Perry

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Posts by Perry

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  11

  The False Hope of the Watchtower

  by Perry in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the watchtower has long denied the substitutionary sacrifice of jesus.. ot picture of nt salvation:.

  on the night of deliverance from pharaoh, the sons of abraham were to slaughter a spotless lamb, eat its flesh and smear some of the blood over the doorway and on the door-posts of their home.

  because they were under this blood arrangement and had the lamb inside of themselves after they ate the passover supper, the angel passed over that house as he delivered gods execution judgment.

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  Perry

  thank you for explaining this Perry, I often had problems understanding this from a wtbts perspective.

  
  

  Diogenisister, glad to help.
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  6

  This sounds suspiciously like the actions of another religion we know of...

  by Captain Schmideo2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/15/church-blacklists-103-year-old-granny-then-calls-the-cops-on-her.htmlchurch blacklists 103-year-old granny, then calls the cops on her.

  genora hamm biggs had been a member of the union grove baptist church for 92 yearsuntil a new pastor banished her and tried to have her arrested over a clash about the style of a sermon.. a 103-year-old georgia woman was banished from her church for a sin the pastor cant forgiveshe disagreed with how he preached.. genora hamm biggs has attended union grove baptist church in elberton since she was 11 years old.

  but last month, rev.

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  Perry

  On closer examination, this doesn't resemble JW's closed door disfellowshipping at all. Looks like she had a vendetta against the pastor and tried to disrupt the congregation services on several occasions.

  The members voted unanimously (while she was present) to cancel her membership. Statement here.
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  74

  That's it! The Jesus stories are most reasonably explained as myth. History makes this obvious.

  by Island Man in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  a careful examination of the historical pagan religious context existing at the time of the genesis of christianity leads any reasonable person to conclude that jesus is just another one of several similar myths.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn7teoa9ark.

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  Perry

  I notice the source data is pro christian rather than independant or unbiased. Thanks for the link though.

  Perhaps you missed this section below, copy and pasted to make it easier to find:

  
  

  
  

  Hostile Non-Biblical Pagan Witnesses
  There are a number of ancient classical accounts of Jesus from pagan Greek sources. These accounts are generally hostile to Christianity and try to explain away the miraculous nature of Jesus and the events that surrounded his life. Let’s look at these hostile accounts and see what they tell us about Jesus:

  Thallus (52AD)
  Thallus is perhaps the earliest secular writer to mention Jesus and he is so ancient that his writings don’t even exist anymore. But Julius Africanus, writing around 221AD does quote Thallus who had previously tried to explain away the darkness that occurred at the point of Jesus’ crucifixion:

  “On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness; and the rocks were rent by an earthquake, and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down. This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his History, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun.” (Julius Africanus, Chronography, 18:1)

  If only more of Thallus’ record could be found, we would see that every aspect of Jesus’ life could be verified with a non-biblical source. But there are some things we can conclude from this account: Jesus lived, he was crucified, and there was an earthquake and darkness at the point of his crucifixion.

  Pliny the Younger (61-113AD)
  Early Christians are also described in secular history. Pliny the Younger, in a letter to the Roman emperor Trajan, describes the lifestyles of early Christians:

  “They (the Christians) were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food—but food of an ordinary and innocent kind.”

  This EARLY description of the first Christians documents several facts: the first Christians believed that Jesus was GOD, the first Christians upheld a high moral code, and these early followers et regularly to worship Jesus.

  Suetonius (69-140AD)
  Suetonius was a Roman historian and annalist of the Imperial House under the Emperor Hadrian. His writings about Christians describe their treatment under the Emperor Claudius (41-54AD):

  “Because the Jews at Rome caused constant disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus (Christ), he (Claudius) expelled them from the city (Rome).” (Life of Claudius, 25:4)

  This expulsion took place in 49AD, and in another work, Suetonius wrote about the fire which destroyed Rome in 64 A.D. under the reign of Nero. Nero blamed the Christians for this fire and he punished Christians severely as a result:

  “Nero inflicted punishment on the Christians, a sect given to a new and mischievous religious belief.” (Lives of the Caesars, 26.2)

  There is much we can learn from Suetonius as it is related to the life of early Christians. From this very EARLY account, we know that Jesus had an immediate impact on his followers. They believed that Jesus was God enough to withstand the torment and punishment of the Roman Empire. Jesus had a curious and immediate impact on his followers, empowering them to die courageously for what they knew to be true.

