Posts by UnshackleTheChains

10

My awakening and concern

by Issa in

good evening everyone, i go by issa.

as many former ex-witnesses, i "woke up" from believing that the jw org is the "truth".

this happened during this month thanks to information from jw-facts and youtube videos about ex-witnesses' experience in this org.

Thanks for sharing your experience. As humans, we are always inquisitive about what is true and what is false. We can sense when things don't sound right. The Society has fallen into the same trap as the Pharisees of Jesus day by making up endless rules. On top of that, they complicated the word of God with interpretations that simply don't make sense. A mixture of truth and falsehood.

Eg rev 5:10 says the holy ones will rule OVER the earth in the NWT. Something I could never get my head around ie how can you rule the nation's from the sky and invisibly?

Yet pretty much every other Bible says UPON the earth or ON the earth. Now that makes sense and ties in perfectly with the prophecies of the Hebrew scriptures such as Daniel, Isaiah, Psalms

All the best to you in your own spiritual journey

17

"Apostate" brother gives talk in Kingdom Hall and gets removed

by StoneWall in

jw
friends

this guy has to have the most courage of anyone i've ever seen or balls the size of basketballs.he actually gives a good talk and has tidbits scattered about throughout his public talk with hints,suggestions,innuendos of the wt organization.i never want to go in another kingdom hall again in my life but would have made an exception just to be in this audience.

lolnotice what's going on in the audience when they realize somethings up.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqqt0y1peuu.

UnshackleTheChains

I saw the video of this guy giving the talk. It was amazing and can honestly say it was 'THE TRUTH' ☺

40

Did Jesus pre exist? Yes or no?

by UnshackleTheChains in

when i first became a witness, i always found the teaching about jesus being the arch angel michael hard to swallow.

i did however believe that jesus pre existed as a master worker alongside god (the first of his creation).. but now everything is brought into question having watched anthony buzzard explain why jesus could not have pre existed as it is impossible to pre exist yourself.

also the fact that it all sounds contradictory to suggest, he was already alive millions of years before he was transferred to mary's womb to be born as a human - the son of man?.

UnshackleTheChains

John 1:3 (Of Jesus) " All things were made through Him , and without Him NOTHING was made that was made . The world was made through Him "

ln Genesis God spoke and what He spoke came into being . Jesus is called the Logos , the Word of God .

Note in John without Jesus NOTHING was made that was made . So Jesus was not made . The WT adds " else " in there to completely alter the meaning , which is very naughty . So if Jesus was not made then He always existed

Hi Jan

Please take the time to listen to Anthony Buzzard discussing his explanation of John chapter 1.

To me it makes sense and ties in with Matthew, mark and lukes gospel account of a Jewish Jesus, the son of man, the foretold Messiah. God's word and wisdom now expressed through Jesus.

https://youtu.be/CkvIZSpqR_4

Also in regards to Michael the archangel. Twice in Hebrews chapter 1, it asks the question 'to which one of the angels did he (God) ever say : you are my son, today, I have become your father......

The answers are so simple, yet the word of God has become so complicated because of mens interpretations.

13

A Poll Regarding Shunning

by pale.emperor in

i've created a poll here: https://goo.gl/7xburo.

i'd be interested in seeing the results.. .

#qp_main1119848 .qp_btna:hover input {background:#00355f!important} #qp_all1119848 {max-width:815px; margin:0 auto;}if watchtower scrapped the shunning policy due to "new light" and your family suddenly agreed to speak to you again would you accept them back?.

UnshackleTheChains

Pale emporer

I can understand you feeling that way. I think each individual has to decide for themselves as to how they would deal with situations. Human relationships are complex. For example, we can rub one another up the wrong way at our work place which can impact on trust in a considerable way.

I would have to say I would accept my relatives if such was the case. In their mind they are loyal to God. In reality they are loyal to a publishing corporation headed by a group of heartless sharlatans. It isn't your families fault they are indoctrinated to such a degree, but as I say every individual has their own way of dealing with such matters.

40

Did Jesus pre exist? Yes or no?

by UnshackleTheChains in

when i first became a witness, i always found the teaching about jesus being the arch angel michael hard to swallow.

i did however believe that jesus pre existed as a master worker alongside god (the first of his creation).. but now everything is brought into question having watched anthony buzzard explain why jesus could not have pre existed as it is impossible to pre exist yourself.

also the fact that it all sounds contradictory to suggest, he was already alive millions of years before he was transferred to mary's womb to be born as a human - the son of man?.

