Posts by bats in the belfry

special talk given after watchtower study at brooklyn bethel december 5, 2011. monday night - monday night we had a special lecture to attend after study of the watchtower entitled "be successful in coping with change".

bats in the belfry

Gayle > Yeah, and those extra 533 ordained ministers cost them $18M more, or $33,771 each, per year ($2,814 /month)

13

How long will it be......

by watersprout in

until the gb turn round and say they are the messaih!!!!!!.

i know they have put themselves in christ's place, but do you think they will actually ever say that they are christ himself?.

peace.

bats in the belfry

AnnOMaly >

Watchtower May 15, 1936, The Sacpegoat, pp 44/45

20

How Did I Ever Trust Something Called the 'Watchtower Society'?

by breakfast of champions in

i mean, the 'watchtower society'?

just the name connotes some weird, masonic, secretive organization!.

how did we ever fall for this!.

bats in the belfry

"He has made available an abundance of timely spiritual food through the faithful and discreet slave class."
w11 3/15 p. 14 par. 10 / Trust in Jehovah as the End Draws Near

Lately, there is so much flux in their "spiritual food" - how can it ever be considered "solid food"? (Hebrews 5:12)

20

What does "everlasting life" mean?

by N.drew in

john 3:16. i'll just say that the way i understand it is i am existing in it, it is not existing in me.. 166 (ai?nios) does not focus on the future per se, but rather on the quality of the age (165 /ai?n) it relates to.

thus believers live in "eternal (166 /ai?nios) life" right now, experiencing this quality of god's life now as a present possession.

(note the gk present tense of having eternal life in jn 3:36, 5:24, 6:47; cf.

bats in the belfry

To JWS it means that God can kill you anytime he sees fit.

Questions from Readers

What would happen to the one who chose to rebel after the final test when there is no death or Hades? At that time, Adamic death is no more. And Hades, the common grave of mankind with the hope of resurrection, is no more. Still, Jehovah can annihilate any rebel in the lake of fire, denying him any hope of a resurrection. That death would be like the death that Adam and Eve experienced, not the death that humans inherited from Adam.

However, we have no reason to expect any such outcome. Those who pass the final test will differ from Adam in one crucial sense. They will have been fully tested. We can be confident of the thoroughness of the final test because Jehovah knows how to examine people inside and out. We can rest assured that the final test will eliminate any who would misuse their freedom of choice. Thus, although it is possible for those who pass the final test to rebel against God and hence be destroyed, it is very unlikely that such a thing will occur.

w06 8/15 p. 31

Gawd ... how loathsome!

... and what does it even mean that "those who pass the final test will differ from Adam in one crucial sense. They will have been fully tested." Wasn't Adam fully tested, as well? - I just don't get it.

29

Superiority of Divine Education

by 2tone in

jw
friends

i have to give this talk in a few weeks.

any ideas.

im the most educated person in the hall.

bats in the belfry

wha happened? > For Pioneers-to-be all the jobs in the list are available - just go, get 'em.

Excerpts from the Shining as Illuminator's in the World Textbook (1977)

10

March 15, 2012 - Nuclear warheads mentioned first time in since'94 in WT

by bats in the belfry in

their fear mongering antics are out of whack: the momentous times have nothing but gotten better, not worse.

good thing there is proof.. .

we live in momentous times:.

bats in the belfry

jay88 > Freddies words on the subject of nuclear holocaust more than 50 years ago are quite illuminating.

