before jesus was born or even if he had never existed—another human being was already proclaimed son of god and, indeed, god incarnate within the same first common-era century and within the same mediterranean world.
in fact, almost all the sacred terms and solemn titles that we might think of as christian creations or even pauline inventions were already associated with caesar augustus, the first undisputed ruler of the roman empire, from 31 bce to 14 ce.. augustus was divine, son of god, god, and god from god.
he was lord, liberator, redeemer, and savior of the world—not just of italy or the mediterranean, mind you, but of the entire inhabited earth.
The way I see it, it seems that Pauline christians shaped Christianity in a way that was pallatable to the roman world; in that effort, they assimilated elements from other two popular cults of the day: mithrainism and the cult of the emperor. However, they ended up competing and clashing with the latter.
Eden
i heard through the grapevine about a forthcoming book:.
together through the great tribulation - come to jehovah's mountain.
still awaiting solid confirmation though.
Doug Mason - The Apoclypse that made it into the NT is the product of the Jewish section of the Christian movement
Doug, I'm interested in this bit. Can you reference some scholarly work where this topic is discussed at lenght? Is this "jewish-christian" section the same that was headed by James The Just and the apostles in Jerusalem? The Ebionites?
Eden
(https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mxjvo-gbdber3bcbjgc_3izdigtt366gvx7ukzpamuy/edit?usp=sharing) article as a document.
jehovah’s witnesses vs. basic christianity.
“by his spirit, the holy spirit, jehovah god guides or leads his people up to a certain point of time, and thus he did until the time when ‘the comforter’ was taken away, which would necessarily occur when jesus, the head of his organization, came to the temple and gathered unto himself those whom he found faithful when he, as the great judge, began his judgment, in 1918.”.
Marked
background and history of hayden cooper covington and the watchtowerthis link will open as a document:.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hloyotabej4kx4bs6izvglvpmt4xymuxfgo7h-vtbhm/edit?usp=sharing.
Very interesting Terry. Thank you!
Eden
sometimes it's hard to know if our own experience of jws was typical and what features were peculiar to our own area or the individual jws we knew personally.
i was wondering if others experienced this among jws:.
a few times on the ministry, when we were working wealthy areas with large houses, some brothers and sisters would make the comment that they look forward to taking ownership of one of these big houses after armageddon, when the worldly people have vacated them.
I witnessed that first-hand from the COBE in my congregation, a worthless bethelite called Luis Costa, shortly before I became inactive. We were d2d witnessing in an affluent area of our territory and EVEN BEFORE HE RANG THE BELL of that house he remarked how beautiful it was, and he made several remarks on how we would like to have that house for himself after Armageddon and how he was going to claim it, etc...I was appalled. Even before the dwellers had a chance to say yes or no to the message, my uber-zealous pharisee COBE was coveting his house and, by implication, pre-judging them as worthy of death. Tasteless and disgusting...
EdenOne
well, thats it folks.. my identity on here has been rumbled and reported to the elders.
someone, somehow, has figured out that im a member of this site and - rather than speak to me - has promptly reported me to the elders.
i just feel sad for my daughter.
I would sue the person who breached your privacy. How dare she?
Eden
noone and nothing can really prepare you for the burning pain you feel when your spouse leaves you after 8 years of marriage.
from one day to another, all your dreams, hopes and plans are shattered.. i still have so many questions which will remain unanswered in eternity.. the thread i made a few weeks ago, is part of this story.
after learning about ttatt my plans involved to wake up my wife as well and exit the truth.
It's an awful situation, but try to make the most of it.
Exit the cult now and use the incident of your wife leaving you as your excuse. Make the change yourself. Your wife did it, so why can't you? Who knows... maybe after she experiences a bit of freedom from the cult and reenacts the youth that she has lost to it, she may reconsider and get back to you. You just never know. But the bigger issue is...now it's YOUR cue to leave.
Eden
because i simply decided the watchtower corporation wasn't the truth(tm) i was da'd in a secret jc that i didn't attend.
i was writing songs with a friend that day instead.. jws wasted no time in labelling me as an evil villain.
the rumours abounded.. i was labelled as 'a false prophet'.
I remember when I started dating my future wife. We were invited to a "social gathering" of a nearby congregation. The room was small, there weren't many seats, and at some point my then girlfriend sat on my leg. No biggie. No one said anything. One week later the elders on MY congregation called us to the backroom at the KH to lecture us about the incident and nearly accused us of fornication. Wtf!?
Eden
i know that some people on the board have experience of being mormons, so i would be interested in your feedback.
at church this afternoon it was an uncanny experience.
in the past i've read a lot about mormons, so i thought i was prepared in general for what it would be like.
Slimboy, Slimboy ... there you go mindfucking the ex-dubs again! Bad boy! Baaad boy!
Eden
warning of a long boring post ahead.
i feel like i need to vent my story out, as i feel quite helpless at the moment.. i'm 31 year old, married, father of toddler with another one on the way, due later this month.
i've been serving as elder for about 4 years now in a south florida congregation.
Welcome! Your experience resonates with what was my experience. In the end, I managed to leave, together with my wife and son. Be patient with your wife and don't give up on her. Everyone is different, but there's hope. Keep posting!
Eden
