*crickets*
NeonMadman
JoinedPosts by NeonMadman
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8
Why Does The RSS feed for this site No Longer Work?
by NeonMadman ini had been following active posts here for a while through the rss feed, first through google reader, then through feedly after google reader shut down.
but in the last few weeks, the feed seems to have stopped working.
anybody know why, and how i can get it back?.
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Why Does The RSS feed for this site No Longer Work?
by NeonMadman ini had been following active posts here for a while through the rss feed, first through google reader, then through feedly after google reader shut down.
but in the last few weeks, the feed seems to have stopped working.
anybody know why, and how i can get it back?.
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NeonMadman
I had been following active posts here for a while through the RSS feed, first through Google Reader, then through Feedly after Google Reader shut down. But in the last few weeks, the feed seems to have stopped working. Anybody know why, and how I can get it back?
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NeonMadman
It's from the "Faith in Action" DVD, so yes.
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106
NEW BIBLE
by The Searcher inthe following is part of an email from a retired district overseer in the states.
(source private).
"the new bible will be released at the agm and i understand only two versions will be printed from now on.
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NeonMadman
By George I think you got it!
Oct 13 WT front cover, grey cover & speckled edges.
Good catch.
That looks like a standard NWT 1984 reference edition (p. 712), but one that was bound by one of the commercial services that binds Bibles for JWs. The corner of the page that you can see looks exactly like the page in the existing Reference Bible.
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Does anyone have a good scan of the 1980 BOE letter on apostasy?
by DATA-DOG ini need a decent scan of this letter.
the one that states you can be df'd for merely believing something different from current wt dogma, even if it is a private belief.
dd.
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NeonMadman
I don't think the letter you are referring to was a BoE letter. I think it was addressed to circuit overseers and above. The only reproduction of it that I have seen was in Ray Franz' Crisis of Conscience.
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Upcoming KM!! Why we are not False Prophets!
by DATA-DOG inthis subject is coming up this month in the tms.
i just thought i would start a post for newbies or lurkers.
if you have any scans of the awake inside cover that would be awesome.
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NeonMadman
I'm scheduled to speak on this very topic at the Witnesses Now for Jesus convention in PA this October. Here's a little advance info from my notes in response to the Reasoning book quotations:
Jehovah's Witnesses do not claim to be inspired prophets.
Have you ever heard of an un-inspired prophet? In fact, in the Bible, it is not the prophet that is said to be “inspired,” it is the text of Scripture. However, if God is truly giving you a message by whatever means He chooses, then that is inspiration. To claim that you are speaking God’s words is to claim to be inspired – even if you don’t actually use the word “inspiration.” Remember Deuteronomy 18:20-22? The Law didn’t say that the prophet had to claim to be inspired, just that he spoke in the name of YHWH. The process by which God gives the message through His prophet is inspiration.
Also, the Watchtower uses all sorts of terms that mean the same thing, so it’s a distinction without a difference. They call themselves “Jehovah’s channel of communication.” They claim to be divinely guided and “spirit directed.” They say they are “God’s spokesmen” and that he has put his words into their mouths. With all these claims, do they really need to use the word, “inspired?”
They have made mistakes. Like the apostles of Jesus Christ, they have at times had some wrong expectations.-Luke 19:11; Acts 1:6.
One Watchtower article even claimed that they could not be false prophets because “false prophets do not admit their mistakes.” Now, that’s just absurd. False prophets are the only kind of prophets who have mistakes to admit. True prophets get their messages directly from God. If your message is from God, it will never be mistaken! The big mistake is to claim to speak for God when He is not giving you the message.
