Posts by NiceDream

56

When is the Big GENERATIONS WT Study in congregations?

by daringhart13 in

does anyone know?

?.

Help with a question. Need W-4/1/2010

by maninthemiddle in

this question is in the now famous 4/15 watchtower in the do you rememebr section.. i want to know what the source article said, because i can hardly agree with this statement as written.

i am assuming this is in relation to the "translation" of the nwt, but it is misleading to the point of fiction.. can anyone look at the 4/1 watchtower and tell me what is says?.

.

NiceDream

I hope that is what you were wanting. There are no books mentioned as sources, just quotes from those 2 professors.

16

Help with a question. Need W-4/1/2010

by maninthemiddle in

this question is in the now famous 4/15 watchtower in the do you rememebr section.. i want to know what the source article said, because i can hardly agree with this statement as written.

i am assuming this is in relation to the "translation" of the nwt, but it is misleading to the point of fiction.. can anyone look at the 4/1 watchtower and tell me what is says?.

.

Ancient manuscripts also provide compleling evidence to support the canon that is generally accepted today. There are more than 5,000 manuscripts of the Greek Scriptures in the original language, including some from the second and third centuries. It was these writings, that were regarded as authoritative during the early centuries C.E. and therefore were copied and widely distributed.

However, the internal evidence is the most important proof of the canonicity. The canonical writings are in harmony with "the pattern of healthful words" that we find in the rest of the Bible. (2 Tim 1:13) They urge readers to love, worship, and serve Jehovah, and they warn against superstition, demonism, and creature worship. They are historically accurate and contain true prophecy. And they encourage readers to love their fellow humans. The books of the Christian Greek Scriptures have such distinctive marks. Do the apocryphal writings measure up?

16

Help with a question. Need W-4/1/2010

by maninthemiddle in

this question is in the now famous 4/15 watchtower in the do you rememebr section.. i want to know what the source article said, because i can hardly agree with this statement as written.

i am assuming this is in relation to the "translation" of the nwt, but it is misleading to the point of fiction.. can anyone look at the 4/1 watchtower and tell me what is says?.

.

NiceDream

This is what the article says (ellipses are theirs in the article):

Who Selected the Canon?

Some authors have claimed that the canon of the Christian Greek Scriptures was chosen centuries after the fact by a church that was an established power under the direction of the Emperor Constantine. However, the facts show otherwise.

For example, note what Professor of Church History Oskar Skarsaune states:

"Which writings that were to be included in the New Testament, and which were not, was never decided upon by any church council or by any single person...The criteria were quite open and very sensible: Writings form the first century C.E. that were regarded as written by apostles or by their fellow workers were regarded as reliable. Other writings, letters, or 'gospels' that were written later were not included...This process was essentially completed a long time before Constantine and a long time before his church of power had been established. It was the church of martyrs, not the church of power, that gave us the New Testament."

Ken Berding, an associate professor whose field of study is the Christian Greek Scriptures, gives this comment about how the canon emerged:

"The chuch did not establish a canon of its choosing; it is more proper to speak of the church recognizing the books that Christians had always considered to be an authoritative Word of God."

According to the Bible, one of the miraculous gifts of the spirit that were given in the early decades of the Christian congregation was "discernment of inspired utterances." (1 Cor 12:4, 10) The spirit gave Christians "superhuman ability to discern the difference between sayings that were truly inspired by God and those that were not." "Christians today may thus be confident that the Scriptures included in the Bible were recognized as inspired."

"Evidently, then, the canon was established at an early stage under the guidance of holy spirit. From the latter part of the second century C.E., some writers commented on the canonicity of the Bible books. These writers, however, did not establish the canon; they merely testified to what God had already accepted through his representatives, who were guided by spirit."

39

Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 06-06-10 WT Study (YOUNG PEOPLE) TEST PLEASE FORGIVE ME

by blondie in

jw
friends

young people strengthen your desire to serve jehovah.

what invitation was extended to children in the christian congregation?

serve god or the wts?.

NiceDream

There was an elder's kid in my hall that played organized sports (on the school basketball team), and in the boy's senior year his father made him quit because he would be a bad example for the part at the assembly he had on not playing sports. The CO actually came down hard on the Dad for allowing his son to play sports at school...even "intermurals" or whatever at lunch time.

And the brothers in my hall and another one have also gotten into trouble for playing "drop-in" hockey with "worldly people" at the local rink. They were really upset because the "brothers" that get together to play hockey, play dirty and are really aggressive. They thought the worldy people played nicer!

