Posts by venus

14

Interpretation often takes you away from truth

by Ireneus in

yesterday, my classmate was giving an example from her homeland on how people can give various interpretations which have nothing to do with truth.

though studying in the us, she was closely monitoring what was happening in kerala (a small southern state of india), her birth place.

last month saw unprecedent heavy rains wreaking widespread havoc in this small state with huge population (which is much more than australia’s population).

venus

Yet certain interpretations are beneficial. For example, Jesus was tempted by Satan. Account is purely symbolic and imaginative as there is no Satan. But behind all the details, there are some practical lessons for us. Jesus’ response show that he knew the real nature of this world—things come and go after remaining for sometime. Hence there is no charm in possessions and accumulations once needs are taken care of, and there is nothing to grieve in losses.

This has helped me to remain composed in all situations.

16

Jehovah had a wife the ancient Israelites also worshiped Asherah

by Finkelstein in

recent archeological discoveries have found that the ancient israelites were not exactly monotheistic to yahweh, apparently the israelites also worshiped a god which was seen as yahweh's wife asherah.

small carved sculptures have been found in places of worship and homesteads to support these findings.asherah's connection to yahweh, according to francesca stavrakopoulou, is spelled out in the bible and an 8th-century b.c.

inscription on pottery found in the sinai desert at a site called kuntillet ajrud.

venus

Some say Statue of Liberty is Astaroth

http://vaticannewworldorder.blogspot.com/2012/11/statue-of-liberty.html

12

Holy Spirit

by Sergey Antonov in

jehovah's witnesses say that the holy spirit is inanimate.

but how then can you sin against the holy spirit, if he is not alive ?!

🤔 then it is more correct to say that it is not against the holy spirit, but against god..

venus

The account is set against the background of healing a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. (Mathew 12:22) And his enemies accused him of healing with the help of Satan. To answer this charge, Jesus said: “sin against holy spirit will not be forgiven.”

Demon-possession and Satan are all a myth, invention of human beings. Hence Jesus has not cast out any demons, and not accused by his enemies, and He never made the statement “sin against holy spirit will not be forgiven.”

18

Revelation 14:4

by Sergey Antonov in

it turns out that on the basis of the book of revelation 14:4 the anointed ones have to be virgins?

how does the governing body explain this?.

venus

stan livedeath

That is a valid point.

Verses 14:4 and 5 are to be taken literally: "These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless."

Jesus was virgin, no lie was found in his mouths and was also blameless.

Hence, 144000 are men, virgins, with no lie being found in their mouth and blameless.

18

Revelation 14:4

by Sergey Antonov in

it turns out that on the basis of the book of revelation 14:4 the anointed ones have to be virgins?

how does the governing body explain this?.

venus

They will say number 144000 is literal, and virgin is not literal.

5

Its all about Jews and Gentiles

by Steel in

we you still in the borg when you realized the new testament is about god and the jews and god and the church and basically this whole transfer process from jewish law to this becoming the new person in christ.

its rather weird i once believed in heavenly hopers and earthly hopers and faithful slave classes etc etc.

its seems like something from star trek.

venus

Gist of Bible is the teachings as found in the Eastern thought such as the following:

1)Ego thinks in terms of ‘good and bad’ hence signifies ‘death’ of joy as it creates hell for the egoist and those around him (Gen 2:17; Habakkuk 2:5)

2)If anyone bounces back to the now, with no attachment to anything/anybody (Mathew 5:3); thus mentally becoming independent (which means he reclaims the lost the power of the immaterial entity within), hereturns to the joy, and creates heaven for himself and those around him. (Luke 17:21)

3)Everyone is born with the taste and tendencies he delightfully created in his previous births (Mathew 12:35; 11:14) and each one reaps what he sows (Luke 6:38) and no one is under any compulsion to do what is good or what is bad (Revelation 22:11)

This central teaching was overpowered by weed-like teachings such as unreal separation of Jews and Gentiles (Deut 10:17), God and church (Genesis 1:26; Ephesians 4:6); ransom sacrifices, resurrection …etc. (Mathew 13:24-30)

