Posts by Euphemism

9

Please Read.

by QCA1 in

jw
friends

on saturday i bought a book called ' the book your church dosen't want you to read'.. on page 217 i came across these words and i quote, one day while i was reading my bible,i made a startling discovery.

after reading 2 kings 19, i flipped a number of pages and read some more.

to my astonishment, i found myself reading the same words.

Euphemism

LOL @ simon.

C'mon, QCA, if you're gonna dig up dirt on the Bible, there's much better stuff than this. I can't believe that the author couldn't get an answer from Bible scholars. Anyone who's even read a book about the history of the bible knows that many of the books are redactions and compilations of separate writings.

Most scholars believe that Isaiah was written by at least two people, probably more. Even if one accepts the idea that the all the prophetic portions were written by one person, however, there would be nothing to prevent him--or more likely, the compiler of his writings--from including a historical narrative from another source in which he figured prominently.

34

Stereotypical ELDERS

by tazmaniac in

jw
friends

a while back we had a fairly sucessful posting history on stereotypical witnesses.

how about stereotypical elders.

i will start the ball rolling with two:.

Euphemism

Brother Intellectual - Perhaps because he went to college before he was a witness, this brother actually has a brain. He is therefore considered by others--and often considers himself--to be an authoritative expert on theology, science, and basically any and every academic discipline. He bestrides the congregation like a colossus; his word is unquestioned. He reads all the WTS publications, and probably has some private doubts, but spouts off elabortate justifications and defenses if anyone else expresses those doubts.

34

Stereotypical ELDERS

by tazmaniac in

jw
friends

a while back we had a fairly sucessful posting history on stereotypical witnesses.

how about stereotypical elders.

i will start the ball rolling with two:.

Euphemism

Okay... did no one here actually have any elders that they liked? Not as elders, I mean... just as people.

34

Stereotypical ELDERS

by tazmaniac in

jw
friends

a while back we had a fairly sucessful posting history on stereotypical witnesses.

how about stereotypical elders.

i will start the ball rolling with two:.

Euphemism

3) Brother Sweet - An old, faithful, wonderful man who couldn't expound on scripture to save his life. He only got appointed because he's paid his dues and it seems a shame not to give him a little reward. His meeting parts are full of either jokes and humor, or long rambling stories and rants... anything so that he doesn't have to actually crack open a Bible. Depending on his level of intelligence and self-esteem, he's either scared of Brother Walking Bible, or hates the guts out of him

15

WHY PRAYING TO JEHOVAH (YAHWEH) IS A WASTE OF TIME!

by Dansk in

jw
friends

the first known mention of yahweh outside the bible is from certain inscriptions at khirbet al-qom and kuntillet ajrud, which refer to him by this name, dating from the period of iron age ii (850 bce - mid 9th century).

the kuntillet ajrud inscription is significant as it shows yahweh was not a monotheistic god at this time, as the inscription refers to "yahweh and his asherah" (as his goddess).

asherah, is of course the goddess of the groves, whose sacred trees were destroyed by order of josiah, just before the fall of jerusalem to the egyptians (in which josiah was killed) and immediately after to the babylonian forces of nebuchadnezzar.

Euphemism

I think we have to distinguish the question of when monotheism originated from when it became prevalent in Israel.

According to Josh 24:15, many of the early Hebrews were polytheists. Throughout the books of Judges, 1 Kings, and 2 Kings, one finds that polytheism is almost impossible to eradicate in Israel, despite the efforts of various kings, priests, and prophets.

So no doubt about it, many people worshipped Yahweh as one of many Gods. That does not, however, disprove that Yahweh revealed himself to the early Hebrews as the one and only God, and that there did exist a monotheistic cult throughout Hebrew history.

Just to take one example, why do you believe that Josiah destoyed the sacred trees of Asherah, if not in a campaign against polytheism? That was the period of the first temple, and yet you state that monotheism wasn't practiced until the second.

It's true, of course, that monotheism didn't become nationally and permanently dominant in Israel until the Second Temple period. The Jews believed that the main reason they had been exiled to Babylon was because of their polytheistic idolatry; and so while post-exilic Judah soon returned the the moral conditions prevalent before the exile, polytheism did not take hold again.

18

Stay "in" and help...or get out no matter what the cost?

by onacruse in

chester

that which is made crooked cannot be made straight.ecclesiastes 1:15 .

you raise a very good question.

Euphemism

I missed Brummie's post above, 'cause we were posting at the same time. I think it's right on the money.

It also made me think of something else. When I was still a loyal dub, I respected "apostates" who had left the organization and expressed their disagreements openly. I detested, however, those who pretended to be loyal dubs while their objective was actually to try to convince people to leave the organization. I agreed with the WTS that these were " the rocks hidden below water in you love feasts." (Jude 12)

Obviously, my viewpoint has changed. But if the objective is to help those still inside the Borg to see that apostates aren't as demonic as they're cracked up to be, using deception may actually hurt that cause.

18

Stay "in" and help...or get out no matter what the cost?

by onacruse in

chester

that which is made crooked cannot be made straight.ecclesiastes 1:15 .

you raise a very good question.

Euphemism

We know many JWs who are doing just that: they are maintaining their "acceptable" status in the org while at the same time influencing other JWs to, at the least, become marginalized, and perhaps even to muster the courage to leave. Technically, this is hypocrisy. In this case, I'd say hypocrisy is good.

I just wanted to clarify... I didn't meant to imply that those who are doing so are being unethical. Personally, I would feel very ambivalent about such a course, but I respect the decision of those who choose to follow it.

My concern would be that, in an effort to maintain an "acceptable" status in the org, one would--at least to some degree--have to promote the org and its teachings. So there would be a risk of the left hand undoing what the right hand is doing.

9

To Sin or not to Sin, that's the question

by JH in

jw
friends

it's written in the bible that we are all sinners, right?.

it's written in the bible that god forgives, right?.

it is impossible for us not to sin, so what difference is there if we sin alot or sin a little?

Euphemism

Speaking bibilically, it's not really necessary to exactly define sin to answer JH's question. The basic answer is that God judges us by looking at our motives, rather than our actions. (Jo 3:19) That is precisely why He forgive sins.

5

The Watchtower Society and the Bulgarian connection - hypocrisy in action?

by joe_from_kokomo in

friends: .

i was shocked to learn yet again of more hypocrisy on the part of the wts with regard to human rights agreements in bulgaria.

from what i have learned from a july 2000 article on the uk guardian newspaper web site and from subsequent info found on the association of jws for reform on blood web site, .

Euphemism

What may be more tragic, is that this may all be just a ruse, and the same-old-tired transfusion policy may actually be in effect in reality, and the ECHR and Bulgarian government may be getting duped as part of some wacked-out theocratic warfare strategy.

IMHO, that's exactly what's going on.

Double speak, as Orwell would call it...

Every prominent Dub I know is a master at it.

50

Can God exist outside of time

by setfreefinally in

.

some say god exists outside of time and space therefore he can predict the future.. any comments?

Euphemism

Thanks for your reply, setfree.

It would seem that all events throughout time are still unchangeable if God can see all points of time past or future, unless I misunderstood you.

My point is... God cannot see the past or the future... because there is no past and future to God. That's what being outside time means. All of time is the present to God, because God only has a present.