  Tacitus (56-120AD)
  Cornelius Tacitus was known for his analysis and examination of historical documents and is among the most trusted of ancient historians. He was a senator under Emperor Vespasian and was also proconsul of Asia. In his “Annals’ of 116AD, he describes Emperor Nero’s response to the great fire in Rome and Nero’s claim that the Christians were to blame:

  “Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular.”

  In this account, Tacitus confirms for us that Jesus lived in Judea, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and had followers who were persecuted for their faith in Christ.

  Mara Bar-Serapion (70AD)
  Sometime after 70AD, a Syrian philosopher named Mara Bar-Serapion, writing to encourage his son, compared the life and persecution of Jesus with that of other philosophers who were persecuted for their ideas. The fact that Jesus is known to be a real person with this kind of influence is important. As a matter of fact, Mara Bar-Serapion refers to Jesus as the “Wise King”:

  “What benefit did the Athenians obtain by putting Socrates to death? Famine and plague came upon them as judgment for their crime. Or, the people of Samos for burning Pythagoras? In one moment their country was covered with sand. Or the Jews by murdering their wise king?…After that their kingdom was abolished. God rightly avenged these men…The wise king…Lived on in the teachings he enacted.”

  From this account, we can add to our understanding of Jesus. We can conclude that Jesus was a wise and influential man who died for his beliefs. We can also conclude that his followers adopted these beliefs and lived lives that reflected them to the world in which they lived.

  Phlegon (80-140AD)
  In a manner similar to Thallus, Julius Africanus also mentions a historian named Phlegon who wrote a chronicle of history around 140AD. In this history, Phlegon also mentions the darkness surrounding the crucifixion in an effort to explain it:

  “Phlegon records that, in the time of Tiberius Caesar, at full moon, there was a full eclipse of the sun from the sixth to the ninth hour.” (Africanus, Chronography, 18:1)

  Phlegon is also mentioned by Origen (an early church theologian and scholar, born in Alexandria):

  “Now Phlegon, in the thirteenth or fourteenth book, I think, of his Chronicles, not only ascribed to Jesus a knowledge of future events . . . but also testified that the result corresponded to His predictions.” (Origen Against Celsus, Book 2, Chapter 14)

  “And with regard to the eclipse in the time of Tiberius Caesar, in whose reign Jesus appears to have been crucified, and the great earthquakes which then took place … ” (Origen Against Celsus, Book 2, Chapter 33)

  “Jesus, while alive, was of no assistance to himself, but that he arose after death, and exhibited the marks of his punishment, and showed how his hands had been pierced by nails.” (Origen Against Celsus, Book 2, Chapter 59)

  From these accounts, we can add something to our understand of Jesus and conclude that Jesus had the ability to accurately predict the future, was crucified under the reign of Tiberius Caesar and demonstrated his wounds after he was resurrected!

  Lucian of Samosata: (115-200 A.D.)
  Lucian was a Greek satirist who spoke sarcastically of Christ and Christians, but in the process, he did affirm that they were real people and never referred to them as fictional characters:

  “The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day—the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account….You see, these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains the contempt of death and voluntary self-devotion which are so common among them; and then it was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws. All this they take quite on faith, with the result that they despise all worldly goods alike, regarding them merely as common property.” (Lucian, The Death of Peregrine. 11-13)

  From this account we can add to our description and conclude that Jesus taught about repentance and about the family of God. These teachings were quickly adopted by Jesus’ followers and exhibited to the world around them.

  Celsus (175AD)
  This is the last hostile ‘pagan’ account we will examine (although there are many other later accounts in history). Celsus was quite hostile to the Gospels, but in his criticism, he unknowingly affirms and reinforces the authors and their content. His writing is extensive and he alludes to 80 different Biblical quotes, confirming their early appearance in history. In addition, he admits that the miracles of Jesus were generally believed in the early 2nd century! Here is a portion of his text:

  “Jesus had come from a village in Judea, and was the son of a poor Jewess who gained her living by the work of her own hands. His mother had been turned out of doors by her husband, who was a carpenter by trade, on being convicted of adultery [with a soldier named Panthéra (i.32)]. Being thus driven away by her husband, and wandering about in disgrace, she gave birth to Jesus, a bastard. Jesus, on account of his poverty, was hired out to go to Egypt. While there he acquired certain (magical) powers which Egyptians pride themselves on possessing. He returned home highly elated at possessing these powers, and on the strength of them gave himself out to be a god.”

  Celsus admits that Jesus was reportedly born of a virgin, but then argues that this could supernatural account could not be possible and offers the idea that he was a bastard son of a man named Panthera (an idea borrowed from Jews who opposed Jesus at the time). But in writing this account, Celsus does confirm that Jesus had an earthly father who was a carpenter, possessed unusual magical powers and claimed to be God.

