The first historical mention of Israel is from the years around 1200 BCE. There is no Egyptian record of the Ebiru (Hebrew?) or Israelites captive in Egypt at any time. Had they been in Egypt en masse the Egyptians would most certainly have known about it and recorded it. The reverse is actually true; the Egyptians being situated next door so to speak and infinitely more powerful than Israel at any given time were in Canaan, the de facto rulers of the territory Israel occupied. Although absolutely central to the Jewish story justifying their claim to land in Palestine, captivity and exodus in Egypt is just another myth like much of the OT.
Half banana
JoinedPosts by Half banana
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34
Yesterday's WT slip up
by neat blue dog inwhen the israelites left egypt in 1513 b.c.e., they may have numbered more than three million.
spanning three or even four generations.
ðŸ¤.
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Ridiculous Picture!
by Iamallcool inhttps://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/watchtower-study-january-2019/do-not-be-anxious-i-am-your-god/.
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Half banana
You've all got it wrong, it's the Bethel police coming to empty the contributions box.
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"The sun will be darkened, & the moon will not give its light." How do events like this affect superstitious humans?
by fulltimestudent inthe gospel of matthew's homily on the signs connected with the imagined return of christ, features an element of the sign that seems to really scare superstitious people.. matthew 24:29 reads: "immediately after the distress of those days "'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;".
in the nineteenth century such an even occurred twice in the 19th century and apparently became part of charlie russell's conviction that the end of the world was nigh, charlie, of course, was a 'man of faith' accepting the bible as true and not willing to search for alternative explanation for such events.
if charlie r. had been the sort of person that continually asks why, his life and ours may have taken a different course.. i cannot quote where in his mass of writings he cites those 19th c events (its a long time since i've bothered to be interested in his writings), but mention them he did, and saw these events as proof of the imminent return of jesus christ.. so let's look at these two 19th c.natural occurrences, and compare them to another occurrence some 1400 years ago.. the 19th c events occurred in 1814-16 and again circa, 1883. the reason for the sun and moon being darkened was volcanic activity, easy for us to appreciate, but more difficult for religiously superstitious people.. the wikipedia encyclopedia notes the 1814-16 event: quote.
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Half banana
Vidqun, I'm sorry but I think you have left planet Earth behind. Try a bar inhabited by hairy bikers who love conspiracy theories.
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"The sun will be darkened, & the moon will not give its light." How do events like this affect superstitious humans?
by fulltimestudent inthe gospel of matthew's homily on the signs connected with the imagined return of christ, features an element of the sign that seems to really scare superstitious people.. matthew 24:29 reads: "immediately after the distress of those days "'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;".
in the nineteenth century such an even occurred twice in the 19th century and apparently became part of charlie russell's conviction that the end of the world was nigh, charlie, of course, was a 'man of faith' accepting the bible as true and not willing to search for alternative explanation for such events.
if charlie r. had been the sort of person that continually asks why, his life and ours may have taken a different course.. i cannot quote where in his mass of writings he cites those 19th c events (its a long time since i've bothered to be interested in his writings), but mention them he did, and saw these events as proof of the imminent return of jesus christ.. so let's look at these two 19th c.natural occurrences, and compare them to another occurrence some 1400 years ago.. the 19th c events occurred in 1814-16 and again circa, 1883. the reason for the sun and moon being darkened was volcanic activity, easy for us to appreciate, but more difficult for religiously superstitious people.. the wikipedia encyclopedia notes the 1814-16 event: quote.
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Half banana
" One should keep in mind that some Biblical prophecies could have a primary as well as a secondary fulfillment."
More importantly one should keep in mind that the Bible is useless for prophecy.
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Be Honest in All Things - New video exposes a problem with honesty at Bethel/Construction
by George One Time inon tv.jw.org kenneth cook jr. discusses how important it is to be honest when applying for special assignemts.
he mentions health and viewing pornography.
those who viewed pornography during the last year should not apply.
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Half banana
Telling others to be "honest in all things" is gross hypocrisy coming from the dishonest JW organisation.
What right have they to demand how people should behave when their own policies continue to cause actual serious psychological harm to individuals who are often too powerless or browbeaten to stand up for themselves?
Is it honest in all things to sever the greatest source of human strength for individuals; the love of family-- just because some choose to disagree with JW doctrines or act contrary to JW culture?
This organisation has nothing to show that it has achieved divine blessing--all of its prophetic promises have failed miserably. The JW organisation never humbly acknowledges its own shortcomings since to do so would expose that it is just a money making cult hiding behind respected Bible authority to get its own way.
The JW organisation, by putting its own interests first in all things, has become so resolutely blind to the human consequences of what it teaches that it has no authority to dictate anything at all to anyone else.
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"The sun will be darkened, & the moon will not give its light." How do events like this affect superstitious humans?
by fulltimestudent inthe gospel of matthew's homily on the signs connected with the imagined return of christ, features an element of the sign that seems to really scare superstitious people.. matthew 24:29 reads: "immediately after the distress of those days "'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;".
in the nineteenth century such an even occurred twice in the 19th century and apparently became part of charlie russell's conviction that the end of the world was nigh, charlie, of course, was a 'man of faith' accepting the bible as true and not willing to search for alternative explanation for such events.
if charlie r. had been the sort of person that continually asks why, his life and ours may have taken a different course.. i cannot quote where in his mass of writings he cites those 19th c events (its a long time since i've bothered to be interested in his writings), but mention them he did, and saw these events as proof of the imminent return of jesus christ.. so let's look at these two 19th c.natural occurrences, and compare them to another occurrence some 1400 years ago.. the 19th c events occurred in 1814-16 and again circa, 1883. the reason for the sun and moon being darkened was volcanic activity, easy for us to appreciate, but more difficult for religiously superstitious people.. the wikipedia encyclopedia notes the 1814-16 event: quote.
