By the way...this won't be an ACTUAL book book. I just finished the (above) additional chapter and more to come
only because I need a daily impetus to make me write.
My biography needs finishing and for some peculiar psychological reason, I can't make myself do it.
So...
James Bond is fun to write and the "other" is work.
TerryWalstrom
JoinedPosts by TerryWalstrom
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15
My new James Bond novel
by TerryWalstrom inthe first 4 chapters are done on the james bond novel i began writing yesterday.
i'm having to much fun with it to stop now.
veronica spoke the two words clearly and waited.. .
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TerryWalstrom
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15
My new James Bond novel
by TerryWalstrom inthe first 4 chapters are done on the james bond novel i began writing yesterday.
i'm having to much fun with it to stop now.
veronica spoke the two words clearly and waited.. .
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TerryWalstrom
CHAPTER FIVE
of my James' Bond novel
"SPIDER'S TOUCH"
is finished.
______
(Chapter Five)
Guts for Garters
Bond, summoned upon his return from Zurich, dreaded yet another briefing--especially in light of his failures there.
Moneypenny had warned him in a whisper, ”Batten the hatches” which was their private signal that his Superior-M-the former Vice Admiral, was about to have his guts for garters.
M was duly appointed to head of MI6 after his predecessor had been assassinated at his desk. With that sword of Damocles above his head at all times, he took his job dead seriously.
On his best days, M was testy or gruff. On so-so days, stern and cold. However, on days such as this one, M was certain to be brutal, angry, and possibly threatening.
Bond had snooped and called in favors-strictly out of curiosity to discover M’s salary,£2,056,819 annual. That would be added to his naval retirement, of course. This certainly indicated M could not afford the annual membership at Blades, the upscale private club for gentlemen it was rumored he frequented weekly for gambling and dining.
Bond knew for a fact Blades was restricted in membership to 200 gentlemen able to demonstrate a minimum of £100,000 annual income.
Bond had a private hypothesis--call it a hunch.
The club’s owner was probably careered Navy who owed this retired Admiral a debt of some sort. Bond had bribed the wine steward and discovered a fact which made him chuckle gleefully.
As a personal favor to M, the staff at Blades keeps a supply of cheap red wine from-(God help him)-Algeria on hand but does not include it on the wine list. M refers to it as "Infuriator" and tends only to drink it in moderate quantities unless he is in a very bad mood.
James Bond swallowed hard and prayed to himself, “Please Lord--let him not have had Algerian wine for lunch.”
He stepped through the door from the outside hall into Moneypenny’s office space.
Evelyn Jane Moneypenny sat bolt upright at her desk.
Bond knew she held the rank of second officer in the Women’s Royal Naval Service, but not until now--seeing her gloomy expression--did he salute her.
Moneypenny was noted for giving a warm and friendly reception to senior officers who visited her office to view confidential papers. There was none of that to be had this day.
Her official job description was the private secretary of M the head of MI6.
Moneypenny, Bond knew, was cleared for Top Secret, Eyes Only, and Cabinet-Level intelligence reports, the last of which she was often required to prepare, and in some cases present.
So, if the old girl had warned him he was heading into the abyss--Bond would take it with utmost seriousness.
He snapped a smart salute which caused Moneypenny to pull her head back and scowl. Bond forced a grim smile.
Her eyes squinted back at him like a schoolmaster about to expel an unruly layabout.
The red light above the green baize door had switched green. Bond sniffed and squared his shoulders pushing his way through, reciting quietly to himself a line from The Charge of the Light Brigade.
**
“So nice of you to join me, 007.”
M was working his pipe-lighting routine with grim determination.
He looked pale and worn. Above his stiff white collar and fumbled bow-tie, the lined sailor’s face shown black stubble, adding to the all-night look of his skin and clothes.
Bond squinted hard as he stood awkwardly in front of M’s desk--awaiting the customary invitation to sit.
“Quiet night, Bond?”
M had his pipe working and he sucked three puffs from the stem with a measure of satisfaction. The man’s hard face turned toward his quarry as he stared silently for one long minute.
James Bond tossed off an expression of indifference.
“Comme ci comme ça…”
He’d barely begun his sentence when M let go a fusillade at him.
After calling him every name in the book, M stopped himself and calmed momentarily with, “Sit down, 007”
Bond sat and waited--not daring to speak until he determined what he’d done to deserve this dressing down.
“I don’t happen to speak French, thank you. But that’s as close as I could manage to a proper reply.”
M glared and turned sideways in his swivel chair, gazing nonchalantly out the window.
James Bond’s mind raced back over the details of his assignment in Zurich. Everything had been routine the first day.
**
On the second day, he’d set up an interview with Mr. Goldfinger II by passing himself off as Universal Export’s ‘fixer’--the man who could make a deal to suit any client.
It was afterward, the third day when he’d discovered it had been a balls up-screw the pooch-disaster. It wasn’t Mister Goldfinger II he’d chatted with for two hours; it was a Russian agent pretending to be him.
Then, home office contacted him with the news his liaison in Zurich was himself an Iranian imposter working with the Russians.
What the bloody hell had gone wrong?
Bond had been furious and demanded answers.
A British secret agent made to look the fool--especially a man of his experience--was the sort of amateur blunder only an idiot could make.
Before Bond could sort anything out--the summons to return nipped his answers in the bud. The flight back to London was booked second class seating--a strong message which rankled him no end.
**
M turned back from the window and raised his hand an inch or two as if to point--then stopped.
“Nevermind, I’ll read all about it in the report.”
“Report, Sir? I haven’t written one as yet--I though I’d--”
“Why would I want your report, 007? I’ve got a meticulously detailed log of your every move, every word spoken in Zurich, all provided to me by the C.I.A. right here!”
