Posts by Ucantnome

32

Books about early Christianity

by EdenOne in

i've just finished reading two (imo) great books:.

"a history of christianity - the first three thousand years", by diarmaid macculloch.

"misquoting jesus", by bart ehrman.

Ucantnome

I recently read The Spirit of Early Christian Thought, Robert Louis Wilken.

44

Find What Your Social Status Was in the Congregation

by Mary in

jw
friends

ever notice how the "happiest people on earth" are also the most class-oriented?

the social structure in the congregation is more complex than the blueprints of a nuclear warhead, but just so that you "remember your place", see if you can find where your niche was/is:.

1. at the top of the social order of things within the congregation is of course, the presiding overseer and his family.

A QUESTION FOR JW'S who say, "The brothers were overly zealous" about 1975

by Terry in

"what was the actual significance of that year, then?".

if jw's were overly zealous, what was the exact amount of zeal encouraged by the wts for a non-event which took up.

over 7 years of every jw's time?.

Ucantnome

"The brothers were overly zealous" about 1975

I don't think that they were overly zealous about 1975.

The great tribulation an 'unparalled tribulation' believed to be coming in any year i think would make one zealous to inform people and do all one can to survive it.

I think also that believing this

'Those who do not act like the "sheep" toward the spiritual brothers of the now reigning King Jesus Christ will be cut off in the oncoming "great tribulation" for they are not in favor of the "seed " of God's heavenly "woman" but are in favor of the "seed" of the "original serpent" Satan the Devil.' (God's 'Eternal Purpose Now Triumphing For Man's Good 1974 Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. page 184)

would be inclined to follow and act on what was being taught.

"The first half or 'evening' period of God's seventh creative 'day' was now closing, 3,500 years from the creation of Adam and Eve. The morning of this creative 'day' was due to begin at 526 B.C.E." (God's Eternal Purpose Now Triumphing for Man's Good page 131)

I would understand this to mean that the 7th creative day is 7000 years in length and started in 4026 and six thousand years of the 7th day was completed in 1975 which would only leave 1000 year remaining.

This last quote from the book on page 186 seem to show to me that the last 1000 years, Christ reign, would occur after Har-Magedon and we were studying this in 1974 at the meeting according to my wife's notes in the book.

"By removing the Serpent and his demons from the neighborhood of the earth and hurling them into the abyss and sealing them up there, bound as with chains for the next thousand years. Revelation 20:1-3 pictures this, not as a part of the war at Har-magedon, but as a follow up of that war."

So as a sheep I would have thought it my duty to be zealous regarding telling people this information and adjusting my life in accord with it and I did.

43

Would you convert to a religion for love?

by new hope and happiness in

jw
friends

i am sure people convery to a religion to find peace and spiritual awakening.

i also bet many convert simply for love.

would you to assist " true love" if it required converting to a particular faith?.

Ucantnome

I find it difficult to answer.

I felt secure in my belief as a witness and finished with a girlfriend because I was a witness and now I'm not a witness I think there are similarities between all the Abrahamic religions which I think make up 54% of the worlds population.

I have a friend and she is an atheist and married a christian.

probably not today.

49

MY CONCLUSION IS: 'GOD' DOESN'T EXIST

by NAVYTOWN in

jw
friends

i have come to the conclusion that there is no god.

period!!!

if there was a loving, righteous, all-knowing, all powerful god up there somewhere, where is he and what good is he???

Ucantnome

my conclusion was he does exist. strange isn't it.

46

Life is short and I'm gonna love it thread!

by poopsiecakes in

jw
friends

so what are you doing to enjoy yourself?

doesn't have to be for anyone around you, or have anything to do with jw world.

just something that you do for you and only you and that fills your soul (whatever that means).

Ucantnome

What makes you happy?

some single malt whiskeys, colour, shapes, my kids, women, music, the seasons. occasionally i lose myself in colouring in, but it takes a while

i used to run miles and i thought there was some sort of natural high that i would get some sort of barrier that i would break through and it be easier but it never happened. it did with art.

