ThomasMore

Joined

• started 1 topics
• posted 727 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by ThomasMore

• 
  77

  A question about the contemporary generation teaching following a conversation with a JW apologist

  by Giles Gray in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i would like to ask the ex-jws on this site to put their ‘apologists hat’ back on for a moment, so that i can go through the overlapping generation teaching in an attempt to make sense of it.

  i apologise if these points have already been addressed on this site.a quick background for the reason for my request… having never confronted a jw apologist on the topic, i recently engaged with a jw regarding the official understanding of a ‘generation’ and unfortunately he didn’t have an answer to the points i was making.

  i was left a little confused as to what the official jw response would/should be.so i was hoping that my thoughts below might be considered from an apologist’s perspective.the point in question relates to this section of the watchtower article below from 2008, as well as the jw.org video explanation of the overlapping generation:---:w08 2/15[box on page 25] can we calculate the length of “this generation”?the word “generation” usually refers to people of various ages whose lives overlap during a particular time period or event.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  ThomasMore

  LHG - Yes, the 1995 change. It shook a lot of B'Lites out of Bethel. Most JWs won't admit the impact of it, but it was the beginning of their end. A GB member said in 1997 that Bethel was diligently working to down-size. Why?, because donations were not keeping up with expenses. Why? Because the R&F were curtailing their donations since the end was not imminent.

  Since then, WTC has operated as a business in distress. They are trying to reinvent themselves and finding that the base of support is disinterested. Their many cries of "WOLF!" now fall on deaf ears.
• 
  6

  Annual Meeting 2022: Geoffrey Jackson: Why Jerusalem mattersem Matters

  by raymond frantz in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  https://youtu.be/pdtwglldsza.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  ThomasMore

  IBSA decided that Israel had no significance for future fulfillment of Bible prophecy when Russell took a group to Jerusalem around 1913 (I may be a year off) and found that the Jews were disinterested in his message. They were not going to convert en masse. Just a few years ago, Watchtower dabbled with the same idea and again decided that the Jews in Israel were even less enthused about the message that Watchtower delivered.

  The Bible is clear that the "center of the earth" is Israel - whether you subscribe to it's message or not. WTC refuses to relinquish the role that they believe they have as being at the center of all prophecies. This tainted narcissistic narrative influences everything they do and teach. When they refer to Jerusalem, it is never in relation to the future, just the past.
• 
  52

  Free Will - Does It or Does It Not Exist?

  by truth_b_known in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  being born-in and raised as one of jehovah's witnesses i remember a common theme or phrases used by the watchtower in its theory of why things are the way they are -.

  jehovah created humans.

  jehovah created humans as free moral agents.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  ThomasMore

  Free will definitely - but with the constant influence of our genetics and environment influencing us. For example, gravity is always exerting an influence on us, pulling us downward. We resist and it is actually good for us as exercise. We also use it to our advantage so it can be negative and positive. However, if we give in to it entirely, we lay down and die.

  Some of our genetics and environment are very positive, and we can benefit from the positive influence. When that influence is negative, we can resist it and become stronger. If we do not, we may as well sign our lives over to others as we are swept along with their momentum. We still have free will but may lazily decide not to use it when it does not suit us.
• 
  77

  A question about the contemporary generation teaching following a conversation with a JW apologist

  by Giles Gray in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i would like to ask the ex-jws on this site to put their ‘apologists hat’ back on for a moment, so that i can go through the overlapping generation teaching in an attempt to make sense of it.

  i apologise if these points have already been addressed on this site.a quick background for the reason for my request… having never confronted a jw apologist on the topic, i recently engaged with a jw regarding the official understanding of a ‘generation’ and unfortunately he didn’t have an answer to the points i was making.

  i was left a little confused as to what the official jw response would/should be.so i was hoping that my thoughts below might be considered from an apologist’s perspective.the point in question relates to this section of the watchtower article below from 2008, as well as the jw.org video explanation of the overlapping generation:---:w08 2/15[box on page 25] can we calculate the length of “this generation”?the word “generation” usually refers to people of various ages whose lives overlap during a particular time period or event.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  ThomasMore

  We knew the org was in trouble when the generation teaching was changed. Any attempt since then to spin the explanation has done additional damage.

