Okay rip van winkle I will change my avatar just for you LOL
Recovery
JoinedPosts by Recovery
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31
Is There a Such Thing as Progressive Understanding?
by Recovery inis there such a thing as progressive understanding of god's will?
a simple yes or no will suffice, but if you'd like to state why, please by all means do so..
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144
Does God Command Christians To Go From Door To Door Preaching The Gospel?
by Bangalore indoes god command christians to go from door to door preaching the gospel?.
source:http://www.thercg.org/questions/p070.a.html.
based on a quick reading and misinterpretation of acts 20:20, many believe that the apostle paul preached the gospel of the kingdom from house to house, to those who were unconverted.
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Recovery
2. There is not one instance in the Bible where Jesus Himself is said to have gone from house to house. If this were such an indispensable feature of Christian ministry, one would think it would be explicitly stated that the Lord Himself had done so. Telling His disciples to go to people's homes is not the same thing as commanding them to engage in door-to-door evangelism - of course they would go to people's homes to instruct them in an age where there was no TV, radio, Internet, printed Bibles or literature or other means of mass communication. Going to people’s homes does not equate to knocking randomly at the doors of strangers.
Wow. The disciples didn't preach door to door but they would preach from private home to private home. Actually, it is explicitly stated (at least three times) that the disciples preached from house to house, under direction from Jesus Christ himself. Again, let's look at Jesus' instructions to his disciples at Matthew 10:11
"11 “Into whatever city or village YOU enter, search out who in it is deserving, and stay there until YOU leave. 12 When YOU are entering into the house, greet the household; 13 and if the house is deserving, let the peace YOU wish it come upon it; but if it is not deserving, let the peace from YOU return upon YOU. 14 WHEREVER ANYONE DOES NOT TAKE YOU IN OR LISTEN TO YOUR WORDS, on going out of that HOUSE or that city shake the dust off YOUR feet. 15 Truly I say to YOU, It will be more endurable for the land of Sod′om and Go·mor′rah on Judgment Day than for that city."
Let's put our thinking caps on. How are the disciples to search out in a city who is deserving and who is not? How can Jesus say the entire city will be judged on Judgement Day if the disciples only went to talk to a few people here and there in private homes? Also, notice that Jesus says "wherever anyone does not listen to YOUR words...on going out of THAT HOUSE". Now if Jesus' disciples are just teaching people in their private homes, why would the people they are teaching not listen to their words? Again, why is the entire city/village going to be judged on Judgement Day if all the disciples are doing is teaching/preaching in private homes?
3. The Greek term translated "from house to house" in Acts 20:20 can also be translated "in private homes," and the context indicates that it is much better translated that way there. Paul was not talking about some sort of door to door evangelism program in those verses, he was talking about how he instructed the ELDERS of the Ephesian church. Again, it's not surprising that he would go to their private homes in order to instruct them. The way JWs try to use that verse, we would have to understand that Paul went up and down the streets of Ephesus, randomly knocking on doors until he found an elder of the church, then would go in and instruct him. Doesn't make nearly as much sense.
No it does not. Paul is summarizing events that haven take place over a period of three years. That is why Paul says "YOU well know how from the first day that I stepped into the [district of] Asia I was with you the whole time.." Now if Paul is talking about his preaching to the elders, this statement must be false. On Paul's first day in the district of Asia there were no disciples. There was no congregation. There were no elders. How could Paul have been with the elders, preaching to them in their private homes from the first day he came into Asia? Also, why does Paul mention opposition from the Jews regarding his preaching. How were the Jews opposing and setting plots against Paul if he was simply going to the private homes of the elders? It is very obvious whose interpretation doesn't make nearly as much sense.
4. The only verse in the NT that could possibly be used in support of door to door type evangelism by any early Christians would be Acts 5:42, but the same Greek phrase could as easily also be translated there as "in private homes," and would make just as much sense. In the absence of other evidence for early Christian door to door preaching, we cannot assert this text as sole proof, since its meaning in this matter is not conclusive. We would have to be reading our idea of door to door evangelism into the verse rather than drawing it out. Even if the early Christians did use this method of evangelizing, it would not necessarily mean that such a method is required for Christians today, since there are much more effective methods of reaching large numbers of people that don't carry the negative social implications associated today with making uninvited visits to the homes of strangers. There is no command anywhere in Scripture to preach specifically from house to house; the concept is imposed on the text by JWs, not drawn from the text.
If it so easily translated and understood to also mean "in private homes" why do most translations render it "from house to house". Why does a literal translation of the Greek words read "TO houses" and not "IN houses"? We CAN assert this as conclusive because we have clear instructions from Jesus to his disciples about searching out who is deserving in a city/village. "If anyone does not take you in or listen to your words..on going out of THAT HOUSE.." There is nothing ambiguous about these instructions. These weren't instructions to go and preach to people in private homes, they were to search the entire city for deserving ones. How could this be done if they did not go door to door? Then we later have corroborating evidence that this was a Christian practice since the disciples are doing so in Acts 5:42 and Paul and his missionary companions are still doing so in Acts 20.
