Mr.Finkelstein

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Posts by Mr.Finkelstein

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  12

  Cults and Their Charismatic Leaders Part 1

  by 1234 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  people know of many cult leaders’ and their charismatic personalities, with their fringe beliefs and lust for power and how they have inspired hundreds to follow their unconventional philosophies — with often-tragic results.

  charles manson, david koresh, jim jones, bhagwan shree rajneesh and others have gained international notoriety for exposing the dark side of humanity.. however what about the cults that went main stream.

  i guess we could throw in jesus and even adolf hitler.

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  Mr.Finkelstein

  As long there is the endeavoring capability to exploit fear, ignorance and vulnerability of people, there will always be cults of some kind.
  
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  168

  Awesome Video on debunking 1914!!!!! Follow it carefully to the end!!

  by Beth Sarim in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i don't know if anyone has stumbled across this video, but it just blew may away.

  omg!!!

  just goes to show why in dubland they adhere to the 2 witness rule so adamantly and are so anal about it.

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  Mr.Finkelstein

  Some other relevant information ....

  The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile is the period in Jewish history during which a number of people from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon, the capital of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. After the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BCE, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Jerusalem, resulting in tribute being paid by King Jehoiakim.[1] Jehoiakim refused to pay tribute in Nebuchadnezzar's fourth year, which led to another siege in Nebuchadnezzar's seventh year, culminating with the death of Jehoiakim and the exile to Babylonia of King Jeconiah, his court and many others; Jeconiah's successor Zedekiah and others were exiled in Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year; a later deportation occurred in Nebuchadnezzar's twenty-third year. The dates, numbers of deportations, and numbers of deportees given in the biblical accounts vary.[2] These deportations are dated to 597 BCE for the first, with others dated at 587/586 BCE, and 582/581 BCE respectively.[3]

  After the fall of Babylon to the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE, exiled Judeans were permitted to return to Judah.[4][5] According to the biblical book of Ezra, construction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem began around 537 BCE. All these events are considered significant in Jewish history and culture, and had a far-reaching impact on the development of Judaism.

  Archaeological studies have revealed that not all of the population of Judah was deported, and that, although Jerusalem was utterly destroyed, other parts of Judah continued to be inhabited during the period of the exile.[6] The return of the exiles was a gradual process rather than a single event, and many of the deportees or their descendants did not return, becoming the ancestors of the Iraqi Jews.

  Contents

  • 1Biblical accounts of the exile
  • 2Archaeological and other non-Biblical evidence
  • 3Exilic literature
  • 4Significance in Jewish history
  • 5Chronology
  • 6See also
  • 7References
  • 8Further reading

  Biblical accounts of the exile[edit]

  In the late 7th century BCE, the Kingdom of Judah was a client state of the Assyrian empire. In the last decades of the century, Assyria was overthrown by Babylon, an Assyrian province. Egypt, fearing the sudden rise of the Neo-Babylonian empire, seized control of Assyrian territory up to the Euphrates river in Syria, but Babylon counter-attacked. In the process Josiah, the king of Judah, was killed in a battle with the Egyptians at the Battle of Megiddo (609 BCE).

  After the defeat of Pharaoh Necho's army by the Babylonians at Carchemish in 605 BCE, Jehoiakim began paying tribute to Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. Some of the young nobility of Judah were taken to Babylon.

  In the following years, the court of Jerusalem was divided into two parties, one supporting Egypt, the other Babylon. After Nebuchadnezzar was defeated in battle in 601 BCE by Egypt, Judah revolted against Babylon, culminating in a three-month siege of Jerusalem beginning in late 598 BCE.[7] Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, died during the siege[8] and was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin (also called Jeconiah) at the age of eighteen.[9] The city fell on 2 Adar (March 16) 597 BCE,[10] and Nebuchadnezzar pillaged Jerusalem and its Temple and took Jeconiah, his court and other prominent citizens (including the prophet Ezekiel) back to Babylon.[11] Jehoiakim's uncle Zedekiah was appointed king in his place, but the exiles in Babylon continued to consider Jeconiah as their Exilarch, or rightful ruler.

