5now he that wrought us for this very thing is god, who gave unto us the earnest of the spirit.6being therefore always of good courage, and knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the lord 7(for we walk by faith, not by sight); 8we are of good courage, i say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the lord.
9wherefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto him.. since watchtower teaches there is only one "you" and not three (soul, body & spirit); how do jw's deal with the fact that scripture says that it is possible for a person to be absent from their body and to be present with the lord in heaven?when i was pioneering, i don't recall a householder every dropping this verse on me; and i'm not sure how i would have handled it if they did.
what say you?.
How does this soul, without a body, interact in heaven (in any religious teaching)?
Apparently, fairly well. But, the souls want their bodies back so they can be whole again.... as originally designed, but with a major systems upgrade. But, still a physical body.
Phil. 3: 21 - Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body - KJV
5now he that wrought us for this very thing is god, who gave unto us the earnest of the spirit.6being therefore always of good courage, and knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the lord 7(for we walk by faith, not by sight); 8we are of good courage, i say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the lord.
9wherefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto him.. since watchtower teaches there is only one "you" and not three (soul, body & spirit); how do jw's deal with the fact that scripture says that it is possible for a person to be absent from their body and to be present with the lord in heaven?when i was pioneering, i don't recall a householder every dropping this verse on me; and i'm not sure how i would have handled it if they did.
what say you?.
Their NWT is pretty clear that this only applies to spirit anointed Christians and not to ‘all’ Christians.
I agree but that is stating the obvious. The NT was written to various congregations of believers, all of which were annointed until Russell invented the two-class salvation doctrine - one salvation with the new covenant and another one without it.
So, there is no problem with whom it applies. The question is what does the WT think is absent from the body if not a person?
[V.8] We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. - KJV
5now he that wrought us for this very thing is god, who gave unto us the earnest of the spirit.6being therefore always of good courage, and knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the lord 7(for we walk by faith, not by sight); 8we are of good courage, i say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the lord.
9wherefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto him.. since watchtower teaches there is only one "you" and not three (soul, body & spirit); how do jw's deal with the fact that scripture says that it is possible for a person to be absent from their body and to be present with the lord in heaven?when i was pioneering, i don't recall a householder every dropping this verse on me; and i'm not sure how i would have handled it if they did.
what say you?.
@watcher
The chapter starts off talking about our bodies as a temporary tent.
2 Cor. 5: 1 - For we know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens.
Paul describes our bodies in this fallen world as a temporary dwelling place, like a tent (tabernacle) that our consciousness resides in. It is not built to last forever. It provides minimal shelter from the elements for a short time, like a tent. Waiting in eternity, for all who are in Christ, is a dwelling place that will last forever..
"I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord"
So once our consciousness leaves our body (our current home or tabernacle), we automatically have a home in heaven. It is the person that is translated at death.
I don't see how the WT can get arond this scripture in claiming that we are a body only with no other identity like a spirt or soul that continues on somewhere after the demise of the body.
2024-04-april-announcements and reminders.. languagesafrikaanshttps://pdfupload.io/docs/a85be9ff armenianhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/fe57b8a6 chinesehttps://pdfupload.io/docs/e5da00d7 croatianhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/452fd4d5 danishhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/a6b8ec28 dutchhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/3ff82dfb englishhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/ef235dbd filipinohttps://pdfupload.io/docs/8a7ebe43 frenchhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/7a04d7bf germanhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/f27daee9 greekhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/02b3db31 haitian creolehttps://pdfupload.io/docs/ae1d93e2 hebrewhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/aecdecf1 hungarianhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/fb8eb105 italianhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/0bb5d16e japanesehttps://pdfupload.io/docs/6c8d05f3 norwegianhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/03ff27f9 polishhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/3e645e96 portuguesehttps://pdfupload.io/docs/541375d0 russianhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/be7e2a5c spanishhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/6de127bf ukrainianhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/88b19d49 grandpa!
Recent reports indicate that in some lands the number of Bible studies is decreasing.
Translation: In nations that are connected to the internet, reports indicate that people aren't as gullible as they used to be.
5now he that wrought us for this very thing is god, who gave unto us the earnest of the spirit.6being therefore always of good courage, and knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the lord 7(for we walk by faith, not by sight); 8we are of good courage, i say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the lord.
9wherefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto him.. since watchtower teaches there is only one "you" and not three (soul, body & spirit); how do jw's deal with the fact that scripture says that it is possible for a person to be absent from their body and to be present with the lord in heaven?when i was pioneering, i don't recall a householder every dropping this verse on me; and i'm not sure how i would have handled it if they did.
what say you?.
5Now he that wrought us for this very thing is God, who gave unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
6Being therefore always of good courage, and knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord 7(for we walk by faith, not by sight); 8we are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord. 9Wherefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto him.
Since Watchtower teaches there is only one "You" and not three (soul, body & spirit); how do JW's deal with the fact that scripture says that it is possible for a person to be absent from their body and to be present with the Lord in heaven?
When I was pioneering, I don't recall a householder every dropping this verse on me; and I'm not sure how I would have handled it if they did.
What say you?
so, i thought i'd start a thread about any beautiful photos of places you've been to, or just beautiful photos.. i'll go first .... .
.
copyright: daniel burton.. this is bøur, a little village in the faeroe islands, population 74.. i've never been there but i'd love to visit one day.
We stayed right on Prague Square for 3 nights on one vacation. We were in a 3 bedroom loft in one of the buildings facing the church castle which is 1300 years old I believe. Prague is the most beautiful city I have ever visited. Highly recomend.
Prague was never bombed during WWII, so much of the original city remains, including the original city gates and walls. It was like going back in time in a time machine in some respects. 
i’ve noticed a pattern where things don’t go the way i expect them to go and/or whenever i realise there is a trend and, i mentally adjust for the idea that the trend will continue, the trend stops in its tracks.
so on that basis, and given many people, including myself, and active jws, have been asking ‘what changes will the governing body make next?’ perhaps the (disappointing) answer is: ‘nothing much for a while to come’.
maybe they’ve made the changes they want for now, and will wait a while and see how it’s received.
The message is : we will throw you a bone now and then as long as you don't try to explore Christianity outside of the Kingdom Hall.
Families are still weaponized against accepting the new covenant "for the forgiveness of sins" (Mt. 26: 27-28)
Damn those apostates!
and as a reminder to all my atheist friends, here's a list of 12 facts on the resurrection most scholars (skeptic, jewish and otherwise) agree to.
2000 years ago a man announced that he would be killed and while he was dead, he would resurrect himself from the dead.
just wow!.
And as a reminder to all my atheist friends, here's a list of 12 facts on the Resurrection most scholars (skeptic, Jewish and otherwise) agree to.
2000 years ago a man announced that he would be killed and while he was dead, he would resurrect himself from the dead. Then, he did it. Just WOW!
Thank you Jesus for providing another option besides death for my destiny.
but i wonder: how many jw's went to prison during the years that the wt did not allow them to perform community service as an alternative to military service?.
anyone care to take a stab at the numbers?.
Sorry to hear that Raymond.
Maybe the global number could reach 100K if you are correct that "thousands" were imprisoned in Greece alone from 1945 to 1995.
https://youtu.be/cefnvubzxce?si=edha3qmax4fxlwqq.
everyone who pushes ahead and does not remain in the teaching of the christ does not have god.
the one who does remain in this teaching is the one who has both the father and the son.
Everyone who pushes ahead and does not remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God.
Reminds me how even though Jesus told Nicodemas THREE TIMES that a person must be born again, WT says you can't be born again because the invitations (144K of them) ran out.
Very small little deceivers they are.
