Posts by TD

43

Basic Blood Questions For Witnesses

by Vanderhoven7 in

basic blood questions for jehovah's witnesses.

where does the bible outlaw blood transfusions?

(acts 15:29 gen.9:4) .

TD

I'm not a JW, but if I were, it would come down to this:

On one side of the scales, we have plain and simple, black and white, clear and direct commands regarding the sanctity of the gift of life and the severe penalty for unjustly depriving another human being of that gift.

Only something of equal weight can balance those scales.

From Uzzah to King Saul, the Bible is full of examples of those who thought a direct command could be violated based on what another command might mean and the message is crystal clear: Human speculation doesn't cut it.

For me, this was not hypothetical. (A child, a medical emergency involving blood and a believing JW wife.) I spoke with the JW parent organization directly and in the end, they acknowledged that the teaching is an interpretation.

282

How Will They End 1914 Teaching?

by EmptyInside in

i'm sure this has been discussed, but 1914 has to go away.

instead of, the overlapping generation teaching, they should have just ditched 1914. .

they should have done that a long time ago with 1975. it's the last of the teachings in the charles taze russell era.. i'm thinking they just will stop talking about it, and it will be out of the mind of the rank and file loyal witnesses .

TD

Those of us who regard the Bible as an interesting piece of literature are still bound by many of the same rules and conventions that religious people are, especially when it comes to the more rigid grammar of ancient languages.

Simple (non-biblical) example: (Είμαι περίεργος αν το αναγνωρίζει ο «λόγιος»)

We don't do this in English. (It's not nearly as precise a language)

12

Gun Ownership - A question for American Witnesses (or Ex-Witnesses)

by no-zombie in

i would like to ask a question regarding gun ownership in the active american witnesses community.

while rifle ownership has been put in the same category as spear guns and fishing rods, how has the issue of pistol ownership been handled in us congregations?

.

TD

--Looking forward to your thread. In the 1937 book, Enemies, self defense was an inalienable right of all people.

By 1983, they were willing to misapply their own understanding of Isaiah 53:12 in order to discourage it.

12

Gun Ownership - A question for American Witnesses (or Ex-Witnesses)

by no-zombie in

i would like to ask a question regarding gun ownership in the active american witnesses community.

while rifle ownership has been put in the same category as spear guns and fishing rods, how has the issue of pistol ownership been handled in us congregations?

.

TD

In the Southwestern U.S. (at least) pistol ownership is no different than rifle / shotgun ownership.

Just like long guns, pistols come in many varieties. Some are antiques and curiosities that people inherit. Some are intended for self defense, some are intended for hunting and some are hard to categorize

282

How Will They End 1914 Teaching?

by EmptyInside in

i'm sure this has been discussed, but 1914 has to go away.

instead of, the overlapping generation teaching, they should have just ditched 1914. .

they should have done that a long time ago with 1975. it's the last of the teachings in the charles taze russell era.. i'm thinking they just will stop talking about it, and it will be out of the mind of the rank and file loyal witnesses .

TD

Mad Freddy was Autistic, and that helped him to disregard the problems with his theology.

He may have been on the spectrum (People with phenomenal memories often are) but then so was a participant here that most of us thought very highly of.

282

How Will They End 1914 Teaching?

by EmptyInside in

i'm sure this has been discussed, but 1914 has to go away.

instead of, the overlapping generation teaching, they should have just ditched 1914. .

they should have done that a long time ago with 1975. it's the last of the teachings in the charles taze russell era.. i'm thinking they just will stop talking about it, and it will be out of the mind of the rank and file loyal witnesses .

TD

What they need is a young Fred Franz. Someone new, someone smart. Someone capable of spinning new doctrinal webs.

Yes. Franz had a talent for continuity that's missing today.

51

Is it mathematically posible for Noah and his sons to have populated the earth?

by Fisherman in

bible says flood occurred approximately 4000 years ago.

that is about *200 generations of breeding to get to the population on earth now.

keep in mind that the population increase is geometric.

TD

Fisherman

How should JW thinkers like me and writers of JW literature interpret the Bible?

Honestly and consistently

I understand that religious people would naturally give greater weight to what they perceive the Bible to be saying and I'm fine with that even if I don't agree with it. The point where I begin having a problem is when a religious person casts that "rule" aside when it becomes inconvenient.

JW's teach that predators are a deviation of God's original purpose, which is an idea that originated with Augustine of Hippo and not the JW's themselves.

Therefore, when Jehovah of the Bible takes credit in front of Job for the ability of lions and birds of prey to hunt, JW's are faced with a problem, as taking credit for something you didn't actually do or plan would be dishonest, even for humans.

If I were a JW, the choice would be easy for me: Cling to church tradition or drag the name of Jehovah through the mud?

[To Magnum] JW obviously know the scientific evidence without a pet doc pointing it out.

I disagree. JW literature in often wrong on matters of basic science. I have yet to see a lucid explanation of an equinox, for example.

When it comes to basic, high school biology, JW writers come up with pearls like this:

(The Watchtower February 15, 1982 p. 5)

Even worse, they refuse to correct these mistakes, so they eventually find their way into bound volumes, CDs and other references.

51

Is it mathematically posible for Noah and his sons to have populated the earth?

by Fisherman in

bible says flood occurred approximately 4000 years ago.

that is about *200 generations of breeding to get to the population on earth now.

keep in mind that the population increase is geometric.

TD

AFAIK, the JW's have never insisted that either the cobra or snakes in general have literal ears that can be "stopped up" despite what the Psalm says, so the JW's are clearly not adverse to more reasonable explanations.

A JW veterinarian pointed out to them once that the restoration prophecies only state that domestic animals (e.g. sheep, cattle, goats) and people would be safe from predators and don't actually say a word about wild forms of prey. Her suggested that since "dust" as the food of snakes (Isa 65:25) can't be taken literally, then perhaps they were reading more into the verses than what was warranted. He gave many more examples of how literal interpretations contradict arguments for creation and how examples of "Jehovah's wisdom" that JW publications routinely pointed to (i.e. shark and remora, oxpecker bird and rhino, scavengers of all types, etc.) could not have been designed under that model.

In the end however, he had to acknowledge that the one thing leaders and policy makers truly hate is a smartass.

51

Is it mathematically posible for Noah and his sons to have populated the earth?

by Fisherman in

bible says flood occurred approximately 4000 years ago.

that is about *200 generations of breeding to get to the population on earth now.

keep in mind that the population increase is geometric.

TD

To be honest, Fisherman, plausibility doesn't seem to be a huge consideration for JW writers.

I've pointed this out on a closely related subject more than once.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/187882/jw-science-quote-1-22

51

Is it mathematically posible for Noah and his sons to have populated the earth?

by Fisherman in

bible says flood occurred approximately 4000 years ago.

that is about *200 generations of breeding to get to the population on earth now.

keep in mind that the population increase is geometric.

TD

Kinda my point. An intelligent person can step outside the boundaries of the natural world as we know it (i.e. by indulging in either a preternatural or a supernatural explanation) but the instant you do that, all bets are off. If the "rules" can bent or broken or even simply assumed to be different, then there's not much point in discussing mathematical possibilities.