May be a coincidence: Armageddon-consciousness reawakens and money-drained JW org can feel some sense of relief. Many super rich are joining the survivalism movement. The list includes Steve Huffman, cofounder and CEO of Reddit; Marvin Liao, a former Yahoo executive and a partner at 500 Startups; and Robert A Johnson, a managing director of hedge fund Soros Fund Management. Reid Hoffman, the cofounder of LinkedIn and a notable venture capitalist estimates more than 50% of Silicon Valley billionaires have bought some level of “apocalypse insurance“, like an underground bunker. Fortified shelters, built to withstand catastrophic events from viral epidemic to nuclear war, seem to be experiencing a wave of interest in general as hints of a new Cold War ramp up. They fear that Trump is the real trumpet that invites cataclysmic changes! (from a new essay in The New Yorker)
anointed1
JoinedPosts by anointed1
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19
Millions now living will never die
by stillin inbut pretty much all of them are now dead.
and so are billions of others.
so, god doesn't desire any to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance?
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64
Is the Bible from Men, NOT God?
by the-Question infor those claiming that- how much thought or research have you done?.
objective or non-objective?.
ever read the other books claiming to be from god?
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anointed1
I agree with crazyguy--most of it are borrowed:
COMPARISON OF FLOOD MYTH
GENESIS
GILGAMESH
Extent of flood
Global
Global
Cause
Man's wickedness
Man's sins
Intended for whom?
All mankind
One city & all mankind
Sender
Yahweh
Assembly of "gods"
Name of hero
Noah
Utnapishtim
Hero's character
Righteous
Righteous
Means of announcement
Direct from God
In a dream
Ordered to build boat?
Yes
Yes
Did hero complain?
Yes
Yes
Height of boat
Several stories (3)
Several stories (6)
Compartments inside?
Many
Many
Doors
One
One
Windows
At least one
At least one
Outside coating
Pitch
Pitch
Shape of boat
Rectangular
Square
Human passengers
Family members only
Family & few others
Other passengers
All species of animals
All species of animals
Means of flood
Ground water & heavy rain
Heavy rain
Duration of flood
Long (40 days & nights plus)
Short (6 days & nights)
Test to find land
Release of birds
Release of birds
Types of birds
Raven & three doves
Dove, swallow, raven
Ark landing spot
Mountain -- Mt. Ararat
Mountain -- Mt. Nisir
Sacrificed after flood?
Yes, by Noah
Yes, by Utnapishtim
Blessed after flood?
Yes
Yes
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64
Is the Bible from Men, NOT God?
by the-Question infor those claiming that- how much thought or research have you done?.
objective or non-objective?.
ever read the other books claiming to be from god?
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anointed1
Using a book or a religion cannot be God's way of communication. As Simon once put: trying to find out which scripture or religion is the right one is like trying to find out which neighborhood is the right neighborhood (you have to live as a neighbor to everyone on earth which would take millions of years.
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64
Is the Bible from Men, NOT God?
by the-Question infor those claiming that- how much thought or research have you done?.
objective or non-objective?.
ever read the other books claiming to be from god?
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anointed1
I believed Bible is from God till I came across Jeremiah 7:31 where it says 'killing a son to atone the sins of others' have never come up in God's mind. Yet Jesus being killed by the sinners is used as the basis for the absolving of sins which forms bulk of the NT. This was a shock to me--the most important teaching itself is an apostate idea!
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Why is this blind allegiance to the anointed ones?
by anointed1 ineven when they know that certain things are not right with the organization the flocks are blindly following their leaders viewing them as the future “kings and priests” (originally a sumerian concept).. greed for a “land of milk and honey” (either in this life or the next) is at the root of their allegiance.
interestingly, greed is something the flocks are warned against: ‘be on your guard against all kinds of greed which is idolatry.’ (luke 12:15; colossians 3:5).
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anointed1
Yes, scratchme1010 you got it--it is basically allegiance to themselves, love of themselves.
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Why is this blind allegiance to the anointed ones?
by anointed1 ineven when they know that certain things are not right with the organization the flocks are blindly following their leaders viewing them as the future “kings and priests” (originally a sumerian concept).. greed for a “land of milk and honey” (either in this life or the next) is at the root of their allegiance.
interestingly, greed is something the flocks are warned against: ‘be on your guard against all kinds of greed which is idolatry.’ (luke 12:15; colossians 3:5).
