just saw this on cnn .
http://www.cnn.com/2005/showbiz/tv/07/20/obit.doohan.ap/index.html .
he's beamed aboard that great starship in the sky....
Scotty will be missed. He was very funny in Star Trek IV, and I especially like the line in which he tells Spock that Kirk is in a "wee bit of a snit".
Speaking of ST conventions, I was at one where John DeLancie, a/k/a "Q" seemed in, well, in a wee bit of a snit. He didn't seem very pleasant when signing autographs. Well, I guess when you're omnipotent, there's no need to be cheerful.
is it possible that just about everything we say about the jw's on this forum is true, but on the other hand they would be the only true religion that god approves, even though they are imperfect and make errors?
Interesting thread topic and comments. I cannot see how they can be the true religion, for many of the same reasons already mentioned. In addition, they fail by their own criteria. What I mean is that they easily dismiss other religions as untrue often based upon just one or two teachings or practices of the religion. They've often used the logic that 'even just a drop of poison in a glass of water makes the whole glass unfit to drink'. At the very least, they fail miserably by their own criteria.
climbing mount improbable .
http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v12/i1/improbable.asp .
unweaving the rainbow
From what I've read of the Answers In Genesis site, there's a Young Earth Creationism slant to much of what is written there. As far as "unsolved problems" are concerned, we might note two interesting examples of what might be considered "unsolved problems": - In 1783, astronomer John Mitchell predicted the existence of a star so massive that light could not escape its gravity. This projection would be hard to accept because its prediction could not yet be observed. However, over 200 years later, the predicted existence of such massive stars has been confirmed, as the Hubble Space Telescope has amassed evidence of the existence of Black Holes. - The Greek astronomer Democritus predicted in the 4th century BCE that matter was composed of atoms. It took about 2,400 years for man to learn confirm their existence and learn to manipulate them. These examples show that sometimes it takes quite some time for proof of certain theories and predictions to be realized. Simply dismissing such as "unsolved" and thus "proving" something else can be a serious mistake in judgement.
http://www.physorg.com/news5205.html.
prayer doesn't cure the sick, says study .
praying for people who are facing heart surgery does not raise their chances of a cure or of avoiding death, according to an unusual study published this saturday in the british medical weekly the lancet.
The reason for this conclusion is obvious - Jehovah's Witnesses were not involved. God answers only their prayers.
Class
i personally like:.
(matthew 23:13-15 nwt) 13 woe to you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites!
because you shut up the kingdom of the heavens before men; for you yourselves do not go in, neither do you permit those on their way in to go in.
Three good examples. I had often wondered how they could apply such scriptures to Christendom, which usually does not bind heavy loads on its members. Most religions in Christendom make things rather easy for their followers - the exact opposite of what the Pharisees (and the Society) have done.
I'm not sure why, but I've kind of been stuck on Actual Miles, Don Henley's Greatest Hits, this week. I'm not sure if that will extend into the weekend.
I'm trying to learn the lyrics to New York Minute, but Henley swallows words with the best of them. I had to Google the lyrics.
well, yet another awake has arrived giving us all the chance to speculate that .
"jehovah's organization" may be getting "too stupid to live".. this month's jawdropper concerns the article "is astrology the key to your future?".
consider this negative appraisal of astrology:.
The WTS's success rate on predictions is, what, maybe 2%?....If that?
And yes, who really takes astrology seriously these days? I can imagine the incredulous look on householder's faces already when jws come knocking with that issue ready to offer.
whether you think the bible is the word of god or not, one thing is pretty clear: it relates some disturbing stories.
some of those stories can even be termed as sordid.
genesis 34 contains an account of moral degradation that is almost unrivaled (though the story contained in genesis 38 comes close, and judges 19 probably exceeds it) in terms of moral perfidy.. genesis 34 relates the account of the sexual violation of jacob's daughter dinah, followed by the shocking overreaction by her brothers.
Gumby, God and Jacob, in case you haven't heard, suffered from short-term memory loss.
Actually the first name repetition on God's part is evidently simply to confirm the change. Similar examples appear when comparing Gen 21:31 with 26:33 (where Beersheba is apparently named twice, though by different people - Abraham and then Isaac) and again when comparing 28:19 with 35:15 (where Bethel is twice named, both times by Jacob). Also, God reiterated his promise to Abraham on several occasions. Again, short-term memory loss seems like a good explanation, though I'd imagine that these examples might illustrate a literary feature of the book, since Genesis features several different literary devices. It's also God's way, apparently, of emphasizing that he will indeed carry out what he speaks.
As for Genesis 32:30, the common explanation is that Jacob actually wrestled with an angel, and simply used the term God interchangeably, as he did in 48:15 (referring to God as "the Angel who has delivered me from all harm"). Manoah, as recorded at Judges 13, also saw an angel and yet exclaimed in verse 22 "We are doomed to die...We have seen God". Back in Genesis 18, Abraham is having a discussion with one of the three angels that came to him, after two of them departed to Sodom, and refers to the remaining angel by the divine name.
You can buy all that, or simply accept short-term memory loss as the real reason. Sometimes, I'm tempted to do that - it makes such things seem much clearer.
whether you think the bible is the word of god or not, one thing is pretty clear: it relates some disturbing stories.
some of those stories can even be termed as sordid.
genesis 34 contains an account of moral degradation that is almost unrivaled (though the story contained in genesis 38 comes close, and judges 19 probably exceeds it) in terms of moral perfidy.. genesis 34 relates the account of the sexual violation of jacob's daughter dinah, followed by the shocking overreaction by her brothers.
Gumby, I agree - The WTS uses this story to admonish their youth againts "wordly" association. Yet they don't really delve into the details of the account, and use the part of it that suits their own purpose, which they frequently do with Biblical stories.
Meanwhile, Jacob is usually painted with a nice brush despite the fact that his actions (or lack thereof) are clearly questionable. When reading the account of Jacob's life, it becomes clear that he's a deceptive person who often seems to be bartering for advantage, something that his name Jacob and his God-given name Israel imply. Also, he's slow to trust God and seems to worship him only conditionally (Gen 28:20-22) until later in life. Yet these undesirable traits also make Jacob seem more real, more like a flawed human, which we all are. I think such stories would hit closer to home for jws if they weren't constantly looking at these characters with rose-colored glasses.
whether you think the bible is the word of god or not, one thing is pretty clear: it relates some disturbing stories.
some of those stories can even be termed as sordid.
genesis 34 contains an account of moral degradation that is almost unrivaled (though the story contained in genesis 38 comes close, and judges 19 probably exceeds it) in terms of moral perfidy.. genesis 34 relates the account of the sexual violation of jacob's daughter dinah, followed by the shocking overreaction by her brothers.
Good points Leolaia. Looking at the story from the perspectives you presented helps explain some of the rather odd features of it. And yes, it's interesting that God is nowhere mentioned, even though He's mentioned in the last verse of chapter 23 (Jacob sets up an altar and calls is "El Elohe Israel") and in then in 35:1.
Looking at Genesis 49 from the point of view you present helps explain its seemingly uncanny accuracy in detailing not only the inheritences of Jacob's descendants but also their characteristics. For example "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf" (49:27) matches the events in Judges 19-21, and the description of Dan in 49:24 as a "serpent" matches the treachery of the Danites described in Judges 18:27. Even landocked Zebulun was close enough to the Mediterranean to "become a haven for ships" (49:13) and "feast on the abundance of the seas" (Deuteronomy 33:19). While Genesis 49 is of course widely considered prophetic, it's very interesting to look at it from another angle.
