Posts by peacefulpete

5

It Is Impossible for the governing body to be under The New Covenant. Jeremiah 31

by objectivetruth in

according to the insight book on the topic : "the house of israel".

"all the descendants of jacob, collectively, at any one time.

as the offspring and descendants of jacobs 12 sons, they were quite often called the sons of israel; less often, the house of israel, the people of israel, the men of israel, the state of israel, or the israelites.

peacefulpete

Something perhaps as old as 'prophecy' is the reinterpretation of prophecy when it fails. There was a crisis of faith when Babylon pillaged the Temple and the exile occurred. Some prophets promised a restoration and unprecedented national glory for Judah/Israel. Reality however was something different. Repeatedly those that clung to aspirations of national glory were crushed by Greeks and Romans.

As I see it there were two steps to the Christian reinterpretation of promises of prophets of the Exile,

1.For promises to "Israel" be selectively fulfilled (only the 'chosen holy' among the Jews would be 'real' Jews and miraculously get rewarded with glory to rule the nations of the world), such as we see in Qumran and Daniel and Enoch.

2. Once the words "Jew" and "Israel" had taken on a cultic meaning it was free to be further Interpreted. Non-Jews too could be counted as the 'real' Jews. Paul seems to have been an early promoter of this

30

Is it just me, or is Watchtower lowering its standards?

by ukpimo in

in the past, we used to hear talks on:.

avoiding sexual immorality and porn, as well as masturbation and other sexual practices.

why evolution cannot possibly be true.

peacefulpete

Two things came to my mind after reading this thread.

1. The ex-wife who sees the husband treat his second with more kindness who then gets angry because of his changes.

2 The Gospel story of Pharisees harshing on Jesus for not shunning sinners.

I'm sure some of you are simply noticing changes that surprise you and do not intend to sound negative about that; but if you really have a problem with the church becoming incrementally less controlling and judgmental, ask yourself why.

18

Unlocking Hidden Meanings: A Fresh Look at the Creation of Eve

by TimWexler in

hello!i am an independent scholar and researcher with a deep curiosity for ancient cultures and texts.

i do not adhere to any religious tradition, but my passion for understanding the mysteries of our past has led me to explore biblical stories in depth.

my particular interest lies in the original hebrew text of the bible, which i find fascinating both as literature and as a source of historical riddles.i recently completed a study that might change the way you perceive some well-known biblical stories.

peacefulpete

Tim is a science fiction writer according to his facebook page. I think he might have a knack.

Tim Wexler | Facebook

28

Pre-Nicene christians and the trinity

by joey jojo in

this is just a quick summary that might be useful regarding the threads about the trinity currently on the board.. in 325 ce, the nicene council was called by constantine to settle schisms within the christian church.

the argument about the nature of jesus in relation to god was one of the big problems that needed resolution.

at first, constantine told the 2 main players, alexander and arius to sort it out between themselves, as he, constantine didnt see it as overly important.

peacefulpete

Anony mous....I think you are correct. What was called Arianism was essentially a logos theology. An attempt to bridge the Logos of Philo et al with a historized understanding of the Jesus of the Gospels. I also liked your comment regarding the psychological underpinnings of the Trinity. It makes sense to understand your a singular deity as all things, Wise and Fatherly, Vital and powerful, and pervasive and omnipresent. Giving faces to those aspects is how humans understand things. We make models and symbols to conceptualize intangibles.

JWs unknowingly have done the same, they just dumbed it down. Either, or should I say any, conceptualization of deities will suffer from scrutiny and rational analysis, because they are the product of poets and diviners, not scientists.

28

Pre-Nicene christians and the trinity

by joey jojo in

this is just a quick summary that might be useful regarding the threads about the trinity currently on the board.. in 325 ce, the nicene council was called by constantine to settle schisms within the christian church.

the argument about the nature of jesus in relation to god was one of the big problems that needed resolution.

at first, constantine told the 2 main players, alexander and arius to sort it out between themselves, as he, constantine didnt see it as overly important.

peacefulpete

Funny how the pagans came up with the trinity beliefs first well before the Christians. So it's not a new belief the Christian just copied their pagan cousins.

Touchofgrey....can't the same be said for everything? God having sons, some of whom were thought to have walked on earth, for example.

28

Pre-Nicene christians and the trinity

by joey jojo in

this is just a quick summary that might be useful regarding the threads about the trinity currently on the board.. in 325 ce, the nicene council was called by constantine to settle schisms within the christian church.

the argument about the nature of jesus in relation to god was one of the big problems that needed resolution.

at first, constantine told the 2 main players, alexander and arius to sort it out between themselves, as he, constantine didnt see it as overly important.

peacefulpete

It was like attendees at a Star Wars convention voting which episode was the best. Oh, and agreeing that Star Wars is way better than Star Trek and Dr. Who.

28

Pre-Nicene christians and the trinity

by joey jojo in

this is just a quick summary that might be useful regarding the threads about the trinity currently on the board.. in 325 ce, the nicene council was called by constantine to settle schisms within the christian church.

the argument about the nature of jesus in relation to god was one of the big problems that needed resolution.

at first, constantine told the 2 main players, alexander and arius to sort it out between themselves, as he, constantine didnt see it as overly important.

peacefulpete

The council itself involved a narrow selection of attendees with views within the burgeoning Catholic church. These views did not include various adoptionist, docetic Christologies or most relevantly, Logos theology.

"Logos-theology which taught a two-stage existence for the Logos: He always existed inside God but became a separate Being - a distinct Reality - when God decided to create." wiki

171

Alteration of Revelation 3:14 in the 4th century to support the emerging Trinity doctrine

by slimboyfat in

in an earlier thread another poster asserted that there is no evidence that revelation 3:14 played a part in the 4th controversy that led to the trinity doctrine.

this was claimed as evidence that the description of jesus as “the beginning of the creation of god” in the verse was not understood to mean that jesus was god’s first creation.

the scholarly greek–english lexicon of the new testament & other early christian literature 3e (2001) by bauer, arndt, gingrich, and danker, in its latest edition states that “first creation” is indeed the probable meaning of the greek phrase.

peacefulpete

This exercise has at least demonstrated the futility of debating doctrine with a church that has had 1800 years of eisegesis practice. JWs are amateurs by comparison.

171

Alteration of Revelation 3:14 in the 4th century to support the emerging Trinity doctrine

by slimboyfat in

in an earlier thread another poster asserted that there is no evidence that revelation 3:14 played a part in the 4th controversy that led to the trinity doctrine.

this was claimed as evidence that the description of jesus as “the beginning of the creation of god” in the verse was not understood to mean that jesus was god’s first creation.

the scholarly greek–english lexicon of the new testament & other early christian literature 3e (2001) by bauer, arndt, gingrich, and danker, in its latest edition states that “first creation” is indeed the probable meaning of the greek phrase.

peacefulpete

deleted by me, because what's the point.

10

What Is The Purpose Of YORWW Having A Creed & The Forty (40) Basic, Fundamental Truth Requirement?

by Littleleslie in

what is the purpose of yorww having a creed & the forty (40) basic, fundamental truth requirement?.

many people have wondered about the above question and our stand on the forty (40) basic, fundamental truths, and why we make it a requirement for individual jehovah's witnesses to believe these ideas before...before they can join our five (5) discussion boards.well, its called the yorww congregation, isn't it?its a congregation of like believers and persons of like faith.

(matthew 18:20) so they are supposed to agree on their beliefs, exactly as first century christians agreed upon their beliefs.

peacefulpete

Again just a $40 book to save yourself, what a deal.