Posts by Vanderhoven7

19

Impeachment hearings ...

by mikeflood in

watched a little bit the famous impeachment hearings....the witness sometimes when they were put on oath were with a smiled in their faces, others insecure, and the rest rightly totally outraged.... i turned it off.

too much time on the media for nothing.

it's like the russian thing didn't work to oust trump, and now ukraine maybe.

Vanderhoven7

I'd like to know what Trump is being accused of that he hasn't already admitted.

52

Did The Witnesses Predict the United Nations in Advance?

by TD in

jw
friends

it's been reported on this forum that bethel speakers at this summer's conventions are asserting that the establishment of the united nations in 1945 was predicted in advance by the witnesses.

this is being presented as validation of the claim that the witnesses are god's one true organization directed by holy spirit.. .

the basis for this claim originates with a public address entitled, peace - can it last given by n.h. knorr at the new world theocratic assembly, on september 20 of 1942. .

Vanderhoven7

Marked

27

I am a Watchtower survivor

by Sour Grapes in

i really like calling myself a watchtower survivor.

it is not demeaning to other people and is not a negative statement.

when a jdub sees that term it may make them think about why i would call myself a survivor.

Vanderhoven7

An important and effective distinction SG

21

First On-Screen Crush?

by Simon in

many years ago, we lived in a world where the one tv in your house might be black and white, perhaps color if you were lucky, but either way the screen was small and the arial on your house would struggle to deliver a decent signal but often fail in a fuzzy mess.

most of the movies you saw were old, there was no home video or rental - you got a chance to see something and then it was gone.

planning your viewing was important to make sure you didn't miss something so you'd carefully scan the tv guide to pick out your favourites ... good job there were only 2 or 3 channels to look through.. but you could still see quality if you went to the movie theatre and there you got to see glorious film on a giant screen (which is only now being equalled quality wise).

Vanderhoven7

Doris Day in Whip Crack-Away.

https://youtu.be/x_xmujSyxkU

6

Underming the Watchtower Video Clips

by Vanderhoven7 in

there are a few video clips or short videos that serve to undermine watchtower beliefs and practices.

i'll post one animated one that hits home rather successfully regarding baptism.

there is another one that shows a cartoon jehovah changing his mind again and again about whether or not he will resurrect the people of sodom and surrounding cities.

Vanderhoven7

Here is a rather revealing one

https://youtu.be/jBPZL2SiNj4

6

Underming the Watchtower Video Clips

by Vanderhoven7 in

there are a few video clips or short videos that serve to undermine watchtower beliefs and practices.

i'll post one animated one that hits home rather successfully regarding baptism.

there is another one that shows a cartoon jehovah changing his mind again and again about whether or not he will resurrect the people of sodom and surrounding cities.

Vanderhoven7

Actually I just found the video I was looking for. Unfortunately it seems someone hacked into the video and messed up the audio...and video as well

https://youtu.be/b0Sdh239AII

6

Underming the Watchtower Video Clips

by Vanderhoven7 in

there are a few video clips or short videos that serve to undermine watchtower beliefs and practices.

i'll post one animated one that hits home rather successfully regarding baptism.

there is another one that shows a cartoon jehovah changing his mind again and again about whether or not he will resurrect the people of sodom and surrounding cities.

Vanderhoven7

There are a few video clips or short videos that serve to undermine Watchtower beliefs and practices. I'll post one animated one that hits home rather successfully regarding baptism. There is another one that shows a cartoon Jehovah changing his mind again and again about whether or not he will resurrect the people of Sodom and surrounding cities. If you have that one, or others that highlight WTS idiocy, please post it here.

https://youtu.be/Agc-VPSwzDU

52

How Much of the WT Teaching Did You Believe?

by Ding in

some people on this forum have said that they never really believed any aspect of wt teaching, that they couldn't wait to get free of it all.. others seems to have been really gung ho, believing it all until something happened that got you questioning "the truth.".

i would say my own high water mark was about 50%, which put me squarely on the fence, trying to decide if i should be in or out.. how about you?.

