Punkofnice,
My focus is not people like you who already left JWs, but those who are doubtful, and not yet left JWs. It would be a help to such ones. You people are already free, and do not need anything of this sort.
Abraham1
JoinedPosts by Abraham1
-
18
A single Bible verse that explains everything—hope even to the disfellowshipped
by Abraham1 in"through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for;.
through the fear of the lord evil is avoided.” (proverb 16:6, niv).
sin can be cancelled [yə·ḵup·par] by acts of goodness such as kindness [bə·ḥe·seḏ] and faithfulness, and sin can be avoided in loving remembrance [ū·ḇə·yir·’aṯ] of god.
-
-
-
53
New World Translation is not much different other translations
by Abraham1 inkey scripture 2 timothy 3:16 should have been translated as “every scripture inspired of god is also profitable for teaching” like many other serious translations (such as american standard version ; douay-rheims bible etc) as it is what the greek text says.. this is in harmony with the contents of bible and also with the writer paul himself who knew after his departure ‘even from his own number men will arise and distort the truth.’ (acts 20:29-30) for example, verses such as romans 7:19 is such distortion.
such verses cannot originate from real paul who was “holy, righteous and blameless.” (1 thessalonians 2:10) hence paul had the freeness of speech to tell others to be “blameless” like him (1 thessalonians 5:19-23; ephesians 5:24) there are many things in the scriptures which are not inspired such as words of satan, words of job’s wife and his false friends, words of judas, lot’s daughters …etc.
apostle peter never disowned jesus because if he had done so, his contemporaries would have interrupted him when he rebuked jews, saying: “you disowned the holy and righteous one and asked that a murderer be released to you.“ (acts 3:14) his listeners would have asked him “what right do you have to reprove us for ‘disowning jesus” when you yourself have done it first?” all such verses or accounts were later adoptions.
-
-
Abraham1
Another problem with New World Translation of JWs:
Jesus’ opening verse on the Sermon on the Mount was: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (matthew/5-3) Greek Test doesn’t allow it to be put it differently.
But JWs translated it as “Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need, since the Kingdom of the heavens belongs to them.” (Mathew 5:3, https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/matthew/5/)
This lacks the meaning because in Mathew 5:3 Jesus used Greek word pneuma (spirit) the same word He used to define God our Father. (John 4:24, https://biblehub.com/greek/strongs_4151.htm) Spirit has no need to be conscious of as its very nature is to overflow with good qualities such as “love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness …etc”—just like nature of Father the spirit is. (Galatians 5.22-23). It can be contrasted with its opposite—flesh—person focused on flesh doesn’t have to be conscious of such qualities as “anger, envy” etc which are naturally flowing from flesh and which are spoken as the disqualification for God’s Kingdom. (Galatians 5:19-21; 1 John 2:15-17) Poor in spirit and being pure in spirit are one and the same as its fruits are same--being submissive to laws of God (James 3.17; Psalm/119:1). It's all has to do with quality, not quantity. (Mathew 16:24)
-
15
Missed opportunity of Jehovah’s Witnesses
by Abraham1 injesus had foretold that people of "last days" would “faint out of fear” because of things such as “sea-level rise’ as part of “signs of last days” in luke 21:25. bible translators—including new world translation of jehovah’s witnesses—missed the real meaning as they translated it as “roaring of the sea and its agitation.” (https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/nwt/books/luke/21/).
more careful translations such as niv put it: “roaring and tossing of the sea.” (https://biblehub.com/luke/21-25.htm) word for “tossing” is σάλου (salou), from saino; i.e., billow,” (swell outwards).
thus underlying thought is like balloon swelling, or water flowing outwards, as though ready to roll over, thus points to the modern terminology “sea-level rise.” biblos interlinear translation (int:) translates it as “of [the] sea and rolling surge.” “rolling sea.” (a greek lexicon to the new testament, edward robinson (d.d., page 416) (a greek lexicon to the new testament on the basis of dr. robinson ... by c. robson).. jesus’ original use of the wording “tossing of the sea” is another way of saying “sea-level would rise” as a result of pollution of air.
