Posts by NikL

5

Happy are those concious of their spiritual need?

by NikL in

that was the title of the public talk given by the co today.

it's a statement i've heard over the years many many times.it's based on the nwt translation of matthew 5:3i always use a different version of the bible when i follow the scriptures because it lets me get a better view of the scripture in question.well, imagine my surprise when i read the scripture in the nrsv bible to realise it says something completely different.the nwt renders it...3 “happy are those conscious of their spiritual need, since the kingdom of the heavens belongs to them.. however the nrsv says...3 “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.. i was quite surprised at the completely different meaning so i looked at other translations and they pretty much all say the same thing.

the only one who says anything like spiritual need is the nwt.

NikL

That was the title of the public talk given by the CO today. It's a statement I've heard over the years many many times.
It's based on the NWT translation of Matthew 5:3
I always use a different version of the bible when I follow the scriptures because it lets me get a better view of the scripture in question.
Well, imagine my surprise when I read the scripture in the NRSV bible to realise it says something completely different.
The NWT renders it...

3 “Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need, since the Kingdom of the heavens belongs to them.

However the NRSV says...

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

I was quite surprised at the completely different meaning so I looked at other translations and they pretty much all say the same thing. The only one who says anything like spiritual need is the NWT. Even the Kingdom Interlinear doesn't.
So the point of this whole talk was rendered meaningless unless you happen to use the NWT bible. It's supposed to be a public talk. Surely anyone visiting will have their own bible (assuming anyone was visiting which is doubtful).
The CO droned on about our spiritual need and how we fill it yadda yadda yadda.
I guess it sounds better than talking about how we should be "poor in spirit".

17

KISS - Knights In Satan's Service

by Funchback in

growing up as a jw, i was told that kiss stood for knights in satan's system (or service).. i just did a google search and learned it's not true.

it's actually not an acronym for anything.. to be honest, apparently it's not just the jws who believe it means something related to satan.. http://www.snopes.com/music/hidden/kiss.asp.

one day paul [stanley] and peter [criss] and i were driving around, brainstorming for new names.

NikL

Listen to their music now and they are pretty much bubble gum LOL

11

Hotel California

by Normalfulla in

growing up was ok being a jw or so i thought, i guess u accept life as it comes when yr a kid , anyhow i played guitar and my elder dad (who is currently df) would forbid me to learn hotel california or even if it came on the radio he would run and quickly turn it off , .

he explained he had heard a tape recording at work that explained that this song along with stairway to heaven and others had back masking on it and when played backwards would say stuff like "satan has his own congregation " or other stuff like that , now this was not a jw sanctioned audio talk just some other christian production .. none of dad's other peers felt the same and growing up it illustrated to me dad's propensity to be influenced and convinced about something seemingly innocuous to others.. fast forward to a year or so ago and i showed him a section from the eagles documentary where don henley talks about the meaning of hotel california and how much trouble christian evangelists gave the song due to their own interpretation etc , so completely refuted the claims my father had told me were fact as a kid ,from the horses mouth so to speak .

his answer was ,"well of course he'd say that he wants to save face ,he wouldn't admit the truth !".

NikL

I heard them all.

I am a radio DJ and got on earful about some of those songs.

It is called back masking and it's where they attempt is made to conceal a message in a song but you can only hear it backwards. You would have to literally get your vinyl record and move it backwards to hear LOL.

It was hard to do with most peoples turntables at the time but having access to the proper equipment I was able to do it. I found it to be bunk.

Hotel California had all kinds of occult connections although I don't recall it having back masking.

Another One Bites The Dust supposedly has the back masked message "decide to smoke marijuana".

Stairway to heaven said things like "praise Satan" and other nonsense.

The back masking thing was really a big story in the 80s and early 90s and Tipper Gore even lobbied congress to have albums labeled warning of the content.

Judas Priest even went to court over it.

From Wikipedia...

In the middle of 1990, the band was involved in a civil action that alleged they were responsible for the self-inflicted gunshot wounds in 1985 of 20-year-old James Vance and 18-year-old Raymond Belknap in Sparks, Nevada, USA.[24] On 23 December 1985, Vance and Belknap, after hours of drinking beer, smoking marijuana and allegedly listening to Judas Priest, went to a playground at a church in Sparks with a 12-gauge shotgun to end their lives. Belknap was the first to place the shotgun under his chin. He died instantly after pulling the trigger. Vance then shot himself but survived, suffering severe facial injuries. Following numerous complications, Vance too died in 1988, three years after the suicide pact.[25]

The men's parents and their legal team alleged that a subliminal message of "do it" had been included in the Judas Priest song "Better By You, Better Than Me" (a cover of the Spooky Tooth number) from Stained Class (1978). They alleged the command in the song triggered the suicide attempt.[24] The trial lasted from 16 July to 24 August 1990, when the suit was dismissed after the judge ruled that the so-called "do it" message was a result of an accidental mixup of background lyrics.[24] One of the defence witnesses, Dr. Timothy E. Moore, wrote an article for Skeptical Inquirer chronicling the trial.[24] The trial was covered in the 1991 documentary Dream Deceivers: The Story Behind James Vance Vs. Judas Priest.

