Jehovahsheep wrote " only bibilcally illiterate like i was are the ones getting baptized.."
Well, I know several individuals, including professors who teach NT Greek, former pastors, former priests, former deacons, who are now Jehovah's Witnesses...some of them have Masters in Divinity...and yet they came to the conclusion that the Jehovah's Christian Witnesses teach the truth of the bible...I believe only those who do not want to believe the truth of the Bible are the ones that leave...In spite of the fact that there are some Witnesses that are highly educated (some with PHD degrees and few are college professors themselves)m it does not matter what level of education one has...God does not require a high level of education in order for one to learn the truth about Him and his Son Jesus Christ...salvation does not require education, it require faith in Jesus Christ as God's only begotten Son and knowing the the only true God, the Father. (John 3:16, 36; John 17:3; Ephe. 1:17; 1 John 4:4-14). Even the apostles were said to be ulettered or uneducated men:
Acts 4:13
English Standard Version (ESV)
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
davidl7
JoinedPosts by davidl7
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220
2011 Watchtower publisher statistics with analysis
by jwfacts inthe 2012 yearbook has released the publisher statistics for the 2011 service year.
a scan of the report can be found at http://www.jwfacts.com/images/2011-publisher-report.pdf and i have started updating the graphs at http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/statistics.php.
as expected, it is following on from similar trends to the last 15 years.
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davidl7
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220
2011 Watchtower publisher statistics with analysis
by jwfacts inthe 2012 yearbook has released the publisher statistics for the 2011 service year.
a scan of the report can be found at http://www.jwfacts.com/images/2011-publisher-report.pdf and i have started updating the graphs at http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/statistics.php.
as expected, it is following on from similar trends to the last 15 years.
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davidl7
JW Facts wrote in part:"Someone just brought to my attention that the US growth is not as good as it has been made out to be.
Please note,,Hawaii is not listed separately now. So, in 2010, avg. pubs for U.S. was 1,115,786 and Hawaii showed 8,531. Combined comes to 1,124,317. Now, U.S. (which would include Hawaii) is now avg pubs 1,145,723. So would be 1.9% increase
Amazing at how they keep coming up with new ways to doctor the figures to look better that they are. Reducing the requirement for reporting to just 15 minutes a month, reducing the number of hours to be counted as a pioneer and auxiliary pioneer, and now this combining of figures. "
But wouldn't adding Hawaii be more accurate as a complete US figure? The WCC Yearbook always included the Hawaii and Alaska figures since all the other churches don't list those states seperately, the WCC added them to get the complete total figure. I don't think it has nothing to do with make the figures "better [then] they are." It just a complete accurate number...that's all.
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220
2011 Watchtower publisher statistics with analysis
by jwfacts inthe 2012 yearbook has released the publisher statistics for the 2011 service year.
a scan of the report can be found at http://www.jwfacts.com/images/2011-publisher-report.pdf and i have started updating the graphs at http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/statistics.php.
as expected, it is following on from similar trends to the last 15 years.
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davidl7
JWFacts said:
"One thing revealing in breaking down the statistics is that there seems to have been a number of faded/inactive ones that have started going again over the last 3 years. There are also almost record numbers of hours preaching per JW. It shows how strong the guilt and indoctrination are. Yet with all that extra preaching, there is no increase in growth or baptisms. It seems that the greatest influence the internet is having has been in preventing people joining."
What do you mean? There was an increase in membership...in the past 4 years the WCC in it's publication of the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches has shown that in the US that the Jehovah's Christian Witnesses has been the fastest growing group. And that figure is based on the extremely conservative method that the WT uses to count it members...it only counts those that have reported their monthly ministry activity of preaching the good news of God's Kingdom in the hands of his Son, Jesus Christ. It does not include the even much faster growing number of those studying with the Witnesses and actively attending the KH meeting..some of who are now preaching, but not reporting. Meanwhile, the other churches that have shown increases included the Catholic Church (with less than a 1% increase last year and the Mormons with barely a 2 percent increase last year)...and how do those churches count their members...they have a more generous way of counting their members. The Catholic church counts members that were mainly baptized as babies, even though close to 70% of those no longer consider themselves to be Catholic or are not active Catholics...same is true with the Mormons...