-
-
Abraham1
Situation is far different from what was some decades ago. https://www.ft.com/content/207a8762-e00c-4926-addd-38a487a0995f
-
18
A single Bible verse that explains everything—hope even to the disfellowshipped
by Abraham1 in"through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for;.
through the fear of the lord evil is avoided.” (proverb 16:6, niv).
sin can be cancelled [yə·ḵup·par] by acts of goodness such as kindness [bə·ḥe·seḏ] and faithfulness, and sin can be avoided in loving remembrance [ū·ḇə·yir·’aṯ] of god.
-
-
Abraham1
"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” (Michael Angelo)
Try the same attitude with the Bible, all confusions will be cleared. Bible is like a marble piece which contains both—words of ordinary characters and words of real prophets who were linked with God, and these two groups are often opposed to each other (Mathew 23:37; Jeremiah 20:3) as the ordinary characters are often pleasure-oriented and prophets are truth-oriented. Prophets are true even when they speak about future. (missed-opportunity-jehovahs-witnesses). Hence if you take only sayings of the real prophets (1-thessalonians/5/19-23), then you have the truth.
For example,
1) According to matthew/5/43-48; Isaiah-66-3 all killings supposedly ordered by God belong to human writers, not to God.
2) According to james/1-13 all accounts in which God supposedly “tested” people are from human writers, not from God.
3) According to God’s own testimony, King David never erred in any matter (1KI.14.8). That means all derogatory accounts about David such as his adultery, murder etc belong to envious human writers, not to God. So is the case with apostle Paul who was “holy, righteous and blameless” (1-thessalonians/2/4-10) and had freeness of speech to tell others to be “blameless” like him (1 Thessalonians 5:19-23; Ephesians 5:24). That means verses such as Romans 7:19 do not belong to Paul, but to someone envious of Paul. Similarly, verses such as Galatians 6:5, 7; 2 Corinthians 9:6 reflect the mind of Christ (Mark 4:24; Mathew 12:32) Hence all verses contradictory to such absolute statements cannot be from Paul, but from someone envious of Paul.
4) The verses that show Apostle Peter disowned Jesus belong to human writers, not to God. Because, if apostle Peter had really disowned Jesus, his contemporaries would have interrupted him when he rebuked Jews, saying: “You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.“ (Acts 3:14) His listeners would have asked him “What right do you have to reprove us for ‘DISOWNING Jesus” when you yourself have done it first?” All such verses or accounts were later adoptions. (2 Timothy 4:3)
Now you know which verses in the Bible belong to human writers and which verses belong to God and His prophets. No confusion at all. (Daniel 12:10) Also see https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5915507227099136/new-world-translation-much-different-other-translations
-
15
Missed opportunity of Jehovah’s Witnesses
by Abraham1 injesus had foretold that people of "last days" would “faint out of fear” because of things such as “sea-level rise’ as part of “signs of last days” in luke 21:25. bible translators—including new world translation of jehovah’s witnesses—missed the real meaning as they translated it as “roaring of the sea and its agitation.” (https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/nwt/books/luke/21/).
more careful translations such as niv put it: “roaring and tossing of the sea.” (https://biblehub.com/luke/21-25.htm) word for “tossing” is σάλου (salou), from saino; i.e., billow,” (swell outwards).
thus underlying thought is like balloon swelling, or water flowing outwards, as though ready to roll over, thus points to the modern terminology “sea-level rise.” biblos interlinear translation (int:) translates it as “of [the] sea and rolling surge.” “rolling sea.” (a greek lexicon to the new testament, edward robinson (d.d., page 416) (a greek lexicon to the new testament on the basis of dr. robinson ... by c. robson).. jesus’ original use of the wording “tossing of the sea” is another way of saying “sea-level would rise” as a result of pollution of air.