5. As far as the effectiveness of such door to door ministry, it is actually very ineffective. If you divide their hours spent in "field service" by the number of baptisms for (for example) the year 2011 (as reported in their Yearbook), you find that 5,451 hours had to be spent in their ministry for every new baptism that occurred, and that's not taking into consideration that the majority of those baptisms were probably of young people who had been raised as JWs. That doesn't sound like a very effective method of spreading the word to me. A cynical mind (such as mine) might conclude that the purpose of the door-knocking work for JWs is to keep them so busy that they don't have time to ask questions, rather than to effectively spread their message.
1950--1 in 5000 attended the memorial
2001--1 in 400 attended the memorial
1950--1 JW for 7000 people
2000--1 JW for 1000 people
Wow, the door to door work without a doubt, statistically, is effective. But then again Jesus, Paul, and the early Christians knew they best way to spread their message.
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144
Does God Command Christians To Go From Door To Door Preaching The Gospel?
by Bangalore indoes god command christians to go from door to door preaching the gospel?.
source:http://www.thercg.org/questions/p070.a.html.
based on a quick reading and misinterpretation of acts 20:20, many believe that the apostle paul preached the gospel of the kingdom from house to house, to those who were unconverted.
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Recovery
NewChapter that is precisely why it is absurd and ridiculous for people to find loopholes in the clear Biblical expression that the disciples preached from house to house. Here, the Messiah has finally arrived and he has a message of salvation directly from Almighty God and his followers are supposed to sit around and wait for the people to come to them?
This is the problem with modern day Christianity. The structure of church is not conducive to all Christians being apart of this all important preaching work. The lergy-claity distinction makes this difficult/near impossible as well.
If JW's are the only ones actively going to their neighbors with a message about the Kingdom, shouldn't that tell you something? Hmmm
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31
Is There a Such Thing as Progressive Understanding?
by Recovery inis there such a thing as progressive understanding of god's will?
a simple yes or no will suffice, but if you'd like to state why, please by all means do so..
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Recovery
Is there such a thing as progressive understanding of God's will? A simple yes or no will suffice, but if you'd like to state why, please by all means do so.
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WT study today - Eph 1:8-10 - the administration, Stage 2
by Hoffnung inin todays wt study (wt 15/jul/2012 p.27 paras 3-4), the society advances ephesians 1:10, which refers to an adminstration, that gathers the things in the heaven and on the earth.
whereas the bible clearly identifies a double purpose of the adminstration, there is no reason to believe there are also 2 different time frames intended, however the wt explains it this way.
we are actualliy in the adminstration stage 2, according to the wt.
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Recovery
Why do people insist on saying that there is only one hope, going to heaven? Yeah, the anointed are going to heaven to rule as kings and priests forever and ever on an earth with no people on it. I guess God just forgot about his original purpose, and all those scriptures that talk about a new earth are just metaphorical.
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Same s**t, different cult
by zed is dead inmormons aren't allowed to think on their own either:.
http://news.yahoo.com/mormon-outspoken-blog-posts-church-says-may-face-031620312.html.
zed.
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Recovery
Oops. The early Christians weren't allowed to think on their own either..
Galatians 1:8, 9 "However, even if we or an angel out of heaven were to declare to YOU as good news something beyond what we declared to YOU as good news, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said above, I also now say again, Whoever it is that is declaring to YOU as good news something beyond what YOU accepted, let him be accursed"..
Wow, everyone who teaches something contrary to what Paul and his apostle buddies have to say, is accursed. He only wants everyone to believe his version of the good news. Even if an angel from heaven declares something different they are not supposed to believe him. Who does Paul think he is? Some self-appointed apostle to the nations who is higher than God's angels?
Philippians 2:2 " 2 make my joy full in that YOU are of the same mind and have the same love, being joined together in soul, holding the one thought in mind..."
Look at that. What a cult. Everyone thinking the same thoughts. No divisions or room for anyone to believe someone different. No wonder everyone hated the first century Christian-cult known as 'The Way'. I find great pleasure in devoting every day of my life to exposing 'The Way about the Way'
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Can the Watchtower Prove Their Core "Truths" to Be "True"???
by Anne Marie 1925 in[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>normal</w:view> <w:zoom>0</w:zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables /> <w:snaptogridincell /> <w:wraptextwithpunct /> <w:useasianbreakrules /> </w:compatibility> <w:browserlevel>microsoftinternetexplorer4</w:browserlevel> </w:worddocument> </xml><![endif].
romans 8: 38-39 nwt.
so can the watchtower prove any of their unorthodox core teachings to be true according to the word of god?
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Recovery
Why don't you pick a topic and prove one of JW's core truths to be false instead of cut and paste, and then we can all see who's right and who's wrong.
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144
Does God Command Christians To Go From Door To Door Preaching The Gospel?
by Bangalore indoes god command christians to go from door to door preaching the gospel?.
source:http://www.thercg.org/questions/p070.a.html.
based on a quick reading and misinterpretation of acts 20:20, many believe that the apostle paul preached the gospel of the kingdom from house to house, to those who were unconverted.
