this short thread addresses the often-repeated legend that christians fled jerusalem to pella and escaped the destruction of jerusalem.
the legend is based upon two 4th century comments.. .
the whole body, however, of the church at jerusalem, having been commanded by a divine revelation given to men of approved piety there before the war, removed from the city to a certain town beyond the jordan called pella.
Thanks once again for a fascinating and informative Thread P.P.
Having been aware for a long time that the Gospel of Mark was a work of Fiction in the main, but of the Gospel Genre, it has also been long in my mind that this "Prophecy" was written after the event, using the methodology of the Writer of Daniel, but to have it confirmed that this was a very late interpolation is satisfying.
Thinking on it, Luke 21v21 must be a late interpolation too ?
this is the watchtower study article being studied today.
so it’s the current new light!.
what are the new qualifications to be an “elder-aka older man...and circuit overseer?.
In a chat I had the other day with one of my sons, he told me he went for a drink with two old J.W friends, one lad is out completely, and his lovely wife was never a J.W. The other lad is sort of physically in, as he runs a business with some J.W's in, so goes along to "keep up appearances".
He told my son of all the ones who were around their age that have left, and of the many that are PIMO, who just show up at a Meeting about once a Month !
No wonder they are running out of people to do all the actual boring tasks, that are beneath Elders to do.
there have been a few exjw circuit overseers that have woken up, left the organization and have posted their experience on exjwreddit.
all of them deleted their accounts not long after for fear someone might figure out who they were.
it’s not easy waking up as a circuit overseer.
Back when I was in a few C.O's I knew were DF'd for "Sin".
But one notable one, who I will not name, was a youngish guy, who obviously Woke Up and walked away, I do not know if any action was taken against him, and his wife remained a J.W, at least for a short while.
He was a fantastic Speaker, anywhere, he regularly of course gave Talks at Circuit Conventions but regularly at the national ones too ! His voice had a pleasing timbre, his accent was wonderful, and he imbued all his talks with a powerful and moving message.
So when he left it caused a stir. He then went on to run a successful Business for many years, wise chap ! I knew him well, and he was a lovely guy, and funny too !
At one Circuit Convention, he sat behind me, and during the talk lent forward and whispered in my ear " Phizzy, why is your head SO big ? " LOL, it is, and he could barely see the Platform !
the police have started an investigation where a woman has courageously come forward about her sexual abuse by a former elder, who had a record of doing such things with the local congregation, and i think it was all covered up.
they have charged him, he is claiming he is not mentally fit to appear in court, i hope that lie does not hold up !.
this case was unknown to the local elders, but hopefully will now give the strength for other women, who were all very young and very vulnerable at the time , to come forward as well.
" Any newspaper links to this event yet?".
I could find nothing at all about it on-line anywhere, I searched Newspaper Sites, Village News Sites, and the two Police Sites. The Kent one, and the local one they have for where the K.H is located, nothing.
I did not expect to find anything on the Police Sites, they usually only Report when someone is Jailed.
The J.W's will obviously try to keep a lid on it, and will have been told by the Police to do so, so as not to prejudice any Case.
i recall reading that daniel 12 verse 12 ( 12 blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.
), was claimed to have been fulfilled by the cedar point ohio convention in 1922.. can anybody recall which publications this claim was published in please?.
or even better, a screen shot.
I think the original "Revelation-its Grand Climax Book" had this insane nonsense in it, but it may have been changed later ?
They studied that trash about three times in the old Home based Group Studies !
the police have started an investigation where a woman has courageously come forward about her sexual abuse by a former elder, who had a record of doing such things with the local congregation, and i think it was all covered up.
they have charged him, he is claiming he is not mentally fit to appear in court, i hope that lie does not hold up !.
this case was unknown to the local elders, but hopefully will now give the strength for other women, who were all very young and very vulnerable at the time , to come forward as well.
The Police have started an Investigation where a woman has courageously come forward about her Sexual Abuse by a former Elder, who had a record of doing such things with the Local Congregation, and I think it was all covered up. They have Charged him, he is claiming he is not mentally fit to appear in Court, I hope that Lie does not hold up !
