Perry

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Posts by Perry

• 
  169

  Universal sovereignty on trial

  by Factfulness in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i just had a thought of clarity regarding the jw explanation for this doctrine.

  they explain that satan challenged god regarding his right to rule.

  god failed to prove his right to rule.

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• 

  Perry

  Venus,
  
  So you are impressed with Jesus teachings? You do well. Nicodemus was also impressed at this departure from the religion of his day. However, this wasn't enough... three times Jesus told him that he must be "Born Again"; else he would never see, enter or inherit the Kingdom of God.
  
  This is a hard teaching. Not only must we be in agreement with Christ, but we must allow the formation of a new spirit within us, one born of God. Our hearts must be circumcised. This is somewhat painful, if only to our intellect and pride.
  
  Most of us are quite happy with our first birth and see no need for another one. But, Jesus also threw a bucket of cold water on some other common folks that were getting pretty excited about his teachings.

  John 6

  54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him...This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”...

  He (Jesus) said to them, “Does this offend you? ... 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing....

  66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”

  Ecclesiastes 7:20 For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

  Is. 64: 6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags

  Romans 3: 9 - What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;

  10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

  The requirement of being born again (letting God in on the inside so that he can be the arbiter of right and wrong) is extremely offensive to our flesh.
  
  But even worse than that, is the requirement to "die as unto ourself". This requirement triggers an all-out war against God, from our flesh. It doesn't want to give up control.

  The bottom line is that as much as we like Jesus' teachings, we simply cannot essentially live them. God must do that for us, in us.
  
  We must believe God and then receive God. Believe and receive. OUR Works has NOTHING to do with it, "else Christ died for nothing."
• 
  169

  Universal sovereignty on trial

  by Factfulness in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i just had a thought of clarity regarding the jw explanation for this doctrine.

  they explain that satan challenged god regarding his right to rule.

  god failed to prove his right to rule.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Perry

  This is what God wants—each one should make his own conclusion

  And, the ability to choose comes at a great price, both to man and to God.
  
  All the logic in the world is totally untrue if the underlying premise or assumption is wrong.

  False Premise: We are God's Children.
  True premise: We are God's enemies.

  God adopts certain individuals based on their faith, or belief in him. When Adam fell, all future copies of him that were in him fell as well. None of them could legally claim God as their father except through some additional contractual arrangement like adoption.
  
  So, God had no legal obligation to man other than the fulfillment of his own prophecy in Genesis 3: 15. Because of that ultimate future defeat of Satan (not by God, no that would be too easy - but by a man), God purposed a people, a lineage and a King. God has and still does intervene in human affairs to allow for this purpose during the dispensation of the Millennium Reign. It cannot be undone...it's going to happen.

  BUT, love has its own rationale too, just like the legal side does. Love doesn't require a moral imperative to express itself.
  
  The Old Testament offered a National Contract to Israel for it's continued existence. It was not conditioned upon belief, obedience, or anything else in order to be ratified. The largely modern secular state of Israel is mighty testimony to God's faithfulness, and to the one-sidedness of that agreement mediated by Moses.. All humans on earth will serve an Israeli King one day.
  
  But, Individual salvation (adoption by God) has always been achieved by faith. "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness".
  
  God's ultimate goal is Love. The reciprocal nature of Loves' expression between two parties requires belief in one another to some extent. At least belief in the potential future growth, appreciation and positive effects of the love's expression between the parties. God IS Love.
  
  When we were all JW's we had a maladaptive relationship with a thing, not a Person. Sure, we convinced ourselves that we loved God, but our choices (works) proved that we loved our organization more. We were never children of God as JW's. God gave us what we wanted. He always does.
  
  So how does a person have a relationship with someone who knows everything, and also knows everything that will ever be known? The only proper response to that reality, is to believe him.
  
  If you believe in God, then he believes in you as a person, as his child. God writes the endings of the stories of his children.
  
  
  
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  131

  Why Do People Oppose Jehovah's Witnesses?

  by BlackSpirit in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  jesus christ, the son of the most high god, jehovah has this to say: "if the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.

  if you were part of the world, the world would be fond of what is its own.

  now because you are no part of the world, but i have chosen you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you.

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  Perry

  Did the JWs have Gods approval when they banned organ transplants and were severely criticized and "persecuted" for that stance... only to reverse themselves?
  
  People can (and do) secure persecution for themselves just for being jackasses.
  
