Posts by pseudoxristos

175

The facts on crucifixion, stauros, and the "torture stake"

by Leolaia in

finally, i will look at biblical and patristic evidence bearing on the crucifixion of jesus in particular.

we need to examine the earliest known descriptions of the kind of crucifixion adopted by the romans and the specific terms they used to refer to it.

apparently the society believes that crux still meant "stake" in the second century a.d., when tacitus composed his annals.

pseudoxristos

I'm posting here so it will be easier for me to find in the future.

I also want to say great job, even though it has been almost two years old since the original post.

pseudo

64

I've got a scan of that letter!

by SirNose586 in

jw
friends

i just scanned the boe letter about the wt format change.

it's in .tif format.. enjoy!.

pseudoxristos

Here is a plain text version of the letter.

pseudo

[The following is a plain text copy of the letter "TO ALL CONGREGATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES" dated February 9, 2007. The actual text begins with the date "February 9, 2007". The text that appears prior to the date is the text of the letter head]

Christian Congregation
of Jehovah’s Witnesses
2821 Route 22, Patterson, NY 12563-2237 Phone: (845) 306-1100

February 9, 2007

TO ALL CONGREGATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES

Re: Adjusted format of The Watchtower

Dear Brothers:

The year 2006 saw a major change in publishing the Awake! Magazine. In January of that year the magazine became monthly instead of semimonthly and the contents were given a more Scriptural slant than previously. In the months since then, Jehovah’s blessing has been seen on the arrangement and the circulation of Awake! continues to increase.

Now, we are pleased to announce that the Governing Body has approved changes to the format of The Watchtower. The Watchtower will continue to be published semimonthly, but it will have two different editions. In the issue that is dated the 1st of each month, all the material will be directed to the public. It will have no study articles. That issue will be known as the public edition. The Watchtower that is dated the 15th of each month will be solely for the Christian brotherhood. It will not be offered to the public. It will contain all the study articles for one month and secondary articles that are appropriate for dedicated servants of Jehovah. That edition will be known as the study edition.

The advantages of this change will be quickly evident. At the moment, each issue of The Watchtower contains material both for the public and the brotherhood. So, even in the study articles, we have to explain terms like "pioneer" in ways that the public can understand. After this new arrangement goes into effect, everything in the study edition will be expressly for dedicated individuals and Bible students who are making spiritual progress. Hence, information can be more pointed and more beneficial. Material in the public edition will be designed to educate the public. That does not mean that we as dedicated Christians will not enjoy reading the information. But the information published will be of such a nature that a non-Witness will be able to read the magazine from cover to cover without encountering material that has been especially prepared for Jehovah’s Witnesses.

An additional advantage of this new arrangement is that each month we will offer in the field service just one Watchtower with one Awake! Thus, we will not have to adjust our presentation halfway through the month in order to accommodate the latest issue of The Watchtower.

This new arrangement for publishing The Watchtower will take effect in January 2008. Hence, the January 1, 2008, Watchtower will be a public edition and the January 15, 2008, Watchtower will be a study edition.

We pray that Jehovah’s rich blessing will be on this new arrangement with The Watchtower just as it has been on Awake!

Your brothers,

Christian Congregation
of Jehovah’s Witnesses

PS to presiding overseer:

Please arrange for this letter to be read to the congregation at the first Service Meeting after its receipt. Thereafter, it should be posted on the information board.

85

Did any Man Asend to Heaven Before Jesus?

by gumby in

as all faithful witnesses to jehovah the most high god well knowjohn 3:13 ).

does anyone have any idea where enoch went.....since he never died?.

the author of the letter to the hebrews says "by faith enoch was transferred, that he should not see death, and was not found, because god had transferred him; for before his transference he had the witness that he had pleased god well.

pseudoxristos

I have nothing to add to this thread, but I did find it interesting so I am going to post something to it just so I can find it later.

pseudo

14

Agnostic/Atheist/Religion

by Free in

jw
friends

i feel that since i have lost all faith in the society, i feel myself drifting further and further into more agnosticism / atheistic thinking.i am finding it harder every day to believe in a god or holy scripture.

i actually feel more at peace now not feeling like someone is watching me.

religion now rings a wicked song in my head that sings of control, power, money, greed, and endless seas of falsehood.