I am not sure what mean that the Internet is preventing people from joining the true Christian Congregation...since there has been good enough increases worldwide...there has always been anti-Witness information out there, even before the Internet....I know friends who were given a library of books prior to the Internet...it may have delayed some from accepting the Truth...but most eventually came to the conclusion that the Chrstian Congregation of Jehovah' Witnesses represent the 1st century Christianity as taught by Jesus and his apostles, and have decided to join the Witnesses in spreading the truth about Jehovah, Jesus and the Kingdom of God. The WT and other Witness apologist have set-up their own Websites in response to the vicious negative anti-Witness sites that have been set-up. That way many people can hear the Witness point of view, and those who are open minded and can think spiritually, will know that we teach the truth of the Bible.
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220
2011 Watchtower publisher statistics with analysis
by jwfacts inthe 2012 yearbook has released the publisher statistics for the 2011 service year.
a scan of the report can be found at http://www.jwfacts.com/images/2011-publisher-report.pdf and i have started updating the graphs at http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/statistics.php.
as expected, it is following on from similar trends to the last 15 years.
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davidl7
slimboyfat
"The numbers for individual countries are always rounded to the nearest figure, whether that's up or down, there's nothing remarkable about that.
For example the 1.4% increase in Argentina is rounded down to 1% in the table."
Exactly.
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Jehovah's Witnesses - Once Again the Fastest Growing Faith in the U.S.
by davidl7 inaccording to the latest statistics published by the ncc in its yearbook of american and canadian churches, the jehovah's witnesess had the highest growth rate, in 2010 growing 4.37%.
this is, i believe, is the 4th year in a row, that the witnesses had the highest growth rate.
roman catholics grew by less than 1%, as did most of the other churches listed.
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davidl7
Jay 88 said
No one knows the correct pronounciation of the Jewish God 'Yahweh', and from what I have read the name Jehovah originated for the RCC, which derived from common names giving to god- adonai and elohim.
The WTBTS themselves say in their literature that the use of the name is only because of its popularity and not for accuracy.
I hope you plan to post more often, your post's are entertaining!
Some have pointed that the earliest pronounciation of the English form Jehovah was by Raymond Martin in his Pugio Fidei. Raymond was a Catholic priest...however, that does not negate the fact that the name was found in a similar form in earlier times...The book A Dissertation Concerning the Antiquity of the Hebrew Language, Letters, Vowel-Points and Accents, by John Gill, states that the name was pronounced in a similar way as "Jehovah" as far back as 120 AD by the Zohar and the Karaites (a Jewish sect). According to him, Origin (250 AD) and Jerome (380 AD), used a form similar to Jehovah, not Yahweh. (see http://books.google.com/books?id=59wOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA429#v=onepage&q&f=false). In fact the modern day Keraite Jews say Jehovah is the true pronounciation (see http://www.karaite-korner.org/yhwh_2.pdf).
Yes, but what the WT has quoted in the past, were individuals such as Rotherman which stated that "Yahweh is the MORE CORRECT" way of pronouncing the name. The WT publishes were inclined to that view...but it implied that Jehovah was correct in some sense. And it clearly stated that the form Jehovah retains the 4-letters of the divine name JHVH (YHWH). And, the WT literature, while not attacking the form Yahweh, as always pointed that the pronounciation is believed to be unknown, even though some scholars prefer Yahweh, while others suggest Jehovah. If we can use the name Jesus, the name we must use to be reconciled with the Father, then we can certainly use the name Jehovah, which according to Nehemia Gordon, a Karaite scholar who helped translate the Dead Sea Scrolls, is pronounced as "it is written", Yahovah. (Matt. 6:9; John 17:6, 26; Ps. 83:18; Exo. 3:14,15)
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Jehovah's Witnesses - Once Again the Fastest Growing Faith in the U.S.
by davidl7 inaccording to the latest statistics published by the ncc in its yearbook of american and canadian churches, the jehovah's witnesess had the highest growth rate, in 2010 growing 4.37%.
this is, i believe, is the 4th year in a row, that the witnesses had the highest growth rate.
roman catholics grew by less than 1%, as did most of the other churches listed.
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davidl7
Just N from Bethel : "Uhhh - when's the last time you went to a meeting? What about during CO visit? Know what attendence ratios are? think they're 200% like you claim? Try again. How about - 150%? Wrong again.
