putting this under "friends" because i couldn't figure out where to put it.
it is very often on here and in ex jw videos, ect that people like to undermine some of those who once we would have called friends.
there seems to be a view that window washers, plumbers, cleaners, construction workers are somehow less intelligent than those who may be college educated.
The term was coined 30+ years ago in the early days of JW discussion forums (I was there)
There were many more JW apologists back then, each one smug in the assurance that JW teaching trumped "Wordly education."
The takeaway was simple. --Don't argue outside the sphere of your own knowledge.
for a christian, only the moral commandments of the old testament are binding (as they cannot change), but the various liturgical, social, and other so-called casuistic laws no longer apply to them.
this includes dietary habits, such as the prohibition of pork or fat, as well as the prohibition of blood.. take a look at the following verses: mt 15:11, mk 7:15-19, acts 11:7-9, 1 tim 4:3-5.. the jehovah's witnesses say that, yes, but in the acts of the apostles (15) the consumption of blood, idol meat, and strangled animals is also prohibited, meaning the new testament still forbids it.
for catholics, the council of florence settled this issue, stating that this apostolic regulation was only a temporary measure to facilitate agreement between jews and gentiles in the early church.
You guys are a bunch of Pharisees, making advice into commands while toying with the lives of children.
To that, I would point out that Rabbinical interpretation existed for the purpose of resolving conflicts. If an occupied building collapsed on the sabbath, was it a violation to clear the rubble and search for survivors?
The JW's have created a conflict where none existed. --A conflict between (of all things) one of the highest of all mitzvot and kashrut (!)
That's pretty far beyond anything Judaism (ancient or modern) has come up with.
putting this under "friends" because i couldn't figure out where to put it.
it is very often on here and in ex jw videos, ect that people like to undermine some of those who once we would have called friends.
there seems to be a view that window washers, plumbers, cleaners, construction workers are somehow less intelligent than those who may be college educated.
But, if a man is a lawyer and asked to perform surgery, would you use define him with derogatory words because he was out of his field of knowledge? NO!
No indeed.
putting this under "friends" because i couldn't figure out where to put it.
it is very often on here and in ex jw videos, ect that people like to undermine some of those who once we would have called friends.
there seems to be a view that window washers, plumbers, cleaners, construction workers are somehow less intelligent than those who may be college educated.
Do you understand what we mean by "Window Washer University" now?
There's a good example of it in a thread you are currently participating in.
for a christian, only the moral commandments of the old testament are binding (as they cannot change), but the various liturgical, social, and other so-called casuistic laws no longer apply to them.
this includes dietary habits, such as the prohibition of pork or fat, as well as the prohibition of blood.. take a look at the following verses: mt 15:11, mk 7:15-19, acts 11:7-9, 1 tim 4:3-5.. the jehovah's witnesses say that, yes, but in the acts of the apostles (15) the consumption of blood, idol meat, and strangled animals is also prohibited, meaning the new testament still forbids it.
for catholics, the council of florence settled this issue, stating that this apostolic regulation was only a temporary measure to facilitate agreement between jews and gentiles in the early church.
I would suggest that the problem is more basic and fundamental than what is being argued.
The Decree doesn't actually say "abstain from blood" --That is not a grammatically complete construction.
What it actually says is, ἀπέχεσθαι...tοῦ αἵματος. -- To keep abstaining from blood or To be abstaining from blood.
It's a clear reference to a prohibition that was already in effect at the time the words were written. (i.e. The eating or possibly drinking of blood)
It therefore becomes incumbent upon the claimant to demonstrate in concrete terms, how and why transfusion would fall under the umbrella of this prohibition. That's not an easy argument to make, as its not supported. by modern medicine.
JW writers attempt to sidestep this responsibility via semantic legerdemain. They invoke an incomplete predicate apart from the context that completes it and pass it off as an independent construction. (I'd be happy to elaborate on the grammatical issue.)
That is not a latitude you should allow. Make them stick to what the Bible actually says.
the belief in the messiah, which has lived in the collective consciousness of humanity since ancient times, became completely obscured among the gentiles, and only remained with the jewish people, who were later chosen by god, as the prophecies of the prophets kept it alive.
there was only one great promise in the old testament from god, which awaited fulfillment!
only one great desire was there in the old testament on the part of man, longing for satisfaction.
