Posts by Lieu

45

Who or What is the Holy Spirit?

by FusionTheism in

tradition within christianity has long been that any time the phrases holy spirit, holy ghost, or spirit of godare used in the bible (especially in the new testament), it always refers to the mysterious third divine person of the trinity, who is fully god, co-equal to the father and son, yet somehow distinct.. i want to present a simplified alternative view: let the context determine the meaning!.

(one thing to keep in mind is that the meaning of the bible words used for spirit basically is unseen force or invisible presence.).

the holy spirit as the mind and personality of god.

Lieu

I'm going to go with a "what" and not a "who". (For only Horton Hears a Who!)

Now, it may be because I'm a bit tipsy, but I figure since Angelic beings appear to be pure energy creatures (see transformation accounts) the spirit of God must be some type of dynamic energy source ... kinda similar to "the force" of Star Wars. Once received, it has to be harnessed and cultivated by the recipient's faith in its presence.

You can also 'grieve' the Spirit. (Interesting human quality applied here). Similar to Luke Skywalker telling Yoda, "I can't believe it", when Yoda lifted the X-Wing out of the swamp water. Yoda replies, "And that's why you fail".

"If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move, and it will move." ..... "You of little faith why did you doubt?" ( see the walking on water incident). That should ring some bells.

Star Wars was a play on religion in case you hadn't noticed. A very very insightful one at that.

15

Should Jehovah`s Witnesses be worshiping Jehovah ? or Jesus.

by smiddy in

jehovah`s christian witnesses , as they like to be known as , used to worship jesus in earlier times ,but now they do not worship jesus .

they worship a god named jehovah , who they admitted in the first edition of " aid to bible understanding " was not the correct pronunciation of the tetragrammaton `s four letter hebrew letters that represented god` name , by the way , a catholic monk of the 13th century came up with jehovah by just adding a couple of vowels.. to those four hebrew letters .which has since been revised to correctly translate the tetragrammaton as yhwh and many scholars put this name more accurately as yahweh or something more similar.. fact 1 .

the tetragrammaton does not appear in the " kingdom interlinear of christian greek scriptures " printed by the wtb&ts , a word for word translation of the greek scriptures.

Lieu

From a biblical standpoint:

Jesus said to Worship God. Jesus being Jewish would never espouse anything different as to worship.

One bows before a King and pays tribute. Jesus is the (appointed) King. You don't worship kings/ high priests.

In the case of Jesus, Christians are supposed to pay tribute by proclaiming Christ because he was found deserving to be King by his actions. Guy was fixing serious medical conditions, getting rid of spookies, feeding the masses, and making wine ... did i forget making wine, for FREE! Then the King gives his life to get rid of sin & death for his prospective future subjects and friends. Oh, and he only has two laws.

It is God's will that Jesus name be praised and his actions talked about. His son did good. That way people have an idea of what the kingdom would be like under Jesus' Kingship and decide whether they'd like to be there or not.

JWs missed that boat.

My .02

45

Who or What is the Holy Spirit?

by FusionTheism in

tradition within christianity has long been that any time the phrases holy spirit, holy ghost, or spirit of godare used in the bible (especially in the new testament), it always refers to the mysterious third divine person of the trinity, who is fully god, co-equal to the father and son, yet somehow distinct.. i want to present a simplified alternative view: let the context determine the meaning!.

(one thing to keep in mind is that the meaning of the bible words used for spirit basically is unseen force or invisible presence.).

the holy spirit as the mind and personality of god.

Lieu

Finkelstein, who says they were created by mankind? What? You don't believe there are other beings in the universe aside from us? More advanced beings to boot? 😆

8

I Agree With the Circuit Overseer!!

by The Searcher in

when i was just studying, the c.o.

was brought to my home for a "visit".. the only thing i can remember from his conversation is this - (and the principle is so true, i'm going to use it).

"searcher, if you're talking to someone about the bible and they don't accept three scriptures as proof about the subject, then don't waste your time trying to give them thirty scriptures, because they clearly don't want to hear the truth.".

Lieu

Nor only that but in Revelations Satan is destroyed BEFORE the resurrection, not after. People don't have to live the 1000 yrs and then be tested again.