-
-
Abraham1
Matter has been simplified by NASA. (Study Projects a Surge in Coastal Flooding, Starting in 2030s
)
-
18
A single Bible verse that explains everything—hope even to the disfellowshipped
by Abraham1 in"through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for;.
through the fear of the lord evil is avoided.” (proverb 16:6, niv).
sin can be cancelled [yə·ḵup·par] by acts of goodness such as kindness [bə·ḥe·seḏ] and faithfulness, and sin can be avoided in loving remembrance [ū·ḇə·yir·’aṯ] of god.
-
-
Abraham1
Beth Sarim,
When Jesus is contradicted by a letter (in the name of Paul) to the Ephesians, you have a choice--either to believe Jesus or someone else. Jesus never taught Grace. (Mathew 5:28-30; Mark 4:24; Revelation 22:11, 12)
Serpent-style tactics is not a one-time event. It is still going on: "Has God told you disobedience to Him would result in death? But I tell you "if you disobey Him only you will live forever, you will positively not die." Has Jesus told you that you should greet everyone regardless others are your friends or enemies? (Mathew 5:43-48) But we tell you “don’t greet your former associate because he is now our enemy."
Apostle Paul was "holy, righteous and blameless.” (1 Thessalonians 2:10; 5:19-23) Hence Paul cannot contradict Jesus. Hence someone in the name of Paul wrote such contradicting statements later, after Paul left the world stage. Paul himself knew this would happen after his departure when he wrote: ‘even from his own number men will arise and distort the truth.’ (Acts 20:29-30) -
53
New World Translation is not much different other translations
by Abraham1 inkey scripture 2 timothy 3:16 should have been translated as “every scripture inspired of god is also profitable for teaching” like many other serious translations (such as american standard version ; douay-rheims bible etc) as it is what the greek text says.. this is in harmony with the contents of bible and also with the writer paul himself who knew after his departure ‘even from his own number men will arise and distort the truth.’ (acts 20:29-30) for example, verses such as romans 7:19 is such distortion.
such verses cannot originate from real paul who was “holy, righteous and blameless.” (1 thessalonians 2:10) hence paul had the freeness of speech to tell others to be “blameless” like him (1 thessalonians 5:19-23; ephesians 5:24) there are many things in the scriptures which are not inspired such as words of satan, words of job’s wife and his false friends, words of judas, lot’s daughters …etc.
apostle peter never disowned jesus because if he had done so, his contemporaries would have interrupted him when he rebuked jews, saying: “you disowned the holy and righteous one and asked that a murderer be released to you.“ (acts 3:14) his listeners would have asked him “what right do you have to reprove us for ‘disowning jesus” when you yourself have done it first?” all such verses or accounts were later adoptions.
-
-
Abraham1
As the time passes by, meaning becomes clearer and clearer: "global warming could push the Antarctic ice sheet past a tipping point in as little as 10 years."
-
15
Missed opportunity of Jehovah’s Witnesses
by Abraham1 injesus had foretold that people of "last days" would “faint out of fear” because of things such as “sea-level rise’ as part of “signs of last days” in luke 21:25. bible translators—including new world translation of jehovah’s witnesses—missed the real meaning as they translated it as “roaring of the sea and its agitation.” (https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/nwt/books/luke/21/).
more careful translations such as niv put it: “roaring and tossing of the sea.” (https://biblehub.com/luke/21-25.htm) word for “tossing” is σάλου (salou), from saino; i.e., billow,” (swell outwards).
thus underlying thought is like balloon swelling, or water flowing outwards, as though ready to roll over, thus points to the modern terminology “sea-level rise.” biblos interlinear translation (int:) translates it as “of [the] sea and rolling surge.” “rolling sea.” (a greek lexicon to the new testament, edward robinson (d.d., page 416) (a greek lexicon to the new testament on the basis of dr. robinson ... by c. robson).. jesus’ original use of the wording “tossing of the sea” is another way of saying “sea-level would rise” as a result of pollution of air.
-
-
Abraham1
As the time passes by, meaning becomes clearer and clearer: "global warming could push the Antarctic ice sheet past a tipping point in as little as 10 years."
