Posts by schnell

22

For those that read the bible, does the true message of scripture still come through in NWT?

by NikL in

jw
friends

my active and in jw wife is up for reading bible together.

thing is she wants to use nwt.. i have problems with that translation as you my imagine.. just wondering if you thought the true message of the bible will shine through the deliberate tampering of the nwt?.

i know many people here don't like or want to read the bible and think it's rubbish anyway, so if that's you, you can save your comments :-).

schnell

To name an example, words like grace are so present in this NIV Bible, and I think the replacement in the NWT of grace for 'undeserved kindness' really is a shame. It does not read the same, and to me it feels like the meaning also changes somehow.

@Yesu Kristo Bwana Wangu, I agree, and I debated this with a JW yesterday online. He insisted that "undeserved kindness" is the same thing and that we DON'T deserve it. It seems pathological that he would prefer this, but he probably doesn't see it that way.

22

For those that read the bible, does the true message of scripture still come through in NWT?

by NikL in

jw
friends

my active and in jw wife is up for reading bible together.

thing is she wants to use nwt.. i have problems with that translation as you my imagine.. just wondering if you thought the true message of the bible will shine through the deliberate tampering of the nwt?.

i know many people here don't like or want to read the bible and think it's rubbish anyway, so if that's you, you can save your comments :-).

schnell

Yeah, use a couple translations and compare. Do some "horizontal reading". Give her a taste of what the others say, and you might dispel a few notions about the NWT.

35

How long did people like Methuselah really live?

by dubstepped in

i was working today and my brain was working in circles like it often does and i started wondering about what i was always told about people like methuselah in bible times, and their incredibly claims of longevity.

i've tried researching things but have a hard time getting through all of the bible thumpers to some real evidence, and figured that some here may be more informed or have done the research previously.

so, did people really live longer way back when?

schnell

Isn't it funny how God told man to be fruitful and become many, and yet the patriarchs had heirs only very late in life?

Isn't it just a little funny?

18

JW.org as a Prank Tool

by schnell in

jw
friends

the moment i saw the "request a study" form on the site, i thought, "umm, that could be a bad thing.".

but to date, i have heard of only one case where it was used for less than genuine purposes.

that was in the case of a "game developer" who was selling crappy asset-flips on steam.

schnell

I personally received a slip from an elder to go to someone's house who requested a study online. So apparently that's how it works. (I didn't do it.)

123

Why do some Jehovah's Witnesses choose to be atheist or agnostic?

by Cassaruby in

jw
friends

"traumatic as the initial transition may be, it can lead to the development of a truly personal relationship with these two greatest friends [the father and the son] .

.. "whatever sense of 'belonging' that membership in some religious system may create, it can never compare with the power and beauty and strengthening benefit of the intimate personal relationship the scripture presents .

from reading joseph campbell i've come to understand that there are functions to religion or mythology.

schnell

so how would you explain a talking snake?????

I would be completely surprised if it didn't have to do with the zodiacal sign of Scorpio, which has not only been pictured as a scorpion but as a serpent and an eagle.

Another instance: In Revelation, there are 4 angels standing before God. One is a man, one is a bull, one is a lion, and one is an eagle. Now go look at a circular diagram of the Zodiac.

35

How long did people like Methuselah really live?

by dubstepped in

i was working today and my brain was working in circles like it often does and i started wondering about what i was always told about people like methuselah in bible times, and their incredibly claims of longevity.

i've tried researching things but have a hard time getting through all of the bible thumpers to some real evidence, and figured that some here may be more informed or have done the research previously.

so, did people really live longer way back when?

schnell

The genealogy in Genesis doesn't need to be taken seriously, particularly when certain characters have names of gods.

There are other religious traditions where men are said to live for thousands of years, so 969 is somehow modest. I have wondered, though, if there is some weird symbolism about these numbers (in which case it is all the more foolish to add them up and calculate the year of Adam's creation). That, I have not yet looked into.

18

JW.org as a Prank Tool

by schnell in

jw
friends

the moment i saw the "request a study" form on the site, i thought, "umm, that could be a bad thing.".

but to date, i have heard of only one case where it was used for less than genuine purposes.

that was in the case of a "game developer" who was selling crappy asset-flips on steam.

schnell

The moment I saw the "Request a study" form on the site, I thought, "Umm, that could be a bad thing."

But to date, I have heard of only one case where it was used for less than genuine purposes. That was in the case of a "game developer" who was selling crappy asset-flips on Steam. His address information was leaked and a couple of Dubs were sent to pay him a visit. He complained about it online. (And the weird thing is, I might actually know those brothers because I lived nearby and had a few friends there.)

Have there been other cases like this? If prayers really work to attract Witnesses to your door, why does the Borg need a website function that's so prone to fraud?

123

Why do some Jehovah's Witnesses choose to be atheist or agnostic?

by Cassaruby in

jw
friends

"traumatic as the initial transition may be, it can lead to the development of a truly personal relationship with these two greatest friends [the father and the son] .

.. "whatever sense of 'belonging' that membership in some religious system may create, it can never compare with the power and beauty and strengthening benefit of the intimate personal relationship the scripture presents .

from reading joseph campbell i've come to understand that there are functions to religion or mythology.

schnell

Cool! I read Campbell as well as Manly P. Hall, and I've touched on Jung as well. I totally get the metaphorical aspect. The Power of Myth marked the very moment when I realized I don't believe in a personal god.

A little bit of philosophy makes one an atheist. A bit more, aaand ya know.

I totally get the metaphor of the monomyth (birth, youth, adulthood, death...), and I wrote in a reply just last night quite directly about this.

There's absolutely a place for rationalism. I do consider myself a rationalist, naturalist, and not a spiritualist. However, as Campbell alluded, we lose some of the experience with that too. It's a two-edged sword.

65

Short stay

by midnight in

after much research and prayer i am returning to being a jehovah's witness i can find nothing that eliminates them from being god's directed people , in the end they will reach the end of there journey despite mistakes and errors just like the israelites entered the promised land , thanks for your input and all the best on your personal journey ☺.

midnight..

schnell

You can't find any proof that they aren't God's directed people...

For one thing, I'm not convinced you really looked. Secondly, try selling that at the door.

Here is your proof. Deuteronomy 18:20-22.

60

Now I'm Convinced There Probably Is No God

by pale.emperor in

yesterday i made a visit to the museum in my city.

the top floor is the planetarium, which has a connecting room with a huge dome ceiling where they project lessons and lectures and you have a 360 view of the night sky etc.. this particular lecture explained about our galaxy, and how it's only one of billions in the universe.

and then we learned about each planet, some of their moons and the sun.

schnell

And, Cold_Steel, the destruction of Tyre was prophesied too. Laughably.