  Hostile Non-Biblical Jewish Witnesses
  In addition to classical ‘pagan’ sources that chronicle the life of Jesus and his followers, there are also a number of ancient hostile Jewish sources that talk about Jesus. These are written by Jewish theologians, historians and leaders who were definitely NOT sympathetic to the Christian cause. Their writings are often VERY harsh, critical and even demeaning to Jesus. But there is still much that these writings confirm.

  Josephus (37-101AD)
  In more detail than any other non-biblical historian, Josephus writes about Jesus in his “the Antiquities of the Jews” in 93AD. Josephus was born just four years after the crucifixion. He was a consultant for Jewish rabbis at age thirteen, was a Galilean military commander by the age of sixteen, and he was an eyewitness to much of what he recorded in the first century A.D. Under the rule of roman emperor Vespasian, Josephus was allowed to write a history of the Jews. This history includes three passages about Christians, one in which he describes the death of John the Baptist, one in which he mentions the execution of James and describes him as the brother of Jesus the Christ, and a final passage which describes Jesus as a wise man and the messiah. Now there is much controversy about the writing of Josephus, because the first discoveries of his writings are late enough to have been re-written by Christians, who are accused of making additions to the text. So to be fair, let’s take a look at a scholarly reconstruction that has removed all the possible Christian influence from the text related to Jesus:

  “Now around this time lived Jesus, a wise man. For he was a worker of amazing deeds and was a teacher of people who gladly accept the truth. He won over both many Jews and many Greeks. Pilate, when he heard him accused by the leading men among us, condemned him to the cross, (but) those who had first loved him did not cease (doing so). To this day the tribe of Christians named after him has not disappeared” (This neutral reconstruction follows closely the one proposed in the latest treatment by John Meier, Marginal Jew 1:61)

  Now there are many other ancient versions of Josephus’ writing which are even more explicit about the nature of his miracles, his life and his status as the Christ, but let’s take this conservative version and see what we can learn. From this text, we can conclude that Jesus lived in Palestine, was a wise man and a teacher, worked amazing deeds, was accused buy the Jews, crucified under Pilate and had followers called Christians!

  Jewish Talmud (400-700AD)
  While the earliest Talmudic writings of Jewish Rabbis appear in the 5th century, the tradition of these Rabbinic authors indicates that they are faithfully transmitting teachings from the early “Tannaitic” period of the first century BC to the second century AD. There are a number of writings from the Talmud that scholars believe refer to Jesus and many of these writings are said to use code words to describe Jesus (such as “Balaam” or “Ben Stada” or “a certain one”). But let’s be very conservative here. Let’s ONLY look at the passages that refer to Jesus in a more direct way. If we do that, there are still several ancient Talmudic passages we can examine:

  “Jesus practiced magic and led Israel astray” (b. Sanhedrin 43a; cf. t. Shabbat 11.15; b. Shabbat 104b)

  “Rabbi Hisda (d. 309) said that Rabbi Jeremiah bar Abba said, ‘What is that which is written, ‘No evil will befall you, nor shall any plague come near your house’? (Psalm 91:10)… ‘No evil will befall you’ (means) that evil dreams and evil thoughts will not tempt you; ‘nor shall any plague come near your house’ (means) that you will not have a son or a disciple who burns his food like Jesus of Nazareth.” (b. Sanhedrin 103a; cf. b. Berakhot 17b)

  “Our rabbis have taught that Jesus had five disciples: Matthai, Nakai, Nezer, Buni and Todah. They brought Matthai to (to trial). He said, ‘Must Matthai be killed? For it is written, ‘When (mathai) shall I come and appear before God?’” (Psalm 92:2) They said to him, “Yes Matthai must be killed, for it is written, ‘When (mathai) he dies his name will perish’” (Psalm 41:5). They brought Nakai. He said to them, “Must Nakai be killed? For it is written, “The innocent (naqi) and the righteous will not slay’” (Exodus 23:7). They said to him, “Yes, Nakai must be kille, for it is written, ‘In secret places he slays the innocent (naqi)’” (Psalm 10:8). (b. Sanhedrin 43a; the passage continues in a similar way for Nezer, Buni and Todah)

  And this, perhaps the most famous of Talmudic passages about Jesus:

  “It was taught: On the day before the Passover they hanged Jesus. A herald went before him for forty days (proclaiming), “He will be stoned, because he practiced magic and enticed Israel to go astray. Let anyone who knows anything in his favor come forward and plead for him.” But nothing was found in his favor, and they hanged him on the day before the Passover. (b. Sanhedrin 43a)

  From just these passages that mention Jesus by name, we can conclude that Jesus had magical powers, led the Jews away from their beliefs, had disciples who were martyred for their faith (one of whom was named Matthai), and was executed on the day before the Passover.