Sunday barely gets 90% while the newly combined TMS/service/bookstudy is still ekeing out 75, maybe 80%. Spanish might be a little higher - but I promise you this - it ain't " 2 times higher than the number of publishers."
Well in the average attendance in the NY congregation that I attend was a 225 in 2010 and the average number of publishers is 91. That number of course, does not count the children who are preach but are still in training and are not counted...nor the new ones that are studying the Bible with the Witnesses, some of which are now preaching to the relatives. When I was in Dallas, I visited a congregation there. The attendance that Sunday was 389. My friend said attendance is usually averages about 330, and they have an 120 publishers. My London trip the December, I visited a congregagtion there during a Tuesday meeting...attendance that day was 161, and an elder told me they have 51 publishers...I don't have records for the other places visited this year, including a congregation in Montreal...And talking about the most recent CO visit, one of the points he mentioned was that many congregagtion are splitting up due to growth here in the US...so yea, the attendance figure is at least double than the number of publishers...
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99
Jehovah's Witnesses - Once Again the Fastest Growing Faith in the U.S.
by davidl7 inaccording to the latest statistics published by the ncc in its yearbook of american and canadian churches, the jehovah's witnesess had the highest growth rate, in 2010 growing 4.37%.
this is, i believe, is the 4th year in a row, that the witnesses had the highest growth rate.
roman catholics grew by less than 1%, as did most of the other churches listed.
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davidl7
I don't know if the 15-minute rule is new...I remember back in mid 1980's a talk was given stating that we should report whatever preaching work we did no matter how little...The elder at the assembly said if its 1 hour or even 30 minutes for the month, you should report what you did. He said everyone circumstances may vary. That point was repeated several times after that, and many times they cited the Bible text of the elderly woman who donated less than a penny, but Jesus said that she in realty did the most...because that was all she could give. I myself use to report 30 to 45 minutes during the month, especially when I studying at college and was working at the same time.
Regarding figures reported - Witnesses do use a very conservative method of counting members. Rodney Stark in his paper "Why Jehovah's Witnesses Grow So Fast", pointed out that fact. And it is true...I remember reading an article that there maybe more active Jehovah's Witnesses than their are Episcopalians, even though Episcopalians report a higher membership figure. Unlike other churches, that count members just for attending church services, the WT only counts publishers, those that preach AND report their preaching activity. So a congregation can have 250 regularly attending their meetings, but only 110 preaching. Only the 110 are counted. In practically all Witness congregations, the attendance figure is at least 2 times higher than the number of publishers. The Operation World yearbook, counts all religious groups by reported members and affiliates. The affiliates figure is usually much higher for the Witnesses.
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Jehovah's Witnesses - Once Again the Fastest Growing Faith in the U.S.
by davidl7 inaccording to the latest statistics published by the ncc in its yearbook of american and canadian churches, the jehovah's witnesess had the highest growth rate, in 2010 growing 4.37%.
this is, i believe, is the 4th year in a row, that the witnesses had the highest growth rate.
roman catholics grew by less than 1%, as did most of the other churches listed.
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davidl7
Blacksheep said "
"1154275 members in 2009
+ 35120 baptisms
= 1189395 expected members
- 11894 Deaths at 1%
= 1177501 expected members
- 1178349 actual 2010 members
= (very roughly) 848 extra publishers, over and above the expected increase, in the good ol' USA.
We like to think we are helping people out and that the tide might be turning against the WT, but according to my calculation, (and I hope it's wrong), smacking 'weak in the faith' JWs with doctrine, false prophesies, pedos', NGO, COC, JWN, JWFacts, Six Screens, etc is scaring more back in than it's getting out. "You fail to take into account the growing number of Witness apologist sites that have very convincely responded to accusations and allegations regarding the NGO, so-called false predictions, pedos, etc....More and more Witnesses are now aware for instance that Russell never claimed to be an inspired prophet and that he openly wrote and stated that their may be mistakes in some of the expectations regarding 1914. Most Witnesses never believed allegations regarding those that claimed that they were protecting pedophiles...they knew that the WT had written an article clearly stating that the Christian congregation would not protect a pedophile from secular judicial punishment, and Jehovah's Witnesses were the first to announce a policy of banning anyone who abused children from the position of an MS or elder. They know that they are probably the only faith that expels unrepentant pedophiles from congregation....so maybe that's the reason they keep growing...they do not listen to false stories.