“The C.I.A.--what do they have to do with--?”
“Exactly the words I screamed in this office when the damned thing came down to my desk from...UPSTAIRS!”
M’s eyes burned. His lips were pulled back, taut and grim. His nostrils were working as a quarter horse after a race.
James Bond swallowed hard and let out a long, slow lungful of air.
“Obviously we are the last of the Intelligence agencies to hear any of this Goldfinger story. No doubt, on purpose. They are jealous and have their knickers in a twist because of our previous success. I suppose we made them look pretty bad--and I…”
“You think? You think? Let me tell you something, 007.
It’s a black and white, gold plated guarantee we’ve been targeted by all the Intelligence services. None of that should surprise us in the least. What should, however, cause us to tuck our collective tails in utter humiliation is that WE LET THEM SUCCEED.”
“You mean ‘me’. I let them get one over on me.”
“Did you say, ‘One’? How about three?”
Bond’s mouth hung open for a second. He counted in his head.
“You mean the Russian, the Iranian, and--um…”
M shook his head slowly side to side with disgust.
“When you received an emergency call from the about-to-be-murdered Veronica, requesting your help...what did you do?”
Bond’s face paled. He swallowed again.
“I contacted my--I called Melina Havelock in Paris to rush over and get the girl to safety...Sir.”
“Havelock has been dead for three months. She has been replaced by an imposter. Oh, and she is the daughter of an old friend of yours, Hugo Drax.”
Bond’s eyes widened. He shook his head as if to shake all the contradictions and failures out of his hair.
"Drax, Sir?”
“Yes, red-haired Hugo Drax. Red-hair not unlike Auric Goldfinger’s red hair. Perhaps you were unaware they were fathered by the same man?”
“That’s preposterous! Sir.”
“As preposterous as you having your cock and balls handed to you? As preposterous as your country’s Intelligence service roasted on a spit?”
James Bond heaved a sigh and leaned back in the stiff chair. The sweet, acrid pipe smoke nauseated him. Or was it the bollixed nightmare he found himself living at the moment?
M’s voice softened.
“Here’s how it is. We begin again. This time, fresh. We start from scratch. All available agents on deck. You pull yourself together and infiltrate this Goldfinger II's conference in France. This is a tangled skein and we need to find the loose tie that binds. Understand? Now get out of my office and deal only with me--understood?”
“Aye-aye, Sir.” Bond snapped a salute and instantly regretted it.
M’s face flushed full as he pointed at the exit. Vesuvius was about to erupt and James Bond had no intention of being anywhere near when it did.
He passed through M’s portal as Moneypenny looked up to speak, but Bond shook his head at her and pulled back.
“Good luck--you’ll need it.” She shouted as the door slammed.
What had M done to him, she wondered. What had he done to cause it?
She whispered out loud, “The usual, I suppose.”
Then, turned back to her crossword puzzle.
______Next Stop Chapter Six
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7
Have they discovered a loophole for lying in the name of Jehovah and getting away with it?
by TerryWalstrom inlet's put first things first.
ask the average bible reader to name the prophets.
easy peasy!.
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TerryWalstrom
A drug dealer shouldn't sample their own product.
The GB members undergo some kind of mental apotheosis and it's the same thing.
Total belief you are really channeling God--when really--all you're doing is making shit up
and lacing it with laxative powder. -
15
My new James Bond novel
by TerryWalstrom inthe first 4 chapters are done on the james bond novel i began writing yesterday.
i'm having to much fun with it to stop now.
veronica spoke the two words clearly and waited.. .
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TerryWalstrom
Thank you for the encouragement. I had planned to do one chapter a day but was having too much
fun to stop yesterday.
I don't know why I made it serious. But I read all Ian Flemming's Bond books when I was a teen back in the '60s.
I guess that ethos is inside me someplace.
There have been so many parodies--they've been done to death. So--serious is the road for this one.
We'll see how far I can get before it stops being fun. -
15
My new James Bond novel
by TerryWalstrom inthe first 4 chapters are done on the james bond novel i began writing yesterday.
i'm having to much fun with it to stop now.
veronica spoke the two words clearly and waited.. .