pseudoxristos

When I was very young, my parents told me that Santa Claus was real. When I got a little older, my friends told me that he was only make-believe. I decided then that he must be real and just because some didn't believe in him didn't mean that it was true. I haven't given up trying to find the real Santa. I know he is out there. I've seen the fake Santas at the mall, but this does not mean there isn't a real Santa. Ridicule me and look down upon me if you like, but I'm not giving up. I'll find him someday. I may be wrong, but it's my life and I'll live it my way.

pseudoKlaus.

p.s. Santa, if your reading this, you know what I want for Christmas. Let me know if you lost my address again.

79

KM Insert "How Do I View Blood Fractions..." Complete Scan and PDF

by V in

download pdf here (all four pages).

page 1 of insert: http://i11.tinypic.com/2s67s6g.jpg.

page 2 of insert: http://i12.tinypic.com/2dtnpr9.jpg.

pseudoxristos

The Watchtower should go ahead and change Leviticus 17:13 in the NWT to reflect their current blood policy.

[original]
Leviticus 17:13 "he must in that case pour its blood out and cover it with dust."

[revised]
Leviticus 17:13 "he must in certain cases seperate its blood into fractions, keeping certain fractions for substance, while pouring out the rest and covering it with dust."

pseudo

4

QUANTUM MECHANICS this tiny world is strange

by skyking in

keith schwab, cornell associate professor of physics, has created a device and you can lower the temperature of the object -- just by watching it, and make it move.. .

http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/523711/?sc=dwhn

pseudoxristos

The movement of the device is not caused by telekinesis.

They are watching the device with a "single electron transistor". The use of the transistor to "watch" the device is what is causing the movement and temperature change.

The device is actually a tiny (8.7 microns, or millionths of a meter, long; 200 nanometers, or billionths of a meter, wide) sliver of aluminum on silicon nitride, pinned down at both ends and allowed to vibrate in the middle. Nearby, Schwab positioned a superconducting single electron transistor (SSET) to detect minuscule changes in the sliver's position.
According to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, the precision of simultaneous measurements of position and velocity of a particle is limited by a quantifiable amount. Schwab and his colleagues were able to get closer than ever to that theoretical limit with their measurements, demonstrating as well a phenomenon called back action, by which the act of observing something actually gives it a nudge of momentum.

pseudo

126

WATCHTOWER loses in court!

by Nathan Natas in

pseudoxristos

I took the time to type the Court Ruling. The following a plain text form of the original. You should probably always refer to the original when using this text.

pseudo

http://www.silentlambs.org/documents/CARulingonDiscoveryMotions.pdf

SUPERIOR COURT FOR THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

COUNTY OF NAPA

Plaintiffs’ Motions To Compel Discovery came on for hearing on October 13, 2006. The

court, having read and considered the papers in support of and in opposition to the motion and

having heard oral argument, took the motions under submission and now rules as follows:

Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Depositions and/or Protective Order re: the Woodland
Elders (Motion #1)

The Watchtower defendants have informed the plaintiffs that, at the depositions of four

Church Elders, they will invoke the clergy-penitent privilege and object to "any inquiries

concerning judicial investigations and judicial committees." Plaintiffs seek and order compelling

the deponents to attend their depositions and to respond to such inquiries.

26-22191

1

This court has previously ruled in the Track 1 cases that the penitential communication

privilege does not apply to communications between the alleged abusers and the Judicial

Committee. (See Court’s ruling of September 29, 2005.) Although that ruling is not res judicata

in non-track 1 cases, defendants provide no convincing reason why the court should rule

differently in this case. For the reasons expressed in the earlier ruling, the court concludes that

the witnesses may not assert the penitential communication privilege. To the extent the motion

also encompasses the production of documents, defendants shall produce responsive documents,

regardless of when they are dated. As plaintiffs note, it is possible that documents dated after the

alleged abuse will contain relevant information. For these reasons, plaintiffs’ motion #1 is

GRANTED.

Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel PMK Deposition and Documents - General
(Motion #2)

Plaintiffs have noticed the deposition of the Church defendants’ Person(s) Most

Knowledgeable (PMK) on a number of specified topics. Defendants have objected to six areas

of inquiry, again invoking the clergy-penitent privilege. For the reasons discussed above and in

the court’s earlier ruling, the court finds that the clergy-penitent privilege does not apply to these

documents that post-date the alleged abuse are not relevant or likely to lead to the discovery of

admissible evidence. As above, the court finds that the documents are discoverable. For these

reasons, plaintiffs’ motion #2 is GRANTED.

Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel PMK Deposition and Documents - Legal
(Motion #3)

Plaintiffs previously issued a PMK deposition notice concerning "any and all policies that

the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization had for handling accusations and proof of child sexual

abuse from 1970 to the present." During that PMK deposition of Mr. Breaux, he identified

functions that were handled by the Legal Department rather than by the Service Department,

where he worked. As to these, he lacked the information necessary to provide responses.

Plaintiffs subsequently noticed a PMK deposition to inquire into (1) the organization,

staffing and operation of the Legal Department; (2) the Legal Department’s role in responding to

26-22191

2

and investigating child sexual abuse allegations within the organization; (3) the development and

use of "Child Abuse Telememos" which were forms developed to obtain and record information

concerning reports of abuse (blank forms were produced in discovery); (4) records kept by or

under the direction of the Legal Department concerning allegations of abuse; and (5) answers

given to "survey questions" contained on one of the Telememos.

Defendants have objected that these areas of inquiry are protected by the attorney-client

and/or work product privileges. As to the first two categories, plaintiffs contend that they

concern only policies and implementation, and do not invade any privileges. As to categories 3

and 5, they assert only that the requested information is related to the blank documents they

already received in discovery, and that the information goes to the blank documents they

already received in discovery, and that the information goes to the heart of their case. Finally, as

to category 4, they claim again, that no privileges would be invaded, because they seek general

information about the types of records kept by the legal department.

The court agrees that items 1, 2 and 4, which seek general structural, policy and

organizational information concerning the Legal Department, implicate neither the attorney-

client nor the work product privileges. Items 3 and 5, on the other hand, seek protected

information. As set forth in the declaration of the Church’s associate general counsel, the

Telememo forms are completed by attorneys or legal assistants based upon information provide

them by congregation elders, and are used to assis in giving legal advice to the elders, as clients

of the Legal Department. Similarly, any compilation of information, as from the "survey

questions" constitutes attorney work product and is not discoverable.

For these reasons, the court will GRANT the motion as to items 1, 2 and 4 and will

DENY the motion as to items 3 and 5.

Dated: 10/16/06

__________________________
Raymond A. Guadagni, Judge

26-22191

3

53

how many atheist and agnostics on this site

by dannygwalsh in

jw
friends

hi everyone just a question to satisfy my curiosity , and if you are a non believer are you happier for being so

pseudoxristos

One more, happy atheist.

pseudo

5

Witnesses and Voting (in Chile)

by pseudoxristos in

jw
friends

january 15th of this year, i happened to be in chile (work related) during the presidential runoff election.

on the day of the election, we could not work and most businesses were closed so everyone would have an opportunity to vote.

i was told that it was compulsory that everyone of age vote.

pseudoxristos

Interesting stuff,

Thanks

pseudo

5

Witnesses and Voting (in Chile)

by pseudoxristos in

jw
friends

january 15th of this year, i happened to be in chile (work related) during the presidential runoff election.

on the day of the election, we could not work and most businesses were closed so everyone would have an opportunity to vote.

i was told that it was compulsory that everyone of age vote.

pseudoxristos

January 15th of this year, I happened to be in Chile (work related) during the Presidential runoff election. On the day of the election, we could not work and most businesses were closed so everyone would have an opportunity to vote. I was told that it was compulsory that everyone of age vote.

Today, while reading about Witnesses and politics, I realized that the compulsory vote requirement in Chile could cause some issues for the Witnesses who live there. I looked into this matter a little further and found that only those who are registered are required to vote.

"Enrollment in Chile is voluntary, however, once electors are registered, it is compulsory to vote in each and every election."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilean_presidential_election%2C_2005-2006

Even though this is not as strict as I had originally believed, it seems that it still might present a problem for registered voters that converted to the Witnesses.

Does anybody know if this really is an issue in Chile, or how Witnesses get around it?

pseudo