i find it extremely amusing how each year is passing without armageddon.
"for the year 2000, i visualize a world transformed into a beautiful paradise!
but i don't think that either the present world or its rulers will live to see that day.. we are living in the last days of the system of things.
When I first came to the understanding that all the End Time prophecies, including Armageddon, were supposed to have been fulfilled shortly after the time the Bible Writers wrote their nonsense, I wondered how long the Org. could keep the "it is sooooo close" tripe going, but they now alternate between calling for patience, and elsewhere still imply The End is near !
Poor deluded fools, there is no Armageddon to come, no End Times to come, ALL THOSE PROPHECIES FAILED !!!
the so called apostates of first century later became the catholic church.
these apostates like saint athanasius, theologian, ecclesiastical statesman, and egyptian national leader decided which books would be part of the bible.
we are now following what they decided.
"Has anyone done research on canonization of the Bible? Would love to know more."
Our very own "Doug Mason" on here wrote an excellent Paper on exactly that, if you search his Threads you will find it. Doug's research, conclusions and links etc are second to none, he specifically asks the pertinent questions of J.W org . on this matter.
this has been announced on the jw's official website, in the "jw news" section.
this is not a joke.
anthony moron da turd is out as a gluttonous body member!
Smiddy 3, you are spot on, J.W's love to gossip, so we will have to carefully sort through all the stories that will come out, but in a situation where so many know, it is bound to come out, we hope from a verifiable source.
But like everyone, I am intrigued as to what it was that did for the old boy !
a jw friend and i used to frequent a local restaurant together so often that if one of us showed up the waiter/owner would ask if the other was coming as well.
today i went there for lunch.
he asked if ??
" some don't think you should say you are no longer a witness, but I don't think that way "
I wonder why they think that ?? I suppose if you are "faded" you might be careful, in case the elders built a case about you, but for me, even though "faded" only, I decided years ago I had complete freedom of speech and will say what I want, where and to whoever I want.
I wanted to remove EVERY hold they had over me. And I've done it.
yesterday, my dad told me an older sister passed away.
she wasn't too old (in her 60s), but i knew her 30 years ago and haven't seen her in 15 years; the main reason being that i faded 10 years ago.. yesterday, i seriously considered attending the funeral and catch-up with old jws i used to know.
after thinking it over, i decided against it.
"All to say that even after 10 years of freedom, I'm reminded that I'm not truly free from that cult."
That is the problem, they have set things up that way. I have the same feelings as you about attending funerals of old JW acquaintances. But partly due to having been out longer than you, and my family circumstances, I really do not give a crap if they decided to DF me now, I don't think they would anyway, but I will attend a funeral if I want to, and see what happens.
All the best to you, but what a nasty Cult they are, to be able to still make you feel that way !
for a christian, only the moral commandments of the old testament are binding (as they cannot change), but the various liturgical, social, and other so-called casuistic laws no longer apply to them.
this includes dietary habits, such as the prohibition of pork or fat, as well as the prohibition of blood.. take a look at the following verses: mt 15:11, mk 7:15-19, acts 11:7-9, 1 tim 4:3-5.. the jehovah's witnesses say that, yes, but in the acts of the apostles (15) the consumption of blood, idol meat, and strangled animals is also prohibited, meaning the new testament still forbids it.
for catholics, the council of florence settled this issue, stating that this apostolic regulation was only a temporary measure to facilitate agreement between jews and gentiles in the early church.
" Acts 15* was about the apostles peeling away the Law and seeing what remains."
Exactly, what remains of a dietary instruction/law ! And the Council of Florence, mentioned in the O.P. had it right, it was a temporary, pragmatic 1st Century thing. The J. W org have got this blood business SO wrong, with devastating and lethal consequences, so unnecessary, so Evil.
* The consensus of modern N.T scholars is that Acts is mainly Fictional, so in all probability that "Council" to decide on what to eat, did not take place in real life anyway ! yet J.W's , and this is horrendous, their children, are STILL dying because of their crap interpretation!
"a number of techniques employed to mislead others fall under the category of weasel words, and this article quotes examples that are regularly found in watchtower publications.. weasel words are defined as:.
“words or statements that are intentionally ambiguous or misleading,”[1].
intended “to avoid answering a question clearly or to make someone believe something that is not true."[2].
Weasel words are words and phrases aimed at creating an impression that something specific and meaningful has been said, when in fact only a vague or ambiguous claim has been communicated. Examples include the phrases "some people say", "it is thought", and "researchers believe". Using weasel words may allow one to later deny any specific meaning if the statement is challenged, because the statement was never specific in the first place. It is also called the method of using "Anonymous Authority"
Another one they often used, not exactly fitting the definition above, but with the same intention was "Honest-hearted people.........", I suppose that is more under the heading of "Loaded language", but it is underhanded, and all part of using "Mind Control".
If they had the "Truth" they would not have to use such underhanded methods.
i was reading the thread on female hatred in the wtbts.
it seems that for most posters, paul's sayings in books that no reputable scholar now believes paul wrote are preferred over the nonsexist statements he made.
he named women as important leaders and colleagues.
"to some extent they support the Catholic Church" yes, but the Canon they have in the NWT is the Protestant Canon.
They do not want discussion on why they accept a Canon decided by a Church they say does not preach truth, how then can that Canon be chosen by Big J ? How can we know which Books that are included are "inspired" and which rejected ones are not ? if the choice was by False Teachers ?
The above questions might come to the minds of JW's if they discussed why the Canon they accept is the way it is.
acts chapter 2 clearly shows (in jw minds) that door-door preaching was a must for all converts.
(acts 2:37, 38, 41, 42) “now when they heard this, they were stabbed to the heart, and they said to peter and the rest of the apostles: “men, brothers, what should we do?” peter said to them: “repent, and let each one of you be baptized in the name of jesus christ for forgiveness of your sins, but also, preach to others by knocking on their doors.
...and on that day about 3,000 people were added.
Yea, quite.
Even the Scripture the JW's use to insist they should do that work, Acts 20v20, if you think about it, read it in context, it is not an Instruction on how to conduct a preaching Work, it is Paul saying how he taught the Christians he was talking to, he said he had done so, publicly, in the Synagogue for example, and from "House to House" or "Home to Home", he went to those Christian Acolytes in their own homes, he did not do a blanket door knocking.
i was listening to the news and there is this big brouhaha about someone shooting someone through their front door.
apparently the person tried to open the door of an elderly person, scaring the homeowner and they shot a gun injuring the person.
obvious castle doctrine case.. which made me remember a rather overzealous old pioneer that used the same tactics when he knew the homeowners were home but didn’t want to come to the door, he would start opening the storm doors and try to see if the door was unlocked so he could yell inside.
Off topic as it has gone, but O.K as far as the Title goes, I've just got to tell you the story of what happened with a well known Foot in the Door "brother" when I was kid in the 1950's. Bro. F.I.D from now on.
My dad and I were knocking on a door a few door up from Bro. F.I.D, on a row of 200 year old cottages that had front doors right on the pavement, he seemed to have a good conversation going, he had his body half inside the little cottage, his Bible out and open, and must have said something outrageous as all of a sudden the guy inside gave him a hard shove, and slammed the door, Bro F.I.D fell backwards on to the pavement, a surprised look on his face, and dad burst out laughing.
What made dad and me laugh even more was, Bro F.I.D had placed his briefcase inside the cottage, and had to knock on the door to get it back, the guy threw it at him ! I thought all this was hilarious, being about 7 at the time, but was bit surprised that dad did, but he explained to me that he had warned Bro FID about putting his foot in the door a few days before !
