TerryWalstrom

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Posts by TerryWalstrom

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  10

  Wanted to Share a Watchtower Quote with you

  by FusionTheism in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  just thought this was interesting and wanted to see all of your thoughts and opinions on it.. watchtower, november 15, 2014, simplified study edition, pages 11-12:.

  9 let us examine the words of three brothers who for many years have worked closely with members of the governing body.

  one brother mentioned: while this has indeed been a unique privilege of service, the close association has from time to time revealed that, although spirit anointed, these brothers are imperfect.

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  TerryWalstrom

  https://archive.org/details/BirthOfTheNationFromMarch11925Watchtower

  READ THE SOURCE (ABOVE) ONLINE
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  20

  MAD MAX FURY ROAD

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i went to see the new mad max movie last night: "fury road.".

  this post-apocalyptic world is not recycled gray, it is blazingly colorful australian desert terrain with wide shots that will stop your heart.have you ever seen an heironymous bosch painting of hell with its where's waldo panoply of brutish, demonic, figures inflicting torments willy-nilly as far as the eye can see?

  well, fury road makes bosch look like a knit-one-purl-two doily maker at a sunday brunch.. director miller has thought about this movie, planned it, sketched it, worked it, perfected it millisecond by millisecond before scene one was ever shot.one second of onscreen activity has more interesting business happening than two hours spent by a voyeur in a nudist colony of playboy bunnies.. what is watching this film all about?

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  TerryWalstrom

  I don't know what sort of relationship Gibson and Miller may or may not have--but--it might have revived Mel's stagnant career.

  If I had to guess, I'd say with all the money riding on this one, George Miller dared not risk the public ill will Mel Gibson has accrued due to his public drunken rants about "Jews."

  Not to worry--this is Charlize's flick for the most part. Mel would have seemed tired and puffy alongside her in his post-alcoholic apocalyptic condition.

  I can't believe I didn't see it in 3-D. But, I couldn't get in. Seats were sold out.
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  5

  On Bart Ehrman's Blog+John's use of an early 'Signs document'

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the land of judea?

  he then did signs in judea (3:22).

  i think the greek is saying that this healing was jesus second sign, and he did this one after he had come from judea into galilee.

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  TerryWalstrom

  I've edited and combined two blog posts on the same topic:

  _______________________________

  In the earlier Gospels, Jesus performs “miracles,” both because he feels compassion for those in need and in order to illustrate his teaching that the Kingdom of God was soon to appear. In John, however, he does “signs” to prove that he really is a divine being.

  So, what evidence is there that John’s accounts of Jesus’ signs derive from a previously existing, but no longer surviving, written source?

  The evidence does not make a slam-dunk case, and so the matter is debated among scholars. I’ve long thought, though, that there probably was some such source.

  First, some basic factual information. These are the seven signs (note: seven! The perfect number, the number of God) that Jesus performs in the Gospel.

  1. Turning Water Into Wine (2:1-11)
  2. Healing the Capernaum Official’s Son (4:46-54)
  3. Healing the Paralytic by the Pool of Bethzatha (5:2-9)
  4. Feeding the 5000 (6:1-14)
  5. Walking on Water (6:16-21)
  6. Healing the Man Born Blind (9:1-12)
  7. Raising Lazarus from the Dead (11:1-44)ｮLM0ｯ

  Jesus performs no other public miracles in John; but it is important to notice the statement near the end of the book: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the christ, the Son of God, and through believing you may have life in his name” (20:30-31).

  To see the logic behind thinking that these stories come from a previously existing written source it is important to recall (from a post a very long time ago!) why scholars often think that John is not based only on oral tradiitons but on previously existing (non-Synoptic) written sources. One of these reasons is that there are certain “literary seams” in the Gospel – that is, internal discrepancies that are hard to explain if an author was simply writing up an account, but easy to explain if the author is splicing together stories from different sources and neglecting to smooth out the transitions so that contradictions result.

