Posts by pistolpete

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The Bible - God's Word or Man's

by truth_b_known in

that is the title of one of the watchtower's seemingly endless list of books that was pushed out for sale placement in the jehovah's witness' ministry.

the title does ask a great question.

those who would deny that the bible is divine in origin usually point to failed prophecy, events that do not mesh with historic evidence, scientific evidence, or even plagiarism from other religions.

PaddyTheBaddy

"Well it could come about in the following way. It could be that, eh, at some earlier time somewhere in the universe a civilization evolved by probably some kind of Darwinian means to a very, very, high level of technology and designed a form of life that they seeded onto perhaps this planet. Ehm, now, that is a possibility and an intriguing possibility and I suppose it’s possible that you might find evidence for that if you look at the um detail, details, of biochemistry, molecular biology, you might find a signature of some sort of designer."

That's has always been my view on how human life started. It makes absolute sense when you consider how life works on earth.

Humans kill one another every day. Innocent and evil people die the same way.

There was never a God that intervened when Americans Nuked Japan and kill some 140,000 people in seconds.

There was never a God who answered the prayers of worried parents when an innocent 2 year old little girl was kidnapped, raped repeatedly for days, then dismembered and burned to hid the evidence.

There was never a God to answer prayers when the Black Plague killed about two thirds of the European population.

There was never a God to stop Dictators from taking power and committing genocide on large groups of people

The Gods or Creators of humankind were not Eternal, All Wise, Benevolent-Beings.

They were mortal like humans but with a higher level of intelligence and technology.

They are long gone and died like all other forms of life eventually dies.

Interestingly, even ancient bible writers noticed that in REALITY, life on this earth reflects a life with no Visible Evidence of a Benevolent, Eternal God.

Ecclesiastes 9

Both good and bad things happen to everyone.

They happen to those who are fair and to those who are wicked.

They happen to those who are good and to those who are evil.
They happen to those who sacrifice and to those who do not.
The same things happen to a good person
as happen to a sinner.
The same things happen to a person who makes promises to God
as to one who does not.

3 This is something unfair that happens here on earth. The same things happen to everyone. So men’s minds are full of evil and foolish thoughts while they live. After that, they join the dead

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Bank Bail-Out / Bail-In

by Simon in

remember the last financial crisis, where there as a bail-out of the banks?.

have you ever stopped to think what the "out" part of bail-out means?

normally you think of bailing water out of a boat, or maybe jumping out of a plane, but in financial terms the "out" means "outside money".

pistolpete

It's worth checking exactly which of your account types could be vulnerable to this because there is an ever-increasing chance that the financial system is going to get indigestion from the non-stop money printing and may go tits-up.

In the USA, there are methods for protecting monies. A good experience financial advisor will help if you have more than what FDIC will insure. If you have over a million, it's good to spread your money into different venues.

Last I heard, the Democrats want to gain access to Social Security and personal IRAs with a promise to pay it back-----------------someday.

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If you think Watchtower is disappearing any time soon…

by Reservations in

you are sadly mistaken.. i hear people say it on here all the time, and dare i say his name *cough* lloyd evans *cough* has said it a number of times, that watchtower is running scared and watchtower is in decline….. we need to put in perspective the decrease from the 2020 report.

if we calculate a yearly -0.6 decrease over a 10 year period from 2020 figures it leaves us the grand total number of witnesses of:.

by 2030: - 7,933,479. by 2040: - 7,471,357. by 2050: - 7,036,154. i agree that this is a significant decrease, but let’s not kid ourselves, the wt organisation will still be alive and well even with an annual 0.6% loss.

pistolpete

The Watchtower is Disappearing-----perhaps not immediately, by slowly it is dissolving into who knows what.

With each SUCCEEDING GENERATION, millions of supporting “FULL BELIEVERS” ARE DYING OFF.

Every 10 years, a great part of a Generation will die off. Very few, if any, that are 90 years old today, will be around 10 years from now.

Leaving only HALF BELIEVERS, QUARTER BELIEVERS, and SOMEWHAT BELIEVERS to support the entire Watchtower Corporation FINANCIALLY.

Gone are the days when EVERY JW BELIEVED THAT THE GREAT TRIBULATION WOULD BEGIN ---BEFORE----THE GENERATION THAT SAW AND UNDERSTOOD 1914, WOULD DIE OFF.

Gone are the days when EVERYONE in the Organization believed 607 BCE was the date Jerusalem was sacked by the Babylonians.

Gone are the days when NO ONE HAD ANY IDEA THERE WAS CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE GONG ON IN THE ORGANIZATION.

