Posts by Sea Breeze

49

The Truth about the bible

by TTWSYF in

it really is common sense, but nobody here seems to recognize or acknowledge this blatant and obvious truth.. the holy bible is the result of the catholic liturgy.

they used these scriptures in their religious practices and confirmed which books would and would not be part of their cannon.

they picked, preserved and promoted these books and gave 'the word of god' to the world.. i know that pisses off some folks, but it is the truth [not the 'truth'tm].

Well there is of course a "Catholic" Church ...meaning widespread body of believers. In that sense, yes the apostles started this movement as eyewitnesses of the resurrection.

But what we think of as the Catholic Church today is really the Roman Catholic Church , which places Jesus mother as a co-mediator with Christ, promotes papal authority, and officially teaches that there is no salvation outside of their organization.

Catholic Catechism #969 “Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.”

Clearly the Catholic Church has lifted titles for the Holy Spirit and applied them to Mary. The title Mediatrix is the feminized version of Jesus‟ title as Mediator. The RCC makes Mary a co-mediator.

Catholic Catechism # 882 The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter's successor, "is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the 8 bishops and of the whole company of the faithful. For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered."

The Pope sees himself as the visible head of God’s Kingdom on earth as opposed to the invisible authority of Jesus Christ. However, early Christians walked by faith, not by sight. (2 Cor. 5:7). Additionally, one of the Pope’s titles is the Vicar of Christ. The word vicar comes from the Latin word vicarius meaning substitution. The on-line version of the Pocket Catholic Dictionary defines the Vicar of Christ as: “The Pope, visible head of the Church on earth, acting for and in the place of Christ”.

However, this is in serious conflict with scripture. Can there be two heads on one body? … Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. - Ephesians 5:23 1994

Catholic Catechism Paragraph # 82 - As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the Holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence.

Here the Catholic Church demands their own traditions be revered as if they are the word of God. The Watchtower claims the same thing:

Watchtower December 15, 2008, pg 28 – “Our coming to know „the truth‟ - the entire body of Christian teachings that has become part of the Bible - and adhering to it are essential for our salvation”.

Simply put, the Catholic Church, the Watchtower Corporation, and others have made the same mistake that many others have made; they’ve added their traditions, good works, and another mediator to “Jesus the author and finisher of our faith”. (Heb. 12:2) Because of this, they have nullified God’s offer of salvation for some. (Mark 7:13)

There is only one way into God’s favor:

I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold , but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber…Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. - Jn.10: 1-7

The NT is a contract between two individuals only... the believer and Christ. There is as BIG difference between the "Catholic" Church (all believers with a one to one relationship with Jesus) and the Roman Catholic Church with their hierarchy and doctrinal heresies.

3

Just wondering...

by HappyBlessedFree in

so for those of you that are christian, what do you do during the memorial season?

for those that have not joined a church, how do you celebrate passover?.

Sea Breeze

Hi Happy,

There is no "Memorial Season" for Christians. There is a "Resurrection Sunday" (sometimes referred to as Easter) commemorating the day Jesus got up and walked out of a tomb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Cdre-w4vSs

49

The Truth about the bible

by TTWSYF in

it really is common sense, but nobody here seems to recognize or acknowledge this blatant and obvious truth.. the holy bible is the result of the catholic liturgy.

they used these scriptures in their religious practices and confirmed which books would and would not be part of their cannon.

they picked, preserved and promoted these books and gave 'the word of god' to the world.. i know that pisses off some folks, but it is the truth [not the 'truth'tm].

Sea Breeze

The "Catholic Church" didn't exist until some time after Constantine converted in 312 AD, However....

Around 250 A.D., Origen likely produced a complete list of all 27 New Testament books–more than a hundred years before Athanasius. In his typical allegorical fashion, Origen used the story of Joshua to describe the New Testament canon:

But when our Lord Jesus Christ comes, whose arrival that prior son of Nun designated, he sends priests, his apostles, bearing “trumpets hammered thin,” the magnificent and heavenly instruction of proclamation. Matthew first sounded the priestly trumpet in his Gospel; Mark also; Luke and John each played their own priestly trumpets. Even Peter cries out with trumpets in two of his epistles; also James and Jude. In addition, John also sounds the trumpet through his epistles [and Revelation], and Luke, as he describes the Acts of the Apostles. And now that last one comes, the one who said, “I think God displays us apostles last,” and in fourteen of his epistles, thundering with trumpets, he casts down the walls of Jericho and all the devices of idolatry and dogmas of philosophers, all the way to the foundations (Hom. Jos. 7.1).

As one can see from the list above, all 27 books of the New Testament are accounted for (Origen clearly counts Hebrews as part of Paul’s letters). The only ambiguity is a text-critical issue with Revelation, but we have good evidence from other sources that Origen accepted Revelation as Scripture (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.25.10).

Article

My thoughts: The early church leaders (disciples of the apostles) wrote a lot of letters to each other, mostly to deal with heresies. In those letters, as a whole, a person can reconstruct about 2/3 of the traditional New Testament canon either quoted or paraphrased. Thus, it is easy to see which writings were used as authoritative (as well as what was, and what was not "sound doctrine")..

The appearance of "a list" by Athanasius in 380 AD or so, has little to do with which letters/books were accepted as authoritative by the first congregation elders centuries earlier.

18

Teenager Advice

by Wagurl in

what advice do you have for a teenager that is being raised as a witness but not baptized?

everyone is pressuring her to get baptized how to avoid that till they are 18 and they are 16?

how to stay sane in a household of religion you don´t believe in.

Sea Breeze

The position is definitely improved if you do not get baptized. But, eventually there will be little difference over time if the parents remain hardcore adherents.

Why not use BOTH a biblical and a non-biblical approach? Cast a wider net is my suggestion.

