Half banana

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Posts by Half banana

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  24

  The Holy Spirit

  by Acer21 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  if the holy spirit is an "active force", how can it be grieved (ephesians 4:30)?.

  in other words, according to the jw's, one can make jehovah's "force" sorrowful?

  this is an example of how the jw leaders have perverted the gospel in translation, and have put the jw's in a position in which they must perform intellectual gymnastics in order to maintain their false position.

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  Half banana

  Only kidding Cofty like I imagine RubaDub is
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  24

  The Holy Spirit

  by Acer21 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  if the holy spirit is an "active force", how can it be grieved (ephesians 4:30)?.

  in other words, according to the jw's, one can make jehovah's "force" sorrowful?

  this is an example of how the jw leaders have perverted the gospel in translation, and have put the jw's in a position in which they must perform intellectual gymnastics in order to maintain their false position.

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  Half banana

  @ Rub a Dub. Speaking as another active JW, you will have to get your hair cut brother or they'll take away your public talk privileges.....

  Hb
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  24

  The Holy Spirit

  by Acer21 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  if the holy spirit is an "active force", how can it be grieved (ephesians 4:30)?.

  in other words, according to the jw's, one can make jehovah's "force" sorrowful?

  this is an example of how the jw leaders have perverted the gospel in translation, and have put the jw's in a position in which they must perform intellectual gymnastics in order to maintain their false position.

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  Half banana

  The Koine Greek work for spirit pnevma (as already mentioned, grammatically neuter) meant wind and air, genderising it made it possible to indicate a personification -- but that doesn't make it factual!

  As someone who had been deceived by the lure of the JW religion and the 'holiness' of the Bible, I now consider "Holy Spirit" to be a load of wind and hot air, undefined and uncontained -- unless you put it in your pneumatic tyres.

  What a propaganda coup it was back in the day to get the pathetically submissive true believers to conceptualise an invisible helper to an already invisible force.

  Just wear a funny hat and call a thing "holy" and oh my, how you can fool people! Yes this idea of holy spirit deserves ridicule.
  
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  9

  Crocodile tears

  by road to nowhere in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  assembly experiences.

  brother so and so gets sick goes to hospital, refuses blood, dies; leaving widow and orphans.

  then the experience continues--usual meals and such, then the bastards actually took the family door to door within a few days.

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  Half banana

  Did pioneering truly make "all problems insignificant?"
  

  The poor woman obviously had serious problems which her faith, pioneering, and the 'wisdom' of the JW organisation could not cure. Her actions demonstrated that instead of answering her problems, the likes of which we all have in life, they were simply left unresolved to fester inside until she had suffered enough.

  It surely is much better to honestly recognise the fact if we have serious concerns than be bullied into conformity by others.

  Instead of helping us to grow emotionally and psychologically, being a JW, especially for a woman, adds a new set of burdens in submitting to the authority of husband and the elders. On top of that there is no escaping the situation or disagreeing without being pilloried.

  There is a dreadful tendency amongst JWs to wear the mask of Kingdom happiness to smother pressing internal conflicts. Was there ever any gain in becoming a pawn in a religious cult?
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  9

  Governing Body

  by Acer21 in

  1. social
  2. humour

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  Half banana

  There is no proof for anything which Jehovah's Witnesses teach.

  Being "anointed" is just as much a fiction as being one of the "other sheep".
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  18

  Interesting piece about Stephen Lett and family: property developers

  by Diogenesister in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  another very well researched programme by the blue envelope exploring stephen lett's bio and his family interest in property.

  interestingly his parents were pioneering until the new service year 1975 , when they immediately changed tack and began investing in properties along the gulf coast.

  once again, highly recommended veiwing.. https://youtu.be/9qh0jbvsdrc.

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  Half banana

  Yep, it's interesting Diog. I think the lesson is to emulate the Lett parents who on realising that the Watchtower never delivers its promises, do something practical and enjoyable instead.
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  16

  What is the benefit of God's Kingdom?

  by Half banana in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  what is the benefit of god's kingdom?.

  the watchtower said when it started out in 1879 that god's kingdom had already arrived in heaven in 1874 and that its work would be complete by 1914. .

  with heroic slogans of "destroying the kings of the earth" and "all enemies of christ the king" etc by 1914, "god fearing" humankind was to have been restored to prelapsarian innocence and the earth to a global edenic paradise.

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  Half banana

  I'm not Bk9 and I don't hear the mystical wind that you might! But interesting thoughts Bobcat.

  I noted Wm Barclays Classical text references of the Greek parousia defining the de facto ruling 'presence' of the emperor (which translates into Latin as adventus or advent). The Christ sects would have used this same Koine Greek word with the same meanings. The doctrinal implication was that Christ began ruling after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE.