  Here are three such literary seams in John:

  1. In John 2:23, Jesus is in Jerusalem, the capital of Judea. While there, he engages in a discussion with Nicodemus that lasts until 3:21. But then the text says, “After this Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judea” (3:22). The land of Judea? They are already in the land of Judea, in fact, they are in its capital. Here is another literary seam. (Note: some modern translations have gotten around this problem by mistranslating v. 22 to say that they went into the “countryside of Judea.” But this, in fact, is not the meaning of the Greek word, “land.”)
  2. In John 5:1, Jesus goes to Jerusalem, where he spends the entire chapter healing and teaching. The author’s comment after his discourse, however, is somewhat puzzling: “After this, Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee” (6:1). How could he go to the other side of the Sea if he is not already on one of its sides? In fact, he is nowhere near the Sea of Galilee — he is in Jerusalem of Judea.

  And finally, one that is particularly intriguing in light of the possibility that Jesus’ signs came to the author from a previously existing source.

  1. In chapter two, Jesus performs his “first sign” (2:11) in Cana of Galilee, changing the water into wine. In chapter four, he does his “second sign” (4:54) after returning to Galilee from Judea, healing the Capernaum official’s son. In itself, this is no problem. The problem emerges when you read what happens between the first and second signs; for John 2:23 indicates that while Jesus was in Jerusalem many people believed in him “because they saw the signs that he was doing.” How can this be? How can he do the first sign, and then other signs, and then the second sign?

  The Greek of 4:54 is a bit complicated and has led to some misunderstanding among some readers who do not see a discrepancy with 3:22. When the verse says that this healing was the second sign Jesus did, having come from Galilee from Judea, it does *not* appear to mean that it was the second sign that was done in Galilee (as opposed to Judea). It instead seems to mean that it was his second sign. And he did it when he had come into Galilee from Judea.

  The reason that matter is this. If it meant the former (this was the second Galilean sign) then there would be no discrepancy with 3:22. In this reading, Jesus did his first Galilean sign when he turned the water into wine (2:1-11). He then did signs in Judea (3:22). And then he came back and did his second Galilean sign. No contradiction.

  But that’s not how I read the verse. I think the Greek is saying that this healing was “Jesus’ second sign,” and he did this one after he had come from Judea into Galilee. If that’s what the Greek does mean, then there is a discrepancy, because of 3:22. Jesus did his first sign; then he did many signs; then he did his second sign.

  How would we explain this discrepancy? The theory of a signs source is that the author took his accounts of Jesus’ supernatural deeds from a source that enumerated the signs: This was his first, this was his second, and this was his third, etc. When he took over this source, he inserted its narratives into his longer account, in which he said other things. And sometimes the things he said in the longer account stood in tension with what he found in the signs source. That’s what has created the discrepancy between 3:22 (the author’s own comment) and 4:54 (the comment he found in the signs source).

  ___________________________________

  Read this quote from the Gospel of John chapter 20:

  30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that believing you may have life in his name.

  _________________

  
  

  Take a look at the words "believe" and "believing."

  There is a textual variant attested in the surviving manuscripts of 20:31. It is a difference that is very difficult to replicate in English, but it makes a difference in the Greek. When the verse says that the signs have been written “so that you might believe,” the verb “believe” is actually given in two different tenses in the various manuscripts. Some of them have it as a present tense and others as an aorist.

  The present tense in Greek works pretty much like the present tense in English – it describes the ongoing action in the present. The aorist tense is sometimes, but not very accurately, thought of as comparable to the past tense in English, referring to something that happened before now. But, in fact, the aorist isn’t really just something that happened before; it is a tense that is used to describe an action that has come to completion.

  In this verse, the difference between the present and aorist tense is this. The present tense would mean that the signs of Jesus have been written “so that you might go on believing.”

  The aorist tense would mean something like “so that you might come to believe.”

  In other words, the present-tense rendering would suggest that the signs are written for believers to keep the faith; the aorist tense rendering would suggest that the signs are written to convince non-believers to come to believe. Big difference.

  Big difference.

  _______________

  New Testament scholars believe there was originally a document used for proselytising unbelievers which contained 7 Signs proving Jesus was the son of God. The opinion is that John incorporated this document into his own Gospel account. He then changed the verb (which would apply to non-believers) to the more appropriate verb for those already believing.

  This document was in circulation among the people in John’s community. It was used as a kind of missionary document, to convert people to believe in Jesus the messiah.

  When the author of John took the document over and incorporated its stories into his own narrative, he was writing his Gospel, not for non-believers, but for believers, to urge them to keep the faith. He changed the key verb in the last line from an aorist tense to a present. Now the signs were meant to help the followers of Jesus to continue to believe in him.