It’s true that the apostles appeared to have expected Christ’s return within their lifetimes. But they never set a date for it, and they never attached God’s name to any predicted event, calling it “the Creator’s promise” or “God’s dates, not ours.” What makes a false prophecy is, not a mistaken expectation, but the claim that the prophecy originates with God. Now, there is a specific instance in the Bible that some Witnesses will use to try to demonstrate that the apostles taught false teachings in the name of Jesus, and thus to argue that merely teaching falsely in God’s name doesn’t necessarily make one a false prophet. Their conclusion, of course, is that if it was OK for the apostles to teach falsely in Jesus’ name, then it’s also OK for their organization to do so. I’m referring to the account at John 21:20-23. Here’s what it says:
Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, "Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?" When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?" Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!" So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?"
In other words, Jesus was telling Peter that it was none of his business what would happen to John, but that Peter needed to keep his eyes on Jesus. I have had a JW try to tell me that the apostles went around teaching, on Jesus’ authority, that John would not die before the return of Christ. But the text doesn’t say that, does it? All it says is that the saying spread among the brothers, not that it was taught by the apostles. All that had to happen was that Jesus’ actual words were somehow relayed among the brothers, and then the misunderstanding of those words became a rumor that took on a life of its own. That’s far different than saying that the apostles themselves taught such a thing, claiming Jesus’ authority to do so. So there is no parallel between this event and the false prophecies of the JW organization.
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WT November 15, 2013 on jw.org
by Gayle inhow can we maintain.
a waiting attitude?
article,,just to wait and wait and wait.
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NeonMadman
I thought this part of the magazine was pretty scary (page 20, par. 17):
Elders who are reading this article can draw some useful conclusions from the account we have just considered: (1) The most practical step that we can take to prepare for the coming attack of “the Assyrian” is that of strengthening our faith in God and helping our brothers to do the same. (2) When “the Assyrian” attacks, the elders must be absolutely convinced that Jehovah will deliver us. (3) At that time, the lifesaving direction that we receive from Jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint. All of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not. (4) Now is the time for any who may be putting their trust in secular education, material things, or human institutions to adjust their thinking. The elders must stand ready to help any who may now be wavering in their faith.
Kool-aid, anyone?
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Watchtower magazines 1950 and forward
by ++Link++ ini am new to this site and found it by searching for old wt magazines.
i've noticed that i'm easily able to find wt magazine downloads from 1881-1949, but it seems that anything from 1950 and on (except for the really new stuff) is incredibly hard to find.
am i mistaken in this?
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NeonMadman
The Watchtowers from 1950 forward and Awakes from 1970 forward are found on the official WT Library CD-ROM. If you Google and ask around you can probably find a site to download it from.
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100% pure unadulterated speculation - what changes would a "New New World Tranlsation" contain?
by sir82 inon this thread:.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/257481/1/i-cant-find-any-bibles-seems-to-be-a-shortage.
some (well, me, mostly) are speculating that the wts is planning to distribute a "new new world translation" some time soon.. if that is true, what changes do you think they would include?.
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NeonMadman
As speculated in the other thread, I could see them making a less literal,
“thought for thought”, “easy to read” version, in the guise of encouraging Bible reading. Sort of like the NIV or even the Living Bible. They would not need to know any other language but English to make this version…they could use the present NWT as their source document, like they do for non-English versions of the NWT. All the pesky verses that cause questions in the rank and file could be paraphrased away.The same thought had occurred to me, though I can also see where that might come back and bite them on the butt. They have advertised the NWT as being easier to read than the King James because it uses modern language. But that's really not the case. It doesn't use all the "thees" and "thous," it's true, but the language is very stilted and many of the terms used are at least somewhat archaic. And the wording in many verses sounds downright weird, very Fred Franz-like. To actually read the NWT is quite difficult, probably even harder than the KJV. As a result, JWs use the Bible for proof-texting, not reading of long sections or whole books. If they came out with an easy-to-read Bible version, the JWs might actually start reading the Bible rather than the Watchtower publications, and then they might well discover how bogus the WTS' doctrines are. How many JWs, for example, have read the entire book of Romans rather than just turning to proof texts? And of those who did, how many can say they understood it? If someone really understood Paul's message in Romans, I don't see how they could remain a JW.
