Posts by robhic

21

Can Science Answer All questions?

by Mecurious? in

i believe that we will eventually know:.

1.for sure wheter their are people/life forms on other planets.

2. what happens when we die .

robhic

Maybe not all but thousands or even hundreds of years ago I doubt that people envisioned things we take for granted today. Same as we might think we'll have all the answers one day. It's a little hard to think about but I expect that knowledge will come exponentially faster and years from now people will not think twice about common things that we would (now) see as "futuristic" or "No way!".

Who, today, thinks twice when a plane goes overhead? Now what do you think Moses thought about air traffic? Today's commonplace is yesterday's "No way!"

Robert

70

Will humanity EVER outgrow God?

by nicolaou in

firstly let me say that i am not trying to offend believers - i was one for most of my life.

nor is this a discussion about whether god/religion is a 'good' or 'bad' thing, that argument will rage forever.

what i'm asking is really a simple question;.

robhic

Yes, as education, scientific research, archeology, etc. expand man's knowledge, I believe that the concept of a being the likes of which a "god" is constructed and believed in for same reasons will erode slowly.

As the previously-held beliefs are shown to be just men's fabrications, then people will (hopefully) start to be a little more discriminating of the things they hold dear strictly because of "faith" which, to me, seems irrational. Comforting to many but not all that rational or reasonable if you stop to examine and think about this stuff. It hit me when I finally read the bible cover-to-cover a few years ago. A dazed disbelief came over me after reading some of the stories. Between constant thoughts of "No way!" and "WTF?!?!" it was a sobering experience.

So many things in the bible are just dumb or concepts that are out-dated for thousands of years. They don't make sense, are generally impossible (Just for starters: one guy killing 7000 soldiers with a donkey's jawbone? I don't think so... ) but they served their purpose. At the time.

What makes me angry is my own complacency (borne of laziness, I must confess...) to just allow myself to be led by these teachings from birth. (I am not a JW but was raised catholic. The example is the same.) My parents and teachers told me it was so -- It must be true, right? I lived most of my life under the impression that all the biblical stuff had to be real because so many people I respected said it. Who was I to question them? But I suppose that is/was the product of their laziness and complacency in just accepting the irrational from people they respected and on and on ad finitum.

As discretion and actual thought will hopefully prevail, I expect a lot of the stuff that makes you go "Hmmmm..." will start to make people think and do some investigating which, again hopefully, will lead to rationality. Then control allowed by fear will be replaced by logic, reality and things being done because they are the right thing to do, not just because 2000 years ago some goat-herders wrote a book...

Robert"

17

Are things really that bad?

by gringojj in

i was just reading a post from someone and it said that the world is a paradise now, we just have to accept it.

it made me think, the jws are always saying how bad things are now and that they are just getting worse.

so im wondering, are things really that bad?

robhic

"The reality is there is SO much GOOD news it isn't worth reporting."

Gary Buss hit the nail on the head. Bad news sells! Good news is good but not as hypnotically attention-riveting as the bad. We're glad the baby is outta the well but it doesn't stay with us as long as the story about the baby being murdered by the escaped pedophile.

Kids doing good (and somewhat unexpectedly) things is a "feel good" moment but look how long coverage of the devastation of the tsunami lasted! And who could look away? Like the saying about the trainwreck that was so horrible but not being able to look away...

Good news is everywhere if you care to look. "IF" being the operative word.

Robert

111

June 6, 2006 Why be worried?

by robhic in

on may 5, 2005 the thought occured to me: it's 05/05/05.

now, next year do you think jws -- and/or all fundamentalist groups, etc -- will be anticipating or freak out on june 6, 2006?

it'll be 06/06/06 or, more diabolically extrapolated (as they do so well...), 666!!!

robhic

On May 5, 2005 the thought occured to me: It's 05/05/05. Now, next year do you think JWs -- and/or all fundamentalist groups, etc -- will be anticipating or freak out on June 6, 2006? It'll be 06/06/06 or, more diabolically extrapolated (as they do so well...), 666!!!

This is certainly not a JW-only issue and I'm sure I am not the first person to think this. What are the thoughts of others here and has anyone even heard a beginning groundswell of anticipation for 06/06/06?

Robert

17

JOB's children celebrating birthdays

by eye 23 in

can anyone give me their view on why the bible says that after job's children celebrated 'their day' he went out and made sacrafices to god in case they had sinned and cursed god in their hearts ?.

the first part is a great talking part especially regarding job being a rightous man but the latter tends to counter act it some how by impling that job thoughts were that birthdays were wrong, in gods eyes.

especially as he did this after every birthday, so i can't really debate that it was one off event that might have encured some wrong doing at one particular party........if you understand what i mean.. thanks for any iput.

robhic

Also add this part:

Job 3:1

After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.

Job 3:2 And Job answered and said:

Job 3:3 Let the day perish wherein I was born, And the night which said, There is a man-child conceived .

Again it seems obvious that "his day" and "the day ... wherein I was born" means the same thing -- his birthday!

How can they try so desperately to deny this simple fact?

