Posts by doubtfull1799

25

Has God preserved His word today?

by JW Answers in

has god preserved his word today?

many people attack, doubt and fault god's word.

yet god has made several promises in his word.he promised to preserve his word unto every generation,he promised that every word would be truth,he promised that we can rely and depend on his every word.satan wants nothing more than to dismiss, and cast doubt on god's word... so the question today is... do we have god's preserved word today?

doubtfull1799

Absolutely not. Even if you assume that the protestant canon we now have is the correct one that God intended (he has never personally made known to anyone which canon he endorses), we have no way of knowing what the original words of the text actually were, so how can it be said that he preserved "every word"? As Cofty mentioned there are more textual variations in the text of existing manuscripts than there are words in the whole bible! We do not have the originals, we only have faulty copies of copies of copies. There is massive amounts of evidence that scribes poorly copied the text or deliberately changed it for theological reasons (read a few books by Bart Ehrman), to such a degree that it is impossible to reconstruct exactly what the original text said with any certainty.

So the simple answer is no, God did not preserve the text, and broke all three of the promises you outlined.

53

The Unveiling

by Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho in

ladies and gentlemen, i proudly present you with mr and mrs @stucknomore2.0:.

https://youtu.be/o9bqz9jj_qg.

sacha and sherrie, you've done an amazing job in spreading the word about this forum, and it is my sincerest hope that the plug you made brings some newcomers in.

doubtfull1799

Awesome interview. So proud to have these guys as treasured friends. They have been a great support to me. I don't know how I would have coped without the many heart to hearts I've had with Sacha over the last year or so. Helped me with the grieving process so much. So proud of them for making this step and courageously coming out to tell their story as I'm sure it will help many others and add to the great mountain of testimony out there.

3

Mormon judicial committee

by neat blue dog in

this 'mormon' is apparently still mentally in, but faces being charged with apostasy.. https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900030038/heres-why-a-former-mormon-bishop-faces-discipline-from-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints.html.

doubtfull1799

Wow, so many similarities between Mormon speak & JW speak - it's hard to tell them apart:

"Because of the personal nature of church disciplinary matters and to respect the privacy of those involved, the church does not provide information about the proceedings."

"Church disciplinary councils are not held to punish wayward members but to help them return to harmony with the church and its leaders."

"We condemn any inappropriate behavior or abuse regardless of where or when it occurs," said a church spokeswoman who received the books from Young. "Local church leaders are provided with instructions regarding youth interviews and are expected to review and follow them."

4

Professor Brian Cox Quote

by doubtfull1799 in

jw
friends

just finished "the forces of nature" by brian cox, an amazing book and highly recommend.. i loved this quote at the end - so poetic coming from a physicist:.

"our planet is vanishingly small in the vastness, which implies that each of us is also vanishlingly small.

we must come to terms with being of no cosmic significance, and this means jettisoning our personal and collective egos and valuing what we have.

doubtfull1799

Just finished "The Forces of Nature" by Brian Cox, an amazing book and highly recommend.

I loved this quote at the end - so poetic coming from a physicist:

"Our planet is vanishingly small in the vastness, which implies that each of us is also vanishlingly small. We must come to terms with being of no cosmic significance, and this means jettisoning our personal and collective egos and valuing what we have. We can no longer assume the platform of gods, or dream of a unique place in their hearts. Science has forced us to look fixedly into an infinite universe, and its volume dilutes special pleading to a vanishingly small and pathetic whimper. And yet what's left is better. No monument to the gods is as magnificent as the story of our planet; of the origin and evolution of life on the rare earth and the rise of a fledgling civilisation taking its first steps into the dark. We stand related to every one of Darwin's endless, most beautiful forms, each of us connected at some branch in the unbroken chain of life stretching back 4 billion years... We are on our own, and as the dominant intellect we are responsible for our panet in its magnificent and fragile entirety." - Professor Brian Cox, The Forces of Nature.