Gone are the days when Jehovah’s Witnesses went DOOR TO DOOR PREACHING THE GOOD NEW OF GOD’S KINGDOM

Gone are the days when Special Pioneering and Missionary work was considered a necessary work that was to be done in THE LAST DAYS OF THIS SYSTEM OF THINGS.

Gone are the days when 2 day Kingdom Halls were being built every other weekend.

Gone are the days when any question you had about anything could be found in the Awake or WT magazine------now there’s google.

The Watchtower is basically done. The only thing the WT leaders are doing now is continuing to encourage the FULL BELIEVERS so that they can WILL THEIR ASSETS TO THE SOCIETY LEGALLY when they finally DIE.

And figuring out what they are going to do with their billions in assets when this is over.

I CAN GUARANTEE THIS----NOT A SINGLE JW WHO IS 20 AND YOUNGER WILL LEAVE THE SOCIETY ANY OF THEIR ASSETS.

The internet has pulled the curtain on the WT, and this Internet Generation is totally Awake to the ruse the Watchtower has pulled on their parents, and grand parents.

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Were early Gentile Christians familiar with the FATHER OF JESUS?

by pistolpete in

the first christians were mainly of jewish decent and christianity began as a jewish sect.

jesus was a thoroughly dedicated practicing jew who never suggested the launch of a new religion.

jesus lived and died a dedicated jew.

pistolpete

Pistolpete, let's review the Facts:

Let’s continue then. I said in my last post;

But at the very end of the book of Acts, when Paul visits Jerusalem for the last time, before his imprisonment int Rome, Acts, reveals more – perhaps more than intended, and the Truth seems to come out, at least by implication, that rumors were circulating that Paul was teaching a different message

According to Acts, toward the end of his career, Paul arrived in Jerusalem and appeared before James and all the elders of the Jerusalem church. At issue was a “Rumor” that James wanted to DISPEL, namely that Paul WAS TEACHING JEWS that they could disregard the Torah. Acts records James addressing Paul:

“You see brother how many thousands there are among the Jews of those WHO HAVE BELIEVED; THEY ARE ALL ZEALOUS FOR THE TORAH.

And they have been told about you, that YOU TEACH ALL THE JEWS WHO ARE AMONG THE GENTILES TO FORSAKE MOSES, TELLING THEM NOT TO CIRCUMCISE THEIR CHILDREN OR OBSERVE CUSTOMS (Acts 21:20-21)

James then proposes that, to let everyone know that this rumor is false and that Paul himself lives in observance of the Torah, he participate in a purification ceremony in the Jerusalem Temple, which would involve bringing an offering and entering the sacred areas within the Temple courtyard where only Jews were allowed to go.

What is striking about this scene in Acts is that Paul says ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

He neither confirms nor denies the rumor, though he does go along with the purification ceremony.

But we know from Paul’s own letters that he has established an operational policy that when he is among the Jews, he becomes as “One under the Torah” and when he is with the Gentiles, he lives as a Gentile (1 Corinthians 9:20-21) He plays the same game as the Watchtower.

We know that James and the rest of the Jewish followers of Jesus, LIKE JESUS HIMSELF, were Zealous for the Torah and their ancestral faith.

One might expect the author of Acts would have Paul “Deny” the truth of the rumor, but it seems he dare not do that, perhaps because he knows the picture of harmony he is trying to pass off here had no basis in fact and Paul WAS INDEED TEACHING JEWS AND GENTILES THAT THEY WERE NOW UNDER WHAT HE CALLED THE NEW COVENANT-THE TORAH OF CHRIST.

But here is the thing, we know from Paul’s letters that he unquestionably taught THE VERY THING THAT JAMES, IN THIS CONCOCTED SCENE, IS SATISFIED-- HE DOES NOT TEACH!

We have to ask whether Peter, James, and the other apostles did in fact ever learned of Paul’s real Modus Operandi in dealing with both Gentiles and Jews and the FULL IMPLICATIONS OF HIS GOSPEL

Remember the Gospel Paul preached was referred by him as “MY GOSPEL”

Also you may not be aware but 2 Peter has always been questioned as being a Pseudepigrapha text, from the 2nd Century onward to today. Most consider it a Pauline writer. The debates still continue between Bible scholars and conservative evangelicals.

Here are just a few examples of those who did not accept that Peter wrote 2 Peter

Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 260 – 340 CE) quotes Origen (c. 184 – c. 254 CE) as doubting the authenticity of 2 Peter (Ehrman 2013, p. 223).

Eusebius also referred to 2 Peter as a “disputed book” and rejected its authenticity (McDonald 2007, pp. 309, 396; Ehrman 2013, p. 223).

