when i began formal study of religion and biblical analysis it was like peeling off layer after layer of dark matter, sticky and putrid that had stuck over my eyes and ears and mouth.
i learned that under the watchtower one only builds a widening gap between yourself and the world of biblical academia and scholars.
i used to think i knew a lot because i learned to quote a few scholars or lexicons as a witness.
Once having a back room meeting with an elder about the importance of my wife having her blood directive in order I asked the elder to give me a brief summary of the book of romans.
He asked why.
Then I was how about the book of acts then.
He told me I don't know where you going with this.
I then told him I don't think you could pass an entry level christian theology class in university. You are grossly under qualified to speak about spiritual matters and this meeting is over.
back in the 50's, when i was just a skinny kid, my father became po of a new congregation.
he'd only been baptised for around 4 years, so his rise was quite remarkable.just one of his flock in the new cachement area was of the "remnant".
this lady was well into her 60's, childless but married.
After the whole flip flop on the 1935 thing and the new understanding of the faithful slave being part of the " heavenly class " really has no meaning anymore. I don't even know why they still have the memorial.
Anyone find it kind of silly that ex-JWs have a better understanding of JW theology than actual JWs do.
the ancient jews did not believe in an after-life as far as i can tell, correct me if i'm wrong.
the watchtower says yes.
they say all the prophets believed in a paradise earth..
Ecclesiastes is a book of wisdom written by King Solomon
which starts off describing the condition of men without god. Money is
everything, When we are dead , we are just dead…………………………..oh wait………….Life
sucks without god. That is the entire
book in a nutshell.
A coles notes bible for dummies is more of a threat to the WTS than any apostate. Understanding individual book of the bible and how they relate to each other is “ taking in accurate knowledge ‘.
similar views as those presented here are gaining in popularity in christian circles.
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgmrfatdvtm.
I wonder if JWs go to MIT or NASA message boards and try and hijack them with theology.
It sure seems funny how a disportionate number of ex-JW seem to be actual scientists.
Cofty……………… Why don’t you just Fuck off. If people want to discuss bible theology on a message board decided to people deceived by false theology.
You are just as pompous and arrogant as the most uber elder with all your Bill Nye the science guy crap. Go away
You are just an internet bully who needs to make himself the center of attention in every thread you touch.
a jehovah witness teacher is allowed to teach nonreligious subjects in a school owned by a religious organization but,.
is not allowed to teach the same subject in a school funded or directed by the military..
since the watchtower views all religious organizations as part of babylon the great who had gods disfavor and would be destroyed at armageddon, no elder including some members of the gb could explain this policy of employment.isocf pg 401.
I heard this story ( man, I wish I could find a link ) about this JW who got a job working for Christian charity and after informing all the people at the charity they are in false religion and would die at Armageddon, she/he was treated differently by her/his fellow co-workers.
Of course that resulted in having to leave the job and file a lawsuit which unfortunately she/he won. Watchtower lawyers and money saved the day.
I would like to believe at some level at the average JW can see how moral bankrupt some of their behavior is. Kind of like sueing doctors who save your life
in my cong ( my wives cong.
) there is a lady who attends every meeting , minus the field service just like a regular dub.
it just seems odd she has not taken the dip yet.
In my cong ( my wives cong.) there is a lady who attends every meeting , minus the field service just like a regular dub.
It just seems odd she has not taken the dip yet.
How long can you string this out for ? Is there a point where the elders might tell you to shit or get off the pot or is it just easy hours for some sister.
anyone have info why this have not been explored.
mexico has reserves of.
oil estimated by industry analysts at 60 billion to 120 billion barrels in the.
The world is awash in oil right now. There is no need to go after potentially environmentally hazardous and expensive reserves right now. Some of those deep water wells cost upwards of 1 billion dollars per well. At 50 dollars a barrel that doesn’t pay.
while i do not argue the stand of atheism (because as a jew i find it totally logical and acceptable), i have noticed that there are odd carryover preconceptions about scripture that some hold as axiomatic about the bible (at least the hebrew texts), misconceptions that have nothing to do with the jewish scriptures themselves.. so regardless of what you may think of scripture, whether you believe it is of g-d or not, i thought some of you might enjoy a reference to see how much the watchtower teaching on scripture might still be influencing the conclusions you are making today...at least about the tanakh.
jews read their texts acknowledging the following:.
1. no scriptural concept of original sin.
I had a discussion with a JW one time about the book of John and “ the word was a god “. I told him I believe John gave a good reference of Jesus being “ the angel of the lord” from the old testament, the figure that was identified as being God and with God. If you look at the quotes from the old testament and how they are used and the I AM statement, I believe the book of John testifies to the identity of Jesus and how he believed Jesus was God in the flesh.
Then I asked “ What do you think the book of John is about and how it relates to the new testament “ ?
Silence. Interesting, I must be going. Good to meet you.
JW if it isn’t some crazy weird code they believe they have cracked really have no idea what the hell the bible is all about. The WTS trains you to think so far outside the box you really forget how to think inside it.
recently it seems very quiet in jw land.. jw broadcasting has been in full swing for months now, nobody bats an eye lid at that anymore.. so the question is, what is next?
the next organisation change, the next doctrine change.
it seems like this is the quiet before the storm.. the way things are going, it's almost like they try and one up their last change, things in jw land get that bit more crazy every year.. i'm hedging my bets toward a monthly public talk broadcast straight from new york.
My wife just got back from her assembly. There was 4700 in attendance and 11 took the dip. Too make matters worse they were just 12 year old born-ins. In our entire province of 1.1 million people I don't think even 20 people took the dip.
I am beginning to think subconsciously a large portion of dubs want the nonsense to end.
a while ago i transcribed a video interview with rabbi michael berenbaum from the university of judaism.
the interview concerns jehovah's witnesses during the second world war in the german concentration camp system.
berenbaum is a historian and specifically researches jehovah's witnesses during the shoah and also the idea of martyrdom.
In WW2 the Americans would go from island to island in the pacific trying to get close enough to create an airbase to strike mainland Japan. Each one of these Islands had Japanese defenders who were outgunned and overmatched. When the American would arrive it was just a matter of time, the outcome of the battle wasn’t in doubt. Yet these Japanese soldiers would fight to the last man, not a single prisoner taken. It just made the American soldiers sick. They would end up using flamethrowers to burn them out because of the suicide bombers.
Yet for some odd reason I have no interest in joining the imperial Japanese army. There are lots of stories of bravely or stupidity in WW2.
I think the average JW needs to realize that JW didn’t go to the death camps, they went to work camps and the vast majority of them survived the ordeal.
I think the real heros are the ones who stopped the Nazis, not the ones who babysat the SS childrens.