It is therefore not surprising to find this world’s leaders engaged in an all-out and feverish armaments race as if they could withstand even the Almighty God when it comes to a showdown at Armageddon. Speed enthusiasts of this fast-moving, supersonic-jet age seem to think they can outstrip Jehovah, outmaneuver, outfly and outrun his scheduled timetable for the accomplishment of his divine purposes. Alas! How foolish their wisdom! How shallow their good sense! How utterly futile their stockpile of material supplies and lethal weapons! Man’s mightiest explosions equal only a small fraction of the power exerted by an average earthquake. It is an admitted fact that the greatest “A” and “H” bombs yet devised cannot even affect the weather. How much less the possibility that such adventures in nuclear fission can rock the earth on its axis! Why, even the noise of these giant “firecrackers” is heard but a comparatively few miles away. How idiotic, then, to think such explosions disturb the immeasurable expanse of the heavens above when they are never heard outside our immediate atmosphere! Obviously the foaming and agitation caused by the social strife, racial riots, labor strikes and political revolutions that continually plague mankind are even less significant in the eyes of the Sovereign Ruler of the universe. Of a truth, none of man’s novel experiments, none of his passing fancies and none of this century’s social upheavals disturb the serenity and eternity of the great Jehovah God. Gnats in the air may be annoying to be around, but they are most insignificant to the proper, divinely ordained rotation of the earth. A few buzzing grasshoppers a thousand miles away never disturb your peace or cause you to take them into account in your daily affairs. How much less do you suppose the crowing and croaking of today’s boasting, bragging propagandists upset the purposes of the Almighty, who resides far above the confines of this mundane sphere? Remember, in his estimation the nations and all of earth’s inhabitants “are as grasshoppers.”—Isa. 40:22.

w54 8/1 pp. 473-474 par. 6

10

March 15, 2012 - Nuclear warheads mentioned first time in since'94 in WT

by bats in the belfry in

their fear mongering antics are out of whack: the momentous times have nothing but gotten better, not worse.

good thing there is proof.. .

we live in momentous times:.

bats in the belfry

Their fear mongering antics are out of whack: The momentous times have nothing but gotten better, not worse. Good thing there is proof.

The Christian ministry has always been urgent, but now it is more critical than ever. Since 1914, the composite sign described in God’s Word has become clear. (Matt. 24:3-51) Mankind’s survival is threatened as never before. Despite recent agreements, the superpowers still have some 2,000 nuclear warheads ready to launch. ...

w12 03/15 p. 18 par. 14 / Maintain your Sense of Urgency

but in 1980:

...for Britain’s New Scientist reports: “There are about 60,000 nuclear warheads in today’s arsenals, with an explosive power equivalent to more than 16,000 million tons of TNT (equal to 1,250,000 Hiroshima bombs).”

w80 10/15 p. 16 par. 18 / Are We Nearing Armageddon?

and in 1984:

In mid-1982, SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) reported that the “south” was capable of delivering 9,540 nuclear warheads having a total explosive power of 3,448 megatons, compared with 8,802 warheads of the “north” with a force of 4,535 megatons.

w84 4/1 pp. 18 par. 13 / Heed God’s Prophetic Word for Our Day

26

Is the Watchtower so assured of its members' loyalty it can do and say as it pleases?

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

i don't know how any of you feel about this, but is it possible the watchtower society is so self-assured of its members' loyalty that it no longer cares what it says or does anymore?.

one example would be the constant admonition to practically worship the faithful and discreet slave.. another is changing the end of the calling of the anointed from 1935 to no fixed date, allowing the number of anointed to be at its highest for over 40 years.. what about the overlapping generations?

most non-jws, if pointed out the inconsistencies, would see the folly of this latest understanding, yet the rank and file swallow it, hook, line and sinker.. such changes are almost blatant, in your face, yet where is the anger, the rage, at yet another move of the goal posts?.

bats in the belfry

truthseeker > Most non-JWs, if pointed out the inconsistencies, would see the folly of this latest understanding, yet the rank and file swallow it, hook, line and sinker.

truthseeker, ...therein lies the big problem: With most JWS you will have to shove their faces right to the points in question. Many of them will just flip through the pages of a new magazine, glance for a while at the illustrations, pictures, or charts, and then fold up the magazine for good.

The next step will be when they pull the magazine out of the bag, either in the D2D ministry or at the KH for the study routine. - Not much reading and thinking required.