  Just read the bible from the KJV, NKJV or MEV. Jesus was a liberator. He wasn't opposed to persecution when it was legit.

  Some didn't believe him. No one accused him of being a jackass.
• 
  169

  Universal sovereignty on trial

  by Factfulness in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i just had a thought of clarity regarding the jw explanation for this doctrine.

  they explain that satan challenged god regarding his right to rule.

  god failed to prove his right to rule.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Perry

  Universal Sovereignty

  Vindication of God's Holy Name

  Who has the Right to Rule

  The Bible is a book of Government

  Blah, blah bla

  The above notions sound religious, even biblically religious. The only problem is that they are not historical Christian themes.
  
  Christianity is about getting rid of your sin debt through the blood of Christ. God hasn't been allowing men to rule themselves because he is trying to run for office. Man is alienated from a just and holy God because they sin, a lot. They are his enemies. And, while we were God's enemies, and before we did ANYTHING for God.. Christ (God Himself) died for us (personally) not Adam.

  Romans 5 - But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

  9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

  10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

  11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

  
  

  This is the Great Watchtower deception. They keep people all knotted up chasing imaginary global rulership issues and ignoring (even rejecting) the offer of a total free ride into eternal bliss and personal adoption by the Almighty.

  Once a person is adopted, legal heirs have title right to everything the Father has, for free.... the very thing JW's insist on working for.
  
  

  Jesus said, "Come to me (not Jehovah), and I will give you rest".

  The irony is overwhelming at times.
  
• 
  291

  Evolution is a Fact #1 - Protein Functional Redundancy

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i intend for this to be one of a series of bite-sized ops on the evidence for evolution.. introduction to dna genes are sequences of dna made up of words (codons) each of which are three letters (bases) long.

  there are only four letters in the genetic alphabet (acg&t) each word or codon is the recipe for one amino acid.

  there are 20 different amino acids in living organisms.

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  Perry

  Cofty,

  The study is published in the journal Human Evolution.... not a creationist source.

  I post this because it is favorable toward a worldview which I believe the evidence (that I can personally test or can reasonably subscribe to supports)...unlike you.

  The paper does NOT suggest that life originated all at the same time but that the age of extant species can be traced back to founder populations

  A perfect fit for a Noah's ark scenario. Bravo!

  1. What is your explanation for why dinosaur bones stink like rotting flesh? If they are old enough for the Rocky Mountains to have been worn down by rain water and wind and then rise again as evolutionists claim, how could they still have organic molecules decomposing... still stinking like a corpse?
  
  2. How can carbon dating of dinosaur soft tissue consistently show a date of thousands of years?

  3. How can dinosaur dna fragments last more that a few thousand years when DNA has been demonstrated to last at most a few thousand years?

  These are simple smell-test type observances that even the most uneducated amongst us (such as yourself with ZERO training in the biological sciences) can understand.

  What say you?
  
  

  
  
• 
  291

  Evolution is a Fact #1 - Protein Functional Redundancy

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i intend for this to be one of a series of bite-sized ops on the evidence for evolution.. introduction to dna genes are sequences of dna made up of words (codons) each of which are three letters (bases) long.

  there are only four letters in the genetic alphabet (acg&t) each word or codon is the recipe for one amino acid.

  there are 20 different amino acids in living organisms.

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  Perry

  Massive Genetic Study Reveals 90 Percent Of Earth’s Animals Appeared At The Same Time
• 
  19

  Where Do You Think Your Dear Loved Ones Are?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  since we were jws at one time, has it influenced your view as to where your dead loved ones are now?

  i know many here do not believe in anything biblical but i’m curious as to whether you believe anyone is in heaven?

  ?.

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  Perry

  Thousands of cases of Terminal Lucidity cases shows that our soul lives, even after brain tissue is destroyed.

  
  I believe that man was created in the image (similar to that) of an eternal God. And, man has an eternal soul.... so that no matter whatever happens to the body in a world capable of accidents, evil and decay, fellowship with God would never be at risk; unless of course we choose that. I think God respects our choices. Jesus said that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without God taking notice of it.
  
  In this view, No one will ever be able to cease being conscious.... even if they desperately want to, because it is inherent to our nature, blueprint, construction etc.
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  24

  Why remove John 8:1-11 in the NWT if these verses speak highly of Jesus

  by I_love_Jeff in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i understand these verses were removed in the nwt as well as some other bibles because they were added later & considered uninspired.

  jesus protected an adultress so why remove it?

  it fits in nicely with his teachings, does it not?

