Jesus Christ has always had people since the time of the apostles who experienced Salvation through faith in Christ alone. The heresy that we must be attached to the Watchtower to have friendship and salvation is an old false teaching, and one that has been unable to extinguish the light of truth, even if was only a dim flicker at times.
Posts by Perry
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63EXACTLY Why JW's Are NOT Christian
by Perry ina lot of people, ex-jws, believers and unbelievers alike, think that jw's are just a somewhat kooky brand of christianity.
is it possible to "try and follow jesus" and not be christian?
what exactly makes someone a christian?
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63
EXACTLY Why JW's Are NOT Christian
by Perry ina lot of people, ex-jws, believers and unbelievers alike, think that jw's are just a somewhat kooky brand of christianity.
is it possible to "try and follow jesus" and not be christian?
what exactly makes someone a christian?
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Perry
paradise beauty,
You may be taking about 1 John 5: 7. I was taught as a JW that this was added by some unnamed monk in the 16th century. No one ever challenged me on this at the doors.
I researched it a few years ago and found plenty of early evidence for this scripture, not only in early biblical manuscripts, but also evidence of 2nd century Christians.
Early manuscript evidence that exists for I John 5: 7,8
Early church writers that used it:
Cyprian 200 - 258 AD. "The Lord says, 'I and the Father are one;' and again it is written of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 'And these three are one'." If Cyprian quotes I John 5:7 from his Bible in 200• 258 AD, it must be a valid reading. His Bible was copied from an older manuscript containing this verse.
Cyprian lived only 100 years after John wrote the book of I John. Cyprian would have had access to the original manuscript to check.
• Priscillian 350 AD, a Spanish bishop quotes I John 5:7,8.
• Idacius Clarus 360 AD, who opposed Priscillian quotes it.
• Varimadum 380 AD.
• Cassiodorus 485 AD.
• Cassian 435 AD.
• Victor Vita 489 AD.
• Jerome 450 AD.
• Fulgentius 533 AD.
• Ps. Vigilius 484 AD.
• Ansbert 660 AD.Early bible versions that include it:
Old Syriac 170 AD.
Old Latin 200 AD, in North Africa and Italy.
Italic 4th and 5th century. – Italic • Monacensis 7th century.
Italic • Speculum 9th century.
Latin Vulgate 4th, 5th century.Greek miniscule manuscripts that include it:
• 221 in the 10th century.(variant).
• 88 in the 12th century.(margin).
• 629 in the 14th century.(Ottobanianus)
• 429 in the 14th century (margin).
• 636 in the 15th century. (margin).
• 61 in the 16th century.(Codex Montfortianus)
• 918 in the 16th century. (an Escorial ms).
• 231 (a Bucharest manuscript).Opusdei Says:
many Christian sects that existed in the first and second century. Christianity is a salad of theologies.
It is pretty easy to determine sound doctrine from the bible by reading what the early Christians wrote about. There will always be miniscule differences on minor issues between people. But, all of the major doctrines were firmly established in the 1st century and passed on to future generations of disciples. When doctrinal threats did occur, it is easy to find out where they came from, and who was the culprit; because Christians wrote a lot against herisies.
I highly recommend this book to determine what was "sound doctrine" in the early centuries and who were the "Jehovah's Witnesses" of that period.
The Searcher Says:
"There is of course some truth in these kinds of statements."
Only some? I'd have thought it was 100% truth.We have to use common sense. While we are told not to judge others, 1 Timothy 5: 1 tells us
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 2 Tim. 4: 3 says - For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.
Proving things and determining sound doctrine involves using judgment.
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you,
let him be accursed. Gal. 1: 8Again, judgment and discernment is needed.
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. 2 Peter 2: 1-3Since God wanted us to be on the look out for "damnable heresies", it is reasonable to exercise our abilities to judge our teachers so as to determine sound doctrine. Making a habit of judging others, for small vain reasons, like to pump up our estimation of ourselves, is clearly wrong, and will actually bring a like judgment upon ourselves.
The bottom line is that, even today, sound doctrine is relatively easily determined.
I also recommend this book as it chronicles several groups from the Apostles down through the dark ages.
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63
EXACTLY Why JW's Are NOT Christian
by Perry ina lot of people, ex-jws, believers and unbelievers alike, think that jw's are just a somewhat kooky brand of christianity.
is it possible to "try and follow jesus" and not be christian?
what exactly makes someone a christian?
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Perry
paradisebeauty,
I find the King James to be the most doctrinally consistent, and hardest to misconstrue. For example: While all men are appointed to judgment (Hebrews 9: 27), only some men are condemned.
That is a pretty big distinction that can be confusing in modern translations that use judgment and condemnation totally interchangeably.
It's not hard once you get used to it. I even now prefer it because of its unique sentence construction and seemingly poetic phrases.
