Posts by Smiles

15

May 2020 Study WT - more convoluted false prophesying

by neat blue dog in

the first two study articles of the latest wt raise the usual sense of urgency with more of the same theological quackery russell would be proud of.. first up, something we've always known, the embarrassing admission that jws think they are the center of the universe:.

even though god’s servants make up only a small portion of the world’s population, they are often at the center of major world events.

because satan and his entire system have one prime objective—conquering those who serve jehovah .

Smiles

Those May 2020 study articles have Maestro Splane written all over them.

The GB still emulate C.T. Russell in some ways with their occasional bizarre charts and convoluted interpretations, but the GB will also disavow Russell whenever convenient.

This is no accident. From time to time the Watch Tower has been known to publish convoluted teachings that overwhelm and exhaust us psychologically and emotionally, which can weaken a mind just enough to cease resistance and concede to the perceived authority. PIMI JWs will not detect this happening to themselves. They have been conditioned to affirm. This is why odd personalities like Splane and other authority figures can so easily influence minds that have already been manipulated to mindlessly affirm.

So when a convoluted interpretation like this one comes along, the PIMI JW will experience a circular reasoning something like this:

Brother Spane is a member of the Governing Body.

The Governing Body are Jesus Christ's spiritual brothers on earth today because Jehovah God anointed them with holy spirit.

Holy spirit helps the Governing Body understand deep spiritual truth.

Brother Splane is explaining deep spiritual truth.

Therefore, I will accept Brother Spane's explanation as truth even though I do not yet fully understand it.

After all, who am I to question Brother Splane? I am not a spirited anointed member of the Governing Body who are Jesus Christ's spiritual brothers on earth today because Jehovah God anointed them with holy spirit.

Holy spirit helps the Governing Body understand deep spiritual truth.

Brother Splane is explaining deep spiritual truth.

Therefore, I will accept Brother Spane's explanation as truth even though I do not yet fully understand it.

After all, who am I to question Brother Splane?

To break this PIMI circular reasoning, one must question Brother Splane.

19

March 2020 Broadcast - Hard Push to Baptism. Why?

by Smiles in

the jw broadcast for march 2020 is a hard push for more baptisms, where mark sanctamonious sanderson makes ready use of the phrase "baptised disciples of jesus" instead of their typical catch phrase "baptised servants of jehovah".

the "jesus message" is somewhat unusual rhetoric for jehovah's witnesses.

why the big push for more baptism?

Smiles

@Dog

Very true. Decades of sidelining Jesus in the Watch Tower doctrines have really diluted Jesus in the minds of PIMI JW adherents. Even today, when listening to the prayers of any JW, particularly at their gatherings, any mention of Jesus is usually only at the end of their prayers and limited to a mechanical sounding "in Jesus' name, Amen" or "in the name of our King and Redeemer, Jesus, Amen." A few will go as far as to say "our High Priest, Jesus, Amen." Rarely in JW prayers will you hear much of anything else beyond that about Jesus, except briefly during the annual spring Memorial season when they really play up the "come to Jesus" message, which in reality is just an annual marketing strategy to get more people to "come to the Kingdom Hall" rather than really "come to Jesus."

And you are right about being eyed with suspicion for overemphasizing Jesus in talks and comments, as if that could be evidence of a JW "leaning toward apostasy." Too much Jesus will trigger red flags in the minds of PIMI JWs.

To outsiders reading this it may sound like crazy "apostate driven lies", but this really happens in local congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses. The JW love bombarding will quickly dry up, replaced by an increasing air of suspicion that often leads to a reduction of special privileges and an unofficial shunning of sorts. All that scandal from a person making a practice of merely emphasizing Jesus more than Jehovah.

This is another reason why some of us are a bit shocked to hear GB members now delivering heavily Jesus-centric messages on the JW Broadcast programs. Many a low level JW have taken flak for doing exactly the same thing. But when the GB or their "helpers" do it to appeal to a wider audience of potential converts, it's ok. Sad part is that PIMI JWs will not detect the hypocrisy, and if it is brought to their attention, the PIMI will defend it.

Similar to when Anthony Morris III was recently caught on video purchasing absurd amounts of hard alcohol on a lazy Sunday morning... If any other JWs had been caught doing that they could expect an impending discussion about notoriety, loss of exemplary status, and loss of privileges. But not so with TOMO3GB, he is still GB gold, maybe even platinum level. Although I was recently informed from a reliable source that Scotchgate was "dealt with internally." But this is for a different topic.

19

March 2020 Broadcast - Hard Push to Baptism. Why?

by Smiles in

the jw broadcast for march 2020 is a hard push for more baptisms, where mark sanctamonious sanderson makes ready use of the phrase "baptised disciples of jesus" instead of their typical catch phrase "baptised servants of jehovah".

the "jesus message" is somewhat unusual rhetoric for jehovah's witnesses.

why the big push for more baptism?

