Posts by Sea Breeze

22

Is the Watchtower Ultimately a Creation of Fallen Angels?

by Sea Breeze in

a watchtower in ceremonial magical tradition is a tutelary spirit of one of the four cardinal points or quarters (east, south, west and north).

in many magical traditions, they are understood to be enochian angels... originating with the enochian tradition of john dee, a version of it was popularized by the hermetic order of the golden dawn, which became hugely influential in modern western esotericism, including wicca.

the watchtowers are invoked during the ritual of casting a magic circle.. .

Sea Breeze

C’mon Syd,

Just admit you are a materialist. Are you ashamed of it? Lots of people “claim” to be materialists.

23

Costume dramas at conventions

by AdamCzarnobay in

jw
friends

are convention dramas still a thing or have these been replaced by videos of dramas recorded in the usa?.

Sea Breeze

I remember when if you played a musical instrument, you were invited to play in the orchestra at assemblies. Some Nazi GB member put a quash on that. Imagine learning to play an instrument instead of spreading Satanic propaganda. Very inefficient. Ya vol mein herr capitan.

It looks like now those that like to play “dress up” have faced the same fate as their musically inclined counterparts.

22

Is the Watchtower Ultimately a Creation of Fallen Angels?

by Sea Breeze in

a watchtower in ceremonial magical tradition is a tutelary spirit of one of the four cardinal points or quarters (east, south, west and north).

in many magical traditions, they are understood to be enochian angels... originating with the enochian tradition of john dee, a version of it was popularized by the hermetic order of the golden dawn, which became hugely influential in modern western esotericism, including wicca.

the watchtowers are invoked during the ritual of casting a magic circle.. .

Sea Breeze

@Syd,

I take it you are a materialist?

22

Is the Watchtower Ultimately a Creation of Fallen Angels?

by Sea Breeze in

a watchtower in ceremonial magical tradition is a tutelary spirit of one of the four cardinal points or quarters (east, south, west and north).

in many magical traditions, they are understood to be enochian angels... originating with the enochian tradition of john dee, a version of it was popularized by the hermetic order of the golden dawn, which became hugely influential in modern western esotericism, including wicca.

the watchtowers are invoked during the ritual of casting a magic circle.. .

Sea Breeze

I think Watchtower connection to the occult is shown in their own literature. They have admnitted that Russell and previous Watchtower Presidents may be directing their activities from "beyond the veil". They admit to being a 'spirit-led organization". They pont to "materializations" of these spirits as evidence for the accuracy of their end-times caluclatuiions:

“Zion’s Watch Tower “ of October 1st, 1907, “Our understanding is that this great day of the Lord began chronologically in October 1874, and from what we can learn it is since that date that ‘materializations’ have become more and more common…the evidence is too strong to be disputed that there have been numerous genuine manifestations….”

How does the Watchtower know there have "more and more" materializations of spirits?

406

Is Jesus the Creator?

by Sea Breeze in

that's what the word says.

.

colossians 1:16. for by him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through him and for him..

Sea Breeze

Aristides (Greek Philosopher turned Christian) wrote to the Emperor Hadrian and gave a pretty good synopsis of core Christian beliefs in 125 AD.

He wrote:

The Christians, then, trace the beginning of their religion from Jesus the Messiah; and he is named the Son of God Most High. And it is said that God came down from heaven, and from a Hebrew virgin assumed and clothed himself with flesh; and the Son of God lived in a daughter of man. This is taught in the gospel, as it is called, which a short time was preached among them; and you also if you will read therein, may perceive the power which belongs to it. This Jesus, then, was born of the race of the Hebrews; and he had twelve disciples in order that the purpose of his incarnation might in time be accomplished. But he himself was pierced by the Jews, and he died and was buried; and they say that after three days he rose and ascended to heaven (Apol. 2, Syriac).

Aristides makes it clear that Christians affirm a number of key truths:

1. The divinity of Jesus: “God came down from heaven” In the mind of Aristides, Jesus is not an angel, or a semi-divine being, but the very God of heaven itself.

2. The incarnation: “clothed himself with flesh.” In very vivid language, the author affirms that Jesus is God enfleshed; he took upon himself a real human body (contra the Docetists).

3. The virgin birth: “from a Hebrew virgin.” This doctrine flows naturally from the prior two. If Jesus is God, and he took on human flesh, then his conception would be distinctive from other human beings.

4. The authority of the Gospels: “taught in the gospel…and you also if you read therein, may perceive the power which belongs to it.” Notice for Aristides, there are books called a “gospel” which you can “read” to learn more about the person of Jesus. Moreover, these gospels contain a certain “power” which the reader can discern.