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TerryWalstrom
The first 4 Chapters are done on the James Bond novel I began writing yesterday.I'm having to much fun with it to stop now. It's only for fun, of course.______The working title is SPIDER'S TOUCH___(Chapter One)COVER BLOWN____________Three in the morning in Paris spells trouble when you’re wounded, bleeding and the shadowy figure behind you is closing in.Reaching the lights up ahead- a crowd of witnesses to your murder- is the last entry on the “To do” list for this wretched Saturday. Bentley thought this to himself.Mathis Bentley wasn’t finished--not quite.Yes, his cover was blown. No, he hadn’t a clue how or why--there was only one thing left to do. Plan B must activate and fast--if he could get it done before...He suddenly glimpsed Veronica’s face outside the casino entrance and it emboldened him.She would know what to do--if he could get close enough to signal.Mathis heaved a deep breath and the stabbing pain fired up again.The back of his shirt felt soaked in sweat and blood and his head was spinning with nausea.**At the end of the Great War, Mathis Bentley Jr. was spotted by the section of the secret service charged with acquisition of promising young men to serve Her Majesty’s intelligence branch as an agent.His recruiter had connived him easily inasmuch as she could see he craved adventure to bolster his ego and ambition to make something of himself.That first year, in between shuffling papers at a desk and lingering at the bar after lunch breaks, he began receiving urgent and peremptory instructions by telephone from a man he’d never met, barking details requiring discretion, accuracy, and haste.His payment found its way into the account set up for him at the Royal Bank of Canada falsely attributed to a fictitious relative in Bristol.These minor assignments emboldened the young man and encouraged him toward wild musings as to his value and career opportunities ahead. Naturally, he was being watched and judged by Regent’s Park with dark scrutiny as to his ultimate trustworthiness for something more delicate. Something ultimately fatal.**Another stab of pain as his pace quickened, interrupting his thoughts.He made the decision--a change of plans--it might work or not; at least it was unexpected, he hoped.Mathis Bentley pivoted into the black space between Le Petit Casino and an off-hours pharmacy just as his assassin caught up and jammed something rigid into the soft flesh of his spine.At the same time, a rough voice rattled in his ear quietly and urgently.“She will die too, Monsieur--if you take one more step.”The young British secret agent swallowed hard and sucked in enough air to respond.“I just pulled the pin on the grenade in my pocket. We’ll end this dance together.”As he spoke, he spun around and grabbed the man’s wrist and stared briefly into those cold, dark eyes, with his own steel greys wide and triumphant.“How about a dance with the Devil?”The explosion ripped outward with a tongue of yellow and red flame as the two figures blew apart. Concussive waves rattled windows at the casino where Veronica stood pale and uncertain.Her red lips trembled. She spoke but one word.“No.”Then she let her head hang lower as she added knowingly,“Oh, Mathis.”She knew what she must do.She reached into her clutch bag and found the business card:James Bond Universal Exports.___________(Chapter Two)A DISH SERVED COLDVeronica Marie Antoinette scrambled back into the Le Petit Casino and made the phone call with trembling fingers. A rash had broken out on her neck and she couldn’t catch her breath. The hatcheck clerk scowled at her appearance.(Do I look that bad? )She wondered nervously, then forced herself into a placid pose and worked a false smile into something more charismatic.The clerk snorted a half smile and turned back to a small TV screen.The back of Bond’s card shown two words printed by hand:“Excalibur stone.”The line buzzed twice, followed by three metallic clicks.A monotone voice answered, “State your business.”Veronica spoke the two words clearly and waited.Another metallic click followed...then, the ringtone sounded.“This is Veronica M--”(Interrupting) “Just shut up and listen carefully. Do you have a pencil?”Veronica scanned about her and remembered her clutch bag. She produced a gold automatic pencil and twisted the lead into view.“Yes, continue…”***Back at the Bed and Breakfast, the slim brunette sat on the edge of her bed sobbing into her hands. Outside her second-floor window laughter bubbled up from the Bistro on the street below like chilled Bollinger, effervescent with gaiety. Paris’ September sky promised perfect weather for the romantic rendezvous planned for this evening.At the stab of that thought, Veronica shook her head and moaned,“Oh, Mathis...why?”**A sharp knock at the door interrupted, suddenly alerting her this rude noise was no room service delivery.What should she do? Was she in any danger? Who knew about her?The voice outside her door calmed her immediately.“This is Bond. James Bond. Let me in Veronica. I can protect you.”As she opened the door, immediately her eyes dropped to the pistol in the man’s hand, pointing at her belly. She gasped and instinctively covered her pregnancy.“You’re not him. You’re not James Bond.”The gold-plated antique 2 mm Kolibri pistol spoke three muffled words.
Smoke soon followed. As though Satan had spoken.The priest she’d confessed to that morning had repeated the same words…”A mortal sin.”The body of Veronica Marie Antoinette fell just inside the door with a quiet thump.The assassin glowered at the dead heap he’d made and sniffed absently, closing the door and setting about his business.A half hour later, he let himself out.A darkening pool of blood told him she hadn’t died instantly.He pointed his pistol directly between her eyes and squeezed off a single shot.The door clicked shut as acrid cordite smoke curled from the underarm holster of the man in the garish lame’ suit named Auric Goldfinger II."Revenge is a dish best served cold", he quipped, then smiled; gold teeth glimmered in the hall light.________(Chapter Three)STRAIGHTAWAYTwo weeks before, this memorandum had gone from Station P (Paris) of the Secret Service to M, head of this adjunct to the British defense ministriesTo: M.From: Head of P.Subject: Auric Goldfinger II Enterprises, Zurich SwitzerlandA man claiming to be the heir of the Auric Goldfinger estateHas won his case in court. Our man inside, Mr. Ling, has apprised this office the fellow is an imposter and that he is recommencing smuggling operations. Suggest you activate surveillance and contact.Do not--repeat--do not use Agent 007. Employ unknown agent and task with forming a liaison with all proper cover, documents, etc.In January (see documents appended below) imposter aka Auric Goldfinger II, purchased a chain of brothels known as the 'Cordon Jaune,' operating in Normandy and Brittany.You’ll recall these were the same brothels which brought about the demise of Le Chiffre.