4

In which month did Jesus die?

by Doug Mason in

i am putting this out as an idea, as something to think about.. this assumes that the death and claimed resurrection of jesus has soteriological significance.

i am not seeking comments on the veracity of that position, nor with endeavouring to identify any model that provides an "explanation".. i am simply asking, did jesus die in nisan (march/april = "easter") or would it have had proper soteriological significance if the events took place in tishri (september/october)?.

is it possible - and i doubt there is any way of knowing - that the early christians found it useful to incorporate existing pagan "spring" festivals, as this enabled them to differentiate themselves from the jews' heavy focus on tishri?.

doubtfull1799

I think its a 50/50 that he even existed and if he did I think its impossible to know anything true about his life. I definitely wouldn't put it past the early Christians to try and place his death in the spring to align with and make it more palatable to Pagan ideas.

5

Its all about Jews and Gentiles

by Steel in

we you still in the borg when you realized the new testament is about god and the jews and god and the church and basically this whole transfer process from jewish law to this becoming the new person in christ.

its rather weird i once believed in heavenly hopers and earthly hopers and faithful slave classes etc etc.

its seems like something from star trek.

doubtfull1799

Actually I would recommend reading Bart Ehrman's "Lost Christianities" if you want a thorough understanding of first/second century Christianity and what it was all about and why the New Testament came together the way it did. It was not so much about Jews/Gentiles, though that was certainly a big part of it, as it was about them many different Christian sects (Marcionites, Ebionites, Gnostics etc) and the jockeying for position over which would be considered "orthodox" vss "heretics". The sect that won the battle came to be know as orthodox and they were the ones who decided which books should be in the Biblical canon (and of course these were the ones that supported their own version of Christianity)

61

Suicides

by new boy in

jw
friends

i have been on the phone the last to two weeks calling people i've known over the last forty years most of who are still jehovah's witnesses.

some of these people who didn't know i was "out" talked to me and some who knew i was "out" still talked to me.

some of the those people are even elders.. by book new boy will be dedicated to all the people who have killed themselves because of being a jehovah's witness or knowing others who were jehovah's witnesses.

doubtfull1799

Having said all that I have appreciated Newboys contributions here and his experiences on Bethel life. I think they are valuable to know about.

61

Suicides

by new boy in

jw
friends

i have been on the phone the last to two weeks calling people i've known over the last forty years most of who are still jehovah's witnesses.

some of these people who didn't know i was "out" talked to me and some who knew i was "out" still talked to me.

some of the those people are even elders.. by book new boy will be dedicated to all the people who have killed themselves because of being a jehovah's witness or knowing others who were jehovah's witnesses.

doubtfull1799

The other problem with dedicating it to suicide victims is the approach that is taken to publish their names on the basis of second hand information. Newboy says he want the book to be accurate and correct and factual. Publishing a list of suicide names without knowing or being able to confirm if they were actually JW related is not meeting the stated standards of accuracy. Though it is probably very often related, just because a JW committed suicide does not automatically mean they took that action because of JW related issues. It may be completely unrelated, depression, mental health issues, tragic love life, who knows.... it could be anything. Every circumstance is unique and it is not fair or accurate to paint every case with the same brush and attribute every JW suicide to problems with the org.

14

The people who decided the Scriptures

by Doug Mason in

many people over many centuries have been involved in deciding which documents were scripture.

there has never been unanimous agreement, including today.

only the church of rome took a vote on the canon.

doubtfull1799

Which is why any arguments over the "correct" interpretation of scripture is a mute point. If we can't even determine what "true" scripture is then it is pointless.

I went up to some JW's on cart work recently who were advertising "what does the Bible really teach" and asked "which Bible?"

After some discussion on how the Biblical canon came into being my next question was, "if you believe the Catholic church is wrong about hell, wrong about the Trinity, wrong about Mary, wrong about infant baptism etc etc etc then why on earth do you think they're right about which books should be in the Bible!!!!

I pointed out to them that they are the ones who decided on the canon you now accept... and of course they were completely dumbfounded and looking to get out of there ASAP.

40

First time

by Deke in

good evening all, this is my first time posting.. been reading and following for two years.

my story will come soon.... but i want to say to all, thanks for all the meaningful, intellectual, honest, and insightful words!!

it’s been an interesting 48 years of service to an organization!

doubtfull1799

Welcome Deke. Sounds like we're a similar vintage. Look forward to you posting your story... so glad to hear you were able to get out with your family in tact.