  One or more early scribes familiar with the original form of the verse changed it back to the aorist, and so there are now two forms of the text in our surviving manuscripts, one present tense and one aorist.

  If all this is right, then the Signs Source consisted of the seven miraculous deeds of Jesus that were meant to inspire faith in unbelievers. The source no longer exists, of course, except insofar as it has been utilised by the author of the Fourth Gospel.

  
  
  
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  10

  The Watch Tower Society reveals itself

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  over time, the watch tower society has completely changed many of its beliefs.

  for example, until recently, the wts said that the emblems of the memorial represented the church, the 144,000, that the emblems did not symbolize jesus.. at times, the wts changes the name of a belief while it continues the teaching, for example, the wts used to say that jesus and the 144,000 together were the "the christ".

  today, the wts denies this teaching but the name "anointed" means "christ".. do you want to see what the watch tower reveals about these things and more?

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  TerryWalstrom

  Doug's work is not only in depth, but arguably 'exhaustive' in research. He's a one-stop-shopping experience when it comes to resource material contained in his various topics covered.

  Take the time and review all of his work online. The presentation is several cuts above the best you've seen.
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  14

  Rutherford's Hitler Letter - An Alternate History

  by cappytan in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  if you're unaware of the letter tinged with anti-semitism and offering tacit approval that rutherford wrote to hitler, see this article on jwfacts.. so, we all know the witnesses were persecuted quite a bit during the war years.

  i personally had family that was in jail with brother schroder in the 40's for the crime of "peddling.

  i'm an agnostic fader, however i still think the mob violence against the witnesses was deplorable.

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  TerryWalstrom

  If you will take the time to read exactly what Jehovah's Witnesses were saying out loud, in the streets, in print, on the radio, by loudspeaker trucks, etc. you will discover something about which you are unaware.

  JW's were really asking for trouble, using something the court called "fighting words" which directly caused them to be attacked.

  Families who had a son serving in the armed forces had tender emotions pushed to the limit by the public declarations of J-Dubs calling down condemnation. Go all the way back to the book THE FINISHED MYSTERY and read the incredibly incendiary language. It caused the WTS leaders to be tried, convicted, and imprisoned for treason.
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  2

  The 1917 schism

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  this has more than likely been referred to here before, so i apologise in advance.. i stumbled across this site:.

  https://archive.org/details/folkscanomy_religion.

  look at the list down the right.. in my case, i was interested in the harvest siftings in which rutherford puts his slant on the 1917 schism:.

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  TerryWalstrom

  I would heartily urge people to take the time to read through the above links.

  You can't get a better perspective on how pissed off Russell's followers were when

  Judge Rutherford snatched up the Bible Student's in his paw and sought to twist it into a knot of his own making.

  Read about the cataclysm in the fresh words spoken and written in the heat of the coup d'etat.

  It is still shocking even today.
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  23

  Why BOGUS PREDICTIONS and CHANGEABLE TEACHINGS only strengthen JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  today's jw knows less about the history of the watchtower religion than ever before.. there is no need to know.

  only the present moment of new light has meaning.. there are too many enemies surrounding jw's to risk learning something faith-weakening.. such as facts.

  the watchtower religion (jehovah's witnesses) has been 'getting away with it' since 1874.. setting dates built on false chronology, pyramidology, slanted quotations about world events, and misrepresenting their own authority, (channel of jehovah) is a profitable enterprise for the watchtower org.. how do we know they 'get away with it'?.

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  TerryWalstrom

  FusionTheism

  So how do **you** determine whether it's genuine humility or fake humility?

  It makes no sense to simultaneously say that the Society doesn't want the average JW to know about the problems of the past Society, and THEN at the same time to say that the Society is intentionally telling these JWs about these problems, making them aware of them.

  _______________

  Excellent query!

  The answer is: it is genuine fake humility!

  In my opinion, these are not 'self-aware' people at the top. These are men who view themselves as pious, beset, and humble.

  When errors are shoved in their face, it makes them sad rather than angry. Heaving a heavy sigh, the G.B. acknowledge how errors of the past are on par with over-eager puppies knocking over a bowl of water.

