i read that some are quite happy that another gb bites the dust.. i think of my "faithful" elderly jw mother who helped many many families come into the "truth".
she's an intelligent woman.
however, she's blinded by her beliefs (being in a cult).
I'm not going to pretend that I'm never happy when someone dies. But I didn't know enough about Jack Barr to give a crap. . .
For all I know he may have been the last voice of reason in the GB and his death will allow the remaining members to escalate the insanity to unheard of levels.
Or he might have been the only one pushing the 'no blood' rule and his death will allow millions of people to get decent health care.
So are they going to replace him? Do they have a minimum amount of GB members?
say hello to ark encounter.. .
kentucky governor unveils plans for creationist theme park complete with full-sized ark.
.. a joint project between beshear and answers in genesis -- a christian organization that also built a similar attraction, the creation museum -- the park will reportedly cost at least $150 million and create 900 jobs, according to the news release.. beshear's spokesperson kerri richardson declined to comment beyond what was in her office's news release on the project.. the amusement park, named ark encounter, will include all the modern recreation amenities, including: a full-sized wooden ark, a "walled city much like was found in ancient times, a replica of the tower of babel with exhibits, a first-century middle eastern village" and even outdoor parking.
But... how does the bible date the flood to four thousand years ago? I think that's an assumption people get from whatever, but that doesn't mean its true.
You have clearly givin this subject LOADS of thought and research.
The Bible has a big huge boring list of Noahs decendants.
2 years after the flood Noahs son Sham had a child name Arthropod (or something like that)
35 years later Athropod had a son named Shoopdawoop
When Shoopdawoop was 30 he had a son named Uber
34 years later Uber had a kid named Peg Leg
And the list goes on and on until it gets to gets to Abraham. Basically if you add all this up there's a grand total of 350ish years between the flood and Abrahams birth.
According to both Acts and Genesis, Abraham was 75 when god promised him something vague.
Then Paul said that it was 430 years after this promise that the nation of Israel left Egypt.
So right there we can figure out that it was about 855 years between the flood and the exodus.
According to Paul in his letter to the Galatians, 480 years after the israelites left egypt, solomon started building the temple.
And since this, the building of the temple, is the first REAL event we have a date on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon's_Temple
based on actual history, solomon started building the temple around 900BC
This all means, that the flood uccured 1335 years before the founding of the Temple in 900BC. THUS it uccured in 2235 BC (Which is 4246 years ago for those of you who aren't good with the CE/BCE switch.)
And THAT my friends in a nutshell, is the assumption people get from whatever.
Lore
say hello to ark encounter.. .
kentucky governor unveils plans for creationist theme park complete with full-sized ark.
.. a joint project between beshear and answers in genesis -- a christian organization that also built a similar attraction, the creation museum -- the park will reportedly cost at least $150 million and create 900 jobs, according to the news release.. beshear's spokesperson kerri richardson declined to comment beyond what was in her office's news release on the project.. the amusement park, named ark encounter, will include all the modern recreation amenities, including: a full-sized wooden ark, a "walled city much like was found in ancient times, a replica of the tower of babel with exhibits, a first-century middle eastern village" and even outdoor parking.
So by that thought, and with only two or seven pairs of beetles (don't know if they were clean or unclean) and the same for every other kind of creature, that tends to make the idea of space in the ark more feasible.
2 or 7 pairs?
So you're saying that in 4500 years ago we had a grand total of 14 beetles on the planet, and since then they have evolved into everything including Ladybugs, scarabs, rhino beetles, dung beetles, June Bugs and everything HERE: http://www.koleopterologie.de/gallery/index.html
In under 5k years?
say hello to ark encounter.. .
kentucky governor unveils plans for creationist theme park complete with full-sized ark.
.. a joint project between beshear and answers in genesis -- a christian organization that also built a similar attraction, the creation museum -- the park will reportedly cost at least $150 million and create 900 jobs, according to the news release.. beshear's spokesperson kerri richardson declined to comment beyond what was in her office's news release on the project.. the amusement park, named ark encounter, will include all the modern recreation amenities, including: a full-sized wooden ark, a "walled city much like was found in ancient times, a replica of the tower of babel with exhibits, a first-century middle eastern village" and even outdoor parking.
900 jobs. .
Well the ark itself should only require 8 people tops. Probably less than that if you don't have all the animals in there right?
Hey! Now they gotta make 2 life sized replicas of every animal species and see if they can cram them all into that thing. (I'd settle for a cardboard box representing their aprox size)
found this in the latest issue of awake!
: "where science is limited.
many truths about god are beyond thescope of science.
Or:
To illustrate, a scientist may be able to describe every molecule in a hurricane storm system, but will his (are there any female scientists?) analysis reveal why the hurricane was made or for whom?
This example sounds weird because we implicitly know that emergent systems arise in nature without a conscious purpose. The analogy instead compares nature with things manufactured by humans, not with things in the natural world.
Gah, thank you!
I was trying to think of an example that a creationist wouldn't consider intelligently designed anyway.
I was thinking of rocks, crystals, craters, magnets, iceburgs. . . But I've seen arguments that ALL of those were intelligently designed.
Anyone who thinks god intended there to be hurricanes is too far gone to bother talking too.
found this in the latest issue of awake!
: "where science is limited.
many truths about god are beyond thescope of science.
To illustrate, a scientist may be able to describe every molecule in a chocolate cake, but will his analysis reveal why the cake was made or for whom? For answers to questions like that—which most people would regard as the more important ones—he needs to consult the supposed personal memoirs allegedly written down by the bakers anonymous assistant decades after his passing which were then poorly copied by hand by other anonymous people, then translated into a different language by someone who claimed to be the baker's great grandchild who we'll assume didn't alter the memoirs at all even though HE wanted to inherit the cake and was not above murdering all his living relatives to get it.
These memoirs were later translated again into other languages.
Because the the baker had his memoirs written in a bizzare form of piglatin at the time, only his self-designated representatives can properly interpret the original meaning of the memoirs.
Would not any self respecting scientist feel compelled to trust these memoirs without question?
Some so-called "scientists" have questioned the validity of these memoirs simply because the baker seemed to think that it was an apple pie instead of a chocolate cake. But as the baker was the original creator of the delicious desert, and the scientists who believe it is a chocolate cake are merely observers, we can be confident that if he thinks it's a pie it must therefore be a pie.
There I fixed it!
i used to always justify that the apostles (and paul) thought the end was near because the "mini-end" (jerusalem's destruction in 70ce) had not yet happened.. then it dawned on me that 1st/2nd/3rd john were written in 98ce (at least according to the back of my nwt), after jerusalem's destruction.. 1 john 2:18 (new international version)warnings against denying the son 18 dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come.
this is how we know it is the last hour.. not only was it the last day, it was the last hour..
I figured I'd explain all the blanks in my last post:
Dear children, this is the lasthour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even nowmanyantichristshavecome. This is how we know it is the lasthour.
Religious people will take apart each of those words and can attribute absolutely ANY meaning to it.
Children: Is he talking about literal children? Does he mean everyone who is reading this? All his followers? Only 'annointed ones'? Only 'other sheep? Only those people currently present at the time of that writing? Only those alive during the time it applies too?
This: Is he talking about THAT time that he was saying those words? Or is he pretending he's in the future and talking about the 21st century? Or the past?
Last: Meaning there won't be anymore? Last of what? Last one like it?
Hour: 60 minutes? 3600 seconds? A figurative hour? 1000 years is a day so a 24th of that is 41.5 years? Starting when? When he said it? When the prophecy kicks in?
You: Presumably 'you' is the 'children'. But that is open to change at the believers whim. So no clue what he means by 'you'. Am I included?
Antichrist: Whatever the heck that is.
