clement of alexandria.
the stromata, or miscellanies.
book vi.
Just a comment on the Thread title, I notice that Christians were not encouraged to read the works of various Romans and others, who ridiculed and belittled the Christian Religion, and pointed out the flaws in it.
A bit like another certain Cult that we know too well, who forbid there members to research where they may, (will), come across similar lampooning , and more, those dreaded "Apostate Sites".
a problem for all who come to realize that our faith is just another manmade religion, is that we start questioning everything we've previously believed.
where ultimately its possible to spiral down past believing in the bible, to the point of questioning god's actual existence.however while some may be happy to think of themselves now as atheists or agnostics (which i doubt that most really are, as living with the full mental and emotional consequences of being one is a lot harder than most understand), i don't think it is necessary to abandon being a spiritual person.
while others might like the idea of drifting into a modern animistic philosophy (which rather conveniently excludes personal accountability), the keeping of the core teachings of jesus has historically proven to give many people a balanced and practical moral code to live by.but what is meant by the term: 'the core teachings of jesus'?interestingly many thinkers from the enlightenment period of the late 1700s, had similar a question.
There are so many things in your O.P that are either plain wrong, or not explained with sufficient nuance.
Of course, every sane and realistic person should question what they believe, or you continue on through life believing lies and nonsense. If what you believe is Truth, it will withstand ANY scrutiny ! Truth is only established upon irrefutable facts and Evidence.
Once a person becomes a non-believer, in religious nonsense, including gods, it is not a problem, as you describe, " living with the full mental and emotional consequences of being one is a lot harder than most understand ", except at first, very soon the relief of Freedom of Mind, being a Realist, and expunging baseless fears, is so immensely wonderful, that first feeling soon fades !
I was a full on Bible believing J.W for 58 years, from birth,only when I reached the stage outlined above, after a year or two from when I initially "woke up", did I experience True Happiness, for the first time in my life !
things got a bit lively after the agm leaks in october.
there was a lot of discussion going on on this board for a few months.
now that all the leaks have been more or less confirmed as policy, and we've had lively discussions at length concerning the changes, things seem to have slowed down here.. a few suggestions have been raised as to what might be the next changes, such as women being allowed to wear slacks (in the usa, anyway), decoupling from 1914 as an anchoring date and others.. so, what changes do you think will be announced this year?.
Thank you SO MUCH TXnvSue2023 !
That Link to the List by year was EXACTLY what I was looking for,earlier today, to challenge a JW on Quora who said they hadn't made any fundamental changes, I gave him a list off the top of my head, but THAT will floor him if he comes back to me, which I doubt now.
Back on Topic, the 1914 thing is something they have to modify even more than they have, they have tried getting it to "fade" LOL, and that succeeded to the degree that J.W's today could not explain it to a member of the public, "Go to our Website" would be their response, but with the Internet which explodes the nonsense that the actual year 1914 can be pinpointed from any Bible "prophecy" in just a click or two, they have to hide what they said before, but keep the idea we are in the End of the Last Days, there only way of retaining members at present.
But the "Last Days"nonsense is as tenuous, or more so, in one way than 1914 ! In the Gospel Jesus said that those standing there listening to him would see it all happen, his "return" etc. It didn't , and to look for a "Greater Fulfillment"of an already obviously failed prophecy, is just plain SILLY !!
w93 11/1 p. 32 - "today, there has to exist a people, not just scattered individuals, who fit jesus’ description of true christians and who make god’s name manifest.".
and here was i thinking that true christians had to proclaim jesus' name!!!
matthew 10:18; mark 13:9; luke 24:48; john 1:15; john 5:37; john 8:18; john 15:26, 27; acts 1:8; acts 9:15; acts 10:39; acts 10:43; acts 13:31; acts 22:15; acts 22:20; acts 23:11; acts 26:16; 1 corinthians 1:6; 1 timothy 2:6, 7; 2 timothy 1:8; 1 john 5:9; revelation 1:9; revelation 12:17; revelation 17:6; revelation 19:10; revelation 20:4. how could the faithful evil slave get something so important, so wrong?.
Is that new version of the "No True Scotsman " Fallacy ?
clement of alexandria.
the stromata, or miscellanies.
book vi.
P.S shows in the post above yours, quite clearly, that "Luke" was very likely a convert to Judaism, and then to Christianity according to what he writes.
there is a new trinity teaching that says jesus is a separate person but at the same time all three are one.. https://youtu.be/jdok0gedjau?si=bbdwoprdpzvzwkfz.
this is basically the same as watchtower teach that jesus is so much like his father in every way that you could almost call them the same.. things have changed from when i was pioneering with the old trinity brochure.
" JWs are often too afraid to purchase or read one of Christendom's or Judaism's Bibles for fear "evil" or academia might "rub off" on them--but they would just learn the above if they did. "
You have touched there P.S. upon how deep the mind control goes. This was sadly my experience to a degree. From an early age I wished to gain a greater understanding of the Scriptures, and so purchased Commentaries on every Bible Book, and was not afraid to read them, but being a born-in, the mind control made me dismiss the obvious, and not draw correct conclusions.
For example, I had a couple of Commentaries on "Daniel", both pointed out that it was written just prior to 164 BCE, but my indoctrinated mind dismissed that as wrong ! very sadly. I do think that reading those Scholarly Books helped in my gradual awakening though.
It was only a short time after my initial Epiphany that I began to take as the default position that the JW org. view on any Scripture was wrong, and work back from that position, rarely was my default position confounded !
The Org's Eisegetical approach to Scripture means they ARE wrong about "Michael" and most other things, and their explanation of the Divinity of Christ is far from nuanced or full, and they do not seem to understand, or pretend not to, what the Trinity Doctrine is and why the Church Fathers and later others eventually, naturally, based upon Scripture, brought it about.
there is a new trinity teaching that says jesus is a separate person but at the same time all three are one.. https://youtu.be/jdok0gedjau?si=bbdwoprdpzvzwkfz.
this is basically the same as watchtower teach that jesus is so much like his father in every way that you could almost call them the same.. things have changed from when i was pioneering with the old trinity brochure.
For those interested in more on Leviathan, and the Chaos Conflict Myth, then this great thread by the Poster "Leolaia" is informative, she no longer Posts here sadly.
https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/68098/skinny-on-leviathan-rahab-monsters
i know that a lot of historical names have claimed to be a god.
but, jesus arguably claimed to be god.
scripture says he's the creator.
" It is obvious that Jesus is Jehovah God's only-begotten son. also called only-begotten god. " You are using the VERY POOR N.W.T version of the Bible evidently, .....to prove a point ?
You really MUST try harder !
clement of alexandria.
the stromata, or miscellanies.
book vi.
You almost sound, P.S, as though you view the "Church Fathers" as some sort of Authoritative arbiters of what is Canonical Scripture and Doctrine that carry weight ?
Or am I reading too much in to your words ?
what does jump the shark mean?.
the phrase “jump the shark” is a term in pop culture that originated from the tv show “happy days” and is used to describe a decline in quality.
it refers to the moment when a tv show or other product has reached its peak and starts to decline in quality.
I have always loved Monty Python, and my favourite Movie of all is "The Life of Brian" , which shows the M.P. Team's erudition, and satirical and comic skills, at their very best.
I long to live long enough to point out to one of the few, by then, remaining J.W. John Cleese type Salesmen, that what they are purveying is indeed a "Dead Parrot" !
