Posts by venus

49

How old's the human race?

by Freedom rocks in

hi does anyone know any good articles or videos about how old mankind and the earth are and carbon dating?

.

i've just started looking into it but there seems to be a lot of conflicting ideas over accuracy so i'm unsure what to think.

First of all, I did not make any conclusion which you feared I did which means you see things that do not exist. I just said—India’s population more than doubled in 50 years in spite of Governmental and non-governmental hard work and incentives against all possible increase. Even if we assume an exaggerated 500 (instead of 50) years for the world population to be doubled ..., it would still serve as a better indication as to the age of mankind.

From saying this much, there is nothing for any reader to get emotionally excited as to the point of using the word ignorance against the writer. Diverting the subject into another too vast subject of ignorance is the sign of blind adherence to one particular belief—exactly what you accuse of creationists doing. Getting nervous when there is no need for it underscores your need to have belief in God which would serve like earthing for your electricity connection at home. Belief in God gives groundedness to face the unpleasant with balance. Otherwise a slight unexpected/unpleasant happening would cause great convulsions in you, as happened to Richard Dawkins, the chief priest of New Atheist Movement. When an invitation “to speak at the Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism” was cancelled because of his some controversial statement about feminism, he took it too personally the distress of which was too much that his brain suffered a stroke within 13 days.

(https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/richard-dawkins-vdeo-twitter-necss-event-feminism-a6841161.html)

(https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/feb/12/richard-dawkins-has-stroke-on-eve-of-australia-and-new-zealand-tour) If he were a believer in God, he would have thought--people heap honor and dishonor even to God (both of which He considers to be inconsequential)--hence slight (real or perceived) is nothing to me; and I am focused on more important things. Thus he could have let it pass.

14

Special talk: "who is Jesus Christ?!

by nowwhat? in

apparently he no longer is our savior and the "way and the truth and the life" or our mediator between god and man .

the governing body took over that role.

.

venus

Hi nonjwspouse,

That's a great question: "Why was Jesus allowing himself to be worshiped if he was not God?"

Answer would surprise everyone because he is not interested in the silly debates of humans on earth.

What I like the most about God also is the same thing--He is not bothered about the honor or dishonor people shower upon Him because He doesn't gain anything by honor and he doesn't lose anything by dishonor. In other words, His attitude is that 'let people think of me whatever they like.' When I adopt this attitude, I feel instant freedom.

49

How old's the human race?

by Freedom rocks in

hi does anyone know any good articles or videos about how old mankind and the earth are and carbon dating?

.

i've just started looking into it but there seems to be a lot of conflicting ideas over accuracy so i'm unsure what to think.

venus

Hi shepherdless,

What you say [There has been a massive population explosion in the last couple of centuries due to modern health and sanitation, modern medicine, the Haber process, etc. Before that, population levels were relatively stable, even over millenia] is not correct.

It is just the other way around. In the ancient patriarchal society (like that of Jacob of OT) there had been many wives, concubines and many children in one family. Scriptures and stories are reflection of the society in which it is written. This is true of all epics and scriptures of the pagans. History books also support this: "The Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II had a large number of children: between 48 and 50 sons, and 40 to 53 daughters–whom he had depicted on several monuments." Some kings had even over 100 wives. (https://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/17/africa/the-king-with-100-wives-cameroon/index.html)

49

How old's the human race?

by Freedom rocks in

hi does anyone know any good articles or videos about how old mankind and the earth are and carbon dating?

.

i've just started looking into it but there seems to be a lot of conflicting ideas over accuracy so i'm unsure what to think.

venus

Here is an interesting clue: 50 years ago, India’s population was 550 Million, and now it is 1,324 million, in spite of all the Government-sponsored family planning programs and incentives. Forget about India, and instead of 50 years in which its population becomes more than double, assign a figure as big as 500 years for the world population to be doubled. You will get a rough idea as to the age of history.