(Fate rebuked him with terrifying swiftness.)Now, this pretender follows suit. The sooner we determine his plans the swifter we can intercede.It is rumored this (sic) A.G.2 has poured funds intoBribes of sufficient magnitude to affect the lifting of laws which impede his business.We must discover the source of his funding and identify the corruption in total.The Deuxieme Bureau unearthed several officers who may be compromised. Further, it does seem that the suspicions of Leningrad have been aroused as to Auric Goldfinger II Enterprises' penetration into Moscow and Minsk.Our opposite numbers seek our help.This, of course, may be a ruse to hide the machinations of SMERSH. All the more reason to use only fresh agents who are expendable as our canary in the coal mine.In any case, we know that A.G. 2 has withdrawn one hundred twenty-five million francs from the treasury of his (sic) Father’s trade union (Rolls Royce works) and that he has taken a small villa Relais de Saux in the neighborhood of Lourdes for a week from a fortnight tomorrow.There is to be a conference of “interested parties”, Egyptian and Iranians, whose identities have yet to be revealed. We suggest replacing the owner of villa Relais de Saux and his wife with our people.Proposed Counter Operation:We must contrive to expose this imposter and undermine confidence in his representations to foreign agencies.This is left in your hands at your discretion as to the what, who, and how.If your efforts prove unfavorable, the only alternative would be to place our information and our recommendations in the hands of the Deuxieme Bureau or of our American colleagues of the Combined Intelligence Agency in Washington.Both of these organizations would doubtless be delighted to take over the scheme.Signed: P._____M looked up from the transcript and spoke aloud only to himself."Deuce difficult! Only one man for this job--regardless of what P. thinks."M snatched his pipe off the ink blotter and sniffed it absentmindedly as he pressed the Intercom to Moneypenny.“Sir?”“Contact Double-0-Seven immediately. Summon him.“Yes, Sir,” Moneypenny answered.A Cheshire smile crept across her fulsome lips.“Straightaway, Sir.”______(Chapter Four)HAPPENSTANCEJames Bond, with two Vodkas inside him, sat in the final departure lounge of Miami Airport and thought about the life and death of Mathis Bentley.Bond’s profession was to kill people.He had never enjoyed it and when it was ordered (or seemed necessary) he did it as well as he knew how and put it out of his head. As a secret agent who held the rare double-O prefix—the license to kill in the Secret Service—he was duty bound to be cool about death as any commander in a war must be. When it happened, it happened. Nothing was more unprofessional than indulgence in regret. Worse, it was the death-knell for competence.***Now this young fella, Mathis Bentley?Bond had liked him instantly. He was competent, not overly curious, and neither eager to kill nor slack in carrying out orders.M.B. reminded Bond of himself at that age. Except—there was an essential difference between the two men—M.B. was dead and Bond, last time he’d checked, was still alive.It all came down to instincts.The young agent had none—at least, none reliable enough to save him. What was it M had said?“He trusted somebody for some reason or other and now I have to mail a letter off to his Mum.”James Bond would never trust anyone.The spy game is like a boxing match—never drop your guard and protect yourself at all times.Bond shook it all out of his mind and gazed out at the ground crew on the tarmac. His plane would be arriving shortly.He shot his cuff on the left arm and checked the Rolex Submariner face and nodded to himself. There was time for one more Smirnoff Red and bit of stretching of the legs before his flight.It would be one of those miserable long flights where he’d never fall asleep and have to amuse himself with banter and flight attendants with slim hips and welcoming smiles.James Bond brought a couple of books with him just in case boredom set in too soon. The latest Raymond Chandler and an old Eric Ambler he’d started twice and never finished in paperback nestled at the bottom of his attache’ case he’d kept under his knees.Weighing in at 3.6 kg, Q Branch ripped out the careful handiwork of Swaine and Adeney to pack fifty rounds of .25 ammunition, in two flat rows, between the leather and the lining of the spine. In each of the sides, there was a flat throwing knife, built by Wilkinsons and the tops of their handles were concealed by the stitching at the corners. The handle of the case hid a compartment containing a cyanide death-pill, triggered by pressure at a certain point.Its lid contained fifty golden sovereigns, which could be poured out by slipping sideways one ridge of welting. Inside the case was a thick tube of Palmolive shaving cream, whose top unscrewed to reveal the silencer for 007 ’s brown-gripped .32 ACP Walther PPK, packed in cotton wool.Chandler and Ambler would approve, Bond thought with a wry smile.He’d board with a special Diplomat exemption arranged by Felix Leiter. This would avoid embarrassing questions concerning onboard armory, of course.Bond had spent five days snooping around Auric Goldfinger’s stables in Kentucky and checking with F.B.I. liaisons in Miami who pretended to help him, but who were, in fact under orders to make certain he got no cooperation at all. The Bureau still nursed a grudge that British Intelligence had done more to stop the theft of gold at Fort Knox than the F.B.I.What was it M had told him at the briefing?“Feign total belief in whatever bollocks they offer. Go your merry way. Ferret out any possible renewed interest on the part of organized crime to renew a link with Goldfinger’s supposed heir and report afterward to Station Z in Switzerland.”Bond shook his head imperceptibly.A son of Goldfinger—even a pretender to the throne, might stir bad memories and require careful planning. It was just bizarre enough to interest him. He hadn’t had much of anything to do lately at the office. Flirting with Moneypenny aside.The loudspeaker announced his flight and off he went, stopping only to whisper in the ear of the young blonde attendant he recognized from the previous trip. She laughed and winked as Bond disappeared into the first class section of the Swiss-Air Lockheed Jet.
**A small man with a bland, green umbrella made certain the airliner lifted off before he turned and walked over to the phone station and made a three-minute call—long distance, to Auric Goldfinger II Enterprises.He nodded as he spoke and scribbled something in a small notepad.The words included, “—with extreme prejudice.”_______(to be continued) -
7
Have they discovered a loophole for lying in the name of Jehovah and getting away with it?
by TerryWalstrom inlet's put first things first.
ask the average bible reader to name the prophets.
easy peasy!.
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TerryWalstrom
Let's put First things First
Ask the average Bible reader to name the prophets. Easy peasy!
The major prophets of the Hebrew Bible were:
Joshua
Samuel
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
Hosea or Hoshea
Joel or Yo'el
Amos
Obadiah or Ovadyah
Jonah or Yonah
Micah or Mikhah
Nahum or Nachum
Habakkuk or Habacuc
Zephaniah or Tsefania
Haggai or Haggai
Zechariah Zekharia
Malachi or Malakhi
_____________
So far so good?The TALMUD says that there had been twice as many prophets as the number of people who left Egypt (2,600,000), but only those whose messages were for future generations were recorded. This count was 48 male and 7 female Prophets.