  WTC is falling apart in huge pieces now. I sincerely regret my decades of support and apologetics. Maybe others on this forum will eventually see why WTC needs to learn to apologize instead of having their followers do it for them.
• 
  9

  Is the Governing Body still considering giving an apology?

  by was a new boy in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  cricket australia apologised to child sex abuse survivors on monday.. https://supersport.com/cricket/news/d697602e-7832-45d7-9710-024493595f57/cricket_australia_sorry_for_historical_child_sex_abuse.

  is it still foreseeable the governing body will consider giving an apology to anyone who has suffered sexual abuse in australia?

  7 years ago.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  ThomasMore

  Uh....No
• 
  77

  A question about the contemporary generation teaching following a conversation with a JW apologist

  by Giles Gray in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i would like to ask the ex-jws on this site to put their ‘apologists hat’ back on for a moment, so that i can go through the overlapping generation teaching in an attempt to make sense of it.

  i apologise if these points have already been addressed on this site.a quick background for the reason for my request… having never confronted a jw apologist on the topic, i recently engaged with a jw regarding the official understanding of a ‘generation’ and unfortunately he didn’t have an answer to the points i was making.

  i was left a little confused as to what the official jw response would/should be.so i was hoping that my thoughts below might be considered from an apologist’s perspective.the point in question relates to this section of the watchtower article below from 2008, as well as the jw.org video explanation of the overlapping generation:---:w08 2/15[box on page 25] can we calculate the length of “this generation”?the word “generation” usually refers to people of various ages whose lives overlap during a particular time period or event.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  ThomasMore

  The video is a condensed version of how that conversation always goes.
• 
  16

  An army of volunteers and a convoy of trucks and heavy equipment headed to Florida as we speak!

  by nowwhat? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  no not the watchtower, but franklin graham's samaritan purse!

  nothing on the website as of noon friday edt.

  evidently all the resources are tied up making their next movie.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  ThomasMore

  Maybe they will build the Media Megalapolas - who knows. In the meantime, they are asking for donations and using it as an excuse for not helping anyone - including the poor folks in Florida. WTC decided 5 years ago that they were not going to give any treasure to disaster victims. Any real help would have to come from the local R&F. Today they don't even try to hide their tight-fistedness. They have no genuine love for the sheep - period, end of story, the end, over and out, goodnight John Boy!
• 
  28

  JW Obession with the trinity

  by Riley in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  so a few years i watched a lecture series by a man named dr. micheal heiser called the two powers in heaven, jesus in the old testament.

  funny thing was it wasn't even very evangelical in nature, so i turned off my religious binders and just watched it like a regular person.

  it turns out that the new testament is a hinge point in the bible.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  ThomasMore

  The trinity doctrine is a third wheel similar to Social Security and Abortion - it has a polarizing effect. Someone close to me knows that I left and why but he is not satisfied and will not be until I accept the trinity. I guess I just think that it should be enough to serve God, treat others with kindness and enjoy a good meal. The rest will work itself out on its own. IS THAT SOOOOO WROOOOOOOONG?
• 
  77

  A question about the contemporary generation teaching following a conversation with a JW apologist

  by Giles Gray in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i would like to ask the ex-jws on this site to put their ‘apologists hat’ back on for a moment, so that i can go through the overlapping generation teaching in an attempt to make sense of it.

  i apologise if these points have already been addressed on this site.a quick background for the reason for my request… having never confronted a jw apologist on the topic, i recently engaged with a jw regarding the official understanding of a ‘generation’ and unfortunately he didn’t have an answer to the points i was making.

  i was left a little confused as to what the official jw response would/should be.so i was hoping that my thoughts below might be considered from an apologist’s perspective.the point in question relates to this section of the watchtower article below from 2008, as well as the jw.org video explanation of the overlapping generation:---:w08 2/15[box on page 25] can we calculate the length of “this generation”?the word “generation” usually refers to people of various ages whose lives overlap during a particular time period or event.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  ThomasMore

  Smiddy - spot on!!!! Well done!!!
• 
  26

  ARMAGEDDON

  by Lost in the fog in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  can i ask please especially for all who are pomo?.

  we've taken a decision similar to revelation 18:4 to get out of the watchtower and not share in its sins.. how many of you still believe that god will one day terminate the world's many systems by means of an armageddon?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  ThomasMore

  Why did John not write or mention the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome since he wrote in the 90’s, over 20 years after? That was also part of the fulfillment of Jesus prophecy so why not draw attention to it?

  I am no Bible scholar but it raises serious questions about the date and author of Revelation.