  The Toledot Yeshu (1000AD)
  The Toledot Yeshu is a medieval Jewish retelling of the life of Jesus. It is completely anti-Christian, to be sure. There are many versions of these ‘retellings’, and as part of the transmitted oral and written tradition of the Jews, we can presume their original place in antiquity, dating back to the time of Jesus’ first appearance as an influential leader who was drawing Jews away from their faith in the Law. The Toledot Yeshu contains a determined effort to explain away the miracles of Jesus, and to deny the virgin birth. In some places, the text is quite vicious, but it does confirm many elements of the New Testament writings. Let’s take a look at a portion of the text (Jesus is refered to as ‘Yehoshua’):

  “In the year 3671 (in Jewish reckonging, it being ca 90 B.C.) in the days of King Jannaeus, a great misfortune befell Israel, when there arose a certain disreputable man of the tribe of Judah, whose name was Joseph Pandera. He lived at Bethlehem, in Judah. Near his house dwelt a widow and her lovely and chaste daughter named Miriam. Miriam was betrothed to Yohanan, of the royal house of David, a man learned in the Torah and God-fearing. At the close of a certain Sabbath, Joseph Pandera, attractive and like a warrior in appearance, having gazed lustfully upon Miriam, knocked upon the door of her room and betrayed her by pretending that he was her betrothed husband, Yohanan. Even so, she was amazed at this improper conduct and submitted only against her will. Thereafter, when Yohanan came to her, Miriam expressed astonishment at behavior so foreign to his character. It was thus that they both came to know the crime of Joseph Pandera and the terrible mistake on the part of Miriam… Miriam gave birth to a son and named him Yehoshua, after her brother. This name later deteriorated to Yeshu (“Yeshu” is the Jewish “name” for Jesus. It means “May His Name Be Blotted Out”). On the eighth day he was circumcised. When he was old enough the lad was taken by Miriam to the house of study to be instructed in the Jewish tradition. One day Yeshu walked in front of the Sages with his head uncovered, showing shameful disrespect. At this, the discussion arose as to whether this behavior did not truly indicate that Yeshu was an illegitimate child and the son of a niddah. Moreover, the story tells that while the rabbis were discussing the Tractate Nezikin, he gave his own impudent interpretation of the law and in an ensuing debate he held that Moses could not be the greatest of the prophets if he had to receive counsel from Jethro. This led to further inquiry as to the antecedents of Yeshu, and it was discovered through Rabban Shimeon ben Shetah that he was the illegitimate son of Joseph Pandera. Miriam admitted it. After this became known, it was necessary for Yeshu to flee to Upper Galilee. After King Jannaeus, his wife Helene ruled over all Israel. In the Temple was to be found the Foundation Stone on which were engraven the letters of God’s Ineffable Name. Whoever learned the secret of the Name and its use would be able to do whatever he wished. Therefore, the Sages took measures so that no one should gain this knowledge. Lions of brass were bound to two iron pillars at the gate of the place of burnt offerings. Should anyone enter and learn the Name, when he left the lions would roar at him and immediately the valuable secret would be forgotten. Yeshu came and learned the letters of the Name; he wrote them upon the parchment which he placed in an open cut on his thigh and then drew the flesh over the parchment. As he left, the lions roared and he forgot the secret. But when he came to his house he reopened the cut in his flesh with a knife an lifted out the writing. Then he remembered and obtained the use of the letters. He gathered about himself three hundred and ten young men of Israel and accused those who spoke ill of his birth of being people who desired greatness and power for themselves. Yeshu proclaimed, “I am the Messiah; and concerning me Isaiah prophesied and said, ‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.’” He quoted other messianic texts, insisting, “David my ancestor prophesied concerning me: ‘The Lord said to me, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.’” The insurgents with him replied that if Yeshu was the Messiah he should give them a convincing sign. They therefore, brought to him a lame man, who had never walked. Yeshu spoke over the man the letters of the Ineffable Name, and the leper was healed. Thereupon, they worshipped him as the Messiah, Son of the Highest. When word of these happenings came to Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin decided to bring about the capture of Yeshu. They sent messengers, Annanui and Ahaziah, who, pretending to be his disciples, said that they brought him an invitation from the leaders of Jerusalem to visit them. Yeshu consented on condition the members of the Sanhedrin receive him as a lord. He started out toward Jerusalem and, arriving at Knob, acquired an ass on which he rode into Jerusalem, as a fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah. The Sages bound him and led him before Queen Helene, with the accusation: “This man is a sorcerer and entices everyone.” Yeshu replied, “The prophets long ago prophesied my coming: ‘And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse,’ and I am he; but as for them, Scripture says ‘Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.’” Queen Helene asked the Sages: “What he says, is it in your Torah?” They replied: “It is in our Torah, but it is not applicable to him, for it is in Scripture: ‘And that prophet which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.’ He has not fulfilled the signs and conditions of the Messiah.” Yeshu spoke up: “Madam, I am the Messiah and I revive the dead.” A dead body was brought in; he pronounced the letters of the Ineffable Name and the corpse came to life. The Queen was greatly moved and said: “This is a true sign.” She reprimanded the Sages and sent them humiliated from her presence. Yeshu’s dissident followers increased and there was controversy in Israel. Yeshu went to Upper Galilee. the Sages came before the Queen, complaining that Yeshu practiced sorcery and was leading everyone astray. Therefore she sent Annanui and Ahaziah to fetch him. The found him in Upper Galilee, proclaiming himself the Son of God. When they tried to take him there was a struggle, but Yeshu said to the men of Upper Galilee: “Wage no battle.” He would prove himself by the power which came to him from his Father in heaven. He spoke the Ineffable Name over the birds of clay and they flew into the air. He spoke the same letters over a millstone that had been placed upon the waters. He sat in it and it floated like a boat. When they saw this the people marveled. At the behest of Yeshu, the emissaries departed and reported these wonders to the Queen. She trembled with astonishment. Then the Sages selected a man named Judah Iskarioto and brought him to the Sanctuary where he learned the letters of the Ineffable Name as Yeshu had done. When Yeshu was summoned before the queen, this time there were present also the Sages and Judah Iskarioto. Yeshu said: “It is spoken of me, ‘I will ascend into heaven.’” He lifted his arms like the wings of an eagle and he flew between heaven and earth, to the amazement of everyone…Yeshu was seized. His head was covered with a garment and he was smitten with pomegranate staves; but he could do nothing, for he no longer had the Ineffable Name. Yeshu was taken prisoner to the synagogue of Tiberias, and they bound him to a pillar. To allay his thirst they gave him vinegar to drink. On his head they set a crown of thorns. There was strife and wrangling between the elders and the unrestrained followers of Yeshu, as a result of which the followers escaped with Yeshu to the region of Antioch; there Yeshu remained until the eve of the Passover. Yeshu then resolved to go the Temple to acquire again the secret of the Name. That year the Passover came on a Sabbath day. On the eve of the Passover, Yeshu, accompanied by his disciples, came to Jerusalem riding upon an ass. Many bowed down before him. He entered the Temple with his three hundred and ten followers. One of them, Judah Iskarioto apprised the Sages that Yeshu was to be found in the Temple, that the disciples had taken a vow by the Ten Commandments not to reveal his identity but that he would point him out by bowing to him. So it was done and Yeshu was seized. Asked his name, he replied to the question by several times giving the names Mattai, Nakki, Buni, Netzer, each time with a verse quoted by him and a counter-verse by the Sages. Yeshu was put to death on the sixth hour on the eve of the Passover and of the Sabbath. When they tried to hang him on a tree it broke, for when he had possessed the power he had pronounced by the Ineffable Name that no tree should hold him. He had failed to pronounce the prohibition over the carob-stalk, for it was a plant more than a tree, and on it he was hanged until the hour for afternoon prayer, for it is written in Scripture, “His body shall not remain all night upon the tree.” They buried him outside the city. On the first day of the week his bold followers came to Queen Helene with the report that he who was slain was truly the Messiah and that he was not in his grave; he had ascended to heaven as he prophesied. Diligent search was made and he was not found in the grave where he had been buried. A gardener had taken him from the grave and had brought him into his garden and buried him in the sand over which the waters flowed into the garden. Queen Helene demanded, on threat of a severe penalty, that the body of Yeshu be shown to her within a period of three days. There was a great distress. When the keeper of the garden saw Rabbi Tanhuma walking in the field and lamenting over the ultimatum of the Queen, the gardener related what he had done, in order that Yeshu’s followers should not steal the body and then claim that he had ascended into heaven. The Sages removed the body, tied it to the tail of a horse and transported it to the Queen, with the words, “This is Yeshu who is said to have ascended to heaven.” Realizing that Yeshu was a false prophet who enticed the people and led them astray, she mocked the followers but praised the Sages.