23

Jesus Christ—The Greatest Scientist (and Psychologist) who ever lived on earth!

by Ireneus in

if we eliminate all the controversial and confusing verses attributed to jesus we will get the crystal clear truth from him because his source was (1) god which can be seen from his habit of early morning talking to god in prayer (mark 1:35; john 8:1, 2) which would not have been for material blessings (mathew 6:8; 16:24), and (2) also observance of people.. 1) jesus who said judgment is based on whether we acted humanely or not (mathew 25:31-46) would not have spoken about god’s people and pagans (which means bulk of the things found in gospel had not been spoken/done by jesus).. 2) another important truth he said was about the real key to our happiness which he said is with each one of us.

(luke 17:21).

from his observance of history, he knew there are people from adversities who made great contribution to the world; and there are people from all abundance who lived a life of wastage accomplishing nothing; and there are people who are mixed in varying degree.

venus

Ireneus,

I am going to experiment this.

I think Denis Waitley understood Jesus perfectly when he wrote: “Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.”

Interestingly, my professor used to say ‘there is no way to happiness, happiness is the way.’ During College Anniversary celebration he sang a song composed by himself: I still remember one line from it: ‘God is the music of his life.’ He had no ill-feeling towards his unknown mother who threw him in the trash when he was born to her (may be because she was not married at that time). He grew in an orphanage.

18

Scholarly interview on the existence of Jesus

by careful in

perhaps this has been linked here before.

if that's the case, i'm sorry.

however, new people join, others miss things, some forget, so i thought it was worth posting, especially since this issue comes up from time to time and some here have never worked it out or are in the process of trying to do so.

venus

Hi jws, I would divide your questions into three:

1) “And people say it is the inerrant word of god.”

You are true “People say it is inerrant word of God” whereas Bible writers themselves do not believe so. For example, most of the OT prophets are unaware about parallel account of creation involving Adam and Eve and its attendant teaching of original sin which means we sin by simply being alive. Habakkuk even flatly rejected such concepts. (Habkkuk 2:4) Jeremiah rejected considerable portions of the Bible (Jeremiah 7:22; 8:8)

2)We know, Jesus was misquoted on everything. Did he really say "he is the way and the truth and the life. no one comes to the father except through me."?

Prima facie, Jesus did not say this verse because it is like saying “unmarried husbands” which makes no sense. Jesus taught we are all children of God whom he called “our heavenly Father” which inherently means it is inconceivable for Father to elevate one son over others and to imply that others have access to Him only through one son. Most of John’s gospel is fiction. For example, if Jesus really performed miracles, at least Mathew should remember what his first miracle (changing the water into wine) and last miracle (resurrection of Lazarus) were; yet we find it is John who reports it—that too in his senility, signs of which are seen from the beginning of his gospel. For example, he says Jesus ascended into heaven in the beginning of his ministry by making him say: “no one has ascended into heaven except him” while talking to Nicodemus. (John 3:13) Most famous incomprehensible verse is John 1:1 (Was there no other better way to convey what he wanted to convey? If one’s very first verse gives rise to over 2000 years of debate which has not yet reached a conclusion, it defeats the very purpose of communication. John also forgot Jesus had already declared that prophet Elijah has now appeared John the Baptist. (Mathew 11:14 contrast John 1:21)

3) And if it were god's testimony to the world, and he is all that people think he is, wouldn't he have the power to make sure everybody got every story correct? So that there would be no reason to doubt the message?

The very fact that God did not prevent the interpolations shows that scriptures do not belong to Him. Yet this does not mean some of the characters in the Bible are not historical. Some may be historical, and others may be symbolic figure representing the whole humanity like Adam (a word used for both mankind and an individual). Whether somebody is historical or not is not important because what they teach is that every action (good or bad) is responded to sooner or later which is the very basis of science, all the stories, all our experiences …

Like pure water available in the deep wild forest, Bible also contains certain truths here and there. For example, if you remember one verse of the Bible it is more than enough: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8) We see that everyone’s thinking creates his reality which means we are all free to choose to do whatever we like to do which means God respects our individuality. We all love mercy shown by others which gives us reason to love mercy. God Himself shows humility by not doing any favor to theists and by not punishing atheists which means He is least bothered of honor or dishonor people shower on Him.