Robert

17

JOB's children celebrating birthdays

by eye 23 in

can anyone give me their view on why the bible says that after job's children celebrated 'their day' he went out and made sacrafices to god in case they had sinned and cursed god in their hearts ?.

the first part is a great talking part especially regarding job being a rightous man but the latter tends to counter act it some how by impling that job thoughts were that birthdays were wrong, in gods eyes.

especially as he did this after every birthday, so i can't really debate that it was one off event that might have encured some wrong doing at one particular party........if you understand what i mean.. thanks for any iput.

robhic

I'm certainly no bible scholar but the Job passages just tell me that there is implicit allowance for birthday celebrations. The family invited each other over to celebrate "their day" (which is fairly obvious...) and have a generally good time.

Perhaps Job was just doing a CYA in case any of his kids hadn't been as perfectly perfect as Job himself and he was putting in a good word for the great J-man to not judge his kids too harshly. And he did it on "their day" which sorta made it a present!

I quoted Job 1:4 on a card sent to my JW girlfriend with the message (it was flowers) on the card: "Have a great time on 'YOUR DAY' Job 1:4" None of her JW friends who came to visit (oh yeah, she was in the hospital at the time) made ONE SINGLE MENTION of the card, the present, birthdays or anything. I was just waiting for 'em to say something.

I amuse myself by thinking I won this round. Oh well...

Robert

15

I want to get a different Bible than the NWT. Which version?

by ithinkisee in

.

any suggestions?

i'd like to have several different ones, but what is a fairly good version to start using out of the gate?.

robhic

For a really great electronic option go to

http://www.e-sword.net/

You can download (for FREE!!!) many, many versions of Bible translations. It also allows for comparisons between selected trasnlations in a verse-by-verse format and has a bunch of maps of current and ancient biblical regions. The search features are first-class, also.

All in all, it is one heck of a product -- and you can't beat the price!

4

"Lord" meaning Jesus switched to "Jehovah" in the NWT?

by ithinkisee in

i read somewhere on this board in that past that there were numerous examples in the greek scriptures in the nwt where the society translated "lord" that obviously meant jesus to the name jehovah to avoid problems with "trinity" doctrinal issues.. can someone point me to some research or examples regarding this.

i googled jwd but didn't really come up with anything.. .

ithinkisee

robhic

This might help. From their own writings:

The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures,

1969 , p. 11: THE DIVINE NAME: One of the remarkable facts, not only about the extant manuscripts of the original Greek text, but of many versions, ancient and modern, is the absence of the divine name... [Comments about divine name in OT]...As the Christian Greek Scriptures were an inspired addition and supplement to the sacred Hebrew Scriptures, this sudden disappearance from the Greek text seems inconsistent... (Says who?)

Also:

*** it-2 p. 9 Jehovah *** (Insight on the Scriptures book 2)

In

the Christian Greek Scriptures. In view of this evidence it seems most unusual to find that the extant manuscript copies of the original text of the Christian Greek Scriptures do not contain the divine name in its full form.

The Watchtower March 1, 1991 p. 28:

God's Personal Name

At Luke 4:18, according to the New World Translation, Jesus applied to himself a prophecy in Isaiah, saying: "Jehovah's spirit is upon me." (Isaiah 61:1) Many object to the use of the name Jehovah here. It is, however, just one of the more than 200 places where that name appears in the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, the so-called New Testament. True, no early surviving Greek manuscript of the "New Testament" contains the personal name of God. But the name was included in the New World Translation for sound reasons, not merely on a whim. And others have followed a similar course. In the German language alone, at least 11 versions use "Jehovah" (or the transliteration of the Hebrew, "Yahweh") in the text of the "New Testament," while four translators add the name in parentheses after "Lord." More than 70 German translations use it in footnotes or commentaries.

68

GIVE AN EXAMPLE of the best writing you've ever read

by Terry in

is there one line of prose or poetry that stopped you dead in your tracks and haunted your mind for days on end?

is there a line, a paragraph or a book that feeds your soul and there is no end to its craving?

share it with all of us.

robhic

"Do unto others before they do unto you..."

31

DOES THE BIBLE CONTAIN ANY VALUABLE OR USEFUL FACTS AT ALL???

by Terry in

fact: a statement or assertion of verified information about something that is the case or has happened

i've read the bible many times in many ways with many methods.

but, i don't really see in it any information that contains factual material that benefits anybody.

robhic

God can cure our illness sometimes if it is a need for our salvation not a want. Sometimes adversity can be a blessing in disguise!
God works through scientists and doctors also to help us!

In line one, the word "sometimes" is key. Since sometimes denotes randomness, then mere co-incidence could also be the reason for an event to take place. It could be a random act and is only "spiritually motivated" if you choose to accept that as a reason.

Line two is the same thing. Doctors and scientists work their tails off to learn and help people. Saying a success here or there is a result of divine intervention is not only a slight to the doctors/scientists who actually did the deed but is another example of seeing what you want to see in a situation. It's a matter of perspective: you see god's influence and I see a person who knows his stuff as a professional.

And there were enough exclamation points in that post to fill a Watchtower magazine. Holy cow!