  Now in spite of the fact that the ancient Jews who wrote this did their best to argue for another interpretation of the Life of Jesus, they did make several claims here about Jesus. This passage, along with several others from the Toledot tradition, confirms that Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, healed the lame, said that Isaiah foretold of his life, was worshipped as God, arrested by the Jews, beaten with rods, given vinegar to drink, wore a crown of thorns, rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, was betrayed by a man named Judah Iskarioto, and had followers who claimed he was resurrected and ascended, leaving an empty tomb!

  A Hostile Summary
  OK, let’s review everything we have learned from hostile pagan and Jewish sources that tell us something about this man called Jesus. We’ll do our best to discount the bias that we see in the sources, just as we discounted the pro-Christian bias we think might exist in some versions of the writing of Josephus. But even with the most modest and conservative of reviews, we could write this about Jesus from purely NON-BIBLICAL ancient sources:

  Jesus was born and lived in Palestine. He was born, supposedly, to a virgin and had an earthly father who was a carpenter. He was a teacher who taught that by repentance and belief, all followers would become brothers and sisters. He led the Jews away from their beliefs. He was a wise man who claimed to be God and the Messiah. He had unusual magical powers and performed miraculous deeds. He healed the lame. He accurately predicted the future. He was persecuted by the Jews for what he said, betrayed by Judah Iskarioto. He was beaten with rods, forced to drink vinegar and wear a crown of thorns and crucified on the eve of the Passover. His crucifixion occurred under the direction of Pontius Pilate, during the time of Tiberius. On the day of his crucifixion, the sky grew dark and there was an earthquake. Afterward, he was buried in a tomb and the tomb was later found to be empty. He appeared to his disciples resurrected from the grave and showed them his wounds. These disciples then told others that Jesus was resurrected and ascended into heaven. Jesus’ disciples and followers upheld a high moral code. One of them was named Matthai. The disciples were also persecuted for their faith but were martyred without changing their claims. They met regularly to worship Jesus, even after his death.

  That’s Pretty Amazing
  Now think about this reconstruction for a minute. This is a TON of information about the man we know as Jesus and all of it comes from witnesses who were HOSTILE to the truth claims of Christianity! And from ANCIENT sources, none the less! Now let’s go back to what we know about the time in which Jesus lived and the climate in which historians and theologians were writing. Remember that:

  1. There are amazingly few manuscripts of ANY text written during Jesus’ time
  2. Historians of this period wrote amazingly little about religious figures anyway
  3. Jesus was active for an amazingly short period of time (just three years)
  4. Jesus ministered in an amazingly remote corner of the Roman Empire

  The key word here in “AMAZING”! it is amazing that there is ANY extra-Biblical information about Jesus at all, let alone this MUCH information about Him.
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  74

  That's it! The Jesus stories are most reasonably explained as myth. History makes this obvious.

  by Island Man in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  a careful examination of the historical pagan religious context existing at the time of the genesis of christianity leads any reasonable person to conclude that jesus is just another one of several similar myths.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn7teoa9ark.

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  Perry

  Punk,

  These are called "hostile witnesses" . They are considered excellent sources of information because they are personally against what they are writing about. In hostile writings, they inadvertently admit certain things are true.... like Jesus being an historical person and so forth.

  Using ONLY non-biblical ancient sources (most of which are hostile), a person would be able to work out the following:

  Jesus was born and lived in Palestine. He was born, supposedly, to a virgin and had an earthly father who was a carpenter. He was a teacher who taught that by repentance and belief, all followers would become brothers and sisters. He led the Jews away from their beliefs. He was a wise man who claimed to be God and the Messiah. He had unusual magical powers and performed miraculous deeds. He healed the lame. He accurately predicted the future. He was persecuted by the Jews for what he said, betrayed by Judah Iskarioto. He was beaten with rods, forced to drink vinegar and wear a crown of thorns and crucified on the eve of the Passover. His crucifixion occurred under the direction of Pontius Pilate, during the time of Tiberius. On the day of his crucifixion, the sky grew dark and there was an earthquake. Afterward, he was buried in a tomb and the tomb was later found to be empty. He appeared to his disciples resurrected from the grave and showed them his wounds. These disciples then told others that Jesus was resurrected and ascended into heaven. Jesus’ disciples and followers upheld a high moral code. One of them was named Matthai. The disciples were also persecuted for their faith but were martyred without changing their claims. They met regularly to worship Jesus, even after his death.