Smiles

@Half banana

It would be stunning if the GB were to ever become that warmly responsive to the low level JW membership masses, but that seems highly unlikely because it suggests the GB would even scrap prohibitive doctrines such as blood refusal and same sex marriage for the simple reason of increasing membership numbers.

The GB has repeatedly taken a stance that their God Jehovah is not primarily concerned with the "numbers", as seen in the account of Noah... only eight persons being saved. Whereas if God were to have been primarily concerned with numbers and subsequently lowered the qualifications for salvation, greater numbers would have been saved from the flood of Noah's day. M. Stephen Lett has been a front man for that JW logic.

The GB has always been crafty, and will rarely depart from the JW status quo unless caught in a corner forcing their hand, as seen in their recent modifications to the 1914 generation doctrine, their acceptance of younger emblem partakers, and allowing women to be involved with consoling victims of sexual abuse.

There must be some other motivation for their shift to more Jesus and more water dunking. As suggested by you @Halfbanana and @Alanv, one possible motivation may be to compensate for embarringly sluggish statistics in other categories by ramping up the baptism numbers among children and niche under-educated populations.

Another motivation of the GB could be to appear as a more mainstream denomination of Christendom for legal advantages.

Or it may be just another WT attempt to rebrand itself while keeping within it's own tight doctrinal parameters, with the hope that dangling Jesus out there alittle more than usual may appeal to a wider demographic of potential converts.

15

Judaeo Christian religious practices may have actually come from ancient Egyptian religoius beliefs and practices

by Finkelstein in

under close investigation of ancient middle eastern civilizations and their religoius beliefs and practices, there appears to be a connecting commonality derived from astronomical mythological beliefs.

.

as shown through the documentary zeitgeist it would appear that these ancient civilizations plagiarized mythological beliefs from an original source to use for their own individual means and purpose, the ancient egyptian mythological practices being the originating source.. the documentary zeitgeist brings forth some interesting thoughts.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9ywr5tcjae.

Smiles

So, Moses and Aaron may have borrowed some of their ideas from their Egyptian observations... combining concepts?

ISis, RA, ELohim = ISRAEL

19

March 2020 Broadcast - Hard Push to Baptism. Why?

by Smiles in

the jw broadcast for march 2020 is a hard push for more baptisms, where mark sanctamonious sanderson makes ready use of the phrase "baptised disciples of jesus" instead of their typical catch phrase "baptised servants of jehovah".

the "jesus message" is somewhat unusual rhetoric for jehovah's witnesses.

why the big push for more baptism?

Smiles

Yes, same as always, but now adding more water & Jesus to their recipe, which is suspicious.

19

March 2020 Broadcast - Hard Push to Baptism. Why?

by Smiles in

the jw broadcast for march 2020 is a hard push for more baptisms, where mark sanctamonious sanderson makes ready use of the phrase "baptised disciples of jesus" instead of their typical catch phrase "baptised servants of jehovah".

the "jesus message" is somewhat unusual rhetoric for jehovah's witnesses.

why the big push for more baptism?

Smiles

@alanv

Good point! Definitely harder, for some even impossible, to exit Watch Tower after JW baptism.

@BluesBrother

Sanderson's use of the theme 'come to Jesus by baptism' was not the typical casual use of the topic when we compare the frequency and intensity of its use over recent years. This appears to be another part of a strategic rebranding of the JW product slanting more toward a Jesus/baptism centered message. The real underlying core message, of course, remains the same: 'Prove your loyalty to Watch Tower rules, or be dead forever', but now more candy coated with Jesus. Call it, Flavor-Aid...

2020 JW Service Year Text is:

"Go, therefore, and make disciples..., baptizing them."

May 2020 Study Edition:

"Daniel says that the survivors will have their names "written down in the book." (Dan. 12:1) How do we get our names in that book? We must give clear evidence that we have faith in Jesus, the Lamb of God. (John 1:29) We need to get baptized... Now is the time to build trust in Jehovah and his organization of loyal servants."

2016 saw the rebranding of all JW midweek meetings merged and renamed as "Christian Life and Ministry Meeting" so as to appear more Christian.

Individual members of the Watch Tower governing body have been observed (and recorded) lecturing audiences with an unusually forceful push toward baptism, especially baptism of children, as John Cedars' recently blogged an assortment of evidence (which includes recordings of governing body members) that indicates the governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses is deliberately leading a strategic campaign for more baptism entrapment:

Link: John Cedars' Blog: Baptism Entrapment

They celebrate the baptism commitment of naive minor children

Edited: to attach Cedars link

19

March 2020 Broadcast - Hard Push to Baptism. Why?

by Smiles in

the jw broadcast for march 2020 is a hard push for more baptisms, where mark sanctamonious sanderson makes ready use of the phrase "baptised disciples of jesus" instead of their typical catch phrase "baptised servants of jehovah".

the "jesus message" is somewhat unusual rhetoric for jehovah's witnesses.

why the big push for more baptism?

Smiles

@waton

Dog makes a good point.. Jesus sells cookies better Jehovah.

So yes, Watch Tower will most certainly compromise and begin marketing more "in the name of the Son", if that's what it takes to keep their Titanic corporation afloat.