What do you make of that fact?
HOW WE DEFINE the word PROPHET?
1. a person (of either sex) who claims contact with the supernatural/divine and who purports to SPEAK FOR THEM
2. human serving as an intermediator between the divine and humanity
3. human entrusted to bestow special knowledge from a divine source
What makes a prophet a PROPHET?
Is that clear enough? When such a person (list above) speaks or writes a message....it is called PROPHECY.
Jews, Christians and Muslims have a matter-of-fact attitude about prophets and prophecy--BECAUSE they are monotheists.
However, their view is historically VERY NARROW!
In every civilization regardless of religion there are such prophets who have operated all through history!
List of Facts about Prophets:
1. Targets of persecution and opposition by authorities in power whom the prophets had criticized
2. Gave specific warnings about corruption and malfeasance in order to correct wrongful practices
3. Called "seers" because prophets could see what authority was doing wrong and reporting it publicly
4. Tertullian and Eusebius report the activity of prophets operating long after the death of the twelve original Apostles
_______
Are you still with me?Can a religious body, group or organization do the work a prophet is said to do and correctly claim to NOT be a prophet?
What if there was an organization that wanted all the respect, gravitas and authority possessed by a prophet of God while
exempting itself from charges of FALSE PROPHET when its utterances failed? Would this group be guilty of trickery and blame-shifting?
______________________
Deuteronomy 18:21-22
King James Version (KJV)
21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?
22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follows not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
The Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses claims special privilege as:
"The mouthpiece of God."
This matches #1 on our list of definitions of PROPHET .....Check!
****The Watchtower magazine has repeatedly emphasized the status of its Governing Body as intermediary charged with the duty of
providing all the True teachings of Jehovah while demanding loyalty from obedient Christians.
This matches #2 on our list of definitions of PROPHET......check!
***Throughout its history, Jehovah's Witnesses have received New Light, it claims, as special discrete knowledge of dates for Armageddon.
This matches #3 on our list of definitions of PROPHET.....check!
Do Jehovah's leaders make the claim for themselves?
YES!
Watchtower 1972 Apr 1 pp.197-199
'They Shall Know that a Prophet Was Among Them'Watchtower described itself as "the modern-day "prophet"
"So, does Jehovah have a prophet to help them, to warn them of dangers and to declare things to come?
IDENTIFYING THE "PROPHET"
These questions can be answered in the affirmative. Who is this prophet? ... This "prophet" was not one man, but was a body of men and women. It was the small group of footstep followers of Jesus Christ, known at that time as International Bible Students. Today they are known as Jehovah's Christian witnesses. ... Of course, it is easy to say that this group acts as a "prophet" of God. It is another thing to prove it. The only way that this can be done is to review the record. Thus this group of anointed followers of Jesus Christ, doing work in Christendom paralleling Ezekiel's work among the Jews, were manifestly the modern-day Ezekiel, the "prophet" commissioned by Jehovah to declare the good news of God's Messianic kingdom and to give warning to Christendom."
______Have they discovered a loophole for lying in the name of Jehovah and getting away with it?
Why YES! Through the cowardly trick of putting quotation marks "-----" around the word prophet! "Prophet".
Quotation Marks Can Communicate Sarcasm and Irony
One of the greatest virtues of quotation marks in our language is that they can become the body language and facial expressions of the written word. They can make any word sarcastic or ironic, like in this sentence:Your freshly made “bread” kept my bowels churning all night.
"The quotation marks will suggest to some people that you are using that word in a special or peculiar way and that you really mean something else..."
YES THE GOVERNING BODY THINKS THEY CAN HAVE IT BOTH WAYS!
Claiming to be and denying all at the same time!
"Ever since The Watchtower began to be published in July 1879 it has looked ahead into the future... No, The Watchtower is no inspired prophet, but it follows and explains a Book of prophecy the predictions in which have proved to be unerring and unfailing till now. The Watchtower is therefore under safe guidance. It may be read with confidence, for its statements may be checked against that prophetic Book."
(The Watchtower 1 January 1969)Indeed, 7 million members of this religion ALLOW THEM to escape condemnation for false prophecy and give them unwavering personal loyalty.
Is there no modern-day group of prophets who will STAND UP AND ACCUSE THIS RELIGION?
The answer is: YES! There exists a modern day prophet to point an accusing finger at this Governing Body in protest!
Who is this PROPHET? WE ARE!
The community of ex-JW members who publicly voice their accusations of lying, false prophesying, lethal blood policies, and child molestation malfeasance!
WE SO-CALLED APOSTATES are the REAL PROPHETS!
I remind you:
List of Facts about Prophets
1. Targets of persecution and opposition by authorities in power whom the prophets had criticized
2. Gave specific warnings about corruption and malfeasance in order to correct wrongful practices
We can laugh at this Twist Ending! -
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How to peddle Doomsday for Fun and Profit
by TerryWalstrom injames ussher (1581-1656).
your name is ussher – james ussher – and you are the archbishop of all of ireland.. you are living in the 1600s and are obsessive-compulsive when it comes to speculative ideas.
you are convinced that you alone have the intellect to figure exact dates of all the major events in the bible actually.
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TerryWalstrom
Yes, there are still faithful followers of Charles Taze Russell around. Amazing isn't it?
How do Jehovah's Witnesses view Charles T. Russell? Was he an Adventist or Millerite?
This blog examines the Russellites as they, in turn, examine Jehovah's Witnesses.