-
21
How did Revelation make it in the bible?? It's a drug fuelled trip!
by Witness 007 incatholic church killed off alot of christian books from the "offical" bible collection.
so why let thru the weird book of revelation?
have you read the watchtowers explanation it's a joke rutherford's conventions play a huge part..
-
-
Abraham1
I agree with Vidqun, mikeflood, Rivergang
It is like we understand “THE Child Is The Father Of The Man” (William Wordsworth) if we are coming through its context. Sight of rainbow used to delight him as a child, and the same excitement still remains in him when he grew old too.
Similarly, if we are familiar with the mind-set of prophets, Revelation is easily understood. For example,
1)Those who “lead others to righteousness” are called “stars” (Daniel 12:3; Revelation 1:20) Such spiritual “stars” can also choose to do disservice to their call (Mathew 24:29, 45-51) hence could be likened to “stars falling down on to earth.” (Revelation 6:13)
2) Revelation 9:15, 18 speak about many people being killed through means such as fire, smoke and sulfur.’
This world will undergo labour-pain-like situation (Mathew 24:8) before Paradise Restoration—many will be killed by “FIRE”or “fire-power” [modern-day weapons using firepower such as guns, missiles etc]. Many will be killed by “SMOKE” [toxic gases coming from factories and vehicles]. Many will be by “SULFUR” [explosive weapons based on gunpowder whose main ingredient is sulfur].
3) When paradise is restored wrongdoers will not be there, among them are “dogs” too. (Revelation 22:15) Apostle Peter has already likened dogs with people who leave behind righteousness, thus going back to the old-ways, thus they don’t use their skills for own benefit. Dog’s extraordinary smelling capacity doesn’t benefit dog, it doesn’t use this ability to discriminate between what is food and what is not food—it eats even its own vomit. (2 Peter 2:22) Basically it is because they attach too much importance to themselves. Dog too displays the same self-importance by walking ahead of its owner, by barking at anything that it sees, by getting irritated when another species is loved ..etc.
Thus Book of Revelation is about Paradise Restoration and all about how to develop qualities which will be appreciated by others. -
18
A single Bible verse that explains everything—hope even to the disfellowshipped
by Abraham1 in"through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for;.
through the fear of the lord evil is avoided.” (proverb 16:6, niv).
sin can be cancelled [yə·ḵup·par] by acts of goodness such as kindness [bə·ḥe·seḏ] and faithfulness, and sin can be avoided in loving remembrance [ū·ḇə·yir·’aṯ] of god.
-
-
Abraham1
One glaring mistake in New World Translation of JWs is Mathew 25:46 which all Translations render: ““Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (https://biblehub.com/matthew/25-46.htm)
Only NW Translation puts their own thought into it and distorts the whole meaning: “These will depart into everlasting cutting-off.” (https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/matthew/25/)
The Greek word used is kolasis. “The word was originally a gardening word, and its original meaning was pruning trees. In Greek there are two words for punishment, timoria and kolasis, and there is a quite definite distinction between them. Aristotle defines the difference; kolasis is for the sake of the one who suffers it; timoria is for the sake of the one who inflicts it. Plato says that no one punishes (kolazei) simply because he has done wrong - that would be to take unreasonable vengeance (timoreitai). We punish (kolazei) a wrong-doer in order that he may not do wrong again (Protagoras 323 E). Clement of Alexandria (Stromateis 4.24; 7.16) defines kolasis as pure discipline, and timoria as the return of evil for evil. Aulus Gellius says that kolasis is given that a man may be corrected; timoria is given that dignity and authority may be vindicated (The Attic Nights7.14). The difference is quite clear in Greek and it is always observed. Timoria is retributive punishment. Kolasis is always given to amend and to cure. (From The Apostles’ Creed by William Barclay.) (https://forum.)
Jesus is the one who used the word kolasis in Mathew 25:46. He never meant eternal cutting off because he had already made it clear what would happen to the unrighteous: “When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Mathew 8:10-13) Also compare Mathew 19:28-30 which speaks of two contrasting groups of people---one group receives "100 times as much" whereas others receive something less about which they "will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” To do this means they exist, not were cut off.