  You can read some of this source material here.
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  74

  That's it! The Jesus stories are most reasonably explained as myth. History makes this obvious.

  by Island Man in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  a careful examination of the historical pagan religious context existing at the time of the genesis of christianity leads any reasonable person to conclude that jesus is just another one of several similar myths.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn7teoa9ark.

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  Perry

  Heaven Says:

  
  

  When I listen to Christian sermons, I wait for it... you know, that moment in the talk where they lay all the blame and guilt on your shoulders and tell you it's all your fault, you're a sinner, you aren't good enough so you need to pray more, confess more, work more as Christ's disciple,

  Christians do not preach sermons like this, cults do. Christianity is unique in that eternal life is acheived it by faith not works "lest any man should boast".
• 
  74

  That's it! The Jesus stories are most reasonably explained as myth. History makes this obvious.

  by Island Man in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  a careful examination of the historical pagan religious context existing at the time of the genesis of christianity leads any reasonable person to conclude that jesus is just another one of several similar myths.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn7teoa9ark.

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  Perry

  Personally, I looked for evidence of Jesus outside of the bible and didn't find anything. Make of that what you will.

  in A.D. 64, the Roman historian Tacitus wrote:

  Nero fastened the guilt . . . on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of . . . Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome.

  What was that "mischievous" superstition? Being raised from the dead and showing himself openly of course.
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  11

  The False Hope of the Watchtower

  by Perry in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the watchtower has long denied the substitutionary sacrifice of jesus.. ot picture of nt salvation:.

  on the night of deliverance from pharaoh, the sons of abraham were to slaughter a spotless lamb, eat its flesh and smear some of the blood over the doorway and on the door-posts of their home.

  because they were under this blood arrangement and had the lamb inside of themselves after they ate the passover supper, the angel passed over that house as he delivered gods execution judgment.

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  Perry

  The Watchtower has long denied the Substitutionary Sacrifice of Jesus.

  OT Picture of NT Salvation:

  On the night of deliverance from Pharaoh, the sons of Abraham were to slaughter a spotless lamb, eat its flesh and smear some of the blood over the doorway and on the door-posts of their home. Because they were under this blood arrangement and had the lamb inside of themselves after they ate the Passover Supper, the angel “passed over” that house as he delivered God’s execution judgment. ONLY THOSE UNDER THE BLOOD ARRANGEMENT WERE SPARED. There was no other way to avoid judgment….PERIOD.
  

  Many years later, the real Lamb of God was betrayed and murdered by not only his own covenant people, but by a collaboration of gentiles as well; hence, a representation of all mankind, Jew and Gentile. Yet, on the very day that the creation killed its Creator He offered this:

  “Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament (covenant) in my blood: this do ye”

  This offer is called the Substitutionary Atonement and is denied to Jehovah’s Witnesses by their leadership. The contract states in so many words: “My LIFE for yours. I will take your punishment due you if you will take my life inside of you”….hence the symbolic significance of eating his “flesh” and drinking his “blood”.

  The key point is that an exchange takes place here. Christ substitutes in our place on the Cross for the punishment due us, and we become the “righteousness of God” due him. Initially, this is true by virtue of the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit, and finally through the process of Sanctification.

  Here is the New Testament exchange that is offered to "whosoever will":

  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him – 2 Cor. 5: 21

  This is a very real contract that is unto the death of both parties. It is a BLOOD COVENANT in the fullest possible meaning of the term. It is sealed by the death of BOTH signatories. In the case of Jesus – on Calvary Hill; and in the case of humans who accept the offer – they die as unto themselves. They give up the rights to themselves and invite God to take control of their lives. When God does this by entering the individual by means of the Holy Spirit, that person is said to be born again. The individual is no longer the ultimate boss of his or her own life, God is. Finally, the deal is consumated when the believer dies and completes his end of the bargain with God, being united with him.

  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
  

  When a person is born again, a person receives a new spirit, "he is a new creation in Christ". The old dominance of the flesh is circumcised away, and a new spirit which is not subject to sin is implanted. It is a wonderful experience in freedom.

  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. – Galatians 2:20
  

  In order for the Watchtower to deny the Substitutionary Atonement, they first have to make it UNNECESSARY.

  They do this by utterly avoiding this scripture at all costs.

  “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” - Hebrews 9: 27

  After 40 years in the Watchtower system, I never heard this scripture quoted even once. The reason that so many people asked us at the doors if we knew Jesus as our PERSONAL savior, was because they rightly knew that Jesus taught a PERSONAL JUDGMENT after a person dies.