The second death refers to people who are found unworthy for life after their judgement. They died, were questioned, found unfit, and are off to permanent destruction they go.They are not people who are 'tested' again.

Also, your former wife, isn't your wife anymore. For Jesus himself said, the resurrected are like the angels. Neither male nor female.

4

Google Translate has an attitude

by MaxTan in

so i came across this today when i was trying to translate something to russian.

also, i did not know where to post this other than jokes and humor.... so according to google translate, jehovah in russian is "lord".

the name itself was not available in alternative translations either.

Lieu

It screws up English too. ☺ At times it becomes confused between British English and American English. Don't get me started on Google's translation of Spanish, ouch!

It is getting better though and they do request help with language translations. Just send them the proper translation for the language in question and they'll include it.

34

Hypothetical Question...

by JW_Rogue in

i was just thinking that the org has said lots of outrageous things over it's history and most jws just continue onward without a second thought.

so my question is what do you think would have to be said from the platform or wt to get people to get up and walk out immediately?

is it even possible?

Lieu

Good morning friends,

Due to the unrelenting government persecution of our brothers worldwide, causing the Society to expend the majority of its finances in legal battles, (Ie we have to pay taxes, minimum wage, unemployment insurance, etc now, no fair) we request that congregations that are able (ie all of you) take in members of Bethel who have been let go along with Special Pioneers and Circuit Overseers; doing so with full gladness of heart. (Insert scripture here) Sadly, we at Bethel, are no longer in a position to see to the needs of so many faithful.

It is our hope that Congregations will lovingly provide for their food, clothing, and shelter as these fine brothers have been fighting the fine fight for the faith in full time service to Jehovah and are deserving of our mercy. And how happy are the merciful!! (insert scripture here)

Either something such as this or an outright 'we want you to commit suicide' should get peoples feet moving towards the door.

19

Can a baptism be annulled?

by angel.face in

i joined this site about 4 years ago and life was very different to say the least.

i was a jw and started the process of 'waking up' after experiencing life threatening blood loss due to complications of a pregnancy.

i was married with two kids (husband was an ms) and was a stay-at-home mom.

Lieu

Baptism by water is just a way to say you repent to God for your sins. It isn't a contract between humans. Did you sign something?

John was baptizing people who wanted forgiveness. He wasn't doing it so that people belonged to him.

46

Correlation decline JW numbers and JW broadcasting?

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

i read some impressive figures here about the decline of the jw numbers in 2015.. could there be a correlation between this decline and the start of jw broadcasting?.

hence, that there would be an negative impact because the gb is standing so nearby, you can experience the idiot reasoning of their doctrines sitting in your own living room?.

the lett effect?

Lieu

It's just cheaper.

7

Jehovah went from love to fear--when?

by gma-tired2 in

when i was a child and teen jw in 50s and 60s jehovah was always referred to as our loving god now we are warned not to fall in the hands of a god to be feared.

when did jws change god from loving to a cruel god?

Lieu

Humans on a power trip make everything about fear. Machiavellian concepts. Its better to be feared than loved. Machiavelli was a creep.

Ignore it.

52

1914—The Turning Point in History - Really?

by berrygerry in

1914the turning point in history.

30 from the human standpoint, the world troubles and global wars foretold in the bible were far from the thinking of the pre-1914 world.

german statesman konrad adenauer said: thoughts and pictures come to my mind, .

Lieu

Kinda easy when post 1880, you say every year is "the year".

First an foremost, they have NO business trying to guess a date they're already told no one is to know. Since its Adventists roots, they have been trying to predict the time of "rapture". Considering the "rapture" didn't happen as Russell falsely prophesied, they switched it to an unscriptual INVISIBLE enthronement. Where the hell is that in the Bible again!?!

As for WWI, it may have been a terrible war in modern times, but it isn't the worst war or even the first worldwide war. It was nothing but another war between Europeans. Greece and Rome went all over the known world warring. Before them, the Assyrians and Egyptians. After them the European conquests of the Continents.(Now these were actually worldwide)

Also, too, the Gentiles Times have not ended or are the GB members Jews? The most powerful nation on Earth today Israel or the Gentile USA?

The problem with trying to interpret Biblical knowledge is European thought. It's a Middle Eastern text. Those were not Europeans in it or writing it.