Coming: Meaning he will get here eventually? He's not here yet but will be? Coming where? Earth? Heaven? Jerusalem? That particular spot?
Now: Still not sure if he's talking about the first century when he's saying all this crap or if he's projecting to the future.
Many: How many? More than one? Or just one REALLY big one? Tens, Hundreds? Thousands? Millions? Billions?
Antichrists: Whatever the heck they are.
Have: When?
Come: Where?
It: What?
Last: Meaning?
Hour: How long?
Am I nitpicking? YES, because I have too. Because if you read the words as they are said and use the obvious meanings for those words it means JESUS WAS WRONG. Christians can't have that, so they redefine pretty much every word he said to mean something else.
And if you can do that, it makes the whole stupid book useless.
i used to always justify that the apostles (and paul) thought the end was near because the "mini-end" (jerusalem's destruction in 70ce) had not yet happened.. then it dawned on me that 1st/2nd/3rd john were written in 98ce (at least according to the back of my nwt), after jerusalem's destruction.. 1 john 2:18 (new international version)warnings against denying the son 18 dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come.
this is how we know it is the last hour.. not only was it the last day, it was the last hour..
Not sure of We can, looking back from the 21st century with all our preconceived notions, know what John meant when he said that it was the "last hour".
Which makes you wonder why he bothered writing it in the first place.
If we remove all the words in that scripture that we can't be sure of we are left with:
1 John 2 18 Dear _______, ____ is the ____ ____; and as ___ have heard that the __________ is ______, even ___ ____ ___________ ____ ____. This is how we know __ is the ____ ____.
Hardly worth saying in the first place if every other word can mean literally ANYTHING.
i'm not a christian nor part of any other religion that believes as prayer being the sole personal medium to god, yet i do believe in a creator.. prayer has never helped me and they have never really been answered.
the way i figure if god isn't talking to me the way communication is best for humans (through language) then i guess, right now, his purpose doesn't involve communicating with me.. i like how deism describes god talking to us, through his creation.
all we have to do is study the intricacies of nature, of which i see the ultimate struggle for survival.
When I was real young, about 9, I had a 'penpal'.
It was actually just some witness kid who visited our hall one time and thought it would be fun to write letters back and forth. I thought it was a dumb idea but he wanted too so whatever.
He wrote me a typical 8-12 ? year old kid letter.
I wrote one back.
He wrote one back.
I wrote one back.
He wrote one back.
I wrote one back.
He didn't write back.
I wrote another one anyway to be polite in case he didn't get my last one.
He didn't write back.
I didn't write anymore either.
No idea what happened. Maybe he died. Maybe his arms fell off and he can't write anymore. Maybe both of our letters got lost in the mail.
Maybe he's STILL writing letters all these years later and 70 years from now I'm gonna get a big box of undelivered letters from usps written by this disturbed man that were lost in the mail this whole time.
Or more likely he just got sick of writing stupid letters. Or his school project that required him to get a penpal ended and he didn't bother letting me know he wouldn't be writing anymore.
WHATEVER the case: After a few attempts at communicating, even when I was 9 years old, I realized that either he wasn't getting my messages or he wasn't going to respond so I stopped talking to him.
I was going somewhere with that. . . What was this thread about again?
- Lore
looking back i'm glad i didn't marry my ex..
MY sister wants to get married soon.
Well since there are no suitable brothers in our hall my family has been visiting other congregations in the area hoping she'll find some single brother and they'll fall in love during the 10 minutes before and after the meeting.
Turns out there's rarely a single brother there at all.
But hypothetically if she finds someone what are they supposed to do?
Well she can start going to his hall, and they can get to know each other in 15 minute time periods before and after each meeting. The can both answer questions and get to know each other by the the way they reword the watchtower answers.
If it gets more serious they can start going out in field service together.
And when they are right on the verge of getting married they can start sitting beside each other at the meetings.
Then get married and be alone with each other for the first time ever. Realize they know NOTHING about each other and be miserable for the rest of their lives.
