Posts by Island Man

21

News from the 2019 Annual Meeting

by RubaDub in

the annual meeting (2019) is happening as i am posting this.. any comments yet or information from what is being presented?.

rub a dub.

Island Man

Speculations of what this year's meeting will be like from a P[O/I]MI website:

https://rmovideo.blogspot.com/2019/06/2019-annual-meeting-of-jw-date-speculations-updates-new-provisions-releases.html

52

it has been mentioned before but since we have been discussing environmental issues on another thread, i thought it might be timely to discuss rev 11:18 which has recently become a popular text for those christians concerned about environmental threats of pollution and climate change.

is this passage being interpreted correctly?

did the writer somehow anticipate the modern environmental situation, or did he intend something more in keeping with the bible's general concerns of morality and sin?.

Island Man

I concur. It's ridiculous to think the author was referring only to or especially to the ruination of the physical natural environment. The context of the statement suggest a very broad meaning. Why would the author mention God rewarding all God's servants and those who fear his name, and then turn around mention only polluters of the environment facing adverse judgment? Makes no sense. Those "ruining the earth" must refer to all sinners.

You mentioned Genesis 6 where it says the "earth was ruined" in the sight of God. I believe the author of Revelation 11:18 chose this particular wording to deliberately allude to that verse back in Genesis 6 as if to say that the wickedness at the end would be as the wickedness when God brought to flood; and the slaughter of the wicked will likewise be great as with the flood. 2 Peter does the same kind of thing. In fact, throughout Revelation the author alludes to passages in the OT.

25

Political Correctness and Censorship / Banning Books

by TerryWalstrom in

jw
friends

banned books?censorship?.

let’s say you live in a land where the rule is: you can’t offend anyone.okay, fair enough.

let’s take a look at what follows (implicit in this rule).. if you are speaking to 10 people, is it okay to offend 1 in 10?

Island Man

Only provable lies should be censored. Provably factual claims should not be censored. unprovable or disprovable subjective beliefs and opinions should not be censored - to the extent that they are being presented as belief and opinion and not as fact.

For example, I should not be able to advertise a homeopathic product as being an effective, curative treatment for cancer and giving all manner of provably false medical claims to back my advertisement. That should be illegal.

But I should be able to say that I believe that taking this product will cure cancer without presenting any false factoids to support my belief.

Here's why free speech, in the context of permitting the dissemination of offensive beliefs and opinions is good: The offensive beliefs and opinions get to be scrutinized and criticized with facts and logic, thus exposing them as being foolish or false. In such an environment, it is near impossible for tyrants to rise and mislead the masses and blinding the collective mind and conscience by silencing dissenters.

On the other hand, censoring information just because it's offensive - that's equivalent to banning a medical treatment just because it has unpleasant side effects, regardless of how effective the treatment is and regardless of how harmless the side effects are. What happens when a truthful and beneficial statement is banned because it is offensive because the offended is indoctrinated into a twisted and harmful mindset? The beneficial information that can free the indoctrinated is suppressed and the twisted, harmful mindset persists to the further detriment of society!

So permitting free speech creates an egalitarian, self-correcting environment where survival of the fittest ideas - fittest to reality - pertains, with ideas being vetted, challenged and rejected or accepted by the collective judgement of a plurality of diverse minds.

Censorship creates dictatorial environment where survival of the ideas of those with power, pertains. The validity of an idea is easily relegated to lesser importance than the preferences of those in power.

14

Mark 13: 1-8 ...Not a composite sign/ two-fold prophecy scripture

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

this brother starts off with reading the following scriptures from the book of mark 13:1-8.

3 while he was sitting on the mount of olives across from the temple, peter, james, john, and andrew asked him privately, 4 “tell us, when will these things happen?

and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?”.

Island Man

It's obvious that the account was referring to events that would happen around the time of the destruction of the temple - within "[that] generation" just as Jesus said. The Great Tribulation can have only one fulfilment because it is described as tribulation 'such as has not occurred before, nor will occur again.'

Another thing: the wars, food shortages, earthquakes - these are not part of a composite sign. Jesus was actually telling his followers to not view them as a sign - that they do not mean the end is imminent. Watchtower is actually doing exactly what Jesus was telling his followers not to do!

