venus

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Posts by venus

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  12

  A little critique/commentary on the first of the new Public Watchtowers (No.1 2018) - Corrections and additions welcomed

  by doubtfull1799 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  “all scripture is inspired of god and beneficial.”​—2 timothy 3:16.”.

  what/which scripture was paul referring to?

  how is it possible to know with any certainty without being speculative or dogmatic?

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  venus

  This scripture is right if rephrased: “ALL SCRIPTURES THAT ARE INSPIRED ARE BENEFICIAL FOR TEACHING.”

  For example,

  Genesis portion that says there was a paradise on earth, then it was lost when people began to act with selfishness—it makes sense.

  Revelation 21:1, 5 says perfect condition would be restored at some time in future—it makes sense.

  We are now in between where we find God’s established practice [“Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile”] (Revelation 22:11) which would mean that there is no intervention in the case of individuals and in each individual use of free-will. God, being the master of the universe, would need to act only on whole sale basis, hence would and must restore the original perfect condition. Law of increasing entropy would again set things into a downhill trend, which would mean God would renew system of things again.

  This is in harmony with two opposing isms—Theism and Atheism: Theism says “From the more comes the less,” and atheism says “from the less comes the more” [as implied by Natural Selection which is “the process ultimately capable of generating complexity out of simplicity,” God Delusion, Richard Dwakins] Thus both agree that something comes from something. If something comes from something, it has always been true, and it has always been there—infinite into the past and infinite into the future.

  It is in harmony with what we see in the nature. Nature has a rhythm and things happen in cycles such as cycle of night and day, cycle of season, carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle… etc. We also see the principles of such cycles reflected around us: plants grow and die leaving seeds that ensure new lives are reborn continuously. There are cycles happening within us too—cells in our bodies become old and are being replaced with new ones at regular intervals! Even when we sleep at night, we typically go through several sleep cycles. And each one of these cycles consists of 4 different stages of sleep—awake, light sleep, deep sleep and REM sleep. Those cycles show A MUTUAL INTERDEPENDENCE and purpose. For example, each season emerges from the previous and gently turns into the next. Winter snows feed the ground for Spring’s blossoms. Summer’s heat ripens the plants for Fall’s harvest. While in day, we desire for night and vice versa. While in hot Summer we wish it was Fall. While in cold Winter we wish it was Spring. This is true of the greater cycle of New World and old world alternating on earth.
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  41

  Why dont practicing JWS cant accept the fact that the Watchtower Corporation is a commercialized false prophet ?

  by Finkelstein in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  to the majority of people who investigate the activities of the wts from its beginning history there were obvious false proclamations and doctrines propagated by the wts.. a matter of fact the wts produced a long list of literature that posted proclamations on the front cover and went into detail of things that were suppose to happen, from jesus returning changing the world in which we live and so on.. wonderful things one might say but not factual or either theologically correct .

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  venus

  Hi St George of England

  That is true "plenty of people know it's all twaddle."

  We normally get overwhelmed by the number of people in one organization. However, how many of them truly believe in God. If one is told "you would die in one month" would he/she say "Why can't earlier, I long to meet my Heavenly Father!?"
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  41

  Why dont practicing JWS cant accept the fact that the Watchtower Corporation is a commercialized false prophet ?

  by Finkelstein in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  to the majority of people who investigate the activities of the wts from its beginning history there were obvious false proclamations and doctrines propagated by the wts.. a matter of fact the wts produced a long list of literature that posted proclamations on the front cover and went into detail of things that were suppose to happen, from jesus returning changing the world in which we live and so on.. wonderful things one might say but not factual or either theologically correct .

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  venus

  Problem is that the basic Christendom mentality continues among members. In Christendom one cannot try to understand things such as the Trinity, transubstantiation, incarnation ...etc, for the attempt might destroy it. In JW atmosphere, who would dare to ask: "How can heavenly calling start from certain date and end with certain date? What is the proof that a few men in WT corporation were appointed by Christ when he came to inspect his temple after Gentile Times? ...
  
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  41

  Why dont practicing JWS cant accept the fact that the Watchtower Corporation is a commercialized false prophet ?

  by Finkelstein in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  to the majority of people who investigate the activities of the wts from its beginning history there were obvious false proclamations and doctrines propagated by the wts.. a matter of fact the wts produced a long list of literature that posted proclamations on the front cover and went into detail of things that were suppose to happen, from jesus returning changing the world in which we live and so on.. wonderful things one might say but not factual or either theologically correct .

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  venus

  I find ego at the root of not changing. It is the fear of image: What would people think of me--I was so zealous about JW teaching, and I am not now--what does this tell about my judging ability?
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  23

  Why "Most high"?

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  if there were only one god, why do we encounter the expression, "most high god"?.

  is this not indicative of polytheism, and of levels (or degrees) of god-ness?.

  doug .