  They are totally unaware of their culpability in misleading by wrong-headed guesswork!

  The Administrators accept a presupposition and never test it for validity.

  Brother Ray Franz called them "Captives of a Concept' for a good reason: they never test the premise that Jehovah has channeled THE TRUTH through them from the get-go.

  THEY ARE UNABLE to even begin to consider self-delusion.

  Otherwise, wouldn't the G.B. attempt to explain how it is even possible for Jehovah's "Truth" to go in one end of the "channel" and come out as dog shit on the other end?

  They've been staring at the scriptures as though it were a kaleidoscope with ever-changing patterns!

  How else can you explain the variations they've taught, revoked, and reshaped for the last 100 years?

  Self-questioning is NOT in these people's DNA.

  Muhammed Ali constantly proclaimed, "I AM THE GREATEST," and proceeded to win the heavyweight boxing championship again and again and again.

  The Governing Body proclaimes, "WE ARE THE TRUTHIEST" but end up knocked flat on their face with false teaching after false teaching.

  With one difference: when the Watchtower prints the headline it reads: 'ANOTHER KNOCKOUT FOR THE Faithful Slave!!"

  In other words, they believe their own hype.

  They buy-in to the bullshit they print.

  They are PRETENDING somehow whatever they print is always true, and can only give a tiny shrug of the shoulders when it isn't.
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  23

  Why BOGUS PREDICTIONS and CHANGEABLE TEACHINGS only strengthen JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  today's jw knows less about the history of the watchtower religion than ever before.. there is no need to know.

  only the present moment of new light has meaning.. there are too many enemies surrounding jw's to risk learning something faith-weakening.. such as facts.

  the watchtower religion (jehovah's witnesses) has been 'getting away with it' since 1874.. setting dates built on false chronology, pyramidology, slanted quotations about world events, and misrepresenting their own authority, (channel of jehovah) is a profitable enterprise for the watchtower org.. how do we know they 'get away with it'?.

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  TerryWalstrom

  Here is how I inelegantly characterize the Governing Body's new 'transparency.'

  Should we praise you for shitting your pants and finally admitting it stinks?

  For almost a century, the GB acted as though they had not shit their pants repeatedly.

  If you hinted it stunk, they'd quickly pounce on you for criticizing Jehovah's anointed.

  But now---one hundred years after the failed 1914 prediction, when every ex-J-Dub with a YouTube account has pounded them senseless---they finally admit to a wee stench.

  Aww, bless em'!
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  23

  Why BOGUS PREDICTIONS and CHANGEABLE TEACHINGS only strengthen JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  today's jw knows less about the history of the watchtower religion than ever before.. there is no need to know.

  only the present moment of new light has meaning.. there are too many enemies surrounding jw's to risk learning something faith-weakening.. such as facts.

  the watchtower religion (jehovah's witnesses) has been 'getting away with it' since 1874.. setting dates built on false chronology, pyramidology, slanted quotations about world events, and misrepresenting their own authority, (channel of jehovah) is a profitable enterprise for the watchtower org.. how do we know they 'get away with it'?.

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  TerryWalstrom

  Today's JW knows less about the history of the Watchtower religion than ever before.

  There is NO NEED to know. Only the present moment of New Light has meaning.

  There are too many enemies surrounding JW's to risk learning something faith-weakening.

  Such as facts. ___________________
  

  GETTING AWAY WITH IT

  The Watchtower religion (Jehovah's Witnesses) has been 'getting away with it' since 1874.

  Setting dates built on false chronology, pyramidology, slanted quotations about world events, and misrepresenting their own authority, (channel of Jehovah) is a profitable enterprise for the Watchtower org.

  How do we know they 'get away with it'?

  The membership continues to increase despite the best efforts of former members to blow the whistle and reveal damning facts.

  Why are the Governing Body so slippery?

  Here are a few common sense reasons.

  ___________________________

  REASON #1

  Question: Who does this religion lose when their promises fail?

  Answer: Those loyal to facts and intellectual honesty than to the leaders and the organization.

  Question: Who remains behind no matter what they teach?

  Answer: Those loyal to men and not to evidence of false and misleading teachings.

