Posts by vienne

I should add that in the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras, all things Egyptian were popular and used in many non-related designs. For many years there was a theater here called "The Egyptian." It's long gone, but the Egyptian theaters were all over the USA; that was part of the trend. I wouldn't attach too much meaning to the winged globe design. The original of that seems to have come from Assyria anyway.

22

Should JW's Follow an Apostate?

by Sea Breeze in

wasn't ct russell an apostate seventh day adventist?.

vienne

I presume you are led to this by the winged globe design on the Studies and the pyramid monument in the Society's cemetery. Russell and many other, including Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptists, famous clergymen some of them, were persuaded that the Great Pyramid was built by Melchizedek. Nonsense of course, though still believed. But in the Russell era it was a widely spread belief. Russell accepted it along with many others.

One should note that Russell had no hand in the pyramid monument. It's not his grave marker. That's a headstone nearby. It was designed by a Bible Student and built after Russell's death. It was not meant to connect Bible Students or Russell to the Masons. That claim is unsupported by facts. It was meant to connect to Russell era belief that the capstone on the pyramid was a picture in stone of Jesus, "the head of the corner."

You will find more in Separate Identity, vol. 1 and on the blog to which Mom contributed before her death.

https://truthhistory.blogspot.com/

Use the search function to find appropriate articles. There are a number of them

22

Should JW's Follow an Apostate?

by Sea Breeze in

wasn't ct russell an apostate seventh day adventist?.

vienne

I am continually puzzled by those who post 'authoritative' things that are based on nonsense. Russell was never a Seventh Day Adventist, or for that matter an Adventist of any kind. He was an Age to Come Millennialist. [See vol 1 of Schulz and de Vienne (my mom), Separate Identity and Mom's introductory essay for vol 2.] He associated most closely with The Restitution, an age to come newspaper, before going his own way.

By 1844 Storrs was no longer a Millerite Adventist. Stetson wrote for the Restitution and the British journal The Rainbow and was by the time Russell met him no longer an Adventist. Shouldn't we inform ourselves before we write?

Oppose Jehovah's Witnesses. Certainly. But when we spew uninformed nonsense, we persuade no one.

https://www.amazon.com/Separate-Identity-Organizational-Readers-1870-1887/dp/1304969401

19

Ministry school

by road to nowhere in

what is the purpose?

the skits are not real.

i have been assigned a reading again.

vienne

I'm a plain spoken very young woman. I'd counsel the counselor. In what way does someone who can't handle the language qualify as a teacher? Aren't elders supposed to be teachers? And why haven't the other elders counseled him? Are they 'hicks from the sticks' too?

Do the research anyway. I do that with my assignments - university not meetings of course. Probably shouldn't stump the teacher too much, but if you find something interesting, slightly puzzling, then politely put him on the spot.

My mom [PhD in history] would do that when elders came to call. She was never a Witness though gramma was in late life. But they'd call on her regularly. I have two uncles by marriage who are elders and a grand uncle who was a long-serving elder, though he is infirm now. They enjoyed mom's questions, but under-educated elders did not. She, as the expression goes, "cut them no slack."

19

Ministry school

by road to nowhere in

what is the purpose?

the skits are not real.

i have been assigned a reading again.

vienne

I attend meetings with my sisters sometimes. Two of them are baptized. To be clear, while I like most Witnesses, their religion is not Biblical in key areas, and I'm not a Witness. There are NO prospects of me becoming one. But I listen to the meetings very carefully. I'm just at the start of perusing my BA in Education, following mom's footsteps, and gramma's too.

If I were in your situation, I'd put huge effort into researching assignments, and making my presentation as polished and studied as possible. You will learn from that. You do not have to believe Watchtower publications to learn from the experience.

I have a question though. How old are you? I ask because it's not called 'the ministry school' anymore. How you approach this may be affected by your age.

Dealing with elders can be a challenge. Witness education level is low. Ignore their faults, no matter how difficult that is. As long as you associate you may as well suck in as much experience, thought and education as you can. If you approach their sometimes boring, ill prepared meetings with that goal, you'll be surprised what the experience will teach you.

All the best,

Anastasia (Annie)

76

Do You Support Trump Being Impeached Again?

by minimus in

jw
friends

it looks like it can happen again and i suspect if it does happen, the senate will not convict either because they can’t convict him since it’s after his presidency or simply because they don’t have sufficient votes..

vienne

No. But I would support a total ban on the Democrat Party.

13

Just helped my kid get his first used car.

by GrreatTeacher in

my son, only child, age 19, college sophomore, just got his first used car.

most importantly, he learned the fun and exhilarating process of buying a used car from a dealer.

he had saved some money, but everything around the $5000 range was basically a shit box on wheels.

vienne

I'm saving for my first car. Dad says I can't have one until I'm 18, preferably until I'm 19. That's okay by me.

It's harder to save now because my part-time job went away with the 'lock down.'

23

New JW study book / method announced on JW Broadcast

by Funky in

so did anyone catch the january jw broadcast?.

it's the "spiritual content" of what would have been introduced in the october annual meeting, had the october annual meeting taken place.. morris, splane, and jackson introduce a new jw study publication: "live forever eternally - an interactive guide".. details were sparse, but apparently it is a 256 page book (when in actual printed form), primarily designed to be used in its electronic form, stuffed with links to videos.. it is designed to be "just one book" to be studied prior to baptism, where "all 60 questions that baptism candidates have to know" are found in just one place.. the purported reason is to make jw "bible" studies more "productive", i.e., lead to more baptisms.. splane brought out the governing body's "great concern" that 10 million+ "bible" studies are conducted by jws every year, but the number of baptisms has been stuck at 200,000 - 300,000 per year for decades.

so the thinking is, this new book + a "new method of conducting studies" (again, no real detail, but apparently it involves more "discussion" and less "question and answer").. want to know my thoughts?

vienne

Dear RB

Actually, you can.

http://www.susankayjewelry.com/NewCoprolite1.html