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Recovery
This website commits a similar logical fallacy with Acts 28:30-31 to make it seem as if Paul wouldn't go house to house because he would be 'forcing his beliefs' on others. Notice Acts 28:16 "we entered into Rome, Paul was permitted to stay by himself with the soldier guarding him.." Paul is not just on vacation, sitting around on his romp, waiting for people to approach him. He is under Roman confinement and cannot leave the house. It is impossible for Paul to preach from house to house or in the synagogue or anywhere else since he is bound and confined. This example is no way proves that Paul did not preach from house to house, and the use of this scripture as an example is deceptive and misleading. Even in Acts 28 Paul is the one who called the principal men of the Jews to come to his house and he proceeds to preach to them. Look at Paul, 'forcing his beliefs' on others again huh?
We are supposed to believe the early disciples disobeyed Christ in Acts 5:42 by preaching from house to house according to this interpretation of Luke 10. But this is not what Jesus is saying at all. Notice verse 7 "So STAY IN THAT HOUSE, eating and drinking the things they provide, for the worker is worthy of his wages. DO NOT BE TRANSFERRING FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE." It is clear that Jesus is telling his disciples to be content with the provisions for lodging and food. Not to be bouncing from house to house, living with different people every day. Besides this would make no sense when we look at his earlier instructions
Matthew 10:11 "Into whatever city or village YOU enter, search out who in it is deserving, and stay there until YOU leave. 12 When YOU are entering into the house, greet the household; 13 and if the house is deserving, let the peace YOU wish it come upon it; but if it is not deserving, let the peace from YOU return upon YOU. 14 Wherever anyone does not take YOU in OR LISTEN TO YOUR WORDS, on going out of THAT HOUSE or that city shake the dust off YOUR feet.."
How are they going to search out who is deserving in the city or village? How are they going to talk to anybody about Christ and find somewhere to lodge? Looks like the disciples are out of luck. Jesus told them not to go house to house, to not try to force their beliefs on others. And how dare the disciples disobey Jesus in Acts 5:42 preaching from house to house.
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144
Does God Command Christians To Go From Door To Door Preaching The Gospel?
by Bangalore indoes god command christians to go from door to door preaching the gospel?.
source:http://www.thercg.org/questions/p070.a.html.
based on a quick reading and misinterpretation of acts 20:20, many believe that the apostle paul preached the gospel of the kingdom from house to house, to those who were unconverted.
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Recovery
The problem with Bangalore's/whatever website he cut and pasted from interpretation's of Acts, is that it completely ignores the verb tense and combines all the events that take place into one, to make it seem as if Paul is preaching from house to house to the older men of the congregation. An examination of what really happened will prove that this was not the case. In Acts 20:20 Paul is talking about the Ephesians. Ephesus was inside the district of Asia. So here is our sequence of events:
1. Paul arrives in the district of Asia (and of course goes to Ephesus).
2. He preaches in the temple about the Kingdom for three months.
3. After the Jews refuse to listen, he begins giving talks in the school auditorium (for two years) "so that ALL THOSE INHABITING the [district of] Asia HEARD THE WORD OF THE LORD, both Jews and Greeks." (Acts 19:10)
4. At the end of his three year stay in the district of Asia, Paul calls for the older men of the Ephesian congregation. It is in this context that it is said:
"When they got to him he said to them: “YOU well know how from the first day that I stepped into the [district of] Asia I was with you the whole time.." But there were no elders when Paul first arrived in the district of Asia, only newly converted disciples who he had just baptized in holy spirit. On his first day in Ephesus he is CONVERTING new disciples. That is why at the end of the two years "all those inhabiting the district of Asia" heard the word of the Lord, not JUST the Ephesian elders. Now, continuing "slaving for the Lord with the greatest lowliness of mind and tears and trials that befell me by the plots of the Jews; 20 while I did not hold back from telling YOU any of the things that were profitable nor from teaching YOU publicly and from house to house. 21 But I thoroughly bore witness both to Jews and to Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.." Despite all the opposition and plots of the Jews it does not stop Paul from preaching to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God. Now does it seem reasonable for this persecution to be an obstacle to preaching the good news (causing him to "hold back") when Paul is simply preaching in the homes of the elders?
Paul does not need to bear witness to Christian elders about repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. When Paul arrives in Ephesus, there is no congregation, no elders, and he had to CONVERT 12 new disciples. A person must be really desperate to discredit JW's and the Bible to make such an absurd interpretation.
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Powerful questions to DEBUNK the flood of Noah's day
by Black Man injust like in another thread a saw, the best way to deal with my jws is not debating or arguing, but instead posing questions for them to answer or not answer.
i want to come up with specific questions relating to the 'global flood' that completely debunk it.
what say you, jw.net?.
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Recovery
Leolaia do you have any other refutations regarding the Bible's accuracy (other subjects)?