february 2023 study watchtower: .
p. 16, par.
5 - ”when we base our discussions on material published by jehovah’s organization, (not the bible!
The Watchtower freely admits it is made up of imperfect men. This is as good as it gets for an apology for getting it wrong. The fact remains - the Watchtower gets it wrong.
So, the only source Witnesses are to get information from is basically a crap shoot. At the same time they claim that their salvation is based on obeying the Watchtower. It is like going to a blind surgeon for a lifesaving medical procedure. Good luck with that!
what are some of the red flags that should alert people to the fact that jehovah's witnesses are a high control and damaging religion?.
one that comes to mind is.
1. one cannot leave jehovah's witnesses with one's reputation intact.
Jehovah's Witnesses claim to be a Christian religion, but the their core doctrine is salvation through obedience to 8 men in New York and not the blood of Jesus.
so i grew up as a witness but i’m no longer active, i have some family that still practices very seriously.
but i don’t want to ask them my question.
but what does the bible and teaching’s of jw’s say about early hominids?
First, the Watchtower denies there are any other Homo species. I recall literature basically claiming the evidence of Homo species outside Homo Sapiens is extremely limited ("Doesn't fill the bottom of a funeral casket") and is all make-believe. So, that is the Watchtower.
There have been at least 6, maybe up to 21, species of human starting with Homo Erectus. Neanderthal is a recent species of human separate from Homo Sapiens (that's us). Homo Sapiens first appeared in Africa and the Middle East while Neanderthal first appeared in Eurasia.
thousands of years ago .. genesis chapter 11: 1-9 and how god was affected by what man planned to do ?.
build a tower into the heavens ?
their is no end to what he may acheive having only one language .. today, in the year 2022.. not only are modern skyscrapers taller than anything that could have been built with the tower of babel in bible times ,but what is acheivable today in space far exceeds anything that could have been acheived back then.. and god / jehovah is silent ?.
The story of the Tower of Babel is proof that the god of the Bible cheated in an attempt to win. The writer specifically puts into words at Genesis 11:6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. - NIV
What would be impossible for them? NOTHING!!!
i’ve been visiting this site for quite a long time, although i rarely posted.
i would like to thank simon and all the participants, for the valuable information and support that is available here, for anyone searching about the jw organization.. just a brief introduction of myself: i live in europe (english is not my native language, so please bear with any mistakes i make).
i was born in a jw family and i’m still in the organization, but i’ve been “on the fence” about leaving the organization for quite a long time.
So I would first like to ask if anyone who was raised as a jw and left the organization, would like to share how easy or difficult this transition was.
I did not consider leaving until I was in a situation were I was unable to regularly attend meetings for work. I stopped studying, reading Watchtower publications, and going in field service. Then I missed months worth of consecutive meetings.
Then came a move to another state. Now I was isolated from former friends and family. I had already started relying on co-workers who befriended me instead of Witnesses.
Here is how I would look at the whole situation -
the watchtower—study edition | march 2022. study article 12. do you see what zechariah saw?.
11. what challenges do some of jehovah’s worshippers face today?.
11 change is challenging for many of us.
Some who served in a form of special full-time service for a long time have received a change of assignment. Others have had to relinquish a cherished privilege because of their age. It is normal to feel disappointed when such a change affects us. Initially, we may not fully understand the decision or agree with it.
Let's go through this word salad -
Some who served in a form of special full-time service for a long time have received a change of assignment. Translation: The now defunct District Overseer assignment and other assignments that received full financial support were cut due to corporate downsizing.
Others have had to relinquish a cherished privilege because of their age. Translation: Bethel volunteers who took an oath of poverty and relied 100% on the Watchtower were thrown out into the cold streets. These volunteers aged-out and would have been a financial burden to the Watchtower.
Initially, we may not fully understand the decision or agree with it. Translation: You have seen the injustice and question the Watchtower's claim in being God's chosen spokes piece.
according to the bible, there was dissention in heaven or god’s kingdom.
in god’s own courtyard, the factors existed for such, that perfect creations morphed into gods’ opposition, even in the presence of the universal creator.
accordingly, they are still at it, hell bent on destroying all.. here is my question; how is it that the creation thinks they can win a war with the universal creator?