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Indicator KJV
Grade
LevelNIV
Grade
LevelNASB
Grade
LevelTEV
Grade
LevelNKJV
Grade
LevelGen. 1 4.4 5.1 4.7 5.1 5.2 Mal. 1 4.6 4.8 5.1 5.4 4.6 Matt. 1 6.7 16.4 6.8 11.8 10.3 Rev. 1 7.5 7.1 7.7 6.4 7.7 Grade
Level
Average5.8 8.4 6.1 7.2 6.9 (table from New Age Bible Versions, p. 196, highlight added) Mrs. Riplinger writes:
"Why is the KJV easier to read? The KJV uses one or two syllable words while new versions substitute complex multi-syllable words and phrases." (Ibid, p. 196) She lists over 270 examples in the New Testament. Mrs. Riplinger also attributes the King James’s ease of understanding to "Simple sentence structure. . .." (Ibid, p. 204) She again lists many examples.
In her book, The Language of the King James Bible, Mrs Riplinger continues her research in the readability of the King James Bible. Mrs. Riplinger documents under the subtitle "Statistical Verification of Readability":
"Readability statistics generated from Grammatik and Word for Windows show why the KJV is 5th grade reading level, while the NKJV and NASB are 6th grade, and the NIV is 8th grade reading level! The KJV averages:
- less syllables per word
- less letters per word
- less words per sentence
- smaller percentage of long words
- greater percentage of short words than the NKJV, NIV, NASB and NRSV
According to readability statistics generated by Pro-Scribe, the KJV is easier to read than USA Today, People Magazine and most children’s books."
(Riplinger, The Language of the King James Bible, p. 159 - less syllables per word
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63
EXACTLY Why JW's Are NOT Christian
by Perry ina lot of people, ex-jws, believers and unbelievers alike, think that jw's are just a somewhat kooky brand of christianity.
is it possible to "try and follow jesus" and not be christian?
what exactly makes someone a christian?
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Perry
The Searcher Says:
Nine Scriptures reveal that Christ Jesus will do the judging; John 5:28,29, Acts 10:42, Acts 17:31, Romans 14:9, 2 Cor. 5:10, 2 Tim. 4:1, 1 Pet. 4:5, Rev. 11:18 & 20:12. I'll leave it in his hands.
bellasmile says:
Since it is for Christ to judge I will leave it in his hands. He is far more capable than I.
There is of course some truth in these kinds of statements. They can be taken too far though, even to the point of condoning blatant rebellion against God; like when the WT blasphemously positions themselves as mankind's Savior". "There is only one name given under heaven whereby we are saved, Jesus".
God does not leave us to wonder IF we will personally be saved or not.
In the same chapter where Jesus said not to judge others, he was also careful to warn EVERYONE the following:
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Notice that they were not once children of God and then got booted out of the family. Jesus never knew them.
John 3: 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already.
Notice, how people can avoid condemnation simply by believing Jesus. However, it is entirely possible that people can believe Jesus was / is a real person, but not believe his words.
In Matthew 26: 27 & 28 Jesus offers his covenant (guarantee) ....."for the forgiveness of sins". Accepting the agreement and believing Jesus is essential to avoiding being condemned, personally.
But, if someone comes along and says,"hey wait a minute...Jesus wasn't talking to you. He was only talking to a small group mentioned in Revelation called the 144K". Then, it is entirely appropriate, even necessary to make a personal choice on whom believe. Your personal condemnation is what is at stake here.
We can choose to believe something different than what was preached by the apostles and come under condemnation:
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. Gal. 1: 8
Or, we can believe Jesus: "the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. - John 10
Mormons position their Mormon priesthood alongside Jesus so that members hear another voice - for Salvation. Catholicism positions the pope, mary, and the church itself alongside Jesus - for Salvation.
The singular identifying characteristic of a cult is that they provide another voice one must listen to - for Salvation.
It makes no difference whether it is Mary, the pope, the mormon priesthood, the faithful & discreet slave, Jim Jones, Marshall Applewhite, etc.... makes no difference at all.Salvation is ONLY through the blood covenant as is made clear in Eph 1: 8
"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace"
None of us needs to wonder whether or not we will be condemned after we die. God tells us beforehand what the outcome will be.
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63
EXACTLY Why JW's Are NOT Christian
by Perry ina lot of people, ex-jws, believers and unbelievers alike, think that jw's are just a somewhat kooky brand of christianity.
is it possible to "try and follow jesus" and not be christian?
what exactly makes someone a christian?
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Perry
A lot of people, EX-JWs, believers and unbelievers alike, think that JW's are just a somewhat kooky brand of Christianity. Is it possible to "try and follow Jesus" and not be Christian? What exactly makes someone a Christian? And, what exactly makes someone NOT a Christian?
