Not taking my own advice, in this instance (for speed) I can recommend the words of one of those who is doing the very thing of interminably discussing the finer points of what is religious truth; Dennis Bratcher, Prof of theology. In his article in Crivoice, Bratcher gives a good and balanced review on the relevant Hebrew words to describe ‘circle’ and ‘ball’ and why they were used.
Half banana
JoinedPosts by Half banana
-
21
2013 NWT - Conveniently Circular
by theunbeliever inthis is my first post.
as i am currently disfellowshipped, i have no one else to discuss these things with.
even if i was actively associated with the dubs, i suppose i'd still have no one else to discuss this with.
-
-
-
21
2013 NWT - Conveniently Circular
by theunbeliever inthis is my first post.
as i am currently disfellowshipped, i have no one else to discuss these things with.
even if i was actively associated with the dubs, i suppose i'd still have no one else to discuss this with.
-
-
Half banana
Welcome to the fray Unbeliever and remember we are with you on your journey towards gaining your freedom and your new life. Although you are in a bit of a fix at the mo, be assured, it will not last, things will get much better!
It is actually possible to spend a lifetime of research looking into the scriptures and not come to any conclusion. My suggestion for any thinking ex-JW is to read those academics who have spent a lifetime researching who are without a religious agenda and who are not associated with or affiliated to a religious body. These individuals often are not found in the popular books section of Amazon or bookshops.
Such a writer is Thomas L Thompson who was denied his first PhD by his adjudicator the former Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) because his dissertation exposed the intellectual dishonesty of the Roman Church. Thompson left the church and studied all aspects of the history, archeology and texts and inscriptions contemporary to the biblical ones. He develops a clear picture of the political, religious and social milieu of the writers of the Hebrew texts (my hero).
Such people are the bane of Bible cults.
Anyway---a circle can be deformed into a star; get out of that vicious JW circle and be a star instead!
-
36
Why are JWs so sensitive to criticism?
by Half banana ini remember a roman catholic priest acknowledging on the bbc that the outrageously anti-clerical tv comedy father ted was a humorous mocking of his church but an acceptable thing.. try mocking the jw religion to a believer and the result is so very different.. just why is it that jehovah's witnesses can never take even the faintest hint of criticism of their religion?.
-
-
Half banana
I remember a Roman Catholic priest acknowledging on the BBC that the outrageously anti-clerical TV comedy Father Ted was a humorous mocking of his church but an acceptable thing.
Try mocking the JW religion to a believer and the result is so very different.
Just why is it that Jehovah's Witnesses can never take even the faintest hint of criticism of their religion?
-
3
Large Gatherings v Jesus' First Miracle
by Slidin Fast injohn relates jesus' famous first miracle, water into wine.
this was performed well into the party when the allotted supply had run out.
what state were the wedding party in?
-
-
Half banana
This story had been in circulation for hundreds if not a thousand years (in translation) before Jesus was invented. It was one of the many miraculous tales which all God-men saviours had attributed to them. It was therefore originally an identity symbol and not a moral tale.
Interesting how the Beeb will not relent and permit a humanist "thought for the day"...or have they given in and I didn't hear about it?
-
13
REAL Community service now allowed?
by ab.ortega inat watchtowers website there is an undated article under "helping the community" relating how in 2015, jw's from russia participated in the 'springtime beautification of the city'.
it is not stated but more than likely this had to do with preparations for some assembly or something.
a group of witness going out to clean the community just for goodwill - i don't see it happening.
-
-
Half banana
How typically bogus of the JW org to claim to have done a charitable act when it was compulsory in the first place.
JW org: shameless masters of deception
-
5
Another Quebec JW woman dies after childbirth
by OrphanCrow inmilande louis cadet, a 46 year old jehovah's witness woman, died after childbirth in a montreal hospital on october 3, 2016.. this interview and story is in french.
i have done a poor google translate of the article...the tv story likely has more and better details.
http://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2016/10/24/lhopital-st-marys-reagit-au-deces-de-mirlande-louis-cadet.
-
-
Half banana
Such a waste of good lives. What misery is brought about by being a brain-dead JW.
Obedience to the rules of the Watchtower even if it means dying.
The Watchtower who have never got anything right in their 137 year history...and for the hope of a never to be realised utopian fantasy.
Let the world know how dangerous this religion is.
Oh! those poor people in Canada who are suffering because of this delusional cult.
-
18
Genital Warts Because our Ancestors were Banging Neanderthals
by cofty inresearchers have found evidence that modern genital warts – otherwise known as the human papillomavirus (hpv) – were sexually transmitted to homo sapiens after our ancestors slept with neanderthals and denisovans roughly around 100,000 years ago.....