Didymus the Blind (c. 313 – 398 CE) referred to 2 Peter as a forgery (Ehrman 2013, p. 223).

Although Jerome (c. 347 – 420 CE) accepted 2 Peter as scripture, he mentions that many of his colleagues did not (Price 2006, p. 833).

Even after doubts about the authenticity of 2 Peter began to wane with the publication of Athanasius’ Thirty-ninth Festal Letter in 367 CE, the Syrian churches questioned it until the sixth century CE and Martin Luther had his doubts (McDonald 2007, p. 396).

There is no clear evidence that 2 Peter was quoted by the Church Fathers before the 3rd century CE (McDonald 2007, footnote 89, p. 277; Ehrman 2012, p. 485).

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Were early Gentile Christians familiar with the FATHER OF JESUS?

by pistolpete in

the first christians were mainly of jewish decent and christianity began as a jewish sect.

jesus was a thoroughly dedicated practicing jew who never suggested the launch of a new religion.

jesus lived and died a dedicated jew.

pistolpete

Pistolpete: If your assertions are true, why didn't the other apostles add anything to Paul when he went to Jerusalem to check if the message he had been preaching was the same as the one the other apostles were preaching?

When Paul first visits Jerusalem, three years after his sojourn in Arabia and his revelatory experience, it was not to check if the message he had been preaching was the same message the apostles were preaching, instead it was just about getting acquainted with Cephas and nothing else. The Scriptures tell us this in a very straightforward manner.

Galatians 1:18 Then three years later, I went up to Jerusalem TO BECOME ACQUAINTED WITH CEPHAS, and I stayed with him for fifteen days. But I did not see any other apostle except James, the Lord’s brother.

Meaning that Paul had ALREADY been preaching “HIS” Gospel and starting Gentile Congregations. For at least three years.

I say the word “HIS GOSPEL” because many times Paul referred to his message as “HIS GOSPEL” –and not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Here are some examples;

“In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to MY GOSPEL” – Romans 2:16

Paul says “my gospel” --------is how God establishes the Romans.

Now to the one who is able to strengthen you with MY GOSPEL and the message that I PREACH ABOUT JESUS, the Messiah, by revealing the secret that was kept hidden from long ago – Romans 16:25 NIV

Resurrection was a part of Jewish prophecy, Jesus foretold his own, and Peter preached the resurrection of Christ before Paul was saved. ---------So how could Paul say this?

“Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead ACCORDING TO to MY GOSPEL” – 2 Timothy 2:8

When Paul appeared before the Jerusalem Council around 50 A.D. to defend his independent preaching among the Gentiles for the previous fourteen years, he and the Jerusalem apostles apparently reached a kind of “live and let live” Agreement to not interfere with one another’s work.

As long as Paul taught the same teaching the Apostles taught Jewish converts about Jesus. The Jerusalem leadership would never support any insistence that Paul’s converts become circumcised and convert to Judaism.

What NEVER CAME UP , and what the Jerusalem Apostles would NEVER HAVE IMAGINE, given Paul’s devotion and training in the Jewish faith, was that Paul believed that with the coming of Christ, the Torah of Moses, which he called the Old Covenant, had been superseded and was fading away, as seen in Paul’s letters to his Congregations.

This would mean that even Jews were no longer “under the Torah” or obligated to observe the laws of traditions of the ancestral faith, particularly circumcision, the Sabbath, the Jewish festivals, the dietary laws, and ritual purity.

We can be sure that Peter, James, and the Jerusalem Apostles KNEW NOTHING ABOUT THE FULL IMPLICATIONS OF PAUL’S TEACHINGS, --especially that Jews no longer follow the Jewish Torah.

The author of the book of Acts tries to present a picture of harmonious cooperation between Paul, Peter, James, and that they were all preaching the same gospel message.

But at the very end of the book of Acts, when Paul visits Jerusalem for the last time, before his imprisonment int Rome, Acts, reveals more – perhaps more than intended, and the Truth seems to come out, at least by implication, that rumors were circulating that Paul was teaching a different message than the original Apostles, specifically picked by Jesus himself.

And they had No idea to what extant Paul had deviated from the message that they preach of Jesus Christ.

8

Were early Gentile Christians familiar with the FATHER OF JESUS?

by pistolpete in

the first christians were mainly of jewish decent and christianity began as a jewish sect.

jesus was a thoroughly dedicated practicing jew who never suggested the launch of a new religion.

jesus lived and died a dedicated jew.

pistolpete

The First Christians were mainly of Jewish decent and Christianity began as a Jewish sect. Jesus was a thoroughly dedicated practicing Jew who never suggested the launch of a new religion. Jesus lived and died a dedicated Jew. The disciples, led by James, the brother of Jesus, and Peter, continued to maintain their Jewish identities but made Rabbi Jesus the centerpiece of their Jewish practices

It wasn’t until Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, initiated a rift between his brand of Jewish Christianity and the teachings of the Jerusalem-based disciples of Jesus.