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Sir Isaac Newton
by I Faded Twice inwasn't it isaac newton that calculated the date that the end would be?
it was like 2062 i think.
anyways why doesnt the gb adopt isaac newton say the end is coming in 2062 and then if it fails to come blame it on him?
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TerryWalstrom
A long time ago Atlantis posted an interesting snippet on a previous Newton thread:
In the book published in 1993 by the Watchtower Society called, "Jehovah's Witnesses Proclaimers of God's Kingdom," states in the footnote on page 46 the following: "Neither Barbour nor Russell was first to explain the Lord's return as an invisible presence. Much earlier, Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) had written that Christ would return and reign "invisible to mortals." In 1856, Joseph Seiss, a Lutheran minister in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, had written about a two-stage second advent----an invisible "parousia", or presence, followed by a visible manifestation. Then, in 1864, Benjamin Wilson had published his "Emphatic Diaglott with the interlinear reading "presence." not "coming," for parousia, and B. W. Keith, an associate of Barbour, had drawn it to the attention of Barbour and his associates.
Apocalypse soon?
Newton predicts end of world for 2060
Sir Isaac Newton attained scientific immortality for formulating the law of gravity, but he was also a theologian who wrote more than one million words on biblical subjects and was influenced by Hebrew scripture, according to academic articles on his work. He studied the Bible for more than 50 years, trying to unravel what he believed were God's secret laws of the universe.Six years after his death, a book by the scientist abouteschatology (the end of the world, in this case as revealed by the Bible) was published, On the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of Saint John.
However, most of his notes on the theme remained unknown, but in recent years a document has been found in a Newton collection in the Jewish National Library in Jerusalem that shows he set 2060 as the year the world would expire. The Newton Project, and in particular the academic, Stephen Snobelen, have been working on Newton’s documents and have revealed that Newton concluded that Armageddon – a last great battle, would occur in 2060, with plagues, the return of Christ, and the end of time. Newtone wrote that this apocalypsewould be followed by a 1,000-year reign by the saints on Earth.
Newton stated:
This I mention not to assert when the time of the end shall be, but to put a stop to the rash conjectures of fancifull men who are frequently predicting the time of the end, and by doing so bring the sacred prophesies into discredit as often as their predictions fail.
"(It) is very counter-intuitive for people to think of Newton in terms of date setting and working in prophecy," Stephen Snobelen told Bible Network News. "Because there's this conception that science doesn't have anything to do with religion, and that's a very unfortunate conception," he added. "You can find all sorts of examples to disprove that. Historically and also today, most scientists have some sort of religious background or sentiment."
Snobelen explained to Bible Network News how Newton devised his calculation. "In the book of Daniel you will find the time period 1260 days. And it appears there as 'a time, times, and a half', and that means a year, two years, and a half a year. In other words, 1260 days or 42 months. Newton interpreted the days as years, so that gave him 1260 years. The 1260 date (also) does appear in the Book of Revelation." These Biblical references can be found in Daniel 12:7, Revelation 11:3, 12:6 and 13:5.
The Newton Project is working towards the publication, for the first time, of all Newton’s theological and alchemical works, stating “There are excellent editions of his mathematical and scientific papers, as well as of his correspondence, but very few of his non-scientific writings have ever appeared in print. The Newton Project will place these writings in their relevant contexts, which will be made accessible by means of hyperlinks.”
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17
How to peddle Doomsday for Fun and Profit
by TerryWalstrom injames ussher (1581-1656).
your name is ussher – james ussher – and you are the archbishop of all of ireland.. you are living in the 1600s and are obsessive-compulsive when it comes to speculative ideas.
you are convinced that you alone have the intellect to figure exact dates of all the major events in the bible actually.
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TerryWalstrom
WILLIAM MILLER!
______Time: 1782 (After the American Revolution and before the War of 1812)
Place: Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
There is a family of 16 children called the Miller family.
The firstborn male in that family was named William. He was born into a family of abject poverty. Little wonder with all those children, you say? Not exactly. Poor families needed to have lots of children to survive by working those kids' fingers to the bone to benefit the household as best as they could. The Miller family was no exception. William had little opportunity to better himself in the normal scheme of things other than a rudimentary education. But, he was special.
William Miller was a very curious and bright lad who loved reading books! He devoured them whenever he had a spare moment away from his backbreaking chores. He learned as much as he could and became useful in his teen years to the community in which he lived, Low Hampton New York. He became the local scribe. Community scribe was necessary at a time when a great many folks had been too busy at hard work to learn how to read or write. Having a secretary with these skills was indispensable.
William's parents made a strong impression on his character. William's dad had been an army captain in the American Revolutionary War. His mother was deeply pious and a devout Baptist. His Grandfather and two uncles were Baptist Church ministers. Can you imagine the questions a bright young man would have at family gatherings? In a "children should be seen and not heard" sort of world; how would this be tolerated?
When he turned 21, Miller married a woman who had a profound influence on his thinking and his belief system. He married Lucy Smith and moved away from his family ties to Vermont in the town of Poultney.
As is often the case, once a young person leaves the familiar behind them and starts a new life on their own they are more objective and idealistic than before. Newly married William Miller saw things he couldn't like or understand in the hypocrisy of local Christians. He asked many questions and could not abide the answers he was given by local ministers. His giant intellect vomited out mundane explanations and he turned inward.
His easy faith had now been damaged. He questioned everything. He formed a circle of new friends who were not insular Baptists as before. His friends included educated, articulate and refined people who read the works and words of great thinkers such as Voltaire, Paine, and Hume. Miller was irresistibly drawn to "rationalist" thinking and philosophy. He transformed from a humble believer to rational Deist. Whatever/whomever "God" was had created the universe and wiped His hands of it leaving mankind to fend for itself outside the rules of a mere book such as the Holy Bible. Mind you, he was not an atheist. He was seeing God as impersonal and distant to human affairs.
