the just of the account, two people enter a city and can not .
find lodging.
an old man invite them to stay with him (levite).. this is so weird, all the men of the city come to have sex with.
bohm
You said:
it show how the bible view women as a sort of property.
Not so. It merely reflects the worldview of the people who lived in that time and age. Have you read the mesopotamian Code of Ur-Nammu [circa 2100 BC]? you will find similar views on women as property.
Eden
the just of the account, two people enter a city and can not .
find lodging.
an old man invite them to stay with him (levite).. this is so weird, all the men of the city come to have sex with.
I have to concur. Judges chapter 19 to 21 is a propaganda piece written in support of a monarchic system in Israel. In short, is saying: "Look at what happened when there was no King in Israel [i.e. no centralized, unified authority] and everyone was doing what they felt was right in their own eyes [i.e. near anarchy], which resulted in useless wars and massive loss of lives and the near extinction of the Benjaminite tribe".
Although there might have been some truth in the events described [a sexual crime that triggers a civil war in Israel between Benjamin and the other tribes] , the account actually puts Yahweh in a terrible light, for He is consulted in an oracle three times, endorsing the 11 tribes to go to war against Benjamin, and the first two times the Israelites suffer terrible defeats, only coming out victorious after the third strike, and even then, the deaths on the confederated army are vastly greater than the deaths on the Benjaminite side.
Eden
a few things noticed in last nights annual, jesus who?
gathering:.
1: only one scripture from the gospels was read or cited.
Same outline and same illustration here in my part of the world (Western Europe). I also noticed the heavy emphasys on Jehovah rather than in Jesus, whose memorial we were supposed to be observing.
Eden
been wanting to talk about this for a while... three years ago on this forum my friend cedars brought this up.
let's do it!.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sykaxxpyos.
It's a GREAT idea - but very, very hard to execute.
Perhaps you could reach a much broader audience if you could make a movie, not about Ray Franz per se, but about the rejection of religious bigotry.
If you could then pick up a couple of other case-studies, dealing with the catholic church and another from the protestant field, then combining it with Ray Franz's history, THEN you would reach a much much vaster audience.
Here's an example on the catholic field: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyacinthe_Loyson
Eden
given my new, unincumbered state of mind, i am rereading a few favourites and ones i haven't read before.
i'm reading east of eden again and have hey, nostradomus!
and 1984 next on the list (never read it!).
1984 is a dense book, but well worth the reading, and it will leave you scratching your head because the resemblances between the police-state described there and the WTS organization is mind-blowing.
Eden
letter to be read at next weeks service meeting.
That's Old light already :P
Our current CO will only complete 2 rounds in our circuit then will stop because he will have reached 70 by then.
Eden
as mentioned in july 15th 2013 watchtower "the apostasy started in the first century and flourished by the fourth century" or words to that effect.. as i was reading ff bruce's "the bible canon" ($14 kindle ver.
on amazon) i was very surprised to read that there are no original nt documents from the first century, just copies of copies of copies of many documents from that period.
apparently the 27 book nt canon was not set until about the fourth century by trinitarian church fathers.
Someone (I think it was Searcher) mentioned in another thread the case of Matthew 28:19:20, regarding the command to baptize "in the name of the father, in the name of the Son, and in the name of the Holy Spirit". The oldest extant copy of Matthew dates to the 4th century. However, earlier church fathers from the second century quoted from Matthew and this 'trinitarian' formula isn't mentioned, thus, it was added sometime later to suit the trinitarian agenda. We never see the apostles doing anything in the name of the "father, son and HS". We only see them baptizing in the name of Jesus.
Therefore, how much more of the gospels and the Pauline letters, among other writings, have been corrupted, or written deceptively to suit a certain agenda? Until original manuscripts are found - if ever - we will never be entirely sure.
Eden
i was told that jws baptize in the name of the father, son and the holy spirit.
i asked if it was done exactly as stated in the bible to be sure i was hearing the answer correctly.
the response i got was "yes!
Most interesting.
Marked.
Eden
many ancient believers of god used cognition to 'think' their way from belief to atheism.
what initially seems a silly question to reason over, can actually destroy a whole theology.. here is a question made famous by 'saint' thomas aquinas, believers in a almighty god with unlimited ability, please have a think about this..... the omnipotence paradox:.
"could an omnipotent being create a stone so heavy that even he could not lift it?
The concept of a God that doesn't fit the "omnipotent" trait simply means that God is much different than humans have imagined him to be. Personally, I don't have any issues with a God that is neither omnipotent, omnipresent or omniscient.
Eden
http://www.lulu.com/shop/b-w-schulz/a-separate-identity-organizational-identity-among-readers-of-zions-watch-tower-1870-1887/paperback/product-21541658.html.
dr. de vienne tells me there are some problems with ebook formatting and it will be released later.
until they review the advanced copy, it is only available on lulu.com.
Can someone please provide a link for the e-book version (when and if it becomes available) ?
Eden