I like to make things simple, if they can be. So here is the simplest reason why all Bible Cults are not Christian.
They violate the New Covenant Jesus offered in Matt. 26: 27 & 28 (one way or another)
The term "New Testament" literally means "New Contract". The contract was for the purpose of forgiveness of sins as the above verse so clearly states. The contract is solely between Jesus Christ and the New Contract believer. It is a VERY simple agreement.
However, the Watchtower says that the New Contract is for government positions, not for forgiveness of sins.
Furthermore, they have stated that the contract is now virtually closed to believers, although it used to be open to "whosoever".
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. Gal. 1: 8
Instead, they claim that the "light" that get brighter is new doctrines, where association with the Watchtower is what guarantees you passage into the Kingdom, not identification with Jesus. This is not the "good news" that the apostles preached. According the Gal. 1: 8 - the good news message cannot be changed, therefore they are specially cursed for this and are not Christian. -
34
Evolutionists Who Are Against Darwinism
by Perry inthis is a nice list of evolutionary scientists and their quotes regarding the impossibility of naturalism or materialism being able to account for life as it is observed :.
evolutionists against darwinism.
most, while sympathetic and respectful of their more committed colleagues, are disparaged as morons for not carrying the materialism banner as a religion, as a matter of faith.
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Perry
This is a nice list of evolutionary scientists and their quotes regarding the impossibility of Naturalism or Materialism being able to account for LIFE as it is observed :
Evolutionists Against Darwinism
Most, while sympathetic and respectful of their more committed colleagues, are disparaged as morons for not carrying the Materialism banner as a religion, as a matter of faith. Materialism is simply the default religion of those who reject Intelligent Design. And as such, this religion has its militant fundamentalists. They are called "New Atheists" by Sociologists.
Just google the Question: Why are new atheists such ...
Enjoy the commentary.
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Life after the witnesses, friends, faith etc
by Theburstbubble inhi everyone, this is my first post so go easy on me :) i have been a witness all of my life (i'm 37) and truly believed it until 3 years ago.
my husband and i had become spiritually weak and over time i began to question more and more until i came to the conclusion that the witnesses were not the true religion but just one of many religions and that if god is there then there are many paths to get to him.
anyway, i've battled with keeping going as my husband still believed and i didn't want to be in a divided household as we have a young daughter and thought it would be very confusing for her (and us).
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Perry
Begin with Jesus. He is the beginning and the end. -
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Yahweh's wonderful creation
by fulltimestudent inwhen i thought of myself as a christian witness of yahweh attempting to be a footstep follower of jesus, psalm 104 was one of my favourites.
if i was ever in some wonderful scenic area, psalm 104 would jump into my mind, and i'd start to praise yahweh and jesus.. but if something horrible came to mind as in the following video, i'd always think of the favourite christian escape clause, it's all because of adam's sin.
but any connection between natural animal savagery and adam's sin is never logically made in the bible.. interestingly, the supposedly inspired psalm 104 (nwt-the grey one i guess) itself says that:.
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Perry
Caleb,
You are perfectly free to believe whatever you want. The absolutely wonderful thing is that your ancestors actually wrote down the thoughts of God. They are immutable.
But, the greatest proof of ancestral sin, hasn't even been touched on - death.
To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.” (Genesis 3:17)
God says the exact opposite as what evolution says. Whom would Abraham have believed?
Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. (Genesis 1:29–30)
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We're All Going To Die
by Garrett inlife has been busy, but i am now on 2 weeks vacation which allowed me some thinking room.
and here's what's been on my mind.. we're all going to die.
no matter what we do, our fate is sealed.
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Perry
I wasted 50 years in the filthy, disgusting WBT$ cult. I need to catch up on life but it seems hopeless now. Death is the final end in my view. Oblivion. No heaven and no hell.
Sometimes I want death to come and sometimes not. My life isn't as I want it. Some folks say that I need to take control and make things happen......oh, get real.....where am I going to get that amount of money from? Idiots.You are on the right track with this thinking Punk. Surrender and become victorious.
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So I was enjoying a business trip in down town Bangkok...............Next thing BANG!!!
by cantleave inso last night i was having a wonderful meal in a very nice restaurant when we heard what we thought was a loud clap of thunder.................. it was a bomb.
yards from my hotel.
thankfully i made a few decision that meant i wasn't in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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Perry
So if I was religious, would I have put those events down to coincidence, or be praising my sky daddy for looking after me??
So were you praising your clay daddy?
I mean what really is the difference? You mock your intelligent creator and accept ignorant theories about life coming from rocks or clay?
Isn't it prudent to refrain from mocking until you have nonrefundable proof either way?
How exactly did the dna code, that if printed would stack 8 x 10 sheet of paper half way to the moon, come to exists if not for sky daddy or clay? You got a better explanation? Let's hear it big shot.