In this same synoptic gospel account, Jesus warns his followers against believing and following after false prophets who would come in his name and claim the time is at hand. Think about this: If the food shortages, earthquakes, wars, etc were truly a sign that the time is at hand then why are those prophets wrong for making such proclamations? Why is Jesus discrediting them? Answer: Because both the false prophets and the bad world conditions are wrong in their message that the end is at hand. Jesus was telling his follower: 'don't be misled by world conditions and don't be misled by false prophets'.

56

Things you will never hear a good Jehovah’s Witness say (to another Jehovah’s Witness)

by hoser in

i’ll start it off.

boy did we get drunk last night.

Island Man

Elder to publisher: "Bro. Pioneer we're concerned that you're not devoting any time to assisting the poor and needy in shelters or soup kitchens."

27

2018 Annual Meeting

by EyesOpenHeartBroken in

does anybody have any word on the 2018 annual meeting?

i assume something new will be rolled out, since they are having all the congregations do special weekend streaming.. my guess is that there will be some major "new light" concerning the memorial, partaking, anointed, etc.

i would guess that they will say all baptized believers should partake.

Island Man

Bumping this thread because I think it's timely.

25

Thought Provoking Question to a JW?

by Solzhenitsyn in

did jesus ever utter the name jehovah?.

and if he didn't what are the implications?

nwt answers don't count but feel free to use the kingdom interlinear.

Island Man

There's no record of Jesus uttering the divine name in any Greek manuscript. Jesus always referred to God as "Father" and "God". When he quoted OT passages that use the divine name in Hebrew, he - and the NT writers - quoted from the Greek Septuagint and the Greek Septuagint of the day used "Kyrios" ("Lord") in place of the divine name. This is why the divine name is totally absent from the NT. It was never in there to begin with because common use of the divine name had ceased by the first century and the people were using the Greek Septuagint which substitutes "Lord" in place of the divine name.

John 17:26 isn't a reference to declaring the appellation "Jehovah"/"Yahweh"/The tetragrammaton. Rather, it is a reference to declaring God's character or reputation. Jesus made God's character or reputation known to the people through his word and deed. This is what it meant by him making God's name known. There are many references to "name" in the NT that refer, not to God's appellation, but to his character or reputation. Such as the phrase - "a people for his name" which means a people whose way of life is befitting of the character of God; a people who uphold God's reputation instead of bringing reproach on him; a people who are holy just as God is holy; etc.

81

How Long Before They Introduce Tithing?

by pale.emperor in

when i was a full-on believing jw i had an obsessive fascination with mormonism.

i read, studied and watched their propaganda with strange interest as well as their apostate mormon books.

i have to say, they have a good scam going claiming that "the lord reintroduced tithing" in the modern age.

Island Man

How long before they introduce tithing?

Watchtower annual meeting is only 11 days away...

89

Is Jesus Christ, Jehovah God? (Not the Father, but Equal to the Father)

by JW Answers in

jehovah's witnesses,is jesus christ, jehovah god?

(not the father, but equal to the father)what if the watchtower told you about god in a false way, and yet the bible taught you about god in his true character, how would you respond?could it be true, that the watchtower have been leading you up the garden path, describing god in a way that the bible does not describe?

please watch my latest video to help you to see how the bible describes the lord jesus christ, and also within my video, i explain from the new world translation how the bible which the jws use, also describes jesus as jehovah god.

Island Man

I think it's pretty clear from the NT that Jesus was an object of worship for 1st century Christians. At the same time it's also clear that Jesus was considered as being inferior/subordinate to the Father. There is no trinity described in the NT.

I think a major problem is discerning different usages of the word god. Sometimes god is used to mean God the Father. Other times it's used to simply mean having the quality of great power or authority without intending to mean equal with the Father.

JWs are on one extreme, minimizing Jesus' status while Trinitarians are on the opposite extreme overstating his status. The "truth" (what the NT reveals) is somewhere in the middle and, as Cofty pointed out, may not be all that consistent.

37

Why are they announcing 2019 conventions so early?

by Richard_I in

jw
friends

i was just told there will be international conventions in canada in 2019. .

so i looked at jw.org and i see that there's a whole bunch of conventions now listed on the site for 2019.. isn't this odd?

normally we were told the location of conventions during the first week of january.. did they realize there was less in attendance in the 2018 conventions, and want to give ppl more time to make travel arrangements??

Island Man

I didn't find that odd. What I did find odd was them giving memorial dates all the way up to 2021. It's like they're worried the leadership might not be around to issue memorial dates in a few years, so they have to give the dates early so JWs will know when to celebrate it even without them around to tell them?