That is as you rightly say, Eisegesis, reading in to Texts what is not there ! Exactly what the J.W Org. does, they are far from alone in this of course.
Posts by Phizzy
-
74Doctrines and Bible Interpretations
by IWant2Know ini would like to know if ex's and formers who are not church christians, believe that many of jws' doctrines and bible interpretations are correct, or do you feel that they aren't?
.
-
-
-
62
So what happens next...
by Farmer Jim1 inwith what is arguably the biggest change to jw life in recent decades (the scrapping of publishers counting hours) what does this lead to?.
in my mind these are the results;.
1) a massive decrease in 'preaching hours'.
-
-
Phizzy
I can understand all that has been said,and the reasons fro the Org's moves, but all they have in reality is a Cash Flow problem, they are still quite Asset Rich, the Cash Flow problem I cannot see them solving,unless they bring in Tithing.
-
74
Doctrines and Bible Interpretations
by IWant2Know ini would like to know if ex's and formers who are not church christians, believe that many of jws' doctrines and bible interpretations are correct, or do you feel that they aren't?
.
-
-
Phizzy
Interpretation of Ancient Texts is only properly done by appreciating the milieu in which the Writer lived,hence his cultural background and Theology etc. and then we can understand what was in his mind, and what was not. We need to ask too, what did he wish his readers, his contemporaries, to understand his words to mean ?
Only then can we get a real understanding, i.e by the proper use of Exegesis.
Looking at things like Ancient Texts through the wrong end of the Telescope, with a 21st Century "eye" is silly, as is making assumptions first such as the Biblical Works are the "Word of God" in some way.
The way the J.W Org. "interprets" the Bible is just plain wrong, ignorant in the extreme, and very childish and VERY silly !
-
8
Smoking
by NotFormer inis it likely to be removed from the list of disfellowshippable offences?
given that the ban on smoking 🚬 is completely unbiblical*, might they ever remove it?.
*even mainstream christianity can only come up with one verse "against" it, the one that says that the body is the temple of the holy spirit.
-
-
Phizzy
YHWH/Jehovah loved the smell of cannabis, the Priests burned it on the alter in the Temple.
-
40
A Modest proposal to solve the 1914 problem
by r51785 inthroughout watchtower history dates have been a problem.
the usual solution for failed prophetic dates has been to kick the can down the road.
this needs to be done with 1914. the generation that will never pass away is now 110 years old and therefore is past its useful life span.
-
-
Phizzy
All credible moves, but still utter twaddle with regard to the last Article, the prophecies of Jesus were all supposed to have occurred, according to his words in the Gospels, within the lifetimes of those right there listening to his words !
To look for a fulfillment of a prophecy that has already failed in one major feature is totally laughable.
-
44
2023 Yearly Report UNDER the Microscope
by raymond frantz inhttps://youtu.be/pi7sn2rnrke?si=lnvklqct6nuayv2q.
branches of jehovah’s witnesses: 85 (= down one from 86 from the previous year and quite possibly they are referring to the hong kong bethel that closed down recently).
number of lands reporting: 239 ( =the same as 2022).
-
-
Phizzy
Even J.W's who only recently died in the last few years would be astounded at what the org. has become !
-
40
A Modest proposal to solve the 1914 problem
by r51785 inthroughout watchtower history dates have been a problem.
the usual solution for failed prophetic dates has been to kick the can down the road.
this needs to be done with 1914. the generation that will never pass away is now 110 years old and therefore is past its useful life span.
-
-
Phizzy
It will be interesting to see what utter twaddle they come up with next, or they may decide to simply let it die, the 1914 type crap, as they did with Rutherford's 1925 rubbish.
But hey, we are still in the very last seconds of the Last Day !
-
40
A Modest proposal to solve the 1914 problem
by r51785 inthroughout watchtower history dates have been a problem.
the usual solution for failed prophetic dates has been to kick the can down the road.
this needs to be done with 1914. the generation that will never pass away is now 110 years old and therefore is past its useful life span.
-
-
Phizzy
The 1914 Doctrine is complete and utter bollocks from start to finish, start = 607 BCE which has been totally discredited as a date for the destruction of Jerusalem, King neb. was not even ruling then ! It has been proven by several methods that are irrefutable evidence that the destruction the Org. refers to happened in 587 BCE.
The middle idea of the "Prophecy" is bollocks too, no way can you extrapolate 2520 years from Daniel 4 anyway, it is a total fantasy brain-fart idea by William Miller in the early 19th Century, a farm boy and amateur Bible interpreter.
The End, if you start from the proper year, you are in a year when nothing happened of any significance, 1934.
They are stuck with 1914, because : No 1914 = No 1919 Choosing by Jesus = Today's G.B are self-appointed Charlatans.
-
22
The Meaning of ETC
by titch infolks: i don't mean to be a "forum grammar policeman", but there is something that i've noticed a few times.
i've noticed that a few---not all---but some, members of the forum who use the abbreviation "ect" when they want to use the abbreviation of "etc.
" for your education today, the term "etc" is the abbreviation for the latin term "et cetera.
-
-
Phizzy
Titch, yes, that is known in the U.K as the "Greengrocer's Apostrophe", as years ago those guys put out a chalk board with lots of unnecessary Apostrophes !
Phizzy, Apprentice Pedant.
-
44
2023 Yearly Report UNDER the Microscope
by raymond frantz inhttps://youtu.be/pi7sn2rnrke?si=lnvklqct6nuayv2q.
branches of jehovah’s witnesses: 85 (= down one from 86 from the previous year and quite possibly they are referring to the hong kong bethel that closed down recently).
number of lands reporting: 239 ( =the same as 2022).
-
-
Phizzy
On the matter of fudging figures, why do they say "239 Lands" ? I know they list various Territories , but these are not "Lands", there are only 195 Lands in the World.
Again, J.W Org. has its own unique, and wrong, definition of a word. It occurs to me that this is a way of fooling the R&F JW's in to thinking the label they attach to funds "spent" of Worldwide Work is actually literal, when of course, there are many places with very few J.W's, and probably some with none.
Thank you Ray for the O.P. and to all for the other comments since. This Report does nothing to convince me they are doing well in any way, unless you just look at the bald percentage increases and compare with other religious groups with no analysis, and it has done nothing to convince me that the Org. is not moribund.