“Even faith has to have some evidence!” -HB
You will never prove spiritual realities with material facts. They exist on differing levels. One is inner and the other outer.
Faith evidence is as personal as faith itself is. An outsider to each person cannot determine the extent or reality of another’s personal faith. It isn’t real to anyone else but the person experiencing it. What may prove spiritually true for one person cannot necessarily be proven true for another. This is precisely why organized dogmatic religious organizations are in error. Each person must decide for themself what constitutes ‘credible evidence’ about anything in the inner life.
For some the kingdom of heaven IS a spiritual fraternity with others who likewise believe in God. The idea is that God exists because they have inner evidence of that existence. For those looking on but without that “evidence” they clamor for the evidence the believer has. Well, how could they possibly know that the believer does not know? They can’t. But they will hypothesize delusions, etc., ignoring that no evidence exists that the believer does not know!
Back to the original question: “What is the benefit of God's Kingdom?” This again is what each person makes of it. If it should become the idealized fraternal bond that exists between those who believe, it could do wonders in how people relate to each other. Then it could become the question: What is the benefit of treating each other with the same love with which a real, kind, long-suffering and honorable parent treats their child versus treating each other with judgment and hate?
But if you are asking what is the benefit of the so-called kingdom of watchtower creation? I haven’t seen spiritual benefit to anyone in that interpretation!! (Financial benefit to WTS, perhaps...?)
blubberyk9
JoinedPosts by blubberyk9
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What is the benefit of God's Kingdom?
by Half banana inwhat is the benefit of god's kingdom?.
the watchtower said when it started out in 1879 that god's kingdom had already arrived in heaven in 1874 and that its work would be complete by 1914. .
with heroic slogans of "destroying the kings of the earth" and "all enemies of christ the king" etc by 1914, "god fearing" humankind was to have been restored to prelapsarian innocence and the earth to a global edenic paradise.
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blubberyk9
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Jehovah's Witnesses DENY the Physical Bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ
by JW Answers inthe jehovah's witnesses are taught by their organisation that christ's body was disposed by jehovah god, they deny the physical bodily resurrection and explain that he rose again as a spirit creature.
as we take into account what the watchtower teach, i explain from the bible that christ rose again from the grave in his body, and showing forth that the jehovah's witnesses are in error.
in this video i cover:
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blubberyk9
If you are going to use the Bible....then what about what Paul said about having a spiritual body? It implies something different than the human (natural) body.
(1Cor 15:44--"It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.")
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May 2020 Study WT - more convoluted false prophesying
by neat blue dog inthe first two study articles of the latest wt raise the usual sense of urgency with more of the same theological quackery russell would be proud of.. first up, something we've always known, the embarrassing admission that jws think they are the center of the universe:.
even though god’s servants make up only a small portion of the world’s population, they are often at the center of major world events.
because satan and his entire system have one prime objective—conquering those who serve jehovah .
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blubberyk9
Will the others of the "anointed" also understand it? Or is the GB somehow even more special?
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What Makes. Person A Pedophile?
by minimus init seems the news always has another report of a pedo stalking children or hurting them.
i know this has gone on forever but i read another report of an illegal alien with a history of abuse taking advantage of another poor child.. i just don’t understand why some people do this.
is there an actual brain abnormality?
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blubberyk9
Perhaps it can also be influenced generationally. A person once afflicted and with certain personality or mental tendencies, but never treated, can also become one who perpetrates. I know of a case where that was so.
It does NOT mean that those who suffered will perpetrate...at least, not without the other conditions also being present. I also know of those who were perpetrated against who became healthy adults.
But it is striking that a boy who was 3 and perpetrated against by an older girl...not old enough to know better, mind you, continued to "have issues" with young girls the age of his perpetrator, all the way into his adulthood. (From the way it was told, I am certain the little girl was also being abused. I was not there, however.)
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The "Financial" New System of Things!
by Atlantis inthe "financial" new system of things!.
yes, in the new system it will be "business as usual" with the watchtower society's financial arrangement.
all those beautiful homes are to be built to make paradise complete.. .
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blubberyk9
One must wonder if WTS understand how a financial sector even works on such a global scale. What is worth more...money or food? Salt used to be currency. It was edible and even necessary. Gold is not until or unless another entity sees it as desirable and is willing to trade for it..
