@Terry:
I found your piece in Post 10716 to be written rather well, and despite the typos (for which yours truly is famous) provided an excellent recitation of history of the religion practiced by the Jews until it was built upon by Christianity. You didn't say this exactly, but I got your drift. What I found amazing about this history of religion you recounted is that no mention whatsoever was made of Islam, which in my reading of history, figured mightily into the history of religion as well, what with Abraham being a major patriarchical figure in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
While well-written, your Post 10716 is very dangerous to the minds of those that cannot discern when they are reading an agenda-driven piece, so with this quick response, I thought I should let every lurker that read your post here know that one clear way to determine when a post is "agenda-driven" is when it leads to the governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses and, by extension, Jehovah's Witnesses pursuing its worship of God using their own interpretation of the Bible. I don't really know what it is about Jehovah's Witnesses that brings out the ire in some folks, but some people seem to believe, and quite strongly, that Jehovah's Witnesses are using the Bible to force people to unite with them in their worship of God, that people are unitedly worshipping Jehovah because of being duped to do so through they manipulation of the scriptures in order to give people false hope.
You believe the Bible to be based on a "false premise," and I think it to be ok for