until [around] 390. Why was it written? What were followers of Christ doing? What were their teachings and traditions before the bible?

QUE-Church fathers

36

Why are JWs so sensitive to criticism?

by Half banana in

i remember a roman catholic priest acknowledging on the bbc that the outrageously anti-clerical tv comedy father ted was a humorous mocking of his church but an acceptable thing.. try mocking the jw religion to a believer and the result is so very different.. just why is it that jehovah's witnesses can never take even the faintest hint of criticism of their religion?.

TTWSYF

I agree with Punk's assessment too. This is the reason that JWs at the door will not tell you much about their beliefs. They come with a bible and say, 'Let's talk about the bible'. You will find a defensive posture from the beginning. No talk of the Angel Michael being Jesus. No talk of never dying. No talk of previous JW history. Hell, they won't even tell you that they're JWs unless directly asked.

10

Starting a 'Bible Study' - The Basics

by Joe Grundy in

i never was a jw.

i was brought up in a fairly fundie sect (pb) and have been for many years an interested atheist.

i am an admirer of the work of bart ehrman (and recommend his blog).. from time to time, jws call at my door and invite me to partake in a 'bible study'.

TTWSYF

I had a similar conversation with a JW who wanted to host a bible study.

ME: So how did we get the bible?

JW: A group of men got together to figure out which books would be admitted into the bible.

ME:Which group of men?

JW: A group of men.

ME: Catholic men?

JW: Um, yes

ME: So if I wanted to study the bible, wouldn't I want to go to the folks who gave us the bible?

JW: Umm...

38

An old Kingdom hall now a church?

by HereIgo in

have any of you heard of anything like this.

i remember an ex jw from ohio taking video of a former kingdom hall that is now a church.

apparently the society sold it to the church.

TTWSYF

That's it Dark, it became St Mary and St George church with in the last 16 months or so

38

An old Kingdom hall now a church?

by HereIgo in

have any of you heard of anything like this.

i remember an ex jw from ohio taking video of a former kingdom hall that is now a church.

apparently the society sold it to the church.

TTWSYF

In Marshfield, MA the was a quick build Kingdom hall was sold after only a few years and converted to an Orthodox Coptic Church

20

Do JW's ever really grow up ?

by Phizzy in

i ask the above because of my personal experience.

as a born-in i was naive, socially inept and had never really thought deeply about anything.. i was also unable to accept arguments based upon reason and facts.. just like a child.. it was only after freeing myself from the mind-control of the jw cult that i educated myself and matured as a person to being (almost) an adult.. jw's attitudes and their inability to debate in any meaningful way, (they could start by actually listening),means they have not grown up..

TTWSYF

JWs do grow up, they get old and they die...just like everyone else.

9

Catholic Approach to Scripture: How It Made Me Leave the Jehovah's Witnesses

by Hernandez in

indoctrinated into all things watchtower, i once believed the bible was true history, that evolution was false and evil, and that the bible could be trusted to be reliable when it touched on science issues.

then i got introduced to the official catholic bible translation of u.s. catholics, the new american bible revised edition (or nabre--not to be confused with the protestant nasv or new american standard version) and things changed.

i was shocked to learn that the nabre teaches.... the creation and flood stories of genesis are jewish adaptations of mesopotamian heathen creation-flood mythology, not history.

TTWSYF

So the WTS is ill informed about the Catholic church and it's teachings? ...

that sounds weird