17

The utter absurdity of the "universal sovereignty issue", chapter 4,786

by sir82 in

so on the jw broadcast channel, there is a new 4 minute video entitled "why does god permit suffering".

i won't give them free advertising by linking to it, but you'll find it under the "latest videos" section.. it looks like it will be something that will eventually be used in field serve-us as a video to show householders.. anyway, it gives the illustration of the teacher and a "rebellious student" who says he has a "better way to solve the problem".

the infinitely wise teacher allows him to try, he fails, and the teacher is "vindicated".. other posts on this site demonstrate how inane the illustration really is - it breaks down nearly effortlessly.. anyway, the video goes on to explain that god allowed "rebellious humans" to continue on because (more or less direct quote) "millions of angels were observing.

venus

WT would not have ventured into this greatest mistake of all time if they had thought about why Jesus did not teach about Issue of Sovereignty. If such an Issue were existed, Jesus would have used all his superhuman skills to explain this vital subject to his audience giving maximum publicity to it repeating it more than any other subjects.

6

Organization Updates for POMOs?

by charonsdog in

i've been physically out since early 2014. before that, i was mentally out for a long period of time.

now, having zero contact with family or former friends, plus living in a southeast asian country where it is possible to not ever see a jw.

since i have discovered this site, i'm learning lots of things about the organization that i wasn't aware of before.

venus

Hi days of future passed, Good summary.

WT is preparing to say like Reuben who 'replied, "Didn't I tell you not to

sin [doing an act of shunning] against the boy? But you wouldn't listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood." (Genesis 42:22)

18

Scholarly interview on the existence of Jesus

by careful in

perhaps this has been linked here before.

if that's the case, i'm sorry.

however, new people join, others miss things, some forget, so i thought it was worth posting, especially since this issue comes up from time to time and some here have never worked it out or are in the process of trying to do so.

venus

Hi smiddy3

Whether those religious leaders said fully what God wanted them to do or not, or whether they had everything in common matters not because each of them was also offspring of the time in which they lived. The principle on which they based themselves was like knowledge of medical science as a whole; yet what each of them taught was like prescription Doctors write for their specific patients (which would often vary from case to case). What matters is whether patient is cured or not. Similarly, what matters is whether those religious leaders helped people to become spiritual or better humans or not which we know they did. In essence, they were all highlighting the need for humans to be humane which can be accomplished either with the help of the concept of God (for some) or without the concept of God (for others). That is why Jesus said: ‘Love God and your neighbor,’ and Mohammed said ‘love God and desire for others what you desire for yourself’, and Buddha taught the four noble truths and the eight-fold path that can be practiced without reference to the concept of God whose existence or non existence was irrelevant to him.

Problem arises because of later additions by commercially minded people. But this is not a problem for me. When I read scriptures I do with alertness like a musician who can easily know notes in the wrong places in the songs sung by others. Take the example of Genesis account. It is said that God created mankind as two group—male and female (Gen 1:26) and told them to eat of all the trees. Then when it says God created a couple and prohibited them eating from a particular tree, I take this as something symbolic—something that humanity as a whole did is depicted through a couple for simplicity sake. It shows through one couple how mankind experienced a fall from expanded view of being a world-wide family into contraction of thinking in terms of ‘me and mine’—a concept that is highlighted through the reference of ‘a tree of good and bad’ because in egoistic disposition we tend view things as good and bad depending upon our convenience. Rain is neither good nor bad; yet we sometimes say rain is good and other time we say it is bad. So Adam and Eve story highlights how mankind fell into a new awareness, of egoism. The way God dealt with them show that there is no forgiveness in the dictionary of God because every action must be responded to which is the Law of Nature; and so must be ego. Ego creates hell for the one who adopts it. (Habakkuk 2:5) Egolessness creates heaven for the one who adopts it (Luke 17:21). Hence anything I read in the scriptures that hints at the idea that sin can be atoned or forgiven I rate it as imagination of later writers—not of religious leaders.

18

Scholarly interview on the existence of Jesus

by careful in

perhaps this has been linked here before.

if that's the case, i'm sorry.

however, new people join, others miss things, some forget, so i thought it was worth posting, especially since this issue comes up from time to time and some here have never worked it out or are in the process of trying to do so.

venus

Hi _Morpheus

That was only half this material. This comes with added information and modified for this context.