5. The authority of the apostles: “and he had twelve disciples.” Aristides recognizes that Jesus had an authority structure through the twelve that was necessary “so that the purpose of his incarnation might in time be accomplished.”

6. His death on the cross: “pierced by the Jews.” This is a clear reference to Jesus’ crucifixion under Pontius Pilate at the request of the Jewish leadership.

7. His resurrection: “after three days he rose.” Jesus did not stay in the grave but was raised from the dead.

8. His ascension: “ascended into heaven.” Jesus returned to his former heavenly home, in a position of power and glory.

24

Why you need Christmas to understand Easter/Memorial

by Anony Mous in

so i went to a christmas evening candlelight service tonight and it hit me.

i was primarily doing christmas since leaving the jw for the children.

lots of people do it for family without really thinking of the relevance.

Sea Breeze

Amazing how most people who are born in christian countries have christian beliefs. Its mind blowing. Clearly, it must all be true just because of this.

There is nothing mind-blowing about information sources.

This is a logical fallacy - “The Genetic Fallacy”.

This fallacy is made when someone attacks a belief or an argument by pointing out how the person came to hold that belief (its genetics). The fact of the matter is, if I’m giving an argument for the existence of God, such as the Kalam Cosmological Argument or the Fine Tuning Argument, maybe we’re having a discussion on the historical evidence for the resurrection, the country I was born is irrelevant to whether my arguments are good or not. You can’t refute a belief by showing how a person came to hold that belief.

406

Is Jesus the Creator?

by Sea Breeze in

that's what the word says.

.

colossians 1:16. for by him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through him and for him..

Sea Breeze

Early Christians engaged in vigorous theological debates, but this does not imply a lack of coherence in their beliefs.

Exactly. The various attempts to describe Jesus in unbiblical terms caused the early church leaders to write an unprecidented amount of literature on the subject. As a result, we have today a consistent record of orthodoxy that connects scripture with the apostles to the leaders they trained and so on, all the way to the Nicene creed. That unaminous creed was made by hundereds of congregation leaders from a wide geopraphical area (the Roman empire).

As usual, we all have the same evidence but peoples' presuppositions inevitabley are imposed on that evidence. For the skeptic atheist, defense by the early congregation leaders against heresies is evidence of "raging" battles of orthodoxy and reason to be skeptical.

For the historian, the written record provides an unprecedented view into an unbroken chain of belief regarding the nature of Jesus as "God manifest in the flesh".

How could Jesus be viewed otherwise given the facts? Think about it: A man known as a miracle worker even by his enemies, who claimed to be God predicted that he would die a sacrificial death and raise himself from the dead three days later. Then, he did it.

If you were there and witnessed these events, how could you view Jesus as anything other than God? The fact that many people believed a man who walked out of a tomb is not surprising at all.

Later, a few individuals who did not witness these events questioned this and were roundly denounced by congregation leaders as not in line with what happened.

Good theology (as opposed to bad (theology) must accomodate ALL scriptures on the subject, not just some. For instance, Unitarians will point to biblical statements like: "The father is greater than I am" and announce that Jesus is not God. Believers will point out that not only is that statement true, but other statements made by Jesus are ALSO true, such as: Jesus posessing ALL power in heaven and earth.

For a skeptic rooted in materialism, he can never reconcile these statements and he predictably concludes the bible is incoherent.

But, if you use biblical definitions to explain biblical statements, coherence is self-evident. It all depends on whether or not you WANT the bible to make sense or not.

22

Is the Watchtower Ultimately a Creation of Fallen Angels?

by Sea Breeze in

a watchtower in ceremonial magical tradition is a tutelary spirit of one of the four cardinal points or quarters (east, south, west and north).

in many magical traditions, they are understood to be enochian angels... originating with the enochian tradition of john dee, a version of it was popularized by the hermetic order of the golden dawn, which became hugely influential in modern western esotericism, including wicca.

the watchtowers are invoked during the ritual of casting a magic circle.. .

Sea Breeze

A watchtower in ceremonial magical tradition is a tutelary spirit of one of the four cardinal points or quarters (East, South, West and North). In many magical traditions, they are understood to be Enochian angels... Originating with the Enochian tradition of John Dee, a version of it was popularized by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which became hugely influential in modern Western Esotericism, including Wicca. The watchtowers are invoked during the ritual of casting a magic circle.

The Structure of the Watchtower Hierarchies

Quote: On Wednesday June 20, 1584, Edward Kelly had a vision that would significantly effect the angelic magical system that he and John Dee were receiving. In the days that followed it would be analyzed and explained, and ultimately it would produce the Terrestrial system of Watchtower magic that was to profoundly influence not only their own work but eventually the whole course of the Western Hermetic Tradition.

Coincidence?

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