One possible explanation is that the illuminated serpent is not the bad guy in the story.
The serpent in the Garden of Eden story was not a literal snake. The Hebrew word for serpent also translates into the idea of to question. In other words, Eve in the story questioned what Adam had told her about the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Remember that historically the Jews did not have a character Satan the Devil until much later in their history. In the Old Testament the word that modern Bibles translate into Satan is a legal term, accuser. This would be the modern English equivalent to courtroom prosecutor.
Budbayview - Your question is as important as it is valid. Any spirit creation had direct access to the Almighty God of the Bible. They knew his scope and power. Any rebellion was an automatic death sentence with no hope of forgiveness.
Speaking from logic and reason, if the Bible were true, the only possibilities I can come to a conclusion are -
did you know, (said with a michael caine voice) that many of the uk's pedestrian crossing consoles - upon which you find the button to press in order to cross - actually have a concealed button which is located underneath the console and out of sight!.
when the 'green man' lights up, the hidden button then rotates, letting people who are blind and deaf have a physical alert to know that it's now safe to cross the road..
To use your Michael Caine voice you just have to start any conversation with "Hello. I'm Michael Caine."
probably, the greatest advocacy for the gospels is the jw publication: the greatest man that ever lived.
it convinced me.. everything else that the bible says about the resurrection and eternal life logically follows.. the testimony of a “witness” in court matters only if it is observation not commentary ( expert witness is also commentary): what did you see, what did you hear, what is the magnitude of your measurement.
not, are you convinced; that is only belief.
Fisherman:
Your opinion on eye-witness testimony holds a many truths. Once again, examine the facts about the Gospels -
They were written by anonymous authors.
Now consider this -
The Almighty of the Universe decides that a book should be written over a span of centuries. These words are supposed to be inspired and true. However, that same Almighty One does absolutely nothing to ensure that these books are copied accurately over the centuries for future generations to come to have accurate accounts of what happened and what was said.
The modern Bible is riddled with errors simply from copying copies of copies over and over again. For what reason would a perfect god who demands perfection allow its sacred texts to be made imperfect by human hands? Not to mention that those who took responsibility on the deciding after the fact to exclude scriptures from the Bible violated Revelation 22:18-19 and that most of the Bible is a violations of Deuteronomy 4:2.
i am genuinely curious and mainly posting this for research purposes, i do not have enough knowledge on either of these subjects to debate them in any useful manner.. (this information is as far as i am aware and may be incorrect in places)as most know the nwt is known for placing a form of the divine name in the nt (new testament) - while i agree the evidence is significantly weak for it too appear in the nt, a few things must be considered - (from my limited research)rev references the name twice (3:12, 14:1)early copies of the lxx contain the divine name (likely the versions that the nt writers copied?
stafford has a couple of videos on this subject)it was emphasized over and over the name [divine name, which ever form you prefer] would be "known" (other words used aswell) forever - if this is true, why then go against your own message in some cases and replace it with a surrogate?some also claim the nwt is dishonest for not translating some occurrences of "lord" as the divine name - common ones i notice are: phil 2:10-11, 1pe 3:14-15, heb 1:10yet these all use "lord" as a title not a proper noun, seems to be staunch trinitarians who make this claim most oftenscholar qualifications:why does a scholars qualification's matter?
sounds dumb i know.
From the historical standpoint the Israelite deity's name has changed over time.
First there was El -
He was a Canaanite God, worshiped as the Creator of the Universe and husband of Asherah by Northwest Semitic peoples and was also worshiped as the God of Israel, which he later ceased to be as he was considered a "false God". This is due to the fact that he was not an avatar of God like El Shaddai, the Ancient of Days or Allah, but was a descendant of Khaos, a very powerful amoral entity that inhabited the Endless Void before creation.
After Moses founded the worship of Yahweh, unlike Asherah, El and Yahweh began to be considered the same God. After millennia, it is not known what happened to El.
After Israel was conquered by the Assyrians they were exposed to the Zoroastrian religion and adopted the concept of monotheism. El had become YHWH.