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  Perry

  Greek scholar Didymus the Blind (c. 350 A.D.) is known to have cited the passage extensively in his commentary on Ecclesiastes, which was discovered in the 1940's. It was commented on at a time when it is admitted that "many manuscripts, both Greek and Latin contained the story" ( cf. Jerome) of the Woman Taken in Adultery.

  Not only was the passage known among Greek commentators from before Jerome's time, it was known specifically in Alexandria, the suspected source of the Alexandrian text-type, which omits the verses. (ie. Sinaiticus and Vaticanus manuscripts which are summarily rejected as hopelessly corrupted by millions of Christians today)

  Early Writers and John 8:1-11
  

  Date	Author	comments
  c. 150 B.C.	Susanna new!	- O.G. has "ορθρου"
  60-120 A.D.	Didache	- Greek & Commentary
  100 A.D.	Papias	- Greek/English
  140 A.D.	Marcion	- early tampering
  150 A.D.	Gospel of Peter	- & John 8:1-11
  c. 150 A.D.	Susanna (Theod.)	- Theod: πᾶς ὁ λαὸς
  140-160 A.D.	Diatesseron	- knows of Jn 8:1-11
  210 A.D.	Tertullian	- evidence of edict
  220 A.D.	Hippolytus	- on Susanna & Origen
  230 A.D.	Origen	- not so silent
  250 A.D.	Didaskalia	- quotes Jn 8:1-11
  290-556 A.D.	The Emperors	- Adultery & Roman Law
  c. 330 A.D.	Constantine	- (see Philostorgius)
  c. 350 A.D.	Apostolic Constitutions	- PA as Holy Scripture
  	Apostolic Const.	- Greek Text
  350 A.D.	Ambrosiaster	- a solid quotation
  360 A.D.	Didymus	- quotes PA as scripture
  370 A.D.	Pacian	- Supports Jerome
  c. 384 A.D.	Jerome	- on John 8:1-11
  	Jerome's NT Preface	- good discussion
  388 A.D.	Ambrose	- quotes Jn 8:1-11
  350-400 A.D.	Epiphanius new!	- Euseb. Canon has PA!
  380-400 A.D.	Faustus on PA	- quoted by Augustine
  400 A.D.	Augustine	Supports PA & TR
  408 A.D.	Rufinus	- aware of PA
  c. 400 A.D.	Chrysostom	- new evidence for PA
  425 A.D.	Philostorgius	- discusses tampering
  429 A.D.	Theodoret	- startling evidence
  400-450	Sozomen new!	- Constantine & Crispus
  425-450 A.D.	Sedulius	- PA as Holy Scripture
  4th-5th cent.	Syriac PA	- accepted as genuine
  c.650+ A.D.	Gospel of Barnabas new!	- & the PA
  c.700 A.D.	The Venerable Bede	- homily on PA
  c.1100 A.D.	Euthymius	- evidence misused
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  15

  JW Good News is merely B.S. Bad News demonstrably wrong (Here is the proof)

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  scare tactics generating fear of the end is the core message of jehovah's witnesses.predictions based on so-called bible prophecy is their mother's milk.

  "critical times hard to deal with" flavors every book, article,pamphlet and conversation spoken by dub on the doorstep.indeed, all we hear anywhere seems to be bad news.

  are jw's right?can this be put to the test?

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  Perry

  Or, as Charles Dickens put it, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” The world keeps spinning, but it wobbles. All the same....

  1. Abortions are down to lowest levels since Roe v. Wade

  2. Cigarette smoking down

  3. Littering has declined by 61% in last 40 years

  4. Teen drug and alcohol abuse is down (not including weed)

  5. Percentage of college educated population has increased by a 1/3 in the US

  6. The Watchtower can hide much less of their dirty laundry than they could 30 years ago with the invention of the internet.

  7. Median Household Income (and potential) has risen substantially even when adjusted for inflation

  
  

  Now if we could just get our debt, trade deficits, and 100 Trillion in unfunded liabilities down.
  
  
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  17

  My son graduated last Friday

  by Captain Schmideo2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have talked about him before on this forum.

  he is now a graduate from mit!.

  it was a lovely weekend.. i got to meet some of the friends he has made in the past four years, and some of their families.. they were very nice, decent, friendly, and enjoyable people.

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  Perry

  Wonderful news Captain! Very happy and excited for you.