Um, TD, did you ever read Jesus' words to the Pharisees?
Yes. - Έχω διαβάσει τις αφηγήσεις των Ευαγγελίων πολλές φορές
Und ich finde Ihren Witz über mein Leseverständnis eigentlich sehr lustig.
(Préféreriez-vous une autre langue ?)
---
Have you, perchance read the minor prophets and noted the language with which Ezekiel and others called their countrymen to repentance? I would suggest that with zero knowledge of the language or culture you are perhaps reading more into what is essentially a family quarrel than is warranted.
I've addressed the antisemitism inherent in fundamentalist commentary many times and finally summarized it here:
https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/149881/jesus-pharisees-jehovahs-witnesses
the belief in the messiah, which has lived in the collective consciousness of humanity since ancient times, became completely obscured among the gentiles, and only remained with the jewish people, who were later chosen by god, as the prophecies of the prophets kept it alive.
there was only one great promise in the old testament from god, which awaited fulfillment!
only one great desire was there in the old testament on the part of man, longing for satisfaction.
Striking level of ignorance about the Pharisees who:
A. Clearly considered Jesus to be one of their own
B. Considered the lifestyle of an itinerant teacher virtuous
C. Warn him of Herod's intent to kill him.
D. Composed a fair amount of his earliest followers
E. Had held no political power since the time of Salomé Alexandra
putting this under "friends" because i couldn't figure out where to put it.
it is very often on here and in ex jw videos, ect that people like to undermine some of those who once we would have called friends.
there seems to be a view that window washers, plumbers, cleaners, construction workers are somehow less intelligent than those who may be college educated.
I'm going to use a member of my wife's family as an illustration.
This gentleman owns a window cleaning business. He's a successful man with dozens of employees. --Lives in a nice house and drives a nice car. He's a JW elder and from what I can see, is highly regarded in his congregation.
This man is not stupid by any stretch of the imagination. He's way above average in intelligence.
What this gentleman is missing is depth:
He regards himself as knowledgeable when it comes to the Bible, but doesn't understand the difference between the JW's wild allegorical interpretation of it and actual scholarship. He mistakes the former for the latter.
He can't compose a simple sentence in Ancient Greek, or for that matter, even pronounce the word Koine, and yet believes he's very conversant in Bible translation. He doesn't understand what higher criticism is or why it is necessary, but holds a very dim view of it.
This gentleman has no children of his own, is not qualified as a grief counselor and his ideas of marriage are skewed by the belief that men are inherently more intelligent than women. And yet he gives advice in all these areas.
This gentleman knows very little about human physiology and nothing about medicine and yet as a JW elder believes he is knowledgeable in a very esoteric branch of emergency medicine. --Much more so than medical professionals.
In short, he's an alumni of Window Washer Uni.
I know the term gets used thoughtlessly sometimes, but there are legitimate examples of what it's meant to describe.
i was recently doing some research and came across this curious quite from dr beduhn - i can't say how valid it is or if he actually said it (source linked).
but this got me thinking i don't think there is anything in any bible where it is a "deliberate" distortion or the words go against the "possible range of meanings the greek" could have.
i know beduhn is not considered an authority however he does have a point - if its in the range of meanings it is by no means a mistranslation & cannot be pointed out as such.
...however I can think of atleast 3 examples where the context would dictate that meaning, grammatical rules or the meanings implying similar
Yes. My comment was specific to one's theological view (i.e. bias)
i ran across this episode of jay leno's garage on youtube today.
all i know is it seems very similar to j f rutherford's much-vaunted 16-cylinder cadillac.
watch the episode and let us know what you think.
As an illustration of the degree to which these cars could be personalized (And the rarefied financial strata of the people who owned them...) here are a few examples:
Robert Montgomery with his 1933 Sport Phaeton:
Marlene Dietrich with her 1934 Town Car:
Al Jolson's 1933 All Weather Phaeton (Similar to Rutherford's East Coast model which is sometimes misidentified as a sedan))
Al Capone's 1930 Imperial Sedan:
