Posts by EdenOne

85

My Letter to Brooklyn about the Parousia that got me disfellowshipped

by cofty in

this is the letter i wrote back in '96 about the parousia.

following the '95 watchtower that disconnected the "generation" from 1914 i began to look carefully at end-time prophecy and soon discovered what i knew were basic errors in what i had been taught.. i was a loyal jw at the time and was still serving as an elder.

i used only watchtower publications in my research.

EdenOne

Cofty, if I may ask you such a personal question, but how did you introduce your wife to your doubts? Was she a zealous witness then ?

Eden

47

Awkward moment at the WT study today

by FadeToBlack in

when we got to paragraphs 10,11 with the reference to the box at the top of the page - is your teaching up-to-date?

the conductor asked for an explanation of what the current 'bible truth' was.

for the first one, 'this generation (matt 24:34) absolutely nobody raised their hand!

EdenOne

Same thing happened in our hall. I was expecting people to shy off, but not a complete silence. I grinned but then found it rather sad.

Eden

122

Theists - Why does Morality require the existence of God?

by cantleave in

"without god in your life, you cannot have a moral compass",,,, please explain to me why you think that should be so?

.

EdenOne

The author of the article you mentioned characterized the african society as highly religious and even highly spiritual. The difference is in the contrast he notices between the "revealed religion" and "non-revealed religion", which is how he characterizes the african society.

Still, the etchics and morality of the africans ARE indeed based on religion. They're not "objective morals" that were rationalized from pure thinking; as if the idea of a world without god(s) is even considered by them.

Eden

18

'' Jehovists'' - good term

by *lost* in

someone used this term on another thread.

sorry, can't recall your name, so please let us know.. .

i thought this was a brilliant title, and i think i will be using it from now on when i think of wt, gb, jw's.. i think it aptly sums up ''the cult''..

EdenOne

In my original tongue, a dictionary from the 1960's defines the term "Jehovism" is defined as "Worship of Jehovah or YAHWEH, the Hebrew deity".

Also, from the top of my head, I recall that the Larousse Encyclopaedia relates it with the term "Russelism" and CT Russell.

Eden

18

'' Jehovists'' - good term

by *lost* in

someone used this term on another thread.

sorry, can't recall your name, so please let us know.. .

i thought this was a brilliant title, and i think i will be using it from now on when i think of wt, gb, jw's.. i think it aptly sums up ''the cult''..

EdenOne

Someone used this term on another thread.

Sorry, can't recall your name, so please let us know.

I confess, I did it! :P

Eden

85

My Letter to Brooklyn about the Parousia that got me disfellowshipped

by cofty in

this is the letter i wrote back in '96 about the parousia.

following the '95 watchtower that disconnected the "generation" from 1914 i began to look carefully at end-time prophecy and soon discovered what i knew were basic errors in what i had been taught.. i was a loyal jw at the time and was still serving as an elder.

i used only watchtower publications in my research.

EdenOne

I also wish to state emphatically that I have had no contact of any kind with apostates whose divisive works I despise.

Famous last words, Cofty

Eden

122

Theists - Why does Morality require the existence of God?

by cantleave in

"without god in your life, you cannot have a moral compass",,,, please explain to me why you think that should be so?

.

EdenOne

Cantleave that's an impossible question to answer.

We only arrived to our moral contruction today because it was founded on religious ethics wheter you believe them or not currently.

If you could put two babies in a desert island and let them grown and reproduce and grow old and die, then you could have experimental evidence of what your question implies. Until then.... it remains impossible to prove it true or false.

Eden

10

The significance and purpose of BAPTISM - new article

by EdenOne in

ive just published a new article on my website, this time about about the subject of baptism.

its titled the significance and purpose of baptism.

its divided in 5 parts:.

EdenOne

I see your point about the JW baptism, NN.

With 25 years "in", I can't say that I disagree.