18

Teenager Advice

by Wagurl in

what advice do you have for a teenager that is being raised as a witness but not baptized?

everyone is pressuring her to get baptized how to avoid that till they are 18 and they are 16?

how to stay sane in a household of religion you don´t believe in.

Sea Breeze

If your parents stay in, the end result will be the same whether you get baptized or not. They will eventually shun you for not worshiping their idol. Eventually there is little real-world difference between whether or not you got baptized.

I agree with the others to try to get along. But you can learn as much as you can about historical Christianity and be able to prove that the Watchtower is gravely mistaken about a great many things. By planting seeds you can stand your ground on biblical grounds, that's the difference.

One of the seeds might take root and eventually you'll have one or both parents for life. IM me if you'd like some ideas.

2

God, Religion and Semantics

by Onager in

there is a slight possibility of one of my jw relatives coming to have a read of this forum, which has made me really excited and endlessly hopeful, but also worried that they might read some of my angry comments from back in the day and throw their hands up in horror.

i've also been thinking about the book by christopher hitchens "god is not great" recently and i think there are similar defences to be made for both.. there is a topic that i started called jehovah god is not real and there are also comments that i have made where i have said that jehovah god is cruel, stupid or even evil.

i appreciate that this sounds like a personal attack on god, just as hitchens' book "god is not great", sounds like an attack on god, but the truth is that they're not.. the title of hitchen's book: "god is not great" is (deliberately) a negation of the islamic phrase allahu akbar "god is greatest" and my topic on this forum called "jehovah god is not real", was in direct response to another poster's topic "jehovah god is real".

Sea Breeze

there is a single piece of evidence which does not come second hand from a human being.

I'd just like to point out that most of the things we accept as true, comes second hand from other humans

519

Tony Morris video footage of him buying a dozen bottles of scotch

by UnshackleTheChains in

i was howling watching cedars latest video of tm111 buying a dozen bottles of scotch ((maccallans scotch).

you can't write this stuff.

right, i'm now off to buy a bottle of maccallans 😂..

Sea Breeze

Morris reputedly comes from an extremely wealthy family (tobacco merchants)

Probably explains why he didn't pick up a few cigars along with the Scotch.....has a private stash.

11

Watchtower Orders Another Hit

by Sea Breeze in

jw
friends

according to a recent filing, the watchtower has ordered reddit to give them the name of one of their posters who has used their right of free speech.

they are calling it copyright infringement.

but, we all know this is just another routine "hit" ordered by the watchtower mafia.

Sea Breeze

I beg to differ. It's very different which is why one will result in a lengthy prison sentence and the other will result in laughter if you claim you were "effectively murdered".
Tune in next week for "someone brushed past me at the supermarket, it's tantamount to rape"

On behalf of the many EX-JW suicides who can no longer speak for themselves (including some former posters on this very board); I too beg to differ.

Would most have committed suicide if they had not lost their families? No. So, who killed who?

I understand your point from a legal perspective. But even from that point of view, others have been successfully prosecuted from influencing a suicide. Suicide and those who influence it, is not a laughing matter. It is a tragedy.

There are of course may legal issues with all this, and I'm not convinced we should change laws to include the WT for influencing suicides because of a whole range of freedom issues..... but I'm not sure we shouldn't try either. I'd have to think about it more.

But certainly from the viewpoint of an Ultimate Judge, the WT has blood on their hands.

519

Tony Morris video footage of him buying a dozen bottles of scotch

by UnshackleTheChains in

i was howling watching cedars latest video of tm111 buying a dozen bottles of scotch ((maccallans scotch).

you can't write this stuff.

right, i'm now off to buy a bottle of maccallans 😂..

Sea Breeze

There once was a preacher man named Tony

He made booze runs on Sundays ;

Truthers didn't know he was a phoney;

Guzzling his Scotch like always.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Prophesied did he from those spirits:

I need that ice cream money;

It's a big church I need to steer it!

What's that in your pocket sonny?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Hard times came from the secret film;

The sheeple started to discount him,

Hark! I need a herald please;

The party's over, turn in those keys.

40

Holy Spirit - Present or Gone in the Congregations?

by BourneIdentity in

i was doing some reminiscing and remember the days back in the late 80s and early 90s where i truly could say the meetings were so encouraging and that i felt the holy spirit present and operating on all of us.

today when i attend, there is nothing of the sort.

is it because jehovah has withheld it?

Sea Breeze

I was raised a JW and was baptized in 1986; then left with the November 15th issue of the WT in 1995 when they jettisoned the generation doctrine and removed the statement on the inside page of the Awake about how Armageddon would come before the generation of 1914 would pass away. I was never Df'd.

After about 8 years, I became a traditional non-denominational Christian, attending a medium size Bible Church. In Christianity, you don't feel special, but you do feel peace. You are a sinner saved by Grace ... "not of works, lest any man should boast".

Salvation is a two-part process. 1. Conviction of sin, and 2. Acceptance of Christ's blood covering offered at Matthew 26: 27, 28 "for the forgiveness of sins".

The first is an action of the Holy Spirit and the 2nd is an action from your own volition. The Will of God and the Free Moral Agency of man meet here. .

From my point of view, I can now compare my two experiences. As a JW, I had in fact experienced a supernatural conviction of sin, but I had been prevented from accepting the new covenant "for the forgiveness of sins". So, although I believe I experienced a move of the Holy Spirit at the beginning of becoming a JW, most of the later JW experience was a false specialness kinda feeling that I felt from being in the "right" club...as opposed as to being in a right relationship with God.

Now, I feel much smaller, and God (especially Christ) seems much bigger. The Holy Spirit now edifies my spirit with inner peace as I've slowly learned to trust again.

Hope that helps.