thinker

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Posts by thinker

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  17

  An Unbeliever's Guide to Believing the Bible

  by thinker in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  jws believe the bible is god's word and that every word in it comes from god.

  it's a waste of time to try to disprove the bible based on science or any source outside the bible, because they just don't stand up to something someone believes came from god himself.

  so i've decided to use all that i've learned from jws about the bible to show them that they can't trust everything in the bible.

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  thinker

  Hi Gill,

  Glad you enjoyed it. I hope it leads to some interesting bible discussions with your mom. I'm sure she will want to know about this. :)

  thinker
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  116

  A Customer really pissed me off yesterday at work: SHE WANTS TO PRAY for me

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i work in a bookstore that specializes in buying its goods directly from the public second-hand and reselling them at half price.. .

  it is a large chain of 83 stores in 8 states and does about 100 million a year.. .

  i'm in charge of the religion and the philosophy sections.. .

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  thinker

  Hi Terry,

  Like you, I've always seen an insult hidden in that 'loving' phrase "I'll pray for you". My usual response is to site the scientific research showing that prayer can help to heal. The other person usually gets encouraged at this point. Then I explain that the research showed that it didn't matter if the person doing the praying was christian, jewish, muslim, buddist, etc... This usually leads to their silence.

  thinker
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  17

  An Unbeliever's Guide to Believing the Bible

  by thinker in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  jws believe the bible is god's word and that every word in it comes from god.

  it's a waste of time to try to disprove the bible based on science or any source outside the bible, because they just don't stand up to something someone believes came from god himself.

  so i've decided to use all that i've learned from jws about the bible to show them that they can't trust everything in the bible.

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  thinker

  Hello Out of the box,

  You're very welcome. This started when I realized that the only thing a bible believer will trust is the bible, so why not use the same tools and piece together verses just like they do...

  Take care,

  thinker
• 
  13

  My mother is annoying me, badly!!

  by Gill in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my mother is seriously annoying me, now.

  i have never been a patient person and only ever put up with so much before i go out firing on all cylinders - 'the fiery latin in me' i'm afraid!.

  anyway, my mum wants me to 'study the bible properly' with my idiot elder cousin and his watchtower on legs wife.. these are the very people, who have shunned us with a vengeance for the last few years and who my parents asked permission from a couple of years ago, when they had a barbie, if these wonderful christians would be offended if we were invited, what with our being 'non meeting attenders'.. i said, if you want '.....' and '.....' to no longer be jws when i've finished with them then a study would be a great idea however, if you think you can change my view on the wtbts and the idiots who follow it then you've got another think coming.. we had a belter of a fight on the phone before 'she remembered' that she'd got eggs boiling on the stove!

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  thinker

  Hi Gill,

  Check this out: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/97046/1.ashx

  I think you'll find it helpful AND amusing!

  thinker
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  17

  Does the Bible Have a Hidden Code?

  by undercover in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  from the wts website:.

  bout two years after the assassination of israeli prime minister yitzhak rabin in 1995, a journalist claimed that with the assistance of computer technology, he had discovered a prediction of that event hidden in the original hebrew bible text.

  the journalist, michael drosnin, wrote that he had tried to warn the prime minister over a year before the assassination but to no avail.. other books and articles have now been published claiming that this hidden code provides absolute proof of god's inspiration of the bible.

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  thinker

  I always felt that this number code hidden in the bible was just too strange to believe. I did read a good book about a more realistic code in the bible based on the hebrew meaning of hebrew names. It's called "Biblical Ciphers Unsealed", by Dale N. Robertson. Very interesting read.

  thinker
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  17

  An Unbeliever's Guide to Believing the Bible

  by thinker in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  jws believe the bible is god's word and that every word in it comes from god.

  it's a waste of time to try to disprove the bible based on science or any source outside the bible, because they just don't stand up to something someone believes came from god himself.

  so i've decided to use all that i've learned from jws about the bible to show them that they can't trust everything in the bible.

