Posts by rocketman

please find the bibliography worked out for quotes 38-51, covering the heading "what about human evolution".. interesting is that many quotes are from the [u]preface[/u] of books, where the authors honestly explain the difficulties and assumptions related to evolutionary science.. [b]what about human evolution?[/b].

rocketman

Good research DS. Obviously, the WTS has learned nothing about honest writing since the release of the Creation book.

27

JWs District Convention 2010 Drawn Closer to Jehovah. My reflections

by onemore in

jw
friends

september will mark my first year out of the watch towers darkness (pun intended).

i embarked on my full blown search for truth about the truth in april 2009, and by september of that same year i was convinced the organization was no different than any other religion; but i was wrong again.

because if there were like any other christian denomination, such as the baptists, methodists, presbyterians, lutherans, etc...it would have been a lot easier to endure sitting in their meetings, listening to their rhetoric, and engaging in some of their activities.

rocketman

If it's a case of "obviously", why did it take the WTS nearly 100 years to figure it out?

28

"It seems to me you folks are worshiping the teapot instead of drinking the tea."

by BabaYaga in

a friend just shared this quote with me.

he read it in "pass the jelly; tales of ordinary enlightenment" by gary crowley, in which the narrator makes witty zen observations as he wanders through his day.

while having a discussion with some jehovah's witnesses who came to his door, he tells them, "it seems to me you folks are worshiping the teapot instead of drinking the tea.

rocketman

The teapot is merely a vessel which helps get the tea to the drinker's mouth. No one comes home on a cold winter's day and says 'I think I'll heat some water so I can caress the warm teapot and warm myself'. They say 'I'm going to drink some tea'. The object of warmth and comfort is the tea, not the pot.

Hence, I see it like daniel p does. JWs are preoccupied with the vessel - the organization, and not the actual tea - the word of God. The problem with that is they become like the Pharisees, who were guilty of the same thing basically.

25

DC 2010 Release - The Origin of Life and its many misquotes

by Designer Stubble in

i have just started working my way through the new publication the origin of life 5 questions worth asking.

it is completely appalling.

it is at the very most six grade level and just the first references i verified (which most dubs dont do) have been taken out of context, are completely misquoted or in the example of using the encyclopedia britannica a dated version is used rather than the most recent one, to align with what they want to write, rather than aligned with the newest research.. .

rocketman

"Sounds rather different to me!"

Me too Designer Stubble. Looks like they're still taking liberty with quotes just as they did with the Creation book.

19

GENERATION OF 1914 - TIMELINE OF QUOTES

by UnDisfellowshipped in

jw
friends

the watchtower november 1st 1950 issue, page 419:.

the watchtower april 15th 1961 issue, page 236:.

awake!

rocketman

"In line with the above, professor of history Robert Wohl wrote in his book Th Generation of 1914: "A historical generation is not defined by its chronologic limits... It is not a zone of dates."

Where was this quote in prior years? The WTS is the one who turned it into a "zone of dates". Then all of a sudden they decide to quote Mr Wohl because his observation finally suited their purpose. Where was this quote when they were proclaiming that "This Generation" was confined to a 70-80 year period?

And...

"Is anything to be gained, then, by looking for dates or by speculating about the literal lifetime of a "generation"? Far from it!"

This quote from the 1995 article really gets me, just as it did 15 years ago. They basically yell "Far from it!" and yet THEY were the ones who, for so many years, were "looking for dates".

20

As a JW, Did You Pray & Study With Your Spouse?

by mentallyfree31 in

when you were a jw, did you pray regularly with your spouse?

what about a "family study"?.

i was a pioneer and ministerial servant, but praying with somebody was always the most awkward, uncomfortable thing ever.

rocketman

I did pray at dinner, but it often felt awkward.

Then, one time we had Star Trek on, sitting at tray tables, and I accidentally addressed my prayer to Captain Kirk. That pretty much ended the prayer thing for us.

135

The generation changed is explained in the June 15'th WT!

by life is to short in

it is here in writing the new generation change.

on page 5 of the of the wt while talking about the annual meeting report.. "john barr gave the third and final talk.".

"john barr made clear that the gathering wound not continue indefinitely.

rocketman

As we all know, when Jesus spoke the words "this generation will by no means pass away" the people who heard those words were the same people who saw the destruction of Jerusalem 37 years after. It's simple. There's no need for "new light", or "adjustments" in understanding; no need for strange explanations such as 'overlapping lives of the anointed'.

The WTS painted itself into a corner on this teaching (and on the entire 1914 doctrine) and they can't find their way out.

52

Doesn't an 'allegorical' Garden of Eden nullify the need for a Ransom?

by AK - Jeff in

i have noted in the past few months or years that christians, when faced the nearly insurmountable evidence that the garden of eden events are improbable if not impossible [i refer to fossil evidence that supports hominid existence on this planet perhaps millions of years ago, as example] to overcome, that the 'fall back' position is often that the garden of eden account is just allegory, not literal.. but it occurs to me that if it is just allegorical, then there is no specific event to mark the 'fall of man' and 'original sin'.

without that, what purpose is served with the idea of a 'ransom' in which 'the last adam' overcomes the sin of adam in the garden.

why would nt writers refer to the events as if literal if they are just allegory?

rocketman

One possibilty (though admittedly remote) that pops into my mind in regard to this topic:

1. Man evolves to the point where God now holds him accountable - in effect, God used evolution to "create" man, and then deals with a pair of Cro-Magnons named "Adam" and "Eve" when He decides that man is highly enough evolved.

2. Man fails to obey God, hence the "fall".

In this way, the story in Genesis remains allegorical, and yet there is some need for a ransom.

Of course, in this scenario, the ransom is not quite the same as the Biblical ransom.