A "financial authority" would have no power if the "minions" decided they had none. It is a numbers game in the end. Do you think the scenario described by the OP would "wake" others during such a time?
At any rate it does not sound like the WTS is planning to wait on J for their instructions. Not with those kinds of declarations!
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Please help
by Dano3456 inmy wife and i are not religious nor do we want to be.
we are very set in our spiritual beliefs.
we have worked with a jw who's family have been like a part of our family for 6 years.
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blubberyk9
Just a note here...I agree with the comments above. However, even if you should have a heart to heart talk with these people, you must understand they think nothing of violating any religious preference you may instruct them about. e.g. "Please don't take my kids to meetings or read your literature to them." They would consider that God does require them to do so and they must obey God, not the children's parents. This also shows up when a JW has enough and quits, thus becoming an ex-JW. The JW's will attempt to show up for the children of the ex-JW, especially if said children were baptized. This is NOT OK.
I would also recommend talking to your children about why it is not OK for them to go to meetings and not OK to listen to the religious propaganda. But if the children are exposed to this indoctrination anyway, they may be encouraged to lie about it. And the JW's will further encourage them as your disapproval will be looked at as persecution (i.e. support that they are the "true religion.") -
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Believers: How do you know your view of your chosen holy book is the correct one?
by punkofnice indon't start fighting, darlings.
i am genuinely curious.
after all i was a jobo 50 years and thought the wbt$ was 100% correct.. i ask this because i see that, for example, christian denominations (or whatever), likely have differing interpretations of the same writing.
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blubberyk9
Why must everyone be identical? I think that since the Bible is widely used, it is a handy device for those still tethered to it. One only knows that their God is real from within themself. Thus, however many people are on earth, I would expect that many religions. Some have faith--others do not. We do not know whose understanding will change. (I know mine did from the JW days!) But you take the best and highest thoughts that appeal to you and you work with those. In fact, those thoughts may be different for each person here and many may not even come from a recognized 'holy book'!
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A Better View of Trauma
by Sea Breeze ini ran across this short essay and thought it was worth passing along.
trauma is not your fault, but healing is your responsibility.
what happened to you was not your fault.. it was not something you asked for, it was not something you deserved.. what happened to you was not fair.. you were merely collateral damage on someone else’s warpath, an innocent bystander who got wrecked out of proximity.. we are all traumatized by life, some of us from egregious wrongdoings, others by unprocessed pain and sidelined emotions.
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blubberyk9
If you google 'what are the signs of being in an abusive relationship' the results that show up are applicable to being involved in the JW religion. It is the exact same technique in use which erodes the person targeted until they can no longer speak for themself. These techniques, provided in abundance, are used to conform a person to the abuser's beliefs and erode the individuality of the target. How many times were we told what terrible sinners we were before God? How many times were we discouraged from "independent thinking"?
I do agree that we learn in adversity and that there exists a path whereby we can heal therefrom.
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Can't deny my JW's past
by StephaneLaliberte intoday was a beautiful day and so, decided to drive by my old town with my wife.
at some point, she asked me to stop talking about jws to which i said: i'm talking about were i lived, what i did and who i knew.
its just that all of it was jws!
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blubberyk9
I know I cannot forget those years...even if they were tinged with pain, far too much by the end of it.
When I remember my time as a JW, I remember why I went through the pain involved. I do not consider it a total loss as I did it because I was in a search for God and for the religion of love as per His Son. I learned some valuable stuff there, even if it was with a JW slant. With meditation and prayer that slant can be corrected and the info is then no longer what it was (with their take attached) but rather something useful and hopeful to me.
In fact, the reach for understanding of God need not end just because we got caught in the JW trap! God looks for sincerity of heart does He not? I feel for those who were so hurt they gave up all faith, altogether. I certainly understand how that can happen.
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blubberyk9
I did not enjoy algebra until I was being educated in Electronics.
Even to troubleshoot the little conveniences we have around us, supposing we aren't just going to throw them away, algebra is useful. In my previous work (re-furbishing phones) I was able to fix some built-in power supply problems because the caps were not rated with a sufficient voltage margin and would stop functioning. Yes, I use algebra.