Vanderhoven7

Interesting and accurate imagery there LUHE

21

January 2020 WT, earthly hope

by neat blue dog in

one of the latest wts rehashes this core jw theology.

i know it's old hat, but i feel it's always worth pointing out, as it's one of the major things to wake me up and it's relatively easily proven using the bible alone.. throughout the bible, there aremany examples of men of faith who re-ceived holy spirit; yet, they did not havethe hope of living in heaven.

john the baptistwas “filled with holy spirit.” (luke 1:13-16) jesus said that there was no mangreater than john, but then he said thatjohn would not be included in the heav-enly kingdom.

Vanderhoven7

Hi Smiddy,

The resurrection fulfills the promise that Death will lose its sting when God plagues the grave (Sheol). The idea of course is that Jesus took our eternal death sentence while on Calvary. The promise of a resurrection is found in both Old and New Testaments. A couple of OT passages come to mind.

Psalm 16:8 I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. 10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Job 19:23 Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! 24 That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! 25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: Job 19:26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

Mitch Chase, in a shareable article entitled, "Does the Old Testament Teach Resurrection Hope", writes:

The Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Revelation all proclaim the blessed hope of our Lord’s return to bring the dead back to life and, in doing so, defeat the last enemy—Death (1 Cor. 15:26). It might seem like resurrection is an exclusively New Testament hope. But it you grab this hope and pull, you’ll find it has roots leading you deep into the Old Testament. God has provided resurrection hope to his people from the beginning.

Not everyone affirms resurrection hope in the Old Testament. The Sadducees denied it because they didn’t believe it was taught in the Pentateuch. But Jesus challenged them: “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. . . . As for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God?” (Matt. 22:29, 31).

We need to read the Bible like Jesus did. He looked into the pages of the Old Testament and saw a God of life, whose power prevails over the grave.

Bodily Resurrection

The clearest Old Testament passage about a future bodily resurrection is Daniel 12:2: “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Both Jesus and Paul affirm its teaching in the New Testament (John 5:29; Acts 24:15).

Daniel isn’t the only prophet to speak this hope, however. Isaiah also prophesies physical resurrection:

Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead. (Isa. 26:19)

The dead are dust-dwelling sleepers, and resurrection will wake them up. Shifting metaphors, Isaiah depicts the earth giving birth. The tomb is a womb, and one day the dead will emerge in renewed bodily life.

Future bodily life isn’t just a truth to be spoken, but also a hope to be sung. The psalmist notes that while the wise and foolish both perish (Ps. 49:10), God “will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me” (Ps. 49:15). Ransoming the soul from Sheol is receiving the whole person back from death (see Ps. 16:10; Acts 2:24–29). Moreover, for the author of Psalm 71, resurrection is a comfort. Reflecting on past calamities and future deliverance, he declares: “You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again” (Ps. 71:20). God will revive us by raising us.

Resurrection Fulfills God’s Promises

Without an understanding of resurrection in the Old Testament, God’s people would have died thinking God had failed to fulfill his promises. God promised the land of Canaan to the patriarchs and their offspring (Gen. 12:7; 13:15), yet Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all died “not having received the things promised” (Heb. 11:13).

Me again: Now it seems clear to me that the OT is teaching a bodily resurrection. Now the question remains; is this a bodily resurrection to an earthly or heavenly existence? Unlike the New Testament promises, I don't see the option of a heavenly hope provided in the OT. And if not heaven, where else will those raised be standing?

21

January 2020 WT, earthly hope

by neat blue dog in

one of the latest wts rehashes this core jw theology.

i know it's old hat, but i feel it's always worth pointing out, as it's one of the major things to wake me up and it's relatively easily proven using the bible alone.. throughout the bible, there aremany examples of men of faith who re-ceived holy spirit; yet, they did not havethe hope of living in heaven.

john the baptistwas “filled with holy spirit.” (luke 1:13-16) jesus said that there was no mangreater than john, but then he said thatjohn would not be included in the heav-enly kingdom.

Vanderhoven7

If you look hard enough there are passages in the Hebrew scriptures speaking of a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. But none, as far as I can see, point to rising to heavenly life. So I find it hard for anyone who accepts the OT but rejects the new to support a heavenly reward for the righteous.

Perhaps there are some Jewish scholars on-board that might care to enlighten me from the scriptures about their afterlife hopes? (not meant to be a challenge btw...only a request.)