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Half banana
Before science explained things rationally for us, the world was buzzing with supernatural forces.
For the ancients, looking upward was to glimpse the divine heavens. For them it was as if the circular world was covered by an inverted glass bowl; the events in the sky, the weather, the passage and phasing of sun moon and stars were all played out at the level of the heavenly dome. They were so lofty and so wonderful--they must have meaning since everything had a 'spiritual' meaning. Life back then was as Thomas Hobbes said echoing Job: "short lived and brutish," there must be something better. The heavens are above the Earth, down here is the home where us poor mortals dwell and the heavens are the abode of the immortal gods-- then it would follow to look to the heavens for a sign!
You can after all predict the coming weather especially if you live outdoors, you become able to read the signs. By reading the position of the stars and the position of the sunrise and sunset by markers on the horizon, you can accurately say what time of year it is without a printed calendar-- and therefore know when to sow each of the different crops.
The heavenly canopy was not just predictive but also a source for universal folk myth. All children being taught these tales handed down through endless generations the things represented by the heavenly constellations. Being universally superstitious, these stories also were taken literally to predict divine revenge and cataclysmic change. The Bible perpetuated many of these sentiments by changing them from oral tradition to written text.
Today only superstitious people believe in prophecies.
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Foreign holidays now expicitly forbidden too
by George One Time inhttps://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/jw-celebrate-holidays/.
mostly we read about the regular holidays in the western world.
now the other ones are also named, because some witnesses could be in doubt .
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Half banana
Amelia, I did too but we have to remember to translate American English into British English i.e. the American for our 'holiday' would have been 'vacation'.
Quite right Xanthippe what the WT calls "a Bible trained conscience" is actually the rules of the GB, no freedom of thought is permitted. Dire cult!
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Be Honest in All Things - New video exposes a problem with honesty at Bethel/Construction
by George One Time inon tv.jw.org kenneth cook jr. discusses how important it is to be honest when applying for special assignemts.
he mentions health and viewing pornography.
those who viewed pornography during the last year should not apply.
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Half banana
Jehovah's Witnesses live and function on the edge of sanity. They inhabit a culture dedicated to fulfilling the dreams of the JW leadership.
The leaders of the sect, even though they are not very bright individually, have evolved a way to organise their flock to encourage a mentality and life course which is at a long remove from normal human behaviour.
To be a JW is to adopt a neurotic obsession with determining the boundaries of Watchtower doctrinal beliefs and be lumbered with a cognitive dissonance coming from the impulse to please the organisation and at the same time remaining guiltily aware of falling well short in performing those duties.
The consequence of guilt is loss of self esteem leading to a total dependence on the organisation. A win-win for the cult, hard cheese for the sucker who swallows the doctrines.
JWs might say this is a good thing to remain "pure and spotless" but critics will see there is a price to be paid for such a course especially as human nature does not do "perfection".
The Witness religion keeps its followers guilty and downtrodden. Most mammals masturbate! It's a prelude to copulation and perpetuation of the species, it's normal. However, the JW org doesn't like sex! The reason is that they like total control and they can't actually control their members' sex life although by frequent mention of sex at the meetings, (which is highly inappropriate for young children by the way) JWs are reminded of the impossible standards set before them.
The only positive that I can see is that the cult is moving so far away from common sense that humanity will not tolerate such oppressive, destructive, behaviour and plain ignorance much longer in a more enlightened and thoughtful world. Their language, mannerisms and propaganda on their TV presentations is truly nauseating --or am I a bit prejudiced?
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Be Honest in All Things - New video exposes a problem with honesty at Bethel/Construction
by George One Time inon tv.jw.org kenneth cook jr. discusses how important it is to be honest when applying for special assignemts.
he mentions health and viewing pornography.
those who viewed pornography during the last year should not apply.
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Half banana
@ zeb, since you are being technical; to be more literal, since people are not reading about prostitutes in Bethel they are looking at sex, therefore I think a better word would be 'pornoscopia'. But language doesn't always work like this.
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... the truth...
by zeb indoing a computer 'clean-out' came across this;.
"we need to examine, not only what we personally believe, but also what is taught by any religious organization with which we may be associated.
are its teachings in full harmony with god’s word, or are they based on the traditions of men?
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Half banana
" If we are lovers of the truth, there is nothing to fear from such an examination." (JW Eternal Life book)
Notice how JW spiel speaks of "lovers of the truth". It's a catch phrase to implant in the entrapped reader's mind that there is such a concept out there as "The Truth" and that they are its privileged lovers. This animal does not in fact exist except on the electronic page of the Watchtower and in the mind of JWs.
What is meant is a doctrinal myth which is the collective teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses as promoted by the leaders of the cult. By endless repetition over many years, it inculcates the idea that the JW org is the only holder of this specialised Truth concept-- and that those who believe this flimsy tale are flattered by being called the "lovers of The Truth". True and false, truth and falsehood exist but "The Truth" is propaganda.
As for the idea of permitting an examination of other beliefs based on evidence and reason-- well that leads directly to an interrogation by the elders after the meeting, followed dis-fellowshipping!
What blatant two-faced hypocrisy the JW org deals out.