Posts by Listener

5

wardrobe for tony M?

by road to nowhere in

do you think it would be a good idea to take a collection to buy a zoot suit for tm?

and some orange and green socks.. i also would like to find a way to make a shadow screen to put in the door to answer it when they come by.

don't forget the odd accent..

Listener

His pants are so baggy in this month's broadcast that it must have taken 10 metres of material to make them. They accentuate his weight.

49

i was wondering if someone could help me with a question.. i am a rookie exjw, i only left the organization 4 months ago and everything i've discovered (un/arc/malawi/mexico etc) i've only discovered in the last few months so you can image it's been a huge shock to me especially after after 50 yrs!.

every time i think i've heard everything, something else pops up.. now i've come across a youtube video that mention tv evangelizer jimmy swaggart and the watchtower.

i remember jimmy swaggart from the time i lived in the u.s.a and i remember the scandals with him and prostitutes etc.

Listener

Thanks Orphan Crow for the link to the report the Watchtower lodged in regards to the Swaggart case.

12

Spirit directed vs inspired

by Jules Saturn in

i've always been confused as to what the discrepancy is between the phrases "spirit directed/spirit led" and "inspired".

in the february 2017 watchtower study article, paragraph 12 says:.

12 the governing body is neither inspired nor infallible.

Listener

From the Insight Book under "Inspired"

The quality or state of being moved by or produced under the direction of a spirit from a superhuman source. When that source is Jehovah, the result is a pronouncement or writings that are truly the word of God. The apostle Paul stated at 2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is inspired of God.” The phrase “inspired of God” translates the compound Greek word the·oʹpneu·stos, meaning, literally, “God-breathed” or “breathed by God.”
This is the only occurrence of this Greek term in the Scriptures. Its use here clearly identifies God as the Source and Producer of the Sacred Scriptures, the Bible. Their being “God-breathed” finds some parallel in the expression found in the Hebrew Scriptures at Psalm 33:6: “By the word of Jehovah the heavens themselves were made, and by the spirit [or breath] of his mouth all their army.”

By saying that they are not inspired, by their own definition means that they are not

~~"The quality or state of being~~ moved by ~~or produced under~~ the direction of ~~a spirit from a superhuman source~~ ... God."

103

Using Illegal Means for Righteous Activism

by John Davis in

i wanted to get people's opinion on something.

how do you feel when people use illegal means while performing their activism to shed light on the watchtower.

there have been people who have illegally recorded conversations with elders and with branch offices or at meetings.

Listener

My questions varied from a minor crime to what could possibly be a more serious crime in certain countries. You've admitted that you would be willing to commit a crime and you've justified your reason for doing so. The point is, it's not all black and white and it isn't mentally healthy to consider that under every single circumstance you would be willing to abide be the law.

You say that recording Elders without their permission is more serious than not wearing a seat belt or illegally parking but didn't say whether it was less serious than refusing to go to war. That's your personal opinion, personally I think not wearing a seat belt can be far more serious. A parent could be charged with a very serious crime if they hadn't properly restrained their child and had a nasty accident. Or parking illegally could result in something terrible, e.g. parking next to a hydrant could result in the loss of lives if the fire brigade couldn't access it to put out a fire.

We all have our own measuring stick to determine when and whether we would break a law, either minor or major. Not too long ago, homosexual acts were against the law and still are in many countries yet there are many who are so inclined who are prepared to break those laws, the result is that slowly laws have changed and there is more acceptance within society. It's one example of how laws do change, because people are not always willing to abide by the laws as they currently stand.

It is a very minor thing to record an elder in a Judicial Committee without his permission. On the other hand, through that Judicial Committee the Elder has the power to judge you as non repentant and cause friends and family to shun you. There are many who find those recordings very beneficial, that's why people are prepared to break the law and do it. The good outweighs the bad.

It is are you willing to obey the law no matter what your motive may be either good or bad.

That would be black and white and even you admitted that you would break the law.

In the latter part of your comments you seem to be attempting to correlate recording Elders as 'seeking vengeance'. That's a bit over the top, especially when most of the recorded JC's that I've seen don't appear to be doing it for that reason at all. It's more to do with exposing them and warning others.

I agree with you, let the law take care of it. In the case of recordings, perfect, now let's see the Elders start reporting those crimes and let the legal system take care of it. The likelihood of that happening is very slim, but if it's such a bad thing to do then why don't the Elders report it. If someone broke into their KH and caused damage they'd report it and without doubt, recording JC's causes much more damage.

Personally, I feel the whole motive behind your post is to scare individuals off from recording their JC.

103

Using Illegal Means for Righteous Activism

by John Davis in

i wanted to get people's opinion on something.

how do you feel when people use illegal means while performing their activism to shed light on the watchtower.

there have been people who have illegally recorded conversations with elders and with branch offices or at meetings.

Listener

JD- Wait JP are you saying that viewing the law as black and white is a sign of not being mentally healthy. I will have to disagree with you on that one. Not trying to justify breaking the law is not a mental health issue it is being a law abiding citizen.

