Posts by venus

37

Illogical illustration of “the rich man and the poor man Lazarus” (Luke 16:19-31)

by venus in

illustration of the rich man and the poor man lazarus indirectly hints that the materially rich would go to hell and the poor ones to heaven.

if one reads between the lines, one can discern that this illustration is a later adoption intended to exploit the rich using the poor as a means.. i have friends who are extremely rich (net-worth in billions) and also who are materially very poor, and have found both are living in hell because of their attitude.

the excess the rich have prevents them from enjoying it (and even the affluent find a huge gap between income and desires, hence find themselves often in conflict and competition) and whereas the deprived compare themselves with the haves which prevents them also from enjoying their lives.. jesus would not provide an illustration that undermines his own most favored statement: “happy are those poor in spirit because kingdom of heavens belongs to them” (mathew 5:3) and his own explanation that heaven is the condition of one’s heart (luke 17:21) obviously he had in mind those who do not have the baggage of attachment and sense of possession, those few people of simplicity that belong to both the categories—the rich and the poor. simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, a stage where every possession serves a purpose living a life that is deliberate and intentional (not one that someone else has scripted for them) and wanting to feel more complete (not more objects of the world), at ease.

venus

Illustration of the rich man and the poor man Lazarus indirectly hints that the materially rich would go to hell and the poor ones to heaven. If one reads between the lines, one can discern that this illustration is a later adoption intended to exploit the rich using the poor as a means.

I have friends who are extremely rich (net-worth in billions) and also who are materially very poor, and have found both are living in hell because of their attitude. The excess the rich have prevents them from enjoying it (and even the affluent find a huge gap between income and desires, hence find themselves often in conflict and competition) and whereas the deprived compare themselves with the haves which prevents them also from enjoying their lives.

Jesus would not provide an illustration that undermines his own most favored statement: “Happy are those poor in spirit because Kingdom of heavens belongs to them” (Mathew 5:3) and his own explanation that heaven is the condition of one’s heart (Luke 17:21) Obviously he had in mind those who do not have the baggage of attachment and sense of possession, those few people of simplicity that belong to both the categories—the rich and the poor. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, a stage where every possession serves a purpose living a life that is deliberate and intentional (not one that someone else has scripted for them) and wanting to feel more complete (not more objects of the world), at ease. The simplicity arises when one understands the impermanent aspects of life and seeks the knowledge of the permanent aspects of life. Then the void one occasionally experiences would be found as an imaginary emptiness brought about by not seeing one’s own fullness.

18

Can JWs vote?

by NikL in

i finally found the questions from readers i was looking for.. from nov 1, 1999 wt .

it says.... questions from readershow do jehovah’s witnesses view voting?there are clear principles set out in the bible that enable servants of god to take a proper view of this matter.

however, there appears to be no principle against the practice of voting itself.

venus

In principle Bible is not against voting (1 Tim 2:1,2; Romans 13:4; Mark 12:17)

9

Will The Internet Immune The World From The Watchtower Virus/Meme?

by Brokeback Watchtower in

a hot internet topics: creation or evolution, and many other related discussions, the amount of ridicule the watchtower receives over the internet far out surpasses any passing of possitive internet data to the world's unfettered view.

you need a good internet presents it is vital for the cult to survive, and the internet simply won't allow this cult to prosper, but rather is sending it into ridicule filled bankruptcy, as public gets immune from the wt(virus) fairy tale about them being the only ones to survive god's righteous indignation and repopulate the earth with more drones like members.

they are stopping all construction and are selling kingdom hall,and dissolving congregations nobody is getting baptized because the public is just too informed to believe their bull shit.

venus

Though Mathew 24:14 is intimately connected with making use of all available means of communication, Bible miserably failed to foresee the coming of internet--something that can accomplish the commission given in Mathew 24:14 in just one day (something that was not fully accomplished in 2000 years because physically going to China, Gulf countries, and rural India ... is impossible even now)

16

Creation account is the creation of Moses

by venus in

the word `intelligence' [from inter, “between” + legere, “ to read”] would mean ‘discern things as though reading in between the lines.

now read in between the lines of what moses wrote; his favored and frequent statement is this: ‘obedience to god means blessings, and disobedience means maledictions.’ (deut 28:1-68; 30:15-18) let us try to discern his motive behind this statement.. .

when moses wanted to present 10 commandments and other laws, he naturally wanted to prepare the israelites with a mind-set that ‘we must obey god, otherwise it is problem for us.’ the best way for this was to modify a well-known story of fall from other cultures.

venus

FadeToBlack,

Yes, you are right. There are many scholars who presented proof against Mosaic authorship of Pentateuch. Whenever I read Moses’ books, I used to wonder why supposedly inspired books scatters the attention of the innocent reader by inconsistencies. To mention a few: Moses wrote about his own death, and even declared himself as the most humble man on earth, referring himself in 3rd person (Number 12:3), verses that states that something is the case “to this day” which is inconsistent with Mosaic authorship, then plenty of doublet such as two accounts of creation (means author was cherry-picking from the vast ocean of creation stories, dependence on various sources—not typical of divine inspiration). Story of golden calf immediately after God performed a great miracle is unbelievable. Too unbelievable is the response of the people looking at “a golden calf” and calling it as “our gods” in plural (Exodus 32:4, 23) …

16

Creation account is the creation of Moses

by venus in

the word `intelligence' [from inter, “between” + legere, “ to read”] would mean ‘discern things as though reading in between the lines.

now read in between the lines of what moses wrote; his favored and frequent statement is this: ‘obedience to god means blessings, and disobedience means maledictions.’ (deut 28:1-68; 30:15-18) let us try to discern his motive behind this statement.. .

when moses wanted to present 10 commandments and other laws, he naturally wanted to prepare the israelites with a mind-set that ‘we must obey god, otherwise it is problem for us.’ the best way for this was to modify a well-known story of fall from other cultures.

venus

Smiddy

That is a valid question—why could not have the faithful ones who were living closer to the time of creation written something about creation?

Regarding what Moses supposedly wrote, I feel the most profound reason to doubt the whole story is internal evidence.

1) People who experienced a unique miracle as parting of the Red Sea too soon turned into calf-worship—something that is impossible to happen.

2) Destiny-wise too it badly reflects on God who apparently chose a nation for nothing, and too bad that they earned a name of being “killers of prophet.” (Mathew 23:37) Moses (or Moses story itself was designed) designed story to give an origin and history to a people and distinguish them from others by claiming a divine destiny—something that was never fulfilled. Would God give rise to something only to reflect badly on His choice?

16

Creation account is the creation of Moses

by venus in

the word `intelligence' [from inter, “between” + legere, “ to read”] would mean ‘discern things as though reading in between the lines.

now read in between the lines of what moses wrote; his favored and frequent statement is this: ‘obedience to god means blessings, and disobedience means maledictions.’ (deut 28:1-68; 30:15-18) let us try to discern his motive behind this statement.. .

when moses wanted to present 10 commandments and other laws, he naturally wanted to prepare the israelites with a mind-set that ‘we must obey god, otherwise it is problem for us.’ the best way for this was to modify a well-known story of fall from other cultures.

venus

OnTheWayOut,

There are many who feel the way you feel: "A massive exodus that led to the drowning of Pharaoh's army, says Father Anthony Axe, Bible lecturer at Jerusalem's Ecole Biblique, would have reverberated politically and economically through the entire region. And considering that artifacts from as far back as the late Stone Age have turned up in the Sinai, it is perplexing that no evidence of the Israelites' passage has been found. William Dever, a University of Arizona archaeologist, flatly calls Moses a mythical figure. Some scholars even insist the story was a political fabrication, invented to unite the disparate tribes living in Canaan through a falsified heroic past"--Time Mazazine Dec 12, 2014

16

Creation account is the creation of Moses

by venus in

the word `intelligence' [from inter, “between” + legere, “ to read”] would mean ‘discern things as though reading in between the lines.

now read in between the lines of what moses wrote; his favored and frequent statement is this: ‘obedience to god means blessings, and disobedience means maledictions.’ (deut 28:1-68; 30:15-18) let us try to discern his motive behind this statement.. .

when moses wanted to present 10 commandments and other laws, he naturally wanted to prepare the israelites with a mind-set that ‘we must obey god, otherwise it is problem for us.’ the best way for this was to modify a well-known story of fall from other cultures.

venus

OnTheWayOut,

That is what exactly the impression I too get from my reading in between the lines.

16

Creation account is the creation of Moses

by venus in

the word `intelligence' [from inter, “between” + legere, “ to read”] would mean ‘discern things as though reading in between the lines.

now read in between the lines of what moses wrote; his favored and frequent statement is this: ‘obedience to god means blessings, and disobedience means maledictions.’ (deut 28:1-68; 30:15-18) let us try to discern his motive behind this statement.. .

when moses wanted to present 10 commandments and other laws, he naturally wanted to prepare the israelites with a mind-set that ‘we must obey god, otherwise it is problem for us.’ the best way for this was to modify a well-known story of fall from other cultures.

venus

waton,

Retrograde way is the only one we are sure about. That is why some classical physicists have different view other than a starting from 'a big bang.' http://www.nature.com/news/cosmologist-claims-universe-may-not-be-expanding-1.13379; http://www.physicsmyths.org.uk/expansion.htm; http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2014/05/the-universe-is-not-expanding-an-alternate-theory-to-big-bang-cosmology.html; https://bigbangno.wordpress.com/

16

Creation account is the creation of Moses

by venus in

the word `intelligence' [from inter, “between” + legere, “ to read”] would mean ‘discern things as though reading in between the lines.

now read in between the lines of what moses wrote; his favored and frequent statement is this: ‘obedience to god means blessings, and disobedience means maledictions.’ (deut 28:1-68; 30:15-18) let us try to discern his motive behind this statement.. .

when moses wanted to present 10 commandments and other laws, he naturally wanted to prepare the israelites with a mind-set that ‘we must obey god, otherwise it is problem for us.’ the best way for this was to modify a well-known story of fall from other cultures.

venus

Bible itself says "test everything. Hold on to what is good (kalos, what is inherently good and logical)".--1 Thessalonians 5:21. It primarily applies to Bible itself. Hence when we find things that are not logical in the Bible, we need to ignore them.

16

Creation account is the creation of Moses

by venus in

the word `intelligence' [from inter, “between” + legere, “ to read”] would mean ‘discern things as though reading in between the lines.

now read in between the lines of what moses wrote; his favored and frequent statement is this: ‘obedience to god means blessings, and disobedience means maledictions.’ (deut 28:1-68; 30:15-18) let us try to discern his motive behind this statement.. .

when moses wanted to present 10 commandments and other laws, he naturally wanted to prepare the israelites with a mind-set that ‘we must obey god, otherwise it is problem for us.’ the best way for this was to modify a well-known story of fall from other cultures.

venus

The word `intelligence' [from inter, “between” + legere, “ to read”] would mean ‘discern things as though reading in between the lines. Now read in between the lines of what Moses wrote; his favored and frequent statement is this: ‘Obedience to God means blessings, and disobedience means maledictions.’ (Deut 28:1-68; 30:15-18) Let us try to discern his motive behind this statement.

When Moses wanted to present 10 commandments and other laws, he naturally wanted to prepare the Israelites with a mind-set that ‘We must obey God, otherwise it is problem for us.’ The best way for this was to modify a well-known story of Fall from other cultures. This seems to be the origin of creation account and the subsequent story of “tree of good and bad” which shows suffering was the result of disobedience to God.

Moses wanted to show his people are special because God chose them as His own giving them The Law, and to convey: “You do well if you obey the Law.” That’s all what Moses did! That means story of “tree of good and bad” has no significance to the humanity, and God and Satan are nowhere in the picture as the creation account is the creation of Moses who wrote for his own people, not to the world. Interestingly, Jesus himself testifies that Moses was whimsical. (Mathew 19:7, 8) Moses did everything to project one nation as God’s chosen one—something that God would not do because He simply cannot be partial (Deut 10:17), and also exalting one nation over the others is spiritual ego which is more harmful than material ego (root of all problems) seen in individuals.

If creation account is creation of Moses, then how did universe come about? To me this question looks very simple. If one reads in between the lines of the famous question: “What came first chicken or egg?” he would get the answer as “none,” it is a chain without any beginning! We are conditioned to think in term of a beginning. But our experience is that nothing happens without something preceding to it, and it is ad infinitum. God does not create anything. This “creation” is a natural manifestation of something inherent in the nature and God. He does not deliberately engage in any action to bring “creation” into existence, it just happens. So God is not directly responsible for “creation” (just like a dreamer does not design the dream, nor does he control the dream, but it happens in a natural way).