  Conclusion: By predicting false dates the Watchtower Society rids itself of the very people who--if they remained inside--would raise doubts and question authority, perhaps swaying others toward insubordination. When doubters are DF'd or leave of their own accord, only the hardcore loyalists remain. Due to cognitive dissonance, they are strengthened in their personal resolve to view the Organization as true, just, and right no matter what. The GB label ex-members as god-haters, apostates, mentally diseased and infected by demonic disloyalty.

  ________________________

  REASON #2

  By pumping up the rhetoric around events such as 1975, frightened people are baptized into the cult quivering in fear of destruction. Once absorbed into the "us versus them" Kingdom Halls, the newly converted are radicalized into cult behavior which marks them as weird to outsiders.

  Question: Why don't Newbies leave when the scary dates pass without incident?

  Answer: Once you think and act like a cult member there is no longer a place for you outside the Organization where the 'worldly' are seen as a dying breed of satanic losers.

  The weak-minded will repeat the phrase, "Where would I go? Back to Christendom and false and paganized celebrations, doctrines, and practices?"

  Conclusion: Black and white thinking has a remarkable paralyzing effect on people who don't celebrate social opportunities for bonding with their fellow citizens. By becoming indoctrinated into seeing patriotism as devil worship, Christmas as pagan, birthdays as ungodly--new members are driven deeper into the duped flock.

  _________________

  REASON # 3

  The application of peer pressure to conform is reinforced constantly. Family and friends are encouraged to snitch out misdeeds or missteps. Contrarily, the flops and misses of the G.B. are waved away by saying, "They're only human." Few outright admissions of wrong teaching have ever been aired from the top. What is dispensed comes in the form of oily blame-shifting efforts, double-talk, and mushy excuses.

  Illogically, the leaders aren't allowed to be seen as "only human" when proclaiming worldwide destruction based on baseless claims in the first place; only after it all goes wrong.

  ____________________________

  REASON # 4

  Human nature is such we seek to avoid loss and this aversion makes us susceptible to something called 'framing effects.' In other words, you'll react positively or negatively depending on whether a piece of information is presented to you as a LOSS or a GAIN.

  QUESTION: How does this work vis-a-vis false prophesy?

  Answer: The Watchtower presents Armageddon as a fearful expression of Jehovah's wrath on those who are NOT part of His Organization.

  So, acting out of fear of loss---JW's are moved deeper inside the org.

  When the prophecy fails--it is presented as a GAIN of time to save more people by active witnessing. Jehovah has acted with mercy. (It is positive.)

  SUNK COST FALLACY becomes active: "Well, I've come this far as a faithful JW--I can't throw it all away now and miss out on paradise and seeing my dead loved ones again."

  ____________________

  REASON # 5

  
  

  Everything is a test.

  When the G.B. is wrong--IT IS A TEST of your faith. "Wait on Jehovah" and never start complaining or asking touchy skeptical questions!

  The critics of Jehovah's Witnesses, the skeptics, and the Apostates are waiting to test you

  by getting you to read tricky, satanic articles and watch devilish videos on YouTube. Your loyalty is tested by refusing to listen or think for yourself.

  Becoming deaf, dumb and blind in the face of free-thinking and independent study is the true TEST of your loyalty, faith, and trust in Jehovah.

  CONCLUSION:

  Today's JW knows less about the history of the Watchtower religion than ever before.

  There is NO NEED to know. Only the present moment of New Light has meaning.

  There are too many enemies surrounding JW's to risk learning something faith-weakening.

  Such as facts.

  . . .
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  90

  This is the man who made it all happen!

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  william miller.. do you know how important this man has been to your life?

  do you know your life would have been entirely different (without a doubt) had he not lived?.

  read on!.

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  TerryWalstrom

  Nobody has the courage to scream, "STOP THE MADNESS!"

  Why?

  Because, since the time of Martin Luther, the use of of your friendly household Bible has caused most of the problems.

  Give an encyclopedia of medical procedures to an amateur and see what you end up with.

  The same is true of giving a very old book purported to have spooky supernatural origins to gullible amateurs and see what transpires. (Hint: 40+ thousand different denominations!)

  The self-centeredness of Christians in every century is phenomenal!

  Every single generation has completely owned the idea the Bible's END TIMES apocalypticism applies TO THEM.

  It is always THIS generation.

  Nothing short of Narcisisstic.