in a recent post ffghost made a comment about how they're always inserting modern concepts into biblical narratives to make it relatable to jw's organization.
here are some that come to mind:.
- the capitalized term "governing body" when referring to the older men in jerusalem (really just another group of christians that paul outspokenly disagreed with and didn't look to for approval).
Obviously Judas of the Sicarii
I actually thought of that but given the artwork (Jesus on a hill overlooking Jerusalem with 3 disciples) it seems they want to convey the Matthew 24 / Mark 13 scenario, which would make the 3 disciples Peter, James, and John.
there is another way to fellowship with your loved ones after disagreeing with the wt besides getting reinstated.
all you have to do is fling yourself off a boat and start drowning, says watchtower:.
"suppose, then, a member of a christian congregation boating on a lake were to see another boat containing a disfellowshiped person capsize, throwing the disfellowshiped one into the water where he struggled to stay afloat.
I think they also said, around that same time, that a JW was "permitted" to help a DF'ed person change a flat tire on the side of the road.
Note the date of that WT - it is during the time when Ray Franz had more influence in the GB, and attempts were made to sand down the roughest edges of the organization.
Of course, 6 years later, Ray was kicked off the GB & later DF'ed himself, and the hardliners took over (and have been in charge ever since).
EDIT - I see Jeffro posted the quote regarding the flat tire. Good to know my memory still works!
in a recent post ffghost made a comment about how they're always inserting modern concepts into biblical narratives to make it relatable to jw's organization.
here are some that come to mind:.
- the capitalized term "governing body" when referring to the older men in jerusalem (really just another group of christians that paul outspokenly disagreed with and didn't look to for approval).
What's weird (OK, additionally weird) about that 1968 picture is that one of the apostles listening does have a beard.
If your goal is to drive home the message "beards are bad" why draw one on a "good guy"?
i just picked up a few from mark jones as follows:.
i see is that the vast majority of jws don't seem to understand what their religion actually teaches.. the more controversial or embarrassing doctrine - although still official doctrine that has never been rescinded - is just not talked about anymore in the magazines.
there are dinosaurs living on venus.https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/2fowhx/dinosaurs_on_venus/.
LOL - we are now 108 years removed from 1914.
I remember a CO I had in the 70's & repeated in the 90s. He always managed to worm in "we are now in the 80th year of Kingdom rule" (if the talk was given in 1994) or "82nd year of Kingdom rule" (1996), etc.
I imagine he is long since turned to dust, or if not then he is certainly retired, but I wonder if he would have had the nerve to say "108th year of Kingdom rule...." now.
Did Jesus & Paul refer to the "last days" or the "last centuries"?
in a recent post ffghost made a comment about how they're always inserting modern concepts into biblical narratives to make it relatable to jw's organization.
here are some that come to mind:.
- the capitalized term "governing body" when referring to the older men in jerusalem (really just another group of christians that paul outspokenly disagreed with and didn't look to for approval).
Showing groups of first Century Christians in which reading from a codex or scroll was common.
Yeah, I remember those illustrations too.
A congregation meeting in someone's home, and someone is reading from a scroll while there nearby there is a basket with 6 or 7 other scrolls.
Which would represent probably the total lifetime earnings of a whole village of Judean peasants.
But yeah, it was so common for there to be baskets of scrolls in the houses of 1st century Palestine.
Just hold on - in a couple of days I'll collect my winnings from the Nigerian Royal Family State Lottery. I'll send you half of everything I receive.
in a recent post ffghost made a comment about how they're always inserting modern concepts into biblical narratives to make it relatable to jw's organization.
here are some that come to mind:.
- the capitalized term "governing body" when referring to the older men in jerusalem (really just another group of christians that paul outspokenly disagreed with and didn't look to for approval).
Yeah, but there was one with scrolls clearly visible in the "book bags"! That's the most egregious one I remember seeing on this site.
As if the guys somehow placed an order at the congregation scroll & parchment counter for "field service supplies" after their "meeting for field service".
in a recent post ffghost made a comment about how they're always inserting modern concepts into biblical narratives to make it relatable to jw's organization.
here are some that come to mind:.
- the capitalized term "governing body" when referring to the older men in jerusalem (really just another group of christians that paul outspokenly disagreed with and didn't look to for approval).
I've only seen the illustration of the guys with "book bags" here on this site - I think it might have been maybe in an old JW calendar or something not widely distributed.
But there are definitely many illustrations of 1st century Christians (without bookbags) actually standing at the entrance of a house, while the "householder" leans against his doorpost with his chin in his hand, listening intently.
As if 1st century Palestinian peasants had time to hang around in their houses (maybe they were playing video games?), and it was not at all life-threateningly suspicious for random out-of-town strangers to knock on doors of residents.
in a recent post ffghost made a comment about how they're always inserting modern concepts into biblical narratives to make it relatable to jw's organization.
here are some that come to mind:.
- the capitalized term "governing body" when referring to the older men in jerusalem (really just another group of christians that paul outspokenly disagreed with and didn't look to for approval).
Fleeing Jerusalem they worried about the congregation records being safe.
I remember that! I think it was one of the last "live-action-wave-your-arms-like-a-loon-to-prerecorded-dialogue" convention dramas before they went exclusively to video for their dramas.
I still have picture in my mind of the 1st-century "congregation secretary" sitting a table with a stylus and parchment, worrying about "congregation records" (I think implying, incredibly enough, that they were even recording "field service hours" back then).
I $#!+ you not. I remember it clear as a bell.
in a recent post ffghost made a comment about how they're always inserting modern concepts into biblical narratives to make it relatable to jw's organization.
here are some that come to mind:.
- the capitalized term "governing body" when referring to the older men in jerusalem (really just another group of christians that paul outspokenly disagreed with and didn't look to for approval).
They refer to Timothy as a "traveling overseer"...
(for example, Watchtower 2/15/1998 page 25: What was this gift? It involved Timothy’s appointment as a traveling overseer, a service privilege that he had to care for responsibly.)
...the identical term they have used dozens if not hundreds of times for "circuit overseers".
Implying that first century Christian congregations had similar hierarchy and arrangements as modern-day JW congregations.
I wonder if Timothy got his ride from "Circuit Chariot Leasing"?
Not to mention 20th (and 21st) century theocratic buzzwords such as "appointment" and "service privilege".