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  venus

  Punkofnice,

  Most High is a phrase people applied to God, hence we can't blame God. Again people depicted God as looking for worship, as though He is in some need. This reminds me of Plato who wrote: "The god of love lives in a state of need. It is a need, it is an urge, it is a homeostatic imbalance. Like hunger and thirst, it's almost impossible to stamp out."

  But God must be much better than humans!
  
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  60

  Can someone tell me why Joan's ark and the flood not true and impossible?

  by Gokumonkey in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hey everyone.

  i have a question and i hope i'm not confusing this with something else i heard.

  while watching ex jw videos on youtube many of them talk about how noah's ark and the flood didn't happen and it's impossible.

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  venus

  Wow, what a wealth of information you notsurewheretogo

  provided. None of the eleven points can be refuted!
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  60

  Can someone tell me why Joan's ark and the flood not true and impossible?

  by Gokumonkey in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hey everyone.

  i have a question and i hope i'm not confusing this with something else i heard.

  while watching ex jw videos on youtube many of them talk about how noah's ark and the flood didn't happen and it's impossible.

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  venus

  Difficulty with Noah's flood is because its source is the Babylonian myth of Uta-Napisthim and also it is known from the older mythologies of several cultures.
  
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  23

  Why "Most high"?

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  if there were only one god, why do we encounter the expression, "most high god"?.

  is this not indicative of polytheism, and of levels (or degrees) of god-ness?.

  doug .

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  venus

  In the Bible, one can take things literally and figuratively. I take most of the things figuratively, and I benefit because of that.

  
  

  The expression Most High is rich in meaning. It suggests that we are all His children, spirits in human costumes, whereas He is the Supreme Spirit, hence Most High.

  Similarly, when I read the account of Adam and Eve, I apply the same logic. Behind the details, there is some interesting lesson. See the automatic response in Adam and Eve after they sinned: They immediately felt ashamed and hid themselves which defines sin as something that makes one feel no longer worthy of God’s love, care and protection (not that they felt they were naked physically).
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  60

  Can someone tell me why Joan's ark and the flood not true and impossible?

  by Gokumonkey in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hey everyone.

  i have a question and i hope i'm not confusing this with something else i heard.

  while watching ex jw videos on youtube many of them talk about how noah's ark and the flood didn't happen and it's impossible.

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  venus

  Even if Noah’s ark is scientifically possible with a bigger vessel that takes care of 8.7 million species, theologically it is not possible for God to handle a situation that puts greater hardship on the righteous than on the wicked who died in a few minutes after getting drown in the water.

  However, if we look beneath the details, story tells God intervenes when it is necessary. God’s established practice is “Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile.” (Revelation 22:11) This would mean that there is no intervention in the case of individuals and in each individual cases of free-will use; and it would also mean there would be a time when the righteous would find life is impossible because of the increasing number of the wicked (according to Law of increasing entropy). God, being the master of the universe, would need to act only on whole sale basis, hence would restore the original perfect condition, says logic (and also scriptures Rev 21:1, 5. Law of increasing entropy would again set things into a downhill trend, which would mean God would renew system of things again.

  The above view takes care of the principle on which both theism and atheism stand: Theism says “From the more comes the less,” and atheism says “from the less comes the more.” Thus both agree that something comes from something. If something comes from something, it has always been true, it has always been there—infinite into the past and infinite into the future.
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  59

  Common Figure of Speech/Colloquialism?

  by rstrats in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  1. the messiah said that three nights would be involved with his time in the "heart of the earth".. 2. there are some who believe that the crucifixion took place on the 6th day of the week with the resurrection taking place on the 1st day of the week.. 3. of those, there are some who believe that the "heart of the earth" is referring to the tomb.. 4. however, those two beliefs allow for only 2 nights to be involved.. 5. to account for the discrepancy, some of the above say that the messiah was using common figure of speech/colloquial language of the time, i.e., that it is was common to forecast or say that a day or a night would be involved with an event when no part of the day or no part of the night could occur.. 6. in order for someone to legitimately say that it was common, they would have to know of more that 1 example to make that assertion.. 6. for the purpose of this topic, i would like to ask if there are any 6th day of the week crucifixion advocates who think the messiah was employing common figure of speech/colloquial language of the period?.

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  venus

  Problem is not about common figure of speech. Truth is that Jesus got it wrongly, or Jonah's account was later addition for which writers were seeking endorsement through the mouth of Jesus.

  This is similar to Jesus referring to Noah's day. In Noah's days violence plummeted; yet Jesus was not aware of this fact because he said: "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark." (Mathew 24:37, 38)

  Why such discrepancies? Richard Dwakins has got it correctly: “To be fair, much of the Bible is not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents, composed, revised, translated, distorted and 'improved' by hundreds of anonymous authors, editors and copyists, unknown to us and mostly unknown to each other, spanning nine centuries." (God Delusion)