  One has to ask then where is the evidence and what the significance? Are we not still hobbled by the invisibility trick? The Christ was not seen ruling.....

  The messianic hopes of the Jewish Christians were not rewarded and neither was there any glorification, deliverance or kingly rule evident in the early churches.

  It appears to me to be rhetoric playing on the susceptibility of the downtrodden to Deus ex machina salvation promises. (that is: -- divine interventions at the last minute to resolve un-resolvable problems)
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  3

  Child Baptism - March 2020 monthly program

  by neat blue dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the march 2020 monthly program of jw broadcasting mentions child baptism a couple of times.. the first was in an interview with an 80-something jw who said that after he was baptized he prayed 'you can bring the end any time now jehovah', admitting that his likely reason was that he thought the end was imminent and he would die otherwise.

  but then he goes on to recommend child baptism, saying it should be "for as young as they can possibly make it".. then regarding some large recent conventions, they mention that at one where almost a thousand were baptized, are large portion (no exact number given) were children..

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  Half banana

  The 80 year old interviewed is transparently in the religion for personal gain, worse still he equated baptism with salvation. To connect this with his offhand comment on the earlier the age for baptism, the better it is, is truly pathetic.

  However, scraping of the barrel quotes like this fulfil the aim of the GB to have as many baptised as possible. Baptism numbers appear to validate the GB.

  Note also that this quote was included to sow the seed-idea that "baptism equals salvation". They will deny this is true but it is nevertheless implied.

  A very useful tool in cult propaganda.

  If there ever was, there is no backbone left in the JW cult.
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  9

  Quotes from 3/8/2020 WT study

  by neat blue dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  here's just a few random observations from tomorrow's wt study:.

  jesus’ command to make disciples was not limited to christians living in the first century.

  jesus concluded his instructions to his followers with the words: “i am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.” (matt.

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  Half banana

  Damnation! I missed out on guiding my Bible studies towards the wonderful privilege of contributing financially to the cult.

  I'm sure they would have been more than thrilled not only wasting their time listening to my indoctrination sessions but they could have lost their hard earned cash as well! It would have been the icing on the cake.

  And let's not forget, the JW org. is so hard up what with astronomical lawyers bills and court fines to pay -- and it is such a deserving charity after all.

  How heartless and unthinking was I, to have missed out on this fine theocratic opportunity.
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  24

  Ask current Jehovah's Witnesses if they KNOW what happened in 1954 (SHOCKING)

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  (referred to below: watchtower bible and tract society presidents: russell, rutherford, knorr, franz )did you know that from 1879 until 1954 ... ... the writings of c.t.russell, j.f.rutherford, nathan knorr, and the watchtower's own charter... ... agreed ... that jesus christ was to be worshiped?this fact has been cleverly and dramatically hidden by manipulation of older quotations.

  ______________________________________________________________________pastor charles taze russell answers the question for us.

  see below zion’s watch tower 1898 jul 15 p.216“question: the fact that our lord received worship is claimed by some to be an evidence that while on earth he was god the father disguised in a body of flesh and not really a man.

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  Half banana

  Good point Terry but funny how JWs aren't that interested in anything which might undermine their faith?

  It is interesting to reflect that it was not as if Russell, Rutherford and Knorr (who happened to be born in a town called Bethlehem) had the exclusive rights to "true religion" before 1954. But since the "Jehovah" brand was selling like hot cakes after the War: forget the second raters like Jesus.

  Because of its suppressed pagan origins, Christianity suffers from an intractable ambiguity in the relationship between the Father and the Son.

  The tedious arguments fill tomes of theological gobbledegook going back to the seminal convocations of the fourth and fifth centuries. Fostered earlier by Tertullian (d.prob.220 CE), who incidentally couldn't make up his own mind on the ranking of Father and Son, the Church demanded a mystical resolution in formulating the doctrine of the Trinity. This was fully accepted among the Catholic faithful by the end of fourth century.

  You need a torniquet on your brain to believe that an invisible god and his invisible son have a third co-equal, co-eternal invisible partner called Holy Spirit.

  By this time in history (fourth cent.) because of the absence of concrete facts at the central focus of the religion they condemned logic and demanded that the way forward for followers of Christ was by putting faith in the wisdom of the Catholic governing body called the Magisterium. After all its head was the Pontiff or Pontifex Maximus, the 'great bridge maker' who could connect between the earthly and the spirit realm.

  Faith was to be valued above mere human reason.This obedience came with extravagant, exhibitionist and often fatal displays. What was desired was to be with Christ -- and therefore God. It was sought by death in an arena with heavenward eyes and a smug smile on ones face whilst being eaten by a lion. Great propaganda for the Church but was it worth it for the individual?

  Can anyone tell me what on earth is the point of worshipping anything?