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  thinker

  Here's more proof that Abraham's 'god' was really Satan: In Gen 15:13 Abraham's 'god' says: "You may know for sure that your seed will become an alien resident in a land not theirs, and they will have to serve them, and these will certainly afflict them for four hundred years." Actual time the Israelites spent in Egypt (based on chronology) was 215 years. A false prophesy from Satan posing as god.

  Still not convinced? Look at the two accounts of David's census:

  2 Samuel 24:1 "And again the anger of Jehovah came to be hot against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying: "Go, take a count of Israel and Judah."

  1 Chronicles 21:1 "And Satan proceeded to stand up against Israel and to incite David to number Israel."

  Was it Jehovah or was it Satan? Both accounts are accurate because by that time the Israelite's 'god' WAS Satan.

  thinker
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  17

  An Unbeliever's Guide to Believing the Bible

  by thinker in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  jws believe the bible is god's word and that every word in it comes from god.

  it's a waste of time to try to disprove the bible based on science or any source outside the bible, because they just don't stand up to something someone believes came from god himself.

  so i've decided to use all that i've learned from jws about the bible to show them that they can't trust everything in the bible.

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  thinker

  Shing One,

  You brought up many points and I hope to find time to address them all. You claim the Book of Job shows Satan is subservient to God. In that book it says Satan was called to heaven to have a meeting with God. Did a man witness this conversation? Of course not, such a man would die after seeing God. So how did this conversation become known to men? Either it was invented by man or Satan planted it in their minds. I'm sure Satan would love for you to think he's weak and subservient to God. Then he could blame it all on God. "I was only following orders, God allowed it all to happen, etc...

  When Jesus described the choice between God and Satan, he said, "no man can serve two masters". Satan is not some underling of God's; by his rebellion he set himself up as an alternative to God. The very name given to the devil means "adversary", someone in an adversarial relationship to God. Next you'll be trying to tell me that God (thru Satan) tempted Jesus and that Jesus rebuked God!

  thinker
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  17

  An Unbeliever's Guide to Believing the Bible

  by thinker in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  jws believe the bible is god's word and that every word in it comes from god.

  it's a waste of time to try to disprove the bible based on science or any source outside the bible, because they just don't stand up to something someone believes came from god himself.

  so i've decided to use all that i've learned from jws about the bible to show them that they can't trust everything in the bible.

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  thinker

  Hello Shining One,

  You mention one of Satan's other titles "the bright morning star". Isn't your screen name a reference to that title? Just who are you working for?

  You said of Abraham's ritual, "Oh my gosh!!!! You need some education. Go to the library and check out Henry Virkler’s "Hermeneutics, Principals and Processes of Biblical Interpretation’ It is a basic seminary level book that you need to read before you attempt to discredit something you have no understanding of to begin with."

  Why go to all that trouble when the bible itself explains that this was sympathetic magic? It's a pagan practice to it's core.

  thinker
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  17

  An Unbeliever's Guide to Believing the Bible

  by thinker in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  jws believe the bible is god's word and that every word in it comes from god.

  it's a waste of time to try to disprove the bible based on science or any source outside the bible, because they just don't stand up to something someone believes came from god himself.

  so i've decided to use all that i've learned from jws about the bible to show them that they can't trust everything in the bible.

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  thinker

  JWs believe the bible is God's word and that every word in it comes from God. It's a waste of time to try to disprove the bible based on science or any source outside the bible, because they just don't stand up to something someone believes came from God Himself. So I've decided to use all that I've learned from JWs about the bible to show them that they can't trust everything in the bible.

  There's an old saying that says, "Seeing is believing." Has anyone actually seen God? Some parts of the bible say that some men have spoken to God "face to face" and elsewhere it says that no man may see God and live (Ex33:20). Ask any JW about this and they'll tell you that no one can see God and live, and that all those prophets who are said to have talked to God or seen God, actually saw one of God's angels.

  "Wait just a minute", you say, " I know a little bit about the bible and Paul said that Satan can transform himself into an angel of light" (2Cor11:14). How do we know those prophets of old weren't being deceived by Satan in the form of one of God's angels? Didn't John say that Satan has deceived the whole world? Doesn't Matt 24:24 say that even the "chosen ones" can be misled? Surely we need to study this carefully to determine the truth. Isn't that what John said to do (John4:1)?