It's a completely different atmosphere today in congregations. An elder here even has his own rock band! LOL

Funny story, this elders band was playing a witness gig and they busted out "La Grange", the ZZ Top number.

For those that don't know, it's is a song about a brothel. Anyway, I started cracking up about it and mentioned it to some others at our table. Word got back to this elder and he apologized one night at the meeting and said they wouldn't be doing it again. I laughed and said no biggie to me. At least you weren't doing "pearl necklace".

He didn't know what that was and I said look it up. and then said no wait don't do that. take my word for it. I bet he looked it up :-)

24

WT - Study Ed, October 2017 - The Truth Brings, “Not Peace, But a Sword”

by Sanchy in

jw
friends

another article analyzing how bad poor jw's have it when it comes to opposition from family.

few interesting quotes:.

parr 2:.

NikL

Great post and commentary on this article.

(sigh) another one I'll have to sit through gritting my teeth I fear.

3

Newspaper article "Slamming the door on Jehovah"

by NikL in

jw
friends

i came across this article in the australian newspaper the age.. it's a couple years old so it may have been brought to everyone's attention before but just in case.... http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/slamming-the-door-on-jehovah-20130315-2g6fo.html.

NikL

I came across this article in the Australian newspaper The Age.

It's a couple years old so it may have been brought to everyone's attention before but just in case...

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/slamming-the-door-on-jehovah-20130315-2g6fo.html

22

144,000 & The Trinity

by Libby in

now that i'm looking beyond what the wt teaches i'm struggling to find information on three topics.

the 144,000, the trinity and prayer.. if anyone has 5 minutes could they explain:.

1. what do other religions think the 144,000 are or is?

NikL

I am kind of where you are at. Trying to figure things out. Here is where I am at today which may be different tomorrow as I endeavor to learn more about the real "truth" about God.

As to the divinity of Jesus...

I think of it this way.

God the father, Jesus, and the Holy spirit are all different manifestations of GOD.

God in heaven as a spirit is the father. That's why no one has seen him but the son.

God in the form of man so that man can see him and understand God the father is Jesus.

The holy spirit is God as he moves in us and does things in the world around us.

I don't see why God can't wear different hats and be in more than one place at a time. Couldn't God who created the universe and EVERYTHING separate a piece of himself into a different person (Jesus) and let him experience being fully human to pay the ransom?

Just where my head is at.

Best wishes on your journey of discovery in freedom from the darkness of the Watchtower.

15

Yesterday's Watchtower Study 11 June 2017

by BluesBrother in

"what will go when god's kingdom comes?

" from april w/tower.

we start with a picture of jesus riding a white horse into battle, galloping towards terrified people in darkness.

NikL

as long as you stay on the meds.

True that!

For the "happiest people in the world" There is an awful lot of depression and other mental illness.

14

More scullduggery in the New World Translation?

by NikL in

i was reading in jude last night in the esv bible.. i came across this little gem as i was falling asleep and woke right up.. jude 1:5.

5 now i want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that jesus, who saved a people out of the land of egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

jesus who saved a people out of egypt?

NikL

Finally Left
I am trying to relearn the Bible. I do not read the NWT - that is for sure.

Same here. I am not ready to go the whole atheist route like so many on here.

I still consider myself a Christian and am trying to re-imagine what that means and learn as much as possible

11

JW Sound System Hacked During Meeting . #jworg #jwonly

by TTaTT4U in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdfs5b-ant4.

NikL

I've though about doing this before. It is REALLY easy to do :-)

14

More scullduggery in the New World Translation?

by NikL in

i was reading in jude last night in the esv bible.. i came across this little gem as i was falling asleep and woke right up.. jude 1:5.

5 now i want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that jesus, who saved a people out of the land of egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

jesus who saved a people out of egypt?

NikL

I was reading in Jude last night in the ESV bible.

I came across this little gem as I was falling asleep and woke right up.

Jude 1:5

5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

Jesus who saved a people out of Egypt? I had never seen that before.

So I looked it up in other translations and they all say "Lord" instead of "Jesus".

The NWT says "Jehovah" instead of Jesus.

5 Although you are fully aware of all of this, I want to remind you that Jehovah, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those not showing faith.

I wanted to understand why the ESV used Christ in that verse.

So on further investigation on the the ESV website I found some interesting cross reference scriptures...

1 Corinthians 10:4-5

4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

Okay. Christ was the spiritual rock. Got it.

But wait! The NWT says it "meant" the Christ...

4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they used to drink from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock meant the Christ.

That's not quite the same thing is it?

The other scripture the ESV uses to back up their use of Christ in this verse in Jude is 1 Cor. 10:9

9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents,

Of course every JW worth his salt is familiar with the NWT wording of that verse...

Neither let us put Jehovah* to the test, as some of them put him to the test, only to perish by the serpents

Most other translations I've looked at use Christ in the place where NWT uses Jehovah. Some use Lord but they are in the minority.

This is a HUGE deal to me. The meaning of These scriptures is COMPLETELY changed by the insertion of Jehovah in these scriptures.

I realize most here aren't interested in bible research but I though I'd share anyway.

NikL

Posts by NikL

Finally LeftI am trying to relearn the Bible. I do not read the NWT - that is for sure.

Finally Left
I am trying to relearn the Bible. I do not read the NWT - that is for sure.