Mr. D. Mark Sanderson is wise to promote the Come to Jesus Kool-Aid because as the youngest member of the Watch Tower governing body, he will likely be standing at the helm when the water rises ear deep and the all-hands-on-deck siren wails for the one last time. Sanderson has proven that he will do whatever it takes... that's how he got to where he is today at such a comparatively young age. Who was sent overseas to risk arrest by decrying the unfavorable verdict from their King of the North...

Another reason Watch Tower may be throttling up the Jesus jargon is to appear more mainstream and less extremist. Watch Tower obviously does not like having its "land of decoration" confiscated for extremism. So the Watch Tower bottom line is seeing itself forced to declare more Jesus. Theocratic warfare.

19

March 2020 Broadcast - Hard Push to Baptism. Why?

by Smiles in

the jw broadcast for march 2020 is a hard push for more baptisms, where mark sanctamonious sanderson makes ready use of the phrase "baptised disciples of jesus" instead of their typical catch phrase "baptised servants of jehovah".

the "jesus message" is somewhat unusual rhetoric for jehovah's witnesses.

why the big push for more baptism?

Smiles

The JW Broadcast for March 2020 is a hard push for more baptisms, where Mark Sanctamonious Sanderson makes ready use of the phrase "baptised disciples of Jesus" instead of their typical catch phrase "baptised servants of Jehovah". The "Jesus message" is somewhat unusual rhetoric for Jehovah's Witnesses.

Why the big push for more baptism?
Why this shift to a more mainstream evangelical tone of "get baptised for Jesus" instead of their usual "symbolize your dedication to Jehovah"?

Is this push for more baptisms a result to revive slowing Watch Tower momentum? Or is this Christendom-like baptism revival simply proving to be a more effective tactic in attracting well-meaning naive people and quickly hoarding them into the legal contract of baptism while they are still ignorant of Watch Tower corporate evil that loves them?

The broadcast features an interview with "R.P." Johnson, an elderly 4th generation JW who is now a "reassigned" ex-Bethelite still clinging to the stereotypical PIMI JW drone mentality.

"R.P." has always been the classic Watch Tower poster boy, one that definitely drank the Kool-Aid.... another textbook example of what Watch Tower wants to create with anyone naive enough to consent to its corporate baptism.

30

May WT study edition: full of king of North and South / Rusia

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

jw.org is on collision course with russia.

the may wt study edition is full of prophesy related to the time of the end and what we have read so much in isaiah and jeremia bookstudy publications.. they found their enemy again.

jw.org needs enemy's to exist.

Smiles

Heavy use of fear inducing manipulative propaganda throughout those study articles in that May 2020 issue of Watchtower, which gradually lead readers back to the main objective of Watch Tower... CONTROL... as simply stated in paragraphs 18 and 19 of the concluding study article:

18

"We need to get baptized in symbol of our dedication to God."

19

"Now is the time to build trust in Jehovah and his organization of loyal servants."

Undertones there being: 'Submit and dedicate yourself to the Watch Tower corporation by maintaining strict loyalty to its organization of representatives, or your name will not be written down in God's book of life!'

4

Example of how WTBTS pervert their Greek translation

by The Fall Guy in

matthew 18:17 says that the christian congregation* was to be informed of an unrepentant sinner & their sin.

confirmation of this directive was given by paul to timothy.

(1 timothy 5:20).

Smiles

@ The Fall Guy: Good catch!

The Greek noun ekklhsia/ekklesia/ecclesia in its Biblical context, is indisputably understood by scholars across the spectrum. The word refers to a group called out together, a congregation or assembly of various size, from a small group of Christians meeting at a private home (Ro 16:5) to the collective members of the Christian "church" (1Co 12:28) Watch Tower well knows this, and has even published teaching to those same points.

So, it is a real leap for Watch Tower writers to imply that Jesus' words at St. Matthew 18:17 limit judicial authority and responsiblity to an elite few elder men within the larger ekklesia, because the Greek expressions for elders/older men/overseers are entirely different Greek nouns which do not appear anywhere in the context of that verse, but Watch Tower teaching, such as page 151 of Jesus - The Way, implies otherwise.

Watch Tower will defend its application of that verse by extrapolating a literal rendition of the Greek roots of ekklesia... "ek, meaning "out," and kaleo, meaning "call". Hence, it pertains to a group of persons called out or called together, either officially or unofficially." That is a quote from Watch Tower's book Insight volume 1, page 496. This is interpreted by Watch Tower to support a small group of appointed elder men being "called out" or "called together" from within the congregation (ekklesia) to exercise exclusive judicial authority over individual members of the same church. By design, that power structure is what then gives them a "scriptural basis" for excommunication by tribunal. Without this structure of hierarchy, such judicial decisions would be, by an unbiased reading of 18:17, the product of an essentially democratic process governed by the collective members of a congregation, which obviously would undermine the hierarchy establishment designed by Watch Tower to facilitate its policies of control and excommunication.