While Miller's profession of faith changed, his outlook on what was ethical and moral was firmly entrenched. He was no libertine indulging the flesh. He remained steadfast and upright in his actions and a leader in the local community well-respected for integrity. Miler served as constable, Justice of the Peace and even sheriff.
By the age of 30, Miller faced the War of 1812 as the Captain of the local regiment of infantry. He met the challenge of the British by facing off with his men at the Battle of Plattsburg.
Battles at that time were largely a matter of two things: how many soldiers there were handy to fight and how much advantage in terrain and experience were available. Miller's infantry was grossly outnumbered 3 to 1 and faced certain defeat. Miller was smart enough to know this. It was unthinkable they should win at such odds against seasoned troops such as the British brought to bear upon them.
Then, events transpired which dramatically seized upon Miller's sense of the divine. The Americans won and the British retreated!! The main cause was the defeat of the British Navy which was the support of infantry columns. The British lived to fight another day by not squandering troops. But, Miller saw it as proof positive that God was truly one who intervened in human history. Perhaps even intervening meant God had a purpose for Miller's life personally.
It was a new William Miller born that day by unexpected events and an imagination fueled by his early belief-system.
Let us stop for a moment and reflect!
William Miller is now a war hero, a natural leader of me, well-respected for his integrity and much appreciated for his intelligence and curiosity. In a world of deeply religious believers, many of whom came from Puritan families, such a man as Miller might seem remarkably blessed against a backdrop of this Epiphany of Belief!
After the war, Miller moved his family back to Low Hampton and began life as a mere farmer. But, deeply troubled in his mind and soul he tried to reconcile his personal experiences with his religious upbringing. He sought solace in attending his Uncle's Baptist church.
Obviously, his family deeply longed to have William join them spiritually without reservation. His Uncle involved Miller in Bible reading before the congregation. The loving support of the crowds and their natural admiration keened him toward a tipping point of inevitable crisis.
According to William Miller's own account, it was in the public reading of Isaiah 53 that it all came together. The focus of this scripture was expounded to explain what Miller had failed to see. God did purposefully intervene in men's affairs to redound to their salvation!! Miller was stricken at his failure to see this previously. He collapsed with emotion only to rise afterward with dramatic self-realization.
Miller's journey was a small circle back to the starting point. He simply became what he had been raised to be all along: a devout Christian Believer. But, now; the full force of his intellect was brought to bear upon it rather than the weak and ineffective emotional succor he saw in others.
What William Miller now threw himself into is predictable in hindsight. He simply did what he always did: he began reading and teaching himself from whatever books were available. Miller was what is called an auto-didact; a self-taught man. Whatever views he might form would be according to his own personality, whims, and imagination rather than conforming to some rigor of schooling or headmaster's influence.
William Miller invented himself and the indelible mark of his theology would be proprietary to his self-educated viewpoint. It is notable that what William Miller sought to do is done again and again every day by perplexed Christians and waffling non-believers alike. It is commonplace and rather naive to simply view it now for what it was.
1. Miller started with the first book of the bible and worked his way through to the end using a concordance only so as not to taint his learning by the opinion of others.
2. Miller tackled the problem of language and interpretation and lack of resources with zeal. Yet, he was baffled by most of the difficult passages. There was little in the way of archeology, hermeneutics, documentary hypothesis or analysis of any scientific structure available at that time. But, he slogged away for 2 solid years!
3. Miller concentrated on what interested him most: Prophecy and especially End Times. This was of the greatest interest to amateurs as always because it concerned them personally and the times in which he lived.
What happens next is most interesting. Miller finished his studies in 1818 at the age of 36. He had bootstrapped himself into a theory about End Times that gave him much cause for urgency. Miller came up with the idea that ONLY TWENTY-FIVE YEARS REMAINED before Jesus would return to Earth and end human affairs!!
The target year was 1843!
Let us stop once again and review.
Plenty of crackpots through history had come up with speculative dates and explanations for when the world would end. They came and the went. What made Miller's crackpot speculations different, you might ask?
Nothing. It was William Miller as a person that is of interest.
It would not exactly be the scholarship or explanation of William Miller that would set events into motion which should concern us here. It is the fact that Miller had credibility, respect, good standing in the community, intellect, high morals, and a strong connection with fellow Christians that should red flag what followed. Miller had strayed from the faith and had COME BACK as a prodigal son which marked him as no flash in the pan. Miller had been a war hero with a story of Divine Intervention on his behalf that made him irresistible to other believers and even non-believers who might sympathize.
Miller had Gravitas! He was one heavy dude. Further, he had natural talent as an orator and preacher of spellbinding ability. He made people listen and he could convince you that pigs could fly so marvelous was his gift of speech.
The disaster that followed was caused by people admiring the talent of other people and wanting a certain outcome in advance to be true! All it took was the suspension of disbelief. Miller gave it to them in spades.
Two things of note now follow.
1. Miller did something that no other preacher had done. Miller propounded the idea that ANY student of the bible of normal intelligence could do what he, Miller, had done without being a graduate of a Theological Seminary. Miller became the first POPULIST preacher of note to move a vast crowd. He empowered the little people rather than making them feel stupid and passive.
2. Miller challenged Authority! It would not be the Church as an institution which would bring about the Millennium Reign of Christ--no! It would be a small band of True Believers unfettered by tradition and pomposity.
3. Miller produced an easy-to-understand system which anybody could grasp immediately. The past mirrored the future. Prophecy of old was a mirror of fulfillment in present times. It was a matter of Dispensations or spans of time which matched present-day events that enabled believers to understand predictions of when the End was to come.
