Posts by Jonathan Drake

73

God's Spirit

by Hold Me-Thrill Me in

jw
friends

what is god's spirit?

.

i ask this of those who believe in god.

Jonathan Drake

Have there been mutations which have moved a species forward in evolution? If so, can it be proved?

Thats not really how evolution works. It's not that there was a mutation that moved anything forward. Evolution doesn't work like X-Men.

The way it actually happens is the world is constantly changing. The climate or environment changes or there is a disaster that strikes. Within a species there are constant mutations, and when these disasters strike or the climate or environment changes somehow, certain of the species around have mutated traits that enable them to survive these things better than the rest. The rest die out because they can't keep up.

The evidence for this is all around us. YOU are evidence.

its not that mutation pushes anyone ahead, rather its that it allows them to stay.

73

God's Spirit

by Hold Me-Thrill Me in

jw
friends

what is god's spirit?

.

i ask this of those who believe in god.

Jonathan Drake

My question is: Is it claimed that mutations in and of themselves play a beneficial part in evolution?

I know this is directed at cofty, but this question makes no damn sense. Mutations in and of themselves? I don't understand what that means.

read my post, it's a very simple concept. You're looking for specificicity that even if is provided you won't understand. But unlike religion you need not take it on faith. It's the beautiful thing about science, as Neil Tyson is known to say, it's true whether you believe it and understand or not. It's observable in nature, reliable predictions about our world can be made based on it and have been.

73

God's Spirit

by Hold Me-Thrill Me in

jw
friends

what is god's spirit?

.

i ask this of those who believe in god.

Jonathan Drake

@ cap lol prolly. Let's nip that in the bud now:

if Protestants came from Catholics why are there still Catholics?

73

God's Spirit

by Hold Me-Thrill Me in

jw
friends

what is god's spirit?

.

i ask this of those who believe in god.

Jonathan Drake

Evolution is not a difficult concept to understand.

look at dogs. There are many different kinds of dog all classified as Dog. Not all dogs are k-9s. All dogs came from wolves. Wolves are k-9. So over a long period of time through breeding all current kinds of dog came from wolves as their common ancestor, but not all are k-9 and those dogs cannot mate with k-9.

this is what happened with humans. Humans and monkeys are primates. They come come from a common ancestor like dogs all come from wolves.

This is the best way I can think of to explain evolution. It's a bottom up design of gradual change over billions of years through which only the good enough to survive will make it and pass on their genes. It's a very simple concept to understand, unfortunately people who want to deny it will never accept it no matter the evidence or logic.

30

June 2015 Watchtower equating Apostates with The Antichrist!

by nicolaou in

shit!

it finally happened.. years ago i speculated on this happening but can't find the posts.

anyway, this is a tactically aggressive move by wt.

Jonathan Drake

I'm not sure I see this including people like us. The article specifically says that an antichrist must claim to represent Jesus or deny that he actually lived.

i do neither of these things. I have no proof he didn't live and i never claim to speak on his behalf.

Maybe people who are still 'in' will see it differently, but I think this is just talking about other religions and people who have left to join them.

41

If you found out TTATT at 80 and spent your entire life at Bethel, what would you do?

by John Aquila in

would you do a ray franz deal and write a book or keep quiet and live out the rest of your life in bethel?.

would you keep reading the watchtower magazine?.

Jonathan Drake

In all honesty, recognizing how emotionally troubling it was after only 26 years id probably kill myself. I'm just being honest. The thoughts were there for years during the time I doubted and one night I probably would have died if not for my best friend. So after 80 years? I'm confident I'd kill myself.

This is why while I will aggressively work to end this religion going forward I will not try to bring people out all the time. Some people just wouldn't benefit from that at all, they may not be able to handle it.

10

Type and Anti-Type, the killing of the Faithful and Discreet Slave. Whats thier angle and how do they spin out of this one?

by Crazyguy in

it would seam that the changing of the type anti-type teaching kills their claim as the faithful and discreet slave class as it is only a parable according to peter at luke 12:41. obviously i don't think they will ever come out and actually say that the f&ds is just a parable, so when one asks what will the answer be, to spin out of this obvious problem?.

also what do you think is the reason for the change in this teaching?

is it more to do with getting rid of doctrine that can be criticized or could it be that they are trying to make it as though they are really not in control of the congregations so as to say we aren't responsible when the prosecution comes knocking over future pedophile case?

Jonathan Drake

I dont know know where people are getting this idea from. Peter is very clearly talking about the foregoing parable Jesus had just concluded about readiness. Jesus answers peters question about the parable by asking him a question that only he and the disciples knew the answer to, "who really is the faithful and wise steward?"

peter and the other disciples witnessed Jesus give Peter the Keys of the Kingdom in Matt 16:19 thus appointing him as the house servant (faithful slave). The steward was a cultural custom of the Jews going back over a thousand years. The appointment of this steward was always demonstrated by the master giving him his keys (compare Isa 22:20-22, where the exact same verbiage is used in the exact same event).

The Watchtower is completely ignorant of this cultural custom, or if they aren't they choose to ignore it because recognizing it eliminates their claim to the title.

but my purpose in elaborating like this is to show that the faithful steward is absolutely NOT a parable. It was a real custom back then, dating back ages.

39

Are Elders experts on the Bible? Are they spirtually qualified men?

by John Aquila in

how many times have elders read their bible in its entirety?

these are the leaders that give counsel to married couples, to teenagers, to single girls and single boys on everything from marriage, education, sex, association, dress, and recreation..

how well do they know their bible?

Jonathan Drake

No. This is a hilarious question.

I once wrote an email to an elder with citation down to the page to a reference showing who the faithful slave actually was with both scriptural and cultural evidence and they said I was wrong.

2