Eden

12

Why have the Pharisees been deemed unforgiven and forever in the grave

by I_love_Jeff in

jw
friends

why is it that many believe that the pharisees who spoke against jesus/holy spirit will not be given a second chance?

i know jesus said that it is blasphemy to speak against holy spirit.

did they not follow their mosaic laws and teach others about the rules within the torah?

EdenOne

I_L_Jeff,

In Law there is usually the following principle:

"ignorantia legis neminem excusat" - ignorance of the law is no excuse for anyone.

Fortunately God is superior to human legislators and he does take ignorance into account when weighing each one's responsability.

Acts 17:30 " Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent". Fortunately for mankind, God does forgive ignorance.

Why wasn't this tolerance extended to the Pharisees?

First of all, you're assuming that the Pharisees were sentenced to Gehenna while they were still alive. As I noted, Jesus was making a rethorical question, not a final judgement about them. If they continued to resist the operation of the Holy Spirit, and they would not repent and turned to do God's will, they would die in their sin, and that would ultimately be an unforgivable sin. The killing of Jesus was the ultimate material evidence that the Pharisees were beyond repentance. Even after evidence that Jesus had been resurrected they still persecuted his disciples in order to silence this "sect".

As Jesus said, they were the type that "imagined they were rendering sacred service to God" by killing him and his disciples. Wouldn't that amount to "ignorance", as you put it? No, not to the religious leaders.

Moses's Law, which they were the experts of, prophesied: "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him... I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself [Jehovah] will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name." (Deuteronomy 18:22)

So the religious leaders knew that a prophet of at least the same magnitude of Moses would come. The hebrew prophets uttered many prophecies about the Messiah. Two in particular are very telling:

Micah 5:2 - The Messiah would come out of Bethlehem

Zechariah 4:1-5 " Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD "

Now, the Pharisees took much interest in John the Baptizer, to the point of asking him if he was Elijah or the Messiah. John said he wasn't Elijah nor the Messiah, but told them that he was fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 40:3 and Malachiah 3:1, "clearing the way to the Lord" (John 1:23), and therefore the Messiah was to be revealed soon. The Pharisees had developed a strange doctrine that Elijah was returning in the flesh. So John was telling the truth: He wasn't Elijah himself. But he knew that the angel foretold that he would have the "spirit of Elijah"(Luke 1:13-17) The Pharisees were blind to the significance of John's work as a prophet. Jesus told his disciples that the Pharisees failed to recognize John the Baptist as the prophesied "Elijah" (Matthew 17:12). In the same manner they had been blind to the operation of the Holy Spirit in John, so they were blind to the operation of the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ.

There is a passage in John that is very clear about the Pharisee's intentional misinformation regarding Jesus. Although they had access to all birth records, and they were able to trace the birthplace of Jesus (Bethlehem, as per the prophecy of Micah 5:2), they intentionally passed on the idea that Jesus was born in Nazareth, and that, therefore he was a false messiah. " They replied, "Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee." - John 7:52

On the other hand, common people, like the early disciples easily identified the one that the Scriptures foretold: " Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." - John 1:45

So you see, even common men who merely attended the services at the Synagogues could identify Jesus; But the experts of the Law, the Pharisees, because of their agenda and their false doctrines, willingly failed to identify Jesus.

THEY WEREN'T IGNORANT.

This is the basis for their condemnation:

"Everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked". - Luke 12:48

" The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses" - Matthew 23:2

Having taken upon themselves the task of "sitting in the chair of Moses", they were entrusted with great responsability. With that came great accountability. That's why their refusal to recognize Jesus as the messiah and their refusal to repent was an unforgivable sin.

Eden

38

2014 means "LUCY, you've got some splainin' to do" for Jehovah's Witnesses

by Terry in

next year the watchtower society will be forced by world events (i.e.

no armageddon yet) to confront a full century of christ's presence.

with nothing to show for it!.

EdenOne

Great synopsis. Thank you Terry.

Eden