Posts by Island Man

14

Watchtower's unscriptual boasting about works

by Diogenesister in

nothing big here, just a little musing on this scripture at ephesians 2.8-9 that definately states that only faith saves, not works, in case men start to boast about their amazing works.

"8for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of god, 9not of works, that no one would boast.

well my word, i would definately say witnesses *do nothing but boast*, especially now on jw broadcast.

Island Man

Another text to add to the list is Luke 18:9-14. Watchtower and JWs often behave exactly like the pharisee in that parable.

25

The "Jesus is Michael" teaching soon to go?

by Island Man in

could the teaching that jesus is michael the archangel, be soon to be discarded?

first of all, watchtower is big on image and this is one of those teachings that paint the jw religion as being rather kooky and heretical.

secondly, this teaching is not an original watchtower teaching but one they inherited from their second adventist ancestry.

Island Man

"Does a single JW still care about this doctrine?"

Umm.. that's kinda my point. JWs don't care much about this teaching - and yet it's harming the image of the organization - not in the eyes of JWs but in the eyes of potential recruits outside the org. That makes it a "costly" teaching which is earning them very little or no returns.

25

The "Jesus is Michael" teaching soon to go?

by Island Man in

could the teaching that jesus is michael the archangel, be soon to be discarded?

first of all, watchtower is big on image and this is one of those teachings that paint the jw religion as being rather kooky and heretical.

secondly, this teaching is not an original watchtower teaching but one they inherited from their second adventist ancestry.

Island Man

"What brought that question to your mind all of a sudden?"

I've noticed that many never-JW critics of Watchtower bring up this teaching to highlight just how crazy and heretical JW doctrine is. There is even a relatively famous youtube cartoon clip on JWs that feature that teaching to point out the craziness of JW teachings.

So it's a teaching that brings the organization a fair amount of ridicule and negative publicity among other christians. Balance that against the fact that it's not a very core teaching, and it's easy to conclude that it's a teaching that they can do better without, and is therefore likely to be discarded.

25

The "Jesus is Michael" teaching soon to go?

by Island Man in

could the teaching that jesus is michael the archangel, be soon to be discarded?

first of all, watchtower is big on image and this is one of those teachings that paint the jw religion as being rather kooky and heretical.

secondly, this teaching is not an original watchtower teaching but one they inherited from their second adventist ancestry.

Island Man

"Way too many questions to answer then with Rev. 12:7"

Those are leading questions concocted by Watchtower for the purpose of supporting their claim that Jesus is Michael. Those questions don't pose a problem for other Christian groups.

33

Beautiful new kingdom song

by slimboyfat in

has anyone noticed this new song?

i think it's absolutely beautiful.

it's got a film score quality about it, with depth and feeling.

Island Man

I have stated before that it sounds like a score for an epic movie like a Lord of the Rings type movie. I have to admit I like the music too myself and I'm not ashamed to say it. Just because an organization is corrupt, manipulative, exploitative, deceitful, etc doesn't mean you have to be ashamed to admit that one of their songs has good music. Saying you like one of their songs doesn't mean you're now endorsing the organization or its practices. Let's not be petty. Let's not fall into the trap of stigmatizing where you just condemn everything that comes from a particular source as bad or distasteful just because it's a source you disapprove of. True maturity means you're big enough to acknowledge whatever little good there may be that comes from your worst or most hated enemy.

Just to illustrate my point, I'll tell you a little story about a Caribbean nation called Grenada. Remember the US military operation in Grenada in 1983? In the late 1970s there was a coup there and a Marxist regime started a communist revolution that ultimately imploded violently in 1983. But during the time of the Marxist regime, Grenada became like a kind of protege of Cuba and to a lesser extent, the USSR. Lots of Grenadians were able to go to Cuban universities to study to become doctors, engineers, etc. And lots of skilled technicians from Cuba came to Grenada to help set up various industries like soap making and canning etc. They even started building the Island's first international airport which Reagan was worried would be used for military purposes. So there was a fair amount of technological and industrial investments made by Cuba and USSR to ensure that the Grenada revolution succeeded. Of course Cuba and USSR no doubt saw some strategic benefit for themselves in having Grenada as an ally due to its location.

But of course, living under a Marxist regime during the height of the cold war was not all good. There were abuses like imprisoning, torturing and sometimes killing dissenters or those suspected of covertly working with the CIA to undermine or topple the revolution. By late 1983 a festering division within the Marxist regime resulted in one of the two "joint leaders" being placed under house arrest by the other. Later he was freed by a large crowd of his protesting supporters who brought him to one of the forts which housed a large cache of arms and ammunition. A standoff ensued which lasted a few hours then culminated in a mini-massacre when APCs went up to the fort and someone fired the first shot igniting a firefight. Shortly after the firefight ended the freed "joint leader" and cabinet colleagues loyal to his faction were captured, tried and executed by firing squad on that fort. The other faction instituted a curfew and several days later US troops came in.

By this time you can imagine that the whole experience with Marxism was quite traumatizing to many Grenadians. Many of them had lost loved ones during the firefight. And the "joint leader" that was executed was the one that was more popular, charismatic and beloved by the people. Add to all of this the prevailing anti-communist sentiment that loomed at that time during the height of the cold war and you can imagine that many Grenadians developed a bit of an aversion to communism and this brings me to the salient point: What happened to all the factories and equipment that Cuba and Russia sent to Grenada?

