blondie - The early Christians or Jewish had no idea that there would be only 144,000 since that number was written in a book by John, one of the 12 apostles around 100 A.D
I don't think Jesus' apostles were alive by 100 CE
this week bible reading is ps.102-105.
i noticed in ps 105:15: saying, “do not touch my anointed ones,and to my prophets do nothing bad.".
so are these part of the 144,000?
blondie - The early Christians or Jewish had no idea that there would be only 144,000 since that number was written in a book by John, one of the 12 apostles around 100 A.D
I don't think Jesus' apostles were alive by 100 CE
i'm probably going to say some things here that will disappoint many.
there are some that may look back over the years and say "man i really blew it" i'm not writing the following to scold for failures, but rather to help those who are young enough to put into practice what god wills for their life, and also to those of us who are in our middle years that still have time to change some things, in order to please god and find a peace that only being in his will can bring.
first let me say that god didn't create man for you.
I'll make sure to use that as my pick-up line next time...!
Or maybe not...
i was just thinking about the wts and child abuse crimes/accusations.. in ancient israel, jehovah used the surrounding nations to punish israel for its wickedness.. seeing as the wts always likes to draw comparison between ancient israel and today, what about today?
could a witness argue that god is currently using 'worldly' courts to punish jw sex abusers and the wts?.
has anyone posted this before?
Before the Maccabean Revolt (167–160 BCE), the prophets of Israel had the prophetic view of reality. They argued that Yahweh punishes people because of their wrongdoing and hence there is suffering in Israel (theodicy.) Later, most particularly after the Maccabean Revolt when the Jews regained control of Israel and defeated the Syrians, some Jews embraced the apocalyptic view of reality (dualism.) This is something that you can see in Dead Sea Scrolls.
Jesus also had this view, which he likely "inherited" from John the Baptist. Jehovah's Witnesses base their ideology on Jesus, and hence they also have the apocalyptic view of reality—namely that God will destroy the "world" and establish his own Kingdom on earth.
So could some Witnesses argue that God uses "worldly" courts to punish them? Well... technically, yes, but that would be inconsistent with their apocalyptic view. This is something that the prophetic view would certainly embrace—that Yahweh uses "wordly" resources to punish his people. This is not something that would be a part of the apocalyptic view. Therefore, I would argue that the Governing Body itself would not encourage that kind of reasoning. I can't say whether that would be the same with the elders since, after all, most of them are uneducated individuals who would be unable to even define the prophetic view—much less compare it with the apocalyptic view.
jehovahs witnesses think that just the bible is proof that god exists but they are wrong.
there is another mode for how he exists.
now we all know many scientists who are creationists now weren’t creationists until they examined the evidence for themselves.
Poetry is stupid...?
Yup. He's a troll, guys. No sense in responding.
jehovahs witnesses think that just the bible is proof that god exists but they are wrong.
there is another mode for how he exists.
now we all know many scientists who are creationists now weren’t creationists until they examined the evidence for themselves.
I spent so much time writing my hymns, and now no response...?
I'm devastated.
jehovahs witnesses think that just the bible is proof that god exists but they are wrong.
there is another mode for how he exists.
now we all know many scientists who are creationists now weren’t creationists until they examined the evidence for themselves.
i ask a question recently, which was why do jw's not salute the flag, and i ask what page of the bible directs this practice.. all i got back was that i do not know what i am talking about and that they are allowed to do this, when i dropped 40000 google links proving that they do not salute the flag they just deleted it as though my proof could not exist.
seriously this is common knowledge, my neighbor just put up a flag to keep the guy across the street away.
so are there jw's who have no clue what they believe, or should believe?
Dunedain - It is looked at as a "badge of courage" of sorts. It is also looked at as a defining action, or non-action, that binds JW's together.
Yup. When I was still in high school as an unbaptised publisher, I never stood up to the Canadian anthem because of Jehovah's Witness beliefs. I've been called different kinds of things by my colleagues because of that; for instance, I have once been called Hitler. When some of the Witnesses in my congregation learned about it, they thought that I'm serious about my faith (and I was at the time.) Then, they surely did approach me with a different attitude—sort of "call me if and when you wanna meet up," etc.
anyone else also hold this view or understand it at least, or do you feel the need to argue that both can in no way coexist?.
Finkelstein - How does one define god without evidence ?
Haven't encountered that question yet. Interesting.
anyone else also hold this view or understand it at least, or do you feel the need to argue that both can in no way coexist?.
I could easily believe in evolution and God in the context that you provide, but I don't—and for different reasons. I don't believe in the latter because of suffering and overall lack of interaction on God's part with his creation, so I would have to agree with bsmart here. If he did create us, "he walked away 10 minutes later."
i ask a question recently, which was why do jw's not salute the flag, and i ask what page of the bible directs this practice.. all i got back was that i do not know what i am talking about and that they are allowed to do this, when i dropped 40000 google links proving that they do not salute the flag they just deleted it as though my proof could not exist.
seriously this is common knowledge, my neighbor just put up a flag to keep the guy across the street away.
so are there jw's who have no clue what they believe, or should believe?
The Witnesses I have been around could answer this type of question without a problem. It doesn't mean that I'd agree with them, but in my area, they can explain their own theology rather easily.