Does this mean you would follow the laws of your country no matter what they are?

Let's say you were driving an injured person to hospital who was bleeding to death. Would you take the time to put their seatbelt on , even if it meant injuring them more? What if the only place you could stop to get them into the hospital meant illegally parking?

What about being called up to serve in the front line during a war, with no options for alternative service, would you do that?

Do you think the Watchtower has always been law abiding and will not deliberately break the law in the future?

49

Rookie exJW Question

by Phoebe in

jw
friends

i was wondering if someone could help me with a question.. i am a rookie exjw, i only left the organization 4 months ago and everything i've discovered (un/arc/malawi/mexico etc) i've only discovered in the last few months so you can image it's been a huge shock to me especially after after 50 yrs!.

every time i think i've heard everything, something else pops up.. now i've come across a youtube video that mention tv evangelizer jimmy swaggart and the watchtower.

i remember jimmy swaggart from the time i lived in the u.s.a and i remember the scandals with him and prostitutes etc.

Listener

Another video is this one, uploaded a couple of days ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pehwx1gAnw&t=5s

I've heard it said that the organization were interested in the outcome of the case and filed as 'friends of the court' not to support Jimmy Swaggart but simply to legally express their interest in the outcome of the case. In the video above Jason Zelda shows a seven or eight page submission that the Watchtower lodged in this Swaggart court case. It would be interesting to see that report because from what Zelda is saying it does sound like the Watchtower were supporting Swaggart in believing that their should be no requirement to pay taxes.

If nothing else, the fact that they filed their interest in this case seems to demonstrate that they believed neither Swaggart or themselves should be taxed. On that basis, it could be said that they supported Swaggart's claims and therefore, by extension, his ministry in the fact that Swaggart shouldn't be paying taxes and neither should they because they acknowledged that their activities were similar.

14

When exactly did Jesus become king? The Insight Book tells us.

by The Fall Guy in

it-2 pp.

61-62 jesus christ - "they [1st century christians] recognized him as their lord........because of his kingly position and authority.

it was in the full regal as well as priestly authority represented by jesus’ name that his followers preached.....to the “name” of this divinely commissioned king, the lord jesus christ.

Listener

Hi Blondie, it's been a long while since you've posted and I've missed your contributions. I hope all is well with you.

Thankyou for your quote explaining why they teach that he was King in a different sense in both 33 CE and 1914.

They claim that Jesus has had tremendous authority since 33 CE and quote Matt 28:18 which does not make that claim, rather that he has all authority.

And Jesus Christ has ruled as King of kings and Lord of lords over his congregation since Pentecost 33 C.E. But now, since 1914, he has been given kingly authority to rule in that capacity with his enemies placed as a ‘stool for his feet.’ The time was now ripe for him to ‘go subduing in the midst of them,’ all in fulfillment of Psalm 110:1, 2.—Hebrews 2:5-8; Revelation 17:14; 19:16. W 6/1 1994

332

The most successful teaching of Jehovah's Witnesses and an amazing new book on the divine name

by slimboyfat in

jehovah's witnesses have had to revise their chronology and various doctrinal interpretations due to events and scholarly corrections.

but the one teaching where they have been consistently ahead of the curve is the importance of jehovah's name.. .

i'm going to run through a (necessarily selective) timeline of jw events and scholarly publications that demonstrate the phenomenal success of this teaching in the last days.

Listener

Would almighty God have allowed this group of Christians to champion his name at this crucial time if they did not enjoy his blessing and support?

If it is important that they are known as Jehovah's Witnesses then new light has been defective. In a number of instances, Jehovah's name is now delegated to the letter J.

At one time, they would always correct someone if they referred to them as JWs. It felt offending to be called a JW. Now they have a logo with Jehovah's name represented as a J, erected at every Kingdom Hall and on all their publications. Their one and only official website is listed using only God's initial.

21

How old would Br. Franz be today if he overlapped himself?

by waton in

`~39, and ~ 59+ years more to go .

Listener

I love this teaching. If so easily shows how these are just ideas of men and there's not one verse to back it up. I try to always mention it when speaking to JWs.

332

The most successful teaching of Jehovah's Witnesses and an amazing new book on the divine name

by slimboyfat in

jehovah's witnesses have had to revise their chronology and various doctrinal interpretations due to events and scholarly corrections.

but the one teaching where they have been consistently ahead of the curve is the importance of jehovah's name.. .

i'm going to run through a (necessarily selective) timeline of jw events and scholarly publications that demonstrate the phenomenal success of this teaching in the last days.

Listener

Slimboyfat, there's an interesting thread on this site that was written 6 years ago. I don't know if you have ever seen it but here is the link

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/210035/new-world-translation-holy-scriptures?page=7

The Watchtower claims that they restored God's name in the New Testament. You can only restore something if it was there originally and in the majority of instances it was not, so their claim is false.