20

What do Mark, Luke, and Paul all have in common?

by Coded Logic in

according to scripture, none of them ever met jesus.

i was a jw for 20 years and i never knew this!

i thought they were all apostles!

Ucantnome

Someone out there please tell me I wasn't the only biblically-challenged-know-it-all in the orginization.

i wasn't a know it all. i didn't know much at all it was so boring. i know more now since i left and that's not a lot but it's less boring now.

46

Life is short and I'm gonna love it thread!

by poopsiecakes in

jw
friends

so what are you doing to enjoy yourself?

doesn't have to be for anyone around you, or have anything to do with jw world.

just something that you do for you and only you and that fills your soul (whatever that means).

Ucantnome

I like drinking beer watching cartoons in my underwear I'm also a bit of a writer

38

The Present Truth is the Truth and the Old Truth is the Truth, even if they contradict.

by garyneal in

that is the conclusion you must accept if you are a jehovah's witness as my wife tries to explain to me that even if what they are teaching today contradicts what they were previously teaching, they had the truth then and they have the truth now.

the difference is, they (the witnesses and the governing body) simply believed that what they were teaching at the time was the truth but when they discovered new information they adjusted their thinking.

so since they formerly believed it to be the truth, they were in the truth.. an example she gave involved people who once believed the earth was flat.

Ucantnome

Well, that reasoning can apply to anyone who claims to be a part of the body of Christ.

I was just meaning i think being in the 'truth' didn't relate to whether one believes those who died at Sodom and Gomorrah will be resurrected on not or whether one has an organ transplant or not or even to a degree to dates that have been mentioned for armageddon but it relates to the 'good news' the 'gospel' evangelion.

I think it came to mean to me whether one was a Jehovah's Witness or one wasn't but it still related to the witness one was giving whether it was door to door or in one's personal life and the way they were conducting it.

I understand there is a connection to the Roman emperors and their messages. They were considered saving messages, world changing for the better and the power of the 'gospel' is and it comes from God.

In my view one would only be in the 'truth' if the gospel is the same as preached by Paul and the apostles. If that is the same then i think one is part of the body of Christ.

In Ray Franz book In Search Of Christian Freedom on page 539 under the subheading 'The foundation and Essence of the Good News' he writes,

'What did the apostles and other Christian writers emphasize in describing that Messianic rulership and its effects? They consistently pointed to Christ's ransom sacrifice, his victory over kings sin and death on behalf of all mankind, the authority the Father has given to his resurrected Son to liberate from the wages of sin and death all those who put faith in him. That was-and is- the good news the Bible itself brings us. The Biblical good new does not draw attention to, nor is it tied up with, some date, whether 1914 or any other date, nor does it attract by offers of alluring physical and material benefits "just around the corner." It is tied up with and event, the event in which God's Son fulfilled his primary mission as the Messiah and gave his life on our behalf, thereafter being resurrected to God's right hand and serving as our advocate there. Only for this reason could Paul say to the Corinthians, "I decided not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him impaled."'

38

The Present Truth is the Truth and the Old Truth is the Truth, even if they contradict.

by garyneal in

that is the conclusion you must accept if you are a jehovah's witness as my wife tries to explain to me that even if what they are teaching today contradicts what they were previously teaching, they had the truth then and they have the truth now.

the difference is, they (the witnesses and the governing body) simply believed that what they were teaching at the time was the truth but when they discovered new information they adjusted their thinking.

so since they formerly believed it to be the truth, they were in the truth.. an example she gave involved people who once believed the earth was flat.

Ucantnome

'the entire body of Christian teachings, which became part of the written Word of God is "the truth" or "the truth of the good news" Adherence to this truth, walking in it, is essential if an individual is to gain salvation.'

Insight on the scriptures (WT 1988) page 1132

Just thought i would add this to my post