That divide eventually drifted toward increasing separation of Christianity and Judaism. But Jewish converts to the new Jewish Christianity as taught by the apostles of Jesus, continued to worship in synagogues, a practice that was still proliferating as late as the fourth century

Eventually the Jewish Christianity as set up by the apostles of Jesus fizzled out and the Christianity of Paul took precedence.

As Gentiles starting converting to Paul’s form of Christianity, (For he was an apostle to the Gentiles only) the basis of conversion was on the teachings of Paul and not the teachings of the 12 apostles of Jesus. The teaching of both were very different. (Which I will point out later in another post)

The Gentiles Christians had no necessity to get a hold of the Hebrew Scriptures, learn the language and read it in order to be baptized as a Christian of Paul’s teachings. Paul taught that the “Law” referring to the Mosiac Law was not necessary for salvation. Thus no need to get familiar with the Father of Jesus.

Thus many Gentiles who became Christian just accepted Jesus’s Father, Jehovah as being a God of Love, Wisdom, Justice, and all the other qualities inherent in an Almighty God.

Most Gentiles also never had access to the Hebrew or Septuagint version of the Old Testament. Had they been able to read about the father of Jesus and his personality, it would have given many gentiles a pause to dedicating themselves to such a God that is characterized by bouts of anger and unrestrained killing of innocent people and animals.

As time went on and more people from different nations who were UN-familiar with the Old Testament, and had no idea that the Old Testament God killed 70, 000 of his own faithful, loyal worshipers just because some King pissed him off because he took a census count.

And the same God also brought a Global flood that killed billions of innocent animals and all human-kind except 8 individuals, when there were better solutions to the problem of evil.

A pause with some mediation and critical thinking would have revealed to any reasonable person that it would have been very easy for an ALL WISE God to just close the gate, and put a stop to all the bad Angels from materializing in human form and causing havoc on the earth.

And instead of killing the billions of animals and all the humans world wide, why not send 10 or 20 thousand Angels who have the power to kill 185,000 heavily armed solders in one night, and just selectively kill the evil people causing ruin on the earth?

But most Gentile Christians never got the opportunity to become familiar with the God of Jesus.

They just took it for granted, (like most Christians Today) that the father of Jesus was just as loving and as reasonable as Jesus Himself. After all, Jesus did say; “If you have seen me, you have seen the father”

Reading both the OT and the NT would contradict that statement.

As a matter of fact, Christians Were Denied Access to Their Bible for about 1,000 Years for this very reason.

To find out about the father of Jesus, was to lose membership in the Christianity of Paul, which of course translates into the loss of donations.. Thus gentile Christians were denied access to the complete bible for some 1000 years plus.

And this is one reason why now in the age of the internet, and everyone has access to a bible, more and more Christians are calling it quits. Because they finally got the opportunity to READ the OLD TESTAMENT, and found out what kind of person the Father of Jesus REALLY IS.

Now it's becoming more obvious to readers of the Old Testament, that the idea of the Father of Jesus being a Wise, Loving, and a Just God, was nothing more that a Huge House of Cards built on an "Emotional Idea" instead of reality.

Decree of the Council of Toulouse (1229 C.E.): “We prohibit also that the laity should be permitted to have the books of the Old or New Testament; but we most strictly forbid their having any translation of these books.”

Ruling of the Council of Tarragona of 1234 C.E.: “No one may possess the books of the Old and New Testaments in the Romance language, and if anyone possesses them he must turn them over to the local bishop within eight days after promulgation of this decree, so that they may be burned...”

Proclamations at the Ecumenical Council of Constance in 1415 C.E.: Oxford professor, and theologian John Wycliffe, was the first (1380 C.E.) to translate the New Testament into English to “...helpeth Christian men to study the Gospel in that tongue in which they know best Christ’s sentence.” For this “heresy” Wycliffe was posthumously condemned by Arundel, the archbishop of Canterbury. By the Council’s decree “Wycliffe’s bones were exhumed and publicly burned and the ashes were thrown into the Swift River.”

Fate of William Tyndale in 1536 C.E.: William Tyndale was burned at the stake for translating the Bible into English. According to Tyndale, the Church forbid owning or reading the Bible to control and restrict the teachings and to enhance their own power and importance.

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