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anointed1
When all my family members joined JWs one by one, I had problems such as these (which prevented me from going along with them):
1) How can murder of an innocent person by the sinners atone the sins of the sinners (which argues against the very inspiration of scriptures)
2) When we are told to do this and that because God wants, should we not reason: To claim that an omnipotent God “wants” something is not only illogical, it’s extremely insulting to such a God: it’s tantamount to saying that the god isn’t omnipotent!
3) When we are urged to pray to an all-knowing (omniscient) God, should we not ask: Why should we pray to an omniscient being who would already know of it?
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14
Why is this blind allegiance to the anointed ones?
by anointed1 ineven when they know that certain things are not right with the organization the flocks are blindly following their leaders viewing them as the future “kings and priests” (originally a sumerian concept).. greed for a “land of milk and honey” (either in this life or the next) is at the root of their allegiance.
interestingly, greed is something the flocks are warned against: ‘be on your guard against all kinds of greed which is idolatry.’ (luke 12:15; colossians 3:5).
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anointed1
Even when they know that certain things are not right with the organization the flocks are blindly following their leaders viewing them as the future “kings and priests” (originally a Sumerian concept).
Greed for a “land of milk and honey” (either in this life or the next) is at the root of their allegiance. Interestingly, greed is something the flocks are warned against: ‘Be on your guard against all kinds of greed which is idolatry.’ (Luke 12:15; Colossians 3:5)
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A problem for believers
by Bugbear ina problem for believers!.
a majority of the world’s population acknowledge that they believe in a superior god or in their creator.
they also claim that they have got this special understanding and knowledge of his will and his law.
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anointed1
What would have happened if there were no religions? Would we have found ourselves believers in God? Situation would definitely be different. It’s like what happened in Mosco zoo which did a unique experiment . They made one part of the zoo for the fresh species (those who are removed from their parents immediately after the birth). Not seeing what their seniors are doing, even carnivorous animals became vegetarians and lived in peace with other animals.
Humans have no time to experiment such things as they are deeply embroiled in their greed thus suffer from limited vision, hence cannot have overall view on anything. They will be mechanical on the question of what is right and wrong. But the very nature of what is right and wrong has to do with overall view. Donating a house to a homeless person is right when done by an individual. But same act when done by a King is wrong because king is bound to help all the homeless persons; helping only one person would be partiality. That means viewing as a whole is the key. When viewed as a whole, even materialists do a great service because it is our experience that without them the religionists would become extreme human rights violators. It means even atheists (though working independent of God) work for the good of the humanity.
Viewing as a whole comes with experience. In such experience even the question “Does God exist?” is irrelevant. That question has not been lived, experienced. It is just a bunch of: “Yes, because …….or No, because…….” then we add stuff to support our thinking……no experience. If there is experience, that question wouldn’t be asked.
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The rich will not inherit the Kingdom of God—Did Jesus really say this?
by anointed1 init is our experience that love of money brings action towards accumulating abundance of wealth which ultimately convinces the owner that “i was wasting my time” which in turn motivates him to turn into philanthropy (like bill gates and co did).
this is a perfect design (designed to work independently of god) like a journey of which the first half is wasteful and the second half is fruitful, and it is to be viewed as a whole.
hence it is unlikely that jesus would say: “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of god.” (mathew 19:24) verse is obviously attributed to jesus by later writers.. this means question of morality is not complicated if viewed as a whole process.
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The rich will not inherit the Kingdom of God—Did Jesus really say this?
by anointed1 init is our experience that love of money brings action towards accumulating abundance of wealth which ultimately convinces the owner that “i was wasting my time” which in turn motivates him to turn into philanthropy (like bill gates and co did).
this is a perfect design (designed to work independently of god) like a journey of which the first half is wasteful and the second half is fruitful, and it is to be viewed as a whole.
hence it is unlikely that jesus would say: “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of god.” (mathew 19:24) verse is obviously attributed to jesus by later writers.. this means question of morality is not complicated if viewed as a whole process.
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