Topics Started by Island Man

23
Have JWs and other Christians completely missed the point of Matthew 24:4-8?
by Island Man in
1. watchtower
2. bible
many people think those verses are suggesting that the wars, earthquakes, food shortages, etc are all a sign that the end is imminent.

however, a careful examination of the context seems to suggest that jesus was actually forewarning his followers not to draw such a conclusion from such events.

see this interesting article on the subject:.
12
Glaring terminological inexactitudes in this week's Watchtower study farticle!!
by Island Man in
1. watchtower
2. bible
check out the watchtower's erroneous definitions/descriptions of evolution and creationism in paragraphs 2 and 3 respectively on page 7 of the october 15, 2013 watchtower:.

"in its basic form, the teaching of evolution asserts that all life came into existence spontaneously.

"on the other hand, fundamentalists of christendom teach that the universe, including our earth and all life on it, is only a few thousand years old.
1
Who will win The Voice?
by Island Man in
1. social
2. entertainment
my favourite to win is tessanne chin.. secret hideaway:.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3apbcymcg4.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu34s07okgi.
8
The Kingdom Hall as a "holy place": Is it scriptural?
by Island Man in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
jehovah's witnesses implicitly regard kingdom halls as holy places.

both in talks and in literature, the kingdom hall is sometimes described as a "center of pure worship in the community".

kingdom halls are dedicated to jehovah, in immitation of the fact that solomon dedicated the temple to jehovah.
4
Is there really holy spirit at the meetings?
by Island Man in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
jehovah's witnesses teach that holy spirit acts as a remembrancer, enabling a person to remember things he studied in the past on the spur of the moment when he needs it.

jehovah's witnesses pray for holy spirit to direct their meetings and believe that there is holy spirit in operation during their meetings.. but have you noticed how, during a question and answer discussion, the brother on the platform would sometimes forget the names of persons in the audience - persons he knows very well?

you would think that holy spirit would at least enable them to remember the name of someone they have seen and spoken to every week at the meeting for years!.
7
Awake JWs: any ideas on subliminally sharing TTATT?
by Island Man in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
let me share one possible way:.

say you're out in the ministry with another asleep jw and it's your turn to speak to the householder.

you can steer the conversation in such a way that you can talk about the pharisees' unreasonable interpretation of the sabbath law and how it was contrary to what god intended.
14
Have you read C.T. Russell's controversial view of "new light"?
by Island Man in
1. watchtower
2. bible
"if we were following a man undoubtedly it would be different with us; undoubtedly one human idea would contradict another and that which was light one or two or six years ago would be regarded as darkness now: but with god there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning, and so it is with truth; any knowledge or light coming from god must be like its author.

a new view of truth never can contradict a former truth.

new light never extinguishes older light, but adds to it.
29
Are the Gospels real history or myth?
by Island Man in
1. watchtower
2. bible
this lecture by dr. richard carrier will definitely give you something to think about (please note that the video is linked to start about half hour into the video which is when the lecture starts):.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=illdt2xhzw0&feature=player_detailpage#t=1659.

if the timing doesn't work just move the play head to the 27:00 mark.
1
Could the JW Library presentation have been a clever product placement ad?
by Island Man in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
do you think it's possible that the wtbts has/had an advertising contract with the technology giants whose gadgets serve as the platforms for the new jw library?

is it possible that the jw library presentation doubled as a clever product placement ad for those technology firms?

why would an organization that just a few years ago discouraged members from getting too caught up with modern technology now advertise an app in such a way that would entice members who don't have android phones, tablets, windows 8, etc, to go out and buy them so they can use jw library?
8
Could rebaptism present a loophole for exiting without being shunned?
by Island Man in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
this is how i imagine it can work: the baptized jw first gets the elders to acknowledge in written form that his previous baptism was in fact null and void.

* then later, coming close to baptism - preferably, the day of rebaptism - he changes his mind about being rebaptized (maybe he says no or remains silent when the questions are being asked, with this being video recorded).

so legally, he never was a legitimately baptized jw and therefore should not be anounced as "bro.