The referenced Wikipedia article from a previous post in this thread, the referenced Wikipedia article at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Name_Movement
contains quite a number of highly debatable and unverified statements.
dropoffyourkeylee
JoinedPosts by dropoffyourkeylee
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27
So where oh where did Judge Rutherford come up with JW theology?
by Terry inbits of unreported history that may be of casual interest… as to doctrinal origins.
sykes was one-of-a-kind in the pentecostal movement, but he was considered quite a maverick who went his own way with heretical teachings repugnant to the pentecostal faith.. joshua sykes’ congregation was integrated, unlike pastor russell’s public speeches/sermons where blacks and whites both could attend, but only in separate sections--sykes's members were sitting side by side in the pentecostal church.
this was considered dangerous and inflammatory at the time.. pentecostal preacher joshua sykes practiced racial and gender "integration" as early as 1908 -- having both african-american and female assistant preachers, staffers, and members.
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dropoffyourkeylee
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15
2022 Service Report is Out
by Bartolomeo inwarning: this post doesn't belong to me, i took it from reddit and posted it here.
news.
+0.4% growth in publishers globally.
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dropoffyourkeylee
When was the last time there was negative growth in the US? Last time I can remember was in the late '70s.
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Did the ransom sacrifice even work?
by Sharpie inshower thought entered my mind the other day... jesus christ.
as per doctrine.
is still alive in heaven right now correct?
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dropoffyourkeylee
The ransom never did make sense to me. Later in life, after JW indoctrination, I came to believe that the ransom reasoning was concocted by Paul as a way to convince the people of the time that sacrifices were not necessary to worship. The non-Jews, gentiles, who he was preaching to were accustomed to going to a temple somewhere, presenting some sacrifice, and this was their worship. He was trying to convince them to become Christians and they didn't have to sacrifice anything anymore. Maybe that is over simplifying, but that is what I get out of it
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Church buys GEICO Woodbury property for $27M
by Rattigan350 inhttps://libn.com/2023/01/09/church-buys-geico-woodbury-property-for-27m/.
after a previous sale fell through, geico has sold its sprawling woodbury property for $27 million.
the buyer for the 236,365-square-foot office building on 20 acres at 750 woodbury road is the christian congregation of jehovah’s witnesses.
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dropoffyourkeylee
20 acres on Long Island? I wouldn't have expected that
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169
Are the statistics out yet?
by slimboyfat inisn’t it about time they released the report for the service year?
or have they stopped publishing it?
did they released selected figures at the annual meeting as they usually do, such as the memorial attendance or record number of pioneers?
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dropoffyourkeylee
Publishers down in nearly all the developed countries, Publishers up in poorer countries (Congo up 8% !)
Meanwhile the number of special fulltime servants is up 5% and the cost to support them is up 5.7%.
Overall, this is the worst annual report in recent memory.
edited to add: Total Memorial Attendance down 7.7%. wow
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169
Are the statistics out yet?
by slimboyfat inisn’t it about time they released the report for the service year?
or have they stopped publishing it?
did they released selected figures at the annual meeting as they usually do, such as the memorial attendance or record number of pioneers?
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dropoffyourkeylee
BINGO
The statistics have been posted.
go to
https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/
and enter
Service Year
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15
bringing up the 1954 Walsh Trial
by enoughisenough ini went back into this forum a little ways and found quite a bit of discussion on the walsh (1954) for those newly out or those who don't know of what i write, you should really check it out.
anyone who is a jw or studying with jw should see material from this trial.
my take away...the printed materials of the wtbts were to believed over the bible and if you didn't believe the wt teachings over the bible, ( even though they admit to false prophesy )you would be disfellowshipped and deserving of death.
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dropoffyourkeylee
My take on Walsh:
In the Walsh trial, they were trying to get a draft classification as minister for Walsh, who was young (about 20), a company servant, and a pioneer. They had decades of statements in the Watchtower going back to the Russell days that they were not an established religion, they didn't have a clergy, they didn't have a creed which their ministers had to adhere to. These things had been the barrier to getting any of the JWs recognized as a minister of a religion worthy of the minister classification and thus exempt from the draft. So reading the Walsh transcript they hit those topics again and again. They asserted they did indeed have a 'creed', a set of beliefs, which their ministers (which includes all witnesses, since 'all JWs are ministers') had to adhere to or else they would be removed. I don't think it is a coincidence that the disfellowshipping practice includes non-belief and started in '52. Their legal posturing resulted in some really outrageous statements in the transcript.
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37
Serena Williams allegedly baptized this weekend
by neat blue dog in.
not sure if this is fake news or not..
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dropoffyourkeylee
Becoming a parent is life changing and could have been the consideration
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41
Pioneer Hours Update
by Bartolomeo inregular pioneers: 600 per year, 50 on average per month.auxiliary pioneers: 30 hours per monthauxiliary pioneers in march and april: fee reduced to 15 hours.
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dropoffyourkeylee
I just became aware of an online source to see the 1943 Watchtower quotation in context:
https://jws-library.one/?list=publications
The whole article is outrageous, A few additional quotations from the same article:
The Lord through his “faithful and wise servant” now states to us, "Let us cover our territory four times m six months.” That becomes our organization instructions and has the same binding force on us that his statement to the Logos had when he said, “Let us make man in our image.” It is our duty to accept this additional instruction and obey it.
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The time has come when each one must bear his own burden fully before the Lord. With the provisions that the Lord has now made in supplying us with new books, question booklets which contain complete instructions for properly carrying on a study, etc., there is absolutely no excuse for anyone, man or woman, to claim to be unable to accept an individual territory assignment and assume full responsibility for it.
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The territory now being covered one to two times in six months could very easily be covered four to six times in the same period if everyone took his Kingdom responsibilities seriously. This is not theory, but actual facts based on figures gleaned from a number of companies during the past six months.
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Pioneer Hours Update
by Bartolomeo inregular pioneers: 600 per year, 50 on average per month.auxiliary pioneers: 30 hours per monthauxiliary pioneers in march and april: fee reduced to 15 hours.
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dropoffyourkeylee
A couple of comments on the 1943 quotation.
1. I haven't seen it before, and am amazed at the audacity to claim it is the Lord's direction. I have to laugh at the final statement:
This expression of the Lord’s will should be the end of all controversy. It is for your good that these requirements are made; for thereby you are enabled to prove your integrity and magnify the Lord’s name LOL
2. Considering the historical context. Rutherford had died in '42, and very soon after that it was a priority of the WT organization to get the brothers a minister qualification for the draft. WW2 draft was issue #1. This is quite clear from reading the book Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose. They didn't have a lot of success in getting the minister classification; loads of the brothers were in jail. The made several organizational changes in the war years and into the '50s to give the brothers something to present to their draft boards.
A couple of the objections they were facing:
You don't have any training - The WT organization invented the Ministry School
You don't have any WT books providing training - The WT published Qualified to be Ministers
You are only 19, how can you be a minister - All JWs are ministers
You have no proof you are a preacher - Here are my written records of the hours spent in ministry
You are not fulltime - WT invents the 'pioneer', with specified fulltime hours
It was all about the draft back then. The 1954 Walsh case is worth a read as well, where it is clear that they were trying to maneuver their position to support their legal stance towards the draft issue.