  Let's take a look at Satan in the bible. He's found from first book to the last book of the bible. In both the first and the last he takes the appearance of a serpent (Gen 3, Rev 12). In Genesis, Satan (as the serpent) causes the fall of man and God says to the serpent, "you are the cursed one out of all the domestic animals and out of all the wild beasts of the field" (Gen 3:14). This was the only animal ever cursed by God. Isn't it strange then that Moses performed magic in Egypt with the only animal God ever cursed, a serpent? (Ex 4:2-4). In fact, Moses seems to have had a real love for serpents. He even had his priests make a bronze serpent idol and placed it on a staff. According to your Insight Book the Israelites fell into false and pagan worship of that serpent idol for over 300 years! Do you really think someone like that was talking to and seeing one of God's angels?

  Could Satan really have fooled Moses? Well, Moses was just an imperfect man so it's certainly possible. And just because a few 'miracles' occured doesn't really prove it wasn't Satan. In 2Thes2:9 it says Satan uses deception and has the ability to perform "powerful works, lying signs, and potents". Portents are signs of something about to happen; similar to a prophesy.

  So far this is just circumstantial evidence. Let's see if we can find something more definite in the bible. Look at 2Peter 2:2 "However, there also came to be false prophets among the people..." This clearly says that the people (Israelites) had false prophets among them. But wouldn't the Jews have rejected the false prophets and not included them in the bible? Jesus's own words provide us with the answer: ""Woe, whenever all men speak well of

  YOU , for things like these are what their forefathers did to the false prophets."(Luke 6:26). The false prophets weren't rejected; they were highly regarded!

  Read Genesis 15:8-17 concerning Abraham's covenant with his 'god' and tell me if it sounds like a Satanic ritual: cut up the dead animals, separate the halves and have your 'god' walk between the bloody pieces in the form of a dark, smoky cloud with a burning ember at it's center. Doesn't that sound like something Satan would enjoy?

  You may still find it hard to believe that Satan fooled some of the people in the bible, but there is a clear statement from Jesus that tells us it's true. One day a number of pious Jews came to the Temple to talk with Jesus. These people had followed their religion to the best of their ability as their prophets and priests had instructed them. They said to Jesus, "We were not born from fornication; we have one Father, God". And Jesus replied to them, "YOU are from YOUR father the Devil..." (John 8:31-44). These people clearly thought they were following God, but Jesus said they'd been deceived by Satan. How much more proof do you need that Satan has put his own lies right inside the bible in order to trick the whole world into worshipping him rather than God? I suggest you follow John's advice and "do not believe every inspired expression" (even if you find it in the bible), "but test the inspired expressions to see whether they originate with God" (that is, test it against your own conscience), "because many false prophets have gone forth into the world." And some of them made it into the bible, a book compiled by imperfect men.

  thinker
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  79

  DID YOU KNOW THIS about the BIBLE?

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the oldest manuscripts are not considered the most reliable.. there are no "autograph" texts.

  none.. there are no "original" manuscripts.. no two manuscripts agree.. the bible as we know it only came together in the form it now holds because certain men decided it should do so.. neither jesus nor his apostles or disciples carried bibles.. the apostle paul didn't carry a bible and none of his letters were in any of the scrolls considered holy scripture at the time he was preaching and forming christian theology as it is now understood to be.. largely, what the bible is today, is the result of certain men with certain agendas who had the authority to make their project happen.

  they also had the power to destroy writings which did not agree with their agenda.

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  thinker

  Hi Terry,

  Good stuff on the bible. When I read the title of your post I thought that maybe you had stumbled onto some of the more interesting things I have found inside the bible.

  For example, did you know sex toys are mentioned in the bible? Eze. 16:17

  Did you know the phrase "hung like a horse" comes from the bible? Eze. 23:20

  Did you know that all-important prophet Isaiah walked around naked for 3 years because God told him to? Isa. 20:3

  Did you know the words "watchtower will become a wasteland" is in the bible? Isa 32:14 (NIV)

  Take care,

  thinker