UnshackleTheChains

Jesus was a knew invented god modeled after Serapis, if fact his cult was the start of Christianity. They added elements of other gods like Dionysus and Mithra to the mix to gain followers. Serapis was already a mix of Egyptian and Greek gods and they just took it a step farther with Jesus. Most of Christianity is modeled after the Egyptian religions

From a Trinitarian perspective, I would agree with 'some' of the above.

From a non Trinitarian perspective, Jesus /Yeshua fulfilled all the prophecies foretold about the coming Messiah. Many eye witnesses saw Jesus and the miracles he performed. Christianity could never have spread so quickly in the first century given the impact he had made during his short life here on earth.

40

Did Jesus pre exist? Yes or no?

by UnshackleTheChains in

when i first became a witness, i always found the teaching about jesus being the arch angel michael hard to swallow.

i did however believe that jesus pre existed as a master worker alongside god (the first of his creation).. but now everything is brought into question having watched anthony buzzard explain why jesus could not have pre existed as it is impossible to pre exist yourself.

also the fact that it all sounds contradictory to suggest, he was already alive millions of years before he was transferred to mary's womb to be born as a human - the son of man?.

UnshackleTheChains

I meant to include this video also

https://youtu.be/QnQNZbbDSuE

40

Did Jesus pre exist? Yes or no?

by UnshackleTheChains in

when i first became a witness, i always found the teaching about jesus being the arch angel michael hard to swallow.

i did however believe that jesus pre existed as a master worker alongside god (the first of his creation).. but now everything is brought into question having watched anthony buzzard explain why jesus could not have pre existed as it is impossible to pre exist yourself.

also the fact that it all sounds contradictory to suggest, he was already alive millions of years before he was transferred to mary's womb to be born as a human - the son of man?.

UnshackleTheChains

When I first became a witness, I always found the teaching about Jesus being the arch angel Michael hard to swallow. I did however believe that Jesus pre existed as a master worker alongside God (the first of his creation).

But now everything is brought into question having watched Anthony Buzzard explain why Jesus could not have pre existed as it is impossible to pre exist yourself. Also the fact that it all sounds contradictory to suggest, he was already alive millions of years before he was transferred to Mary's womb to be born as a human - the son of man?

I have attached the video of Anthony Buzzard discussing his thoughts on Jesus pre existence. Please note, I am not trying to promote his views, but simply find his reasoning making a lot of sense and very interesting

https://youtu.be/eY8wY5i-9-M

17

How does the WTS explain away THIS scripture?

by Searching in

i'm honestly in awe about this particular scripture (and honestly i can't keep thanking jwfacts enough for providing biblical contradictions to the jw doctrine!).

"john said to him: "teacher, we saw a certain man expelling demons by the use of your name and we tried to prevent him, because he was not accompanying us.

" but jesus said: "do not try to prevent him, for there is no one that will do a powerful work on the basis of my name that will quickly be able to revile me; for he that is not against us is for us.

UnshackleTheChains

In the first century the congregations spread over thousands of miles. They had no TV, no internet, no printing company to supply literature, no motor cars, no telephones.

What they did have however was God's word (Hebrew scriptures), Gods holy spirit employed by Jesus; and of course encouraging letters from faithful followers of Christ such as Peter, Paul and others which combined became the Christian Greek scriptures.

Each of these congregations were independent. They had faithful men who brought out the scriptures strengthening everyone's faith most particularly in the good news of Gods Kingdom AND the good news about Christ (Messiah).

The biggest mistake the WTB&TS has made is to say that they and they alone are the ONLY true religion. To me, that is quite an audacious statement to make given there are some 30000 faith groups claiming to be Christian.

Jesus statement 'He who is not against us is for us' is completely foreign to high control groups like Jehovahs Witnesses.

12

Worse than the maggots apparently...

by NoviceLocs14 in

so after a couple of years, i've finally re-established contact with a close relative (not revealing too much for privacy reasons).

it turns out that he is dfd (for the typical jw reasons, of course).

we caught up about a lot of things, including family.

UnshackleTheChains

My own mother said I was sounding more and more apostate in my views.

Why?

Because I mentioned to her that the scriptures appear to indicate that Jesus is coming back to the earth to rule as King and quoted scriptures such as Matt 24:30, 36-39.

15

Lack of open-mindedness

by ilikecheese in

jw
friends

a lot of religious folks can have an open-minded discussion about their beliefs without getting defensive.

some can actually consider things from another point of view and point out the validity in the other person's point.

obviously, a lot of jws may just be scared to think/speak in a semi-detrimental way about their religion.

UnshackleTheChains

I used to love expressing my thoughts on scripture. That was twenty or so years ago when I was first began studying. The Society doesn't stimulate discussion which is a reason no body bothers. All the doctrine is in place. Dare speak otherwise.