  After Jesus was resurrected from the dead (which PROVED his authority over life and death) he told Peter and his other friends this in Acts. Chapter 10:

  he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of the the living and the dead. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

  The watchtower goes so far as to twist Pauls' speech on the necessity of being born again, into a doctrine where a person can atone for their own sin just by dying! The watchtower (and Jw's) likes to quote Romans 6: 7 without reading the previous verse 6 (and the whole chapter for that matter)

  6Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7For he that is dead is freed (NWT reads: acquitted) from sin.

  We are not acquitted of sin by dying, we are freed from it by dying. Only the blood of Jesus can acquit us if we receive it. Rather, we we are born again NOW (and Jesus 3 times told Nicodemus this was absolutely necessary) so that we might be done with sin IN THIS LIFE.

  The Watchtower completely tries to "spiritualize" away the CLEAR teaching that there will be a resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous for the purpose of judgement:

  
  

  For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. 28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. - John 5

  
  

  Rev 20: 5 - But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.

  The Great White Throne is the final place that all people who reject God's offer of Substitutionary Atonement end up. There, they will stand in their body , soul, and spirit as a full man or woman and face God. As a result of rejecting Gods offer for a pardon, they will have their sins (charges) read against them and then will receive their due punishment.... for their sins against God, and sins against their neighbor who were created in the eternal image of God.

  
  

  I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

  
  

  Thus the Watchtower false hope of escaping death and waltzing right on into paradise after God kills everyone except JW's at Aramgeddon....... is a very childish, selfish false hope. It is based on the premise that if a person does what the ever-changing Watchtower says, they have no guilt before God, which would make judgment unnecessary and therefore not a threat to them .... personally.

  It is a different legal arrangement than the one offered by God in the New Testament. And remember, there is no atonement for YOUR sin according to the WT view; Jesus died for Adam in their view, NOT YOU. No one pays the piper for your guilt… not you, NOT Christ, no one. You get to be your own savior just by dying.

  This is the singular objective of all false religion – to separate us, guilty sinners, from God’s mercy and full pardon.
  
  

  John 10:1, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

  Every home has a door. The Door to God's home has a name. His name is Jesus--

  "I AM THE DOOR: BY ME IF ANY MAN ENTER IN, HE SHALL BE SAVED..."

  Jesus, John 10:9

  
  
  
• 
  74

  That's it! The Jesus stories are most reasonably explained as myth. History makes this obvious.

  by Island Man in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  a careful examination of the historical pagan religious context existing at the time of the genesis of christianity leads any reasonable person to conclude that jesus is just another one of several similar myths.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn7teoa9ark.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
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  Perry

  Was Jesus just a myth?

  
  

  Was Jesus Christ just a Copy Cat Savior Myth?

  
  

  Two excellent sources for these and other similar questions.
• 
  72

  Arctic Ice Increasing

  by Perry in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  arctic has gained hundreds of miles of ice the last three years.

  red shows the september 2012 minimum extent.

  green shows the current extent, which is likely the minimum for 2015. the arctic has gained hundreds of miles of ice over the past three years, much of which is thick, multi-year ice.. article.

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  Perry

  Weather will change, that's for sure. Sensationalists and scientific bias will not.

  BTW, I thought Leonard Nimoy was Vulcan and wouldn't lie to me in that "In Search Of" episode I posted earlier. He seemed so sincere. Such is the nature of deception.

  I would like to see the public look upon global warming as just another scientific controversy and oppose any public policies until the major issues are settled, such as the cause. If mostly natural, as NIPCC concludes, then the public policies currently discussed are pointless, hugely expensive, and wasteful of resources that could better be applied to real societal problems.

  
  - Fred Singer professor emeritus of environmental science at the University of Virginia, founding Dean of the School of Environmental and Planetary Sciences at the University of Miami. Director of theCenter for Atmospheric and Space Physics University of Maryland (1953-1962).

  Other scientists are not so cordial in their condemnation of man made climate change.

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  21

  She is a different person since accepting Jesus . . .

  by compound complex in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this morning, i was working at a home where the tv had been left on.

  i listened in but didn't watch, for the most part.

  ms. davis was flanked by her lawyer and another gentleman.

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  Perry

  I have never heard it said among newbie JWs that they had accepted Jesus into their hearts and lives. I simply cannot conceive that would ever be said.

  
  Would the JW equivalent be that an individual, upon learning and accepting THE TRUTH, has made a personal dedication to Jehovah and begun putting on the new personality?

  No, Jesus offers the free gift of salvation. It can only be received (believed), not earned. The two paradigms are opposites. Since Calvary, working for your salvation is offensive to God. It is only when a person comes to the end of his or herself that they are prepared to accept the terms of the New Covenant... which offensive to our carnal nature.