  Despite warnings by Jeremiah and others of the pro-Babylonian party, Zedekiah revolted against Babylon and entered into an alliance with Pharaoh Hophra. Nebuchadnezzar returned, defeated the Egyptians, and again besieged Jerusalem, resulting in the city's destruction in 587 BCE. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city wall and the Temple, together with the houses of the most important citizens. Zedekiah and his sons were captured and the sons were executed in front of Zedekiah, who was then blinded and taken to Babylon with many others (Jer 52:10–11). Judah became a Babylonian province, called Yehud, putting an end to the independent Kingdom of Judah. (Because of the missing years in the Jewish calendar, rabbinic sources place the date of the destruction of the First Temple at 3338 HC (423 BCE)[12] or 3358 HC (403 BCE)).[13]

  

  Illustration from the Nuremberg Chronicle of the destruction of Jerusalem under the Babylonian rule

  The first governor appointed by Babylon was Gedaliah, a native Judahite; he encouraged the many Jews who had fled to surrounding countries such as Moab, Ammon and Edom to return, and he took steps to return the country to prosperity. Some time later, a surviving member of the royal family assassinated Gedaliah and his Babylonian advisors, prompting many refugees to seek safety in Egypt. By the end of the second decade of the 6th century, in addition to those who remained in Judah, there were significant Jewish communities in Babylon and in Egypt; this was the beginning of the later numerous Jewish communities living permanently outside Judah in the Jewish Diaspora.

  According to the book of Ezra, the Persian Cyrus the Great ended the exile in 538 BCE,[14] the year after he captured Babylon.[15] The exile ended with the return under Zerubbabel the Prince (so-called because he was a descendant of the royal line of David) and Joshua the Priest (a descendant of the line of the former High Priests of the Temple) and their construction of the Second Temple in the period 521–516 BCE.[14]

  Archaeological and other non-Biblical evidence[edit]

  Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Jerusalem, his capture of King Jeconiah, his appointment of Zedekiah in his place, and the plundering of the city in 597 BCE are corroborated by a passage in the Babylonian Chronicles:[16]:293

  In the seventh year, in the month of Kislev, the king of Akkad mustered his troops, marched to the Hatti-land, and encamped against the City of Judah and on the ninth day of the month of Adar he seized the city and captured the king. He appointed there a king of his own choice and taking heavy tribute brought it back to Babylon.

  Jehoiachin's Rations Tablets, describing ration orders for a captive King of Judah, identified with King Jeconiah, have been discovered during excavations in Babylon, in the royal archives of Nebuchadnezzar.[17][18] One of the tablets refers to food rations for "Ya’u-kīnu, king of the land of Yahudu" and five royal princes, his sons.[19]

  Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian forces returned in 588/586 BCE and rampaged through Judah, leaving clear archaeological evidence of destruction in many towns and settlements there.[16]:294 Clay ostraca from this period, referred to as the Lachish letters, were discovered during excavations; one, which was probably written to the commander at Lachish from an outlying base, describes how the signal fires from nearby towns were disappearing: "And may (my lord) be apprised that we are watching for the fire signals of Lachish according to all the signs which my lord has given, because we cannot see Azeqah."[20] Archaeological finds from Jerusalem testify that virtually the whole city within the walls was burnt to rubble in 587 BCE and utterly destroyed.[16]:295

  Archaeological excavations and surveys have enabled the population of Judah before the Babylonian destruction to be calculated with a high degree of confidence to have been approximately 75,000. Taking the different biblical numbers of exiles at their highest, 20,000, this would mean that at most 25% of the population had been deported to Babylon, with the remaining 75% staying in Judah.[16]:306 Although Jerusalem was destroyed and depopulated, with large parts of the city remaining in ruins for 150 years, numerous other settlements in Judah continued to be inhabited, with no signs of disruption visible in archaeological studies.[16]:307

  The Cyrus Cylinder, an ancient tablet on which is written a declaration in the name of Cyrus referring to restoration of temples and repatriation of exiled peoples, has often been taken as corroboration of the authenticity of the biblical decrees attributed to Cyrus,[21] but other scholars point out that the cylinder's text is specific to Babylon and Mesopotamia and makes no mention of Judah or Jerusalem.[21] Professor Lester L. Grabbe asserted that the "alleged decree of Cyrus" regarding Judah, "cannot be considered authentic", but that there was a "general policy of allowing deportees to return and to re-establish cult sites". He also stated that archaeology suggests that the return was a "trickle" taking place over decades, rather than a single event.[22]
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  168

  Awesome Video on debunking 1914!!!!! Follow it carefully to the end!!

  by Beth Sarim in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i don't know if anyone has stumbled across this video, but it just blew may away.

  omg!!!

  just goes to show why in dubland they adhere to the 2 witness rule so adamantly and are so anal about it.