They were stigmatized as being communist and abandoned, discarded, given away, etc. The bad experience they had with the Marxist regime - they stigmatized the factories and the equipment with it. These factories were basically just abandoned and so, industrially speaking, Grenada was no better off after the revolution than they were before. They threw out the baby with the bathwater, so to speak. Fortunately they didn't view the then unfinished international airport the same way. Ironically, the airport that Cubans were working on, and that Reagan was saying would be used for Russian fighter jets, was completed with the help of the very anti-communist, US.

Lesson: Do not stigmatize. Appreciate a spade as being a spade regardless of how you feel about its maker.

25

The "Jesus is Michael" teaching soon to go?

by Island Man in

could the teaching that jesus is michael the archangel, be soon to be discarded?

first of all, watchtower is big on image and this is one of those teachings that paint the jw religion as being rather kooky and heretical.

secondly, this teaching is not an original watchtower teaching but one they inherited from their second adventist ancestry.

Island Man

Could the teaching that Jesus is Michael the archangel, be soon to be discarded?

First of all, Watchtower is big on image and this is one of those teachings that paint the JW religion as being rather kooky and heretical. Secondly, this teaching is not an original Watchtower teaching but one they inherited from their Second Adventist ancestry. SDA's teach the same thing. So dumping this teaching can be spun by Watchtower as them further expunging themselves of the last vestiges of false teachings from christendom, and further marking a distinction between JWs and other groups. Thirdly, it's not a teaching that is critical to the framework of the JW belief system. It is not a linchpin teaching like 1914, but more of an obscure side point. They stand to gain more than they will ever lose, if they dump it. So could this be one of the current JW teachings that will soon be abandoned?

13

Exposing the Core Premise of JW False Teaching

by TerryWalstrom in

poison is at work in any argument with jehovah's witnesses.

this poison has little to do with the beauty of watchtower logic or the tasty morsels of jw reasoning.. the poison is odorless and tasteless and it has absorbed into their core premise: scripture interpretation directed by jehovah.. if you buy into the core premise (somebody possesses a divinely granted access to an infallible source of truth) you are already dead in the water.. that is the deal breaker.

false premises lead always to false conclusions.. stop right here.. the core misrepresentation of christianity solely rests in accepting the bible as the inerrant word of almighty god.

Island Man

If you look up the All Scripture book, at the criteria used to determine the inspiration of Bible books you will notice that the arguments take two or three forms:

1. Book X is inspired because Book Y quotes from it or mentions it.

2. Book Y is inspired because earliest Jewish records list in among the writings that the Jews considered to be scripture.

3. Book Z is inspired because [insert name of famous early Christian apologist] quotes from it and considers it as scripture.

So ultimately the claim of inspiration for the current canon of Bible books rests entirely on putting faith in ancient tradition - faith in men.

13

Exposing the Core Premise of JW False Teaching

by TerryWalstrom in

poison is at work in any argument with jehovah's witnesses.

this poison has little to do with the beauty of watchtower logic or the tasty morsels of jw reasoning.. the poison is odorless and tasteless and it has absorbed into their core premise: scripture interpretation directed by jehovah.. if you buy into the core premise (somebody possesses a divinely granted access to an infallible source of truth) you are already dead in the water.. that is the deal breaker.

false premises lead always to false conclusions.. stop right here.. the core misrepresentation of christianity solely rests in accepting the bible as the inerrant word of almighty god.

Island Man

To make matters even worse, the JWs teach that God allowed his name to be thoroughly expunged from the New Testament without leaving any manuscript evidence testifying to its original inclusion. So JWs foolishly contradict themselves by saying God accurately preserved his Word, while simultaneously saying he allowed apostate christians to expunge his name from the NT. They claim to encourage faith in the Bible while simultaneously undermining faith in its preservation.

77

North Korea threatening to bomb Guam...

by mikeflood in

crazy kim again....could happen?

thoughts?.

Island Man

hothabanero: At any rate the missile sites should just be bombed before they can be launched/completed. A first strike now will save us from Nuclear war down the road.

It's not as simple as that. North Korea is virtually holding South Korea hostage with a gun to its head. They have lots of guns pointed at Seoul and probably enough ammunition to bury the city with bullets and bombs. Any military aggression by the US is likely to be met with a response in the form of North Korea killing hundreds of thousands of citizens of US allies in the region.

There's virtually no way to take out all of NK's military might before they can retaliate. They have lots of secret underground military installations that can't be easily found, let alone reached by bombs.

13

New Instructions?

by FedUpJW in

i may have missed it, but i just heard from a local elder that there are "new" instructions for how the two one day assembly's are to be conducted and handled......fifty-nine pages worth.

he said they will now all be put on the same as the regional conventions.

did i miss that letter/orders from "mother"?

Island Man

If they're switching to smaller gatherings in kingdom halls, then this move could be an attempt to extract more "donations" from JWs. If each cong. had their convention alone in their own hall, then Watchtower can track the convention donations on a per congregation basis instead of a circuit basis. That would put more pressure on the elders of congregations to goad the publishers into donating. Spreading the accountability to each congregation would indirectly increase the pressure on JWs to donate.

Additionally, more money can go to Watchtower as there wouldn't be the expense associated with renting outside facilities.