30

"New Light" on "New Light" creates a dilemma (July 15, 2010 WT)

by pirata in

for the majority of my years in the truth, the "new light" did not bother me at all.. i reasoned this way: "the faithful slave is imperfect, right?

logically they're going to make mistakes.

the main thing is that they're trying to do god's will they best they can and stick as close to the bible as they understand it.

NiceDream

Interesting points!

I agree, how can they be directed by the Holy Spirit and be wrong?!? The Holy Spirit wouldn't misguide them (or keep misguiding them).

33

Unbelievable CO Talk, scientists lie to us about earthquakes

by maninthemiddle in

just when i thought this stupid belief that earthquakes went up in 1914, here it is again.

4/6/2010.

this was a co giving the talk, the same one that ended with overlapping generations.. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/27642/earthquake.mp3.

NiceDream

I love how the organization warns children not to pursue higher education because their minds will get "filled with harmful propaganda" at University, but they can learn crazy stuff like this from the platform. Children believe this crap. I did until I saw a thread on here about actual historical earthquake data. My husband believed this about earthquakes too until he looked online.

29

Am I the only one who thought the GB was 100% correct when they were a JW?

by NiceDream in

jw
friends

a few months ago i began researching my doubts on the internet about the wtbts and i came across a bunch of crazy facts.

this helped me realize this isn't "the truth.".

when i was growing up, i believed the society was always right, and we needed to obey what was in the publications.

NiceDream

It is nice to know I'm not the only one. This realization that the GB isn't "inspired" has knocked the very foundation out from under me! I was born-in and also thought there was no choice, and my parents were 100% in it.

I just talked with my Mom, and she doesn't think the GB is 100% correct and believes they are just imperfect men. I was shocked! I don't want to impose this controlling religion my children. I felt so guilty because I made a Valentine's mailbox in Grade 2, and helped carve a pumpkin in Grade 5. I prayed for years for forgiveness of my major "sins." Are these things really the end of the world? Should a child feel they are going to die at Armaggedon because they stood for the national anthem but didn't sing? No wonder so many Witnesses are a bit wacky.

I'm a little bitter in case you couldn't tell, but I do realize that my parents were just making the best choice they could at the time.

ESTEE - What an amazing love story! I'm so happy you found a nice man...and one that can dance!

29

Am I the only one who thought the GB was 100% correct when they were a JW?

by NiceDream in

jw
friends

a few months ago i began researching my doubts on the internet about the wtbts and i came across a bunch of crazy facts.

this helped me realize this isn't "the truth.".

when i was growing up, i believed the society was always right, and we needed to obey what was in the publications.

NiceDream

A few months ago I began researching my doubts on the Internet about the WTBTS and I came across a bunch of crazy facts. This helped me realize this isn't "the truth."

When I was growing up, I believed the Society was always right, and we needed to obey what was in the publications. So another change to what the "generation" means was huge in my awakening. Did anyone else believe that the "food at the proper time" was inspired???

My problem is my husband. When I told him about these changes, and how I thought the society was inspired to give out this food, he said I was wrong. The society is only "spirit-directed." They are "lead" in a direction, and Jehovah directs them to be an organized mega-corporation.

My husband understand that the GB aren't perfect, they are trying to do their best and come up with wrong information sometimes. He doesn't agree with their understanding of why oral sex is bad because it isn't backed up scripturally and he feels that it was a reflection of society at the time they dealt with it in the magazines.

So I asked him what is the point of being a JW if the GB aren't inspired, make mistakes, and you can choose what counsel you'd like to ignore if you feel it isn't backed up by the Bible. He couldn't answer. I asked if it was ok if I decided not to listen to some of the GB's points that weren't backed up in the Bible, and he couldn't answer...even though he can choose to ignore the oral sex counsel. I told him the reason why I was asking was because I'm finding a lot of points in the new study copies of the Watchwtower that are not backed up by the Scriptures.

This turned out into more of a vent, but I appreciate you reading it!

23

How are current jw's told to feel about vampires

by loosie in

i haven't attened a meeting in 5 years.

i was wondering what the wtbts has to say about the popularity of vampires we see currently in pop culture.

are they saying its evil and from satan?.

NiceDream

We recently had mention from the platform of a "shocking trend" that some Witnesses were forming "vampire clubs." I was like vampires? But then I remembered Twilight. They're "bad."