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  Mr.Finkelstein

  Scholar the only reason you reiterate the WTS doctrines is because your corrupt and intellectually dishonest just like the novice bible scholars who ran the WTS.

  Your nothing more than a low level bible scholar who set yourself about to back the JWS doctrines no matter what.

  If you think we cant see through your pretentiousness and phony bible scholarship your wrong.
  
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  9

  JW vs. Mormon with regards to homosexuality

  by Downtowner in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i find it ironic that jw.org publishes an article about homosexuality on the day i received july 2020 issue if the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints magazine "ensign" which also has an article on same-sex attraction.

  .

  regardless, the lds article comes across as more caring than the jw article although in the end members in good standing cannot act upon their same-sex attraction in either religion..

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  Mr.Finkelstein

  Yes good clarification fulltimestudent
  
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  168

  Awesome Video on debunking 1914!!!!! Follow it carefully to the end!!

  by Beth Sarim in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i don't know if anyone has stumbled across this video, but it just blew may away.

  omg!!!

  just goes to show why in dubland they adhere to the 2 witness rule so adamantly and are so anal about it.

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  Mr.Finkelstein

  Scholar was the first person in the world of academia

  If there is any indication of this guy being full of shit this is it. .

  Full of shit and arrogant, typical JW syndrome.
  

  The WTS GB heads probably never heard of the guy and I suspect he's in a mental institute somewhere in Australia.

  This problem with the WTS use of Jerusalem's destruction in 607 was brought on by themselves, what they should have done is stated Daniel's dream of annexation over Jerusalem/Judea was concurrently 70 years, that would have held up itself in evidence and history.

  Twisting history is not an honest and viable means to build an image of truthfulness and respect.
  
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  45

  Rolf Furuli Disfellowshipped Last Week

  by Sea Breeze in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  well known norway elder and watchtower doctrine apologist, (rolf furuli) was disfellowshipped a few days ago for the crime of expressing opinions contrary to some watchtower dictates.. like wt leadership in the past, they have no problem eating their own..

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  Mr.Finkelstein

  Rolf left the JWS organization for the truth , how ironic .

  It seems his conscience couldn't handle the false apostate doctrines of the WTS anymore.
  

  As time progresses I think this will happen more to practicing JWS, CO's elders etc.

  No doubt the false doctrines of the WTS/JWS assisted in expanding the organization worldwide operating as a religious publishing house but those doctrines were not scripturaly supported in how to preach and teach the new Kingdom order.
  
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  9

  JW vs. Mormon with regards to homosexuality

  by Downtowner in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i find it ironic that jw.org publishes an article about homosexuality on the day i received july 2020 issue if the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints magazine "ensign" which also has an article on same-sex attraction.

  .

  regardless, the lds article comes across as more caring than the jw article although in the end members in good standing cannot act upon their same-sex attraction in either religion..

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  Mr.Finkelstein

  Science can explain things where ignorance cant.
  

  The ancients were not fully knowledgeable about huamn sexuality , they saw homosexuality as a detestable sin not something inherently biological.
  
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  168

  Awesome Video on debunking 1914!!!!! Follow it carefully to the end!!

  by Beth Sarim in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i don't know if anyone has stumbled across this video, but it just blew may away.

  omg!!!

  just goes to show why in dubland they adhere to the 2 witness rule so adamantly and are so anal about it.

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  Mr.Finkelstein

  Lets not forget the WTS/IBSA set 1914 first through Pyramidology via C T Russell.

  This doctrinal dating was something going back to the late 1800's,
  

  Christ's return was previously dated by these men in 1874, they wrong about that date as well, but it too was seen as something saleable to the public.
  
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  117

  I’m Seeing Some Trump Fatigue Out There

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i’ve heard from a few trump voters that they are getting tired of the whole trump thing.

  one person yesterday said he lies.

  another person said she hears from her clients in her business that the constant drama and push back from all sides against trump is fatiguing.. i remind people that before this worldwide pandemic, we had the best numbers in jobs.

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  Mr.Finkelstein

  I think the two most damaging events of Trump's time in office will be the impeachment and the handling of the Covid virus.
  
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  168

  Awesome Video on debunking 1914!!!!! Follow it carefully to the end!!

  by Beth Sarim in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i don't know if anyone has stumbled across this video, but it just blew may away.

  omg!!!

  just goes to show why in dubland they adhere to the 2 witness rule so adamantly and are so anal about it.

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  Mr.Finkelstein

  I have to admit Scholar you have courage, determination and spunk to come to this forum and fight for the JWS doctrines.

  I respect that