-
-
Half banana
Stocky build, barrel-chest, bow-legged, big head, projecting mid-face, big eyeballs high in the face below strong eyebrow ridges, big nose, weak chin, fat fingers and possibly ginger hair (sounds like anyone you know?) AND genital warts. Ta dah! Meet the new neighbours in the cave next door; the Neanderthals.
-
20
Arrival of War in 1914 a Shocking Development
by berrygerry inone comment-giver during the rules study, remarked that ww1 was predicted by wt to arrive in 1914, despite the fact that everyone expected an era of unparalleled peace.. this was something continuously drilled into our heads - how peaceful everything was prior to ww1.. when you look at wt library under 'world war i' - "unexpected" - the results are all offline - there are no recent references ( unexpected: re 106; w92 5/1 4-5; yb87 124; w86 2/15 5; w86 11/1 6 ).
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200276290.
the offline quotes are as follows:.
-
-
Half banana
Yes, well said Prologos.
The only claim to prophetic success which Jehovah’s Witnesses will make is that they “got 1914 right” as Tony Morris recently quoted on JWTV. Shaking his head in wistful awe, he praised to the heavens “those guys back there” (Russell and co), wishing that he too could come up with a snappy magical insight to save his failing religion.
The average JW today might believe and cherish 1914 as evidence for God’s interest in the Watchtower Organisation.
But what a colossal Watchtower deception 1914 is!
If we were to distil the reason for the life and existence of the WTBTS and the whole sorry mess which is the JW org today: it would be CT Russell’s brainchild to rehabilitate the failed Adventist prophetic year of 1874. Russell claimed that God’s kingdom had not failed to arrive then...he said Jesus had actually returned in that year on cue... but had done so, wait for it..................INVISIBLY! (pull the other leg Chucky)
To justify this stance, he borrowed someone else's interpretation of the Greek word 'parousia' and backed it up merely by a stab at a ‘Biblical’ forty year period beyond the failed Adventist claim of 1874 for the visible manifestations of the arrival of Jesus in “Kingdom glory” to become apparent.
By 1914 at the outside, Russell's Watchtower claimed (based on misapplying the infallible, inerrant Bible) that Christ would be ruling the world with the Earth completely restored to a paradise after all of God’s enemies have been brutally destroyed.
Not only was the Watchtower prophecy another advent date-failure but please note that world war was precisely the opposite of what the Watchtower had promised to happen by 1914.
By putting the JW belief system in context with Adventism (which should always be done but rarely is because JWs fabricate a religious contamination with God’s so called “enemies”) it can be seen that the Watchtower is just another uninspired doomsday cult bewitching their followers with threats of death and glory.
The true success of the JW org is therefore never in prophecy or truth-telling; primarily it is in making money, and secondly it is by their skill in being able to perpetually shift the goalposts into the future and yet retain membership of their increasingly uneducated and lobotomised followers.
-
-
-
Half banana
For me the big thing was realizing there was no God. ( I never believed in 1914 since the reasoning was so convoluted and unconvincing) For years, even as a pioneer, I had interpreted the figure of the Devil as a melodramatic literary persona and not a real thing.
I was in my office at home one day reading the philosophy of Kierkegaard and it hit me: ok the devil is fiction... but neither is there a God. The whole religion thing functions whether god exists or not. The Watchtower and all religions are a sham. This was the turning point from which no return was possible.
I was glad I had had the realization but worried for my family. I faded successfully without immediate reprisals, then it was announced that I was no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses but was then treated as a disfellowshipped individual. In my family's eyes I had joined the devil's party. My wife had moved from normal "other sheep" mode to "anointed" mode and had a nervous breakdown, the children were badly affected psychologically and the marriage was over.
Even with those dire consequences, I would rather live according to my conscience as a free agent than be beholden to the Watchtower's insidious cult regime.
One of my sons has left the borg and is enjoying an adventurous life, two offspring yet to leave.
-
22
Moving to Warwick Video incl. Morning Worship
by Listener ina new video is up about the commencement of moving to warwick.shawn bartlett tells the viewers that jehovah has said, through the governing body, ‘it’s time to move out of brooklyn.
‘ then helper robert lucciona says ‘ the governing body, these brothers, as soon as they see god’s direction, they just move, it doesn’t matter if it is long held, cherished ideas, this is the way it has to be done, as soon as they see jehovahs direction.
he just kept nudging imperfect humans, he knew where he wanted us and then we end up where we are supposed to be.
-
-
Half banana
So God told you to move hey?
Come on governing biddies, I dare you--- tell us exactly how it is that the almighty God of the universe actually communicates with you. Does he speak out loud or write letters to you or does he use a ouija board? This must be a stupendous event when it happens and I would like to know about it and so would the brothers and sisters.
Or are you just bluffing and pulling the wool over the eyes of the idiots who listen to you?