4. Miller produced 14 or 15 iron-clad arguments to persuade belief in his system. He used chiefly Daniel 8:14 and Daniel 9:24-27 to achieve his purpose.
Stop and think!
Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists are today still using William Miller's system and explanations! As ex-JW's we are familiar with the "day for a year" and "weeks of the year" arguments and reasonings. The only changes made today are small and inconsequential ones. The system hasn't been junked at all!
I mentioned to you how smart William Miller was, right? You must know, then, that he knew he was going to be in for a hailstorm of protests, arguments, and criticisms. So, he spent an additional FIVE YEARS perfecting his counter-arguments, explanations, charts, diagrams, and reasonings anticipating every critic in advance!!
Miller's theology, like that of today's Jehovah's Witnesses, was a refutation based counter-attack strategy. For every protest there was a reply; a counter-punch that took you back to scripture. The effect was like watching a fistfight between a professional boxer and small un-trained amateur. It was always a dramatic knockout!
As people now know, Miller's arguments suffered from two fatal flaws hidden from view: wrong assumptions that bedeviled his very premises and the interpretations of meaning in scripture.
In other words, it was as computer programmer often says: GARBAGE IN = GARBAGE OUT.
However, be it noted here something very important. William Miller was an intellectually honest person. He was sincere. He was reluctant. He was not a charleton nor a flim-flam artist. Read his own words:
When I was about my business, it was continually ringing in my ears, "Go and tell the world of their danger...." I felt that if the wicked could be effectually warned, multitudes of them would repent; and that if they were not warned, their blood might be required at my hand."
This is true Christian responsibility!
Having no formal public speaking training, feeling too old, not a preacher by trade, Miller overcame his reluctance.
On the morning of Saturday, August 13,1831 the fifty-five year old farmer promised God something that would go on to change your life and mine.
Read what it was:
"If I should have an invitation to speak publicly in any place, I will go and tell them what I have found."
As he made this very vow his own nephew was racing to his side to deliver an invitation for him to preach the very next day at the Baptist church in nearby Dresden!
Preparation met opportunity and the rest is history.
The result was a vast wildfire enthusiasm unlike anything known in the New World. Audiences went crazy with acceptance and motivation. Invitations galore took him from one church to another as the crowds grew larger and yet larger into huge mobs of quivering, wide-eyed yokels filled with dread, awe and religious zeal.
Revivals broke out and thousands were throwing themselves at the altars embracing Salvation and baptism in preparation for THE END. So successful did this make the local Baptist Churches that they granted him a special license to preach as a Baptist minister in 1833.
An industry was begun with pamphlets, charts and printed sermons. Illustrators sought to depict the events of Revelation soon to unfold on mankind as these publications flooded America like nothing before it. It was crazy--man--CRAZY!!
It wasn't long before half a million people stood nodding in agreement with the rendezvous with Armageddon Miller had foretold. How could it be otherwise? Leading minsters and preachers well-respected in their community came forth with public acceptance and approval of what Miller was doing and this more than triggered the final skeptics into jumping on the bandwagon with mad abandon.
One follower and admirer, Joshua V. Himes helped Miller to publish Signs of the Times and Midnight Cry.
Both influenced sectarian copycats to come.
Millerites is what his followers were eventually called by nay-sayers. After the fact it is claimed only about 55,000 people to 100,000 were true followers of his movement and theology. But, his influence was infectious in many quarters. His methodology was popular no matter what conclusions were reached at the end.
As the dreaded date approached, these 2nd Adventist watchers-of-the-end coalesced into a sect or two of True Believers who could not accept that this might all be a non-event.
Noteworthy is the following:
1. Millerites began characterizing other churches (who did not embrace their end time speculations) as members of Babylon the Great!
2. Eventually, ALL other Christian Churches were seen has clinging to Satan's old world instead of preparing for the New World to come.
3. Christendom was attacked as the whore of Babylon who rejected the only true religion.
4. Followers began divesting themselves of personal possessions, dropping out of schools and selling their houses in preparation of the Great Day to come.
5. The unexpected appearance of a great comet in February seemed a sure sign of what was certain to follow.
THE GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT
I'm sure you can guess
!To his merit, William Miller made a public apology:
"I confess my error, and acknowledge my disappointment." He conveyed this retraction in May of 1844.
"Yet I still believe that the day of the Lord is near, even at the door."
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I indirectly lay blame at the feet of this man for my 20 years wasted in the belly of the beast called Jehovah's Witnesses.
They are his progeny. -
17
How to peddle Doomsday for Fun and Profit
by TerryWalstrom injames ussher (1581-1656).
your name is ussher – james ussher – and you are the archbishop of all of ireland.. you are living in the 1600s and are obsessive-compulsive when it comes to speculative ideas.
you are convinced that you alone have the intellect to figure exact dates of all the major events in the bible actually.
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TerryWalstrom
The "methodology" of chronology varies little from Isaac Newton to William Miller, Charles T. Russell, et al. I think it is not an exaggeration to see it as teaching yourself brain surgery by spending hours at the local library.
You learn a lot of technical terminologies and become conversant in broad strokes--but it doesn't make you qualified to perform an operation a hapless patient would survive.
Being a Bible Chronologer is the same as Quack Doctor. People will trust you enough that you badly injure them (or kill them outright.)
William Miller is a character well worth studying. What a piece of work!
He set the stage in modern times. He got it dead wrong. However, he used his reputation and utmost sincerity to lead thousands astray.
Not on purpose!
He was wrong twice and apologized. However, it is written that he still believed he was only off by a little down to the day he died.