7

Comparing God with Abraham dishonors God

by Ireneus in

abraham was tested by god (genesis 22:1) to know whether he would abandon his attachment towards his son.. attachment is a sign of ego, the fountain head of all vices.

when you ignore all the factors and forces (known and unknown) that are at work behind every happening, you tend to say “i did this and that”thus taking credit for which your part is too negligible.

it is like a farmer taking credit for the agricultural products.

venus

There are cases of Bible writers forgetting/overlooking writings of fellow Bible writers. For example, if a liar is caught, he should be treated as impurity in the society, and should be cut off from the society so that it may serve as a lesson for others: “If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse someone of a crime, the two people involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party. You must purge the evil from among you. The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”(Deuteronomy 19:16-21)

According to this Law, it is Satan (not Jesus Christ) that should have been crucified. But it seems Paul went against this Law, and theorized that killing an innocent man would remove the sins of the world.

23

How To Become Who You Are

by Brokeback Watchtower in

being a jehovah's witness for many years has a very damaging effect on becoming who he really are, many of the drives we were born with get subverted to corporation's directives, and we stuff lots of ourselves into our shadow(jungian), as we take on the "new personality" we become an easy to manipulate corporate drone.

in other words we really loose contact with authentic self, and to some extent a little hollow.. a search for our true self will require some alone time and can be scary and filled with some perils.

i did it for some time and it can make you a little odd, and you could wind up doing some crazy shit but over all i will say it was necessary and eventually rewarding, and i gotten quite used to it and now a days i have people around but value my time alone when every i can get it.. anyway this video interest me and i thought i would share.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfyczlbcavk.

venus

JW_Rogue

I do not agree with what you said: “Perhaps there is no true self and self actualization is just a grandiose myth.”

Your true self is more meaningful (like the software of your computer) than your body (like hardware of your computer). Bringing home computer hardware, and dispensing with the software as unwanted makes no sense. I too used to think like you before. But once I tried to go beyond thoughts and asked the question who is creating these thoughts, it made a big difference, as Tolle puts it. “The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated. You then begin to realize that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence. You also realize that all the things that truly matter — beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace — arise from beyond the mind. You begin to awaken.” (The Power of Now, Ekhart Tolle) It is from this “vast realm of intelligence” that dreams are designed. Many scientific discoveries (such as Periodic Table, Aromatic Chemistry, Insulin …) have their roots in dreams. (http://dreamtraining.blogspot.com/2010/12/inventions-that-came-in-dreams-largest.html) Even Einstein’s great invention of Theory of Relativity is connected with two dreams he had. (Einstein: A Life by Denis Brian p.159)

When I was taught in the school that the left side of the brain performs tasks that have to do with logic, such as in science and mathematics whereas the right hemisphere performs tasks that have do with creativity and the arts, I was convinced that brain activity is much more than its material components called 100 billion neurons, and man is made in the image of God which explains why we have a subjective experience and why we love truth, benevolence and beauty….etc.

10

Who was the devil that tested Jesus in the Wilderness?

by Doug Mason in

when i started investigating "the temptations" at matthew chapter 4, i had no idea that i would develop the ideas contained in my study paper.

so it cannot honestly be said that i set out to prove the conclusions i arrived at.. it is available at:.

http://www.jwstudies.com/the_devil_who_tested_jesus.pdf .

venus

EverApostate

Using symbol makes it easy. How difficult it would have been If the Traffic Department were to write every road instruction in its details. Instead, they have put RED signal which we know STOP ....etc.

similarly, religious symbols give us quick reference just like Macbeth is a symbol that reminds 'greed means destruction.' Those who follow the symbol benefit themselves and others, those who do not follow, cause wastage.

11

Thank You to all posters...I have not chosen this path

by CovertsadJW in

i wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has posted here as i have been reading all of them.

i have realized that i am not alone in my struggles and the realization that the " truth" is a bunch of crap.

i have been over come with emotion over the last years or so.

venus

There is something funny with regard to those who do not examine the religions they were born into. They are under the impression that their birth determines the truthfulness of the religion. In other words, the religion they are born into becomes automatically true because of their birth into it.