This Case was unknown to the local Elders, but hopefully will now give the strength for other women, who were all very young and very vulnerable at the time , to come forward as well. One girl he got pregnant !
The Police Raided the Kingdom Hall, here in Kent U.K, at a time they knew at least some J.W's were there, and opened the K.H Safe, after entering by all three access doors, they would have had to force the two to the rear, as they lock as soon as closed, and can only be opened from the inside, but they burst in at the same time from all three entrances.
They would not have found in the Safe any Records about this guy of course, but can maybe get hold of any the Congregation has held on him, that have not been destroyed as the G.B instructed them to do.
This guy used to pick on girls with a bad home life, or were mentally unstable, or vulnerable in any way, take them in to his home to "straighten them out", whereas it is known, in reality, he used to Groom them, as a Paedophile does, I do not think he picked on anyone under the Age of Consent, 16, but maybe he did.
I shall watch as this unfolds, and Report back as things develop !
this information is supposed to be in the upcoming march wt.
(i don’t go on jw dot org).
it would sound like they are hinting at a change in thinking.. in my opinion, any such change would be yet another slap in the face to faithful pimis along with those other recent changes.. there are so many heartfelt responses on that thread and a lot of justified anger.. don’t know what to say except that i’m so glad i never listened to the religion all those years ago.
I am so pleased that I took no notice of the 1975 hype, it was all supposed to be over by October '75.
In August '75 I started my private pension, if I didn't have that, my standard of living would be very low, on just the paltry State Pension we get in the U.K.
Of course i ignored any End Times crap over the years until I walked away for good, putting more in to my private pension as I could afford to do so.
The J.W Org. has a lot to answer for !
does anyone have access to the list that shows which congregations are assigned to each convention in the uk.
would really like the 2024 list if anyone has it.. thanks in advance.
adam.
A 2025 list will be helpful to me as the info. .becomes available, I like to go out for a meal when I know J.W's won't be there, going early on Memorial Night guarantees that of course !
as someone who never grew up in the shadow of the wt, i love reading accounts of people who began to wake up and think that the wt wasn't all that it represents itself to be*.
and especially when they see that the things that they were told to avoid were harmless at worst, and quite often fun.
christmas is a prime example.
Ba Humbug ! a Bribie ?
as someone who never grew up in the shadow of the wt, i love reading accounts of people who began to wake up and think that the wt wasn't all that it represents itself to be*.
and especially when they see that the things that they were told to avoid were harmless at worst, and quite often fun.
christmas is a prime example.
Our Christmas Meal, when we were J.W's, had always been the traditional one, Turkey another meat or two, all the veg and lovely roasted potatoes, accompanied by a lot of Booze !
All the family got together, in-laws, some came from overseas, and it was a real Family Meal.
But after we left in a short time we began putting up Christmas lights, and giving presents. It was a few years before we actually put up a tree, I was careful in those early days, my close J.W relatives , those who lived nearby, often popped in, in those days. I was not careful over other things, as soon as I left I began to Vote, and to donate Blood, and other non-J.W approved things.
One day my darling little grandson walked in to our house a week or two before Christmas, and said "Why haven't you got a Christmas Tree ? " , his mum loved Christmas and Birthdays, still does, she was never a J.W. And I thought to myself " Yes ! why not ?", so I went out and bought one, and all the stuff to decorate it.
By that time I had got to the stage of not giving a damn if the Elders Disfellowshipped me. And I began to feel "Yes, I am now REALLY free of the Org. they no longer have any power over me ! ".
Any of the possible actions by the Elders didn't happen, which is great, as I am free to have normal contact with J.W. family.
The non-JW family always came to our House, as we had lots of room for everybody, so when my grandson arrived, there was the Tree, resplendent with lights and everything, he looked at the tree, and back at me, and gave a nod of approval, which amused me, it was so adult !
In the following years I bought ever bigger Trees, one was too big at over seven feet tall, and had to be trimmed, but it did look wonderful !
A Happy and Merry Christmas to all !