In addition, many individuals have been studying their Bibles, and have come to the conclusion that Jesus is really the Son of God. Upon further researchg, they found out that the Jehovah's Witnesses really believe Jesus is the Son of God, and not God Almighty himself... As a result they have decided to join in the worship of the God and Father of Jesus Christ, as did the early Christians (compare 1 John 4:7-14; Ephe. 1:3, 1:17; 2 Cor. 1:3; Rev. 3:12) Some former Baptists that I met when visiting Dallas, said they were studying Spanish and decided to buy a bi-lingual Bible, sold at their own church...the Spanish version was the Valera, which contains God name in Spanish as "Jehova". Their pastor hated using the name Jehovah in English, and didn't even like to use the name Yahweh. The couple asked the pastor why, and of course, was given the usual argument that Jehovah is a fake name, etc...interestingly...they did some research, and found pro and cons arguements against the pronounciations Jehovah vs. Yahweh...they decided to speak to the Witnesses to get their take on issue. Witnesses explained that they are aware of the arguements, and one of them noted that their appears to a growing number of scholars that are now saying that Jehovah is the correct pronounciation based on some ancient writings, even though most still think is Yahweh. The Witnesses pointed out that no one argues against the name Jesus (as welll as other Bible names), even though that was not the exact way it was pronounced in Greek or Aramic..The former Baptist also compared different Bibles, and found out that the ASV, YLT, BLE, NEB, LB, Websters, Darby, JNT, etc, all contained the name as the form Jehovah, even though their former pastor, who has MS degree in divinity, was saying only the NWT had the name. The pastor didn't even know that the bilingual Bible sold at his church store included the Valera version which has Jehova in Spanish!!! Anyway...to make a long story short, the couple concluded that the Witnesses are teaching the truth and like Jesus they believe in sanctify God's name and making it known. Many stories like these can be repeated over again...Interesting that couple, when I met them were still not baptized, and were preaching to their former church members, even before officially becoming non-baptized publishers with the congregation they attend.
And I mentioned earlier, their is a growing number of Websites that have been responding to the allegations presented by anti-Witness sites. Those are in addition to the official WT site. I will just list a few of my favorites:
http://www.jehovah.to/xlation/index.html
http://www.jehovahsjudgment.co.uk/watchtower-un-ngo/
http://web.archive.org/web/20040517235626/http://hector3000.future.easyspace.com/
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99
Jehovah's Witnesses - Once Again the Fastest Growing Faith in the U.S.
by davidl7 inaccording to the latest statistics published by the ncc in its yearbook of american and canadian churches, the jehovah's witnesess had the highest growth rate, in 2010 growing 4.37%.
this is, i believe, is the 4th year in a row, that the witnesses had the highest growth rate.
roman catholics grew by less than 1%, as did most of the other churches listed.
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davidl7
Alanv "I am a little confused here. The Watchtower has recently published it's worldwide report, and the figure they gave for USA was 2%
In fact the actual figure was 1.7% but they rounded the figure up.
David could you explain how they get to the 4.37% figure."
The NCC figure for 2010 was 1,114,000; in their 2011 yearbook it increased to 1,167,000...that's about a 4.37% increase.
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Jehovah's Witnesses - Once Again the Fastest Growing Faith in the U.S.
by davidl7 inaccording to the latest statistics published by the ncc in its yearbook of american and canadian churches, the jehovah's witnesess had the highest growth rate, in 2010 growing 4.37%.
this is, i believe, is the 4th year in a row, that the witnesses had the highest growth rate.
roman catholics grew by less than 1%, as did most of the other churches listed.
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davidl7
According to the latest statistics published by the NCC in its Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, the Jehovah's Witnesess had the highest growth rate, in 2010 growing 4.37%. This is, I believe, is the 4th year in a row, that the Witnesses had the highest growth rate. Roman Catholics grew by less than 1%, as did most of the other churches listed. Others continued to lose members, including the Southern Baptist Convention, with a 3-year losing streak. See the article entitled "2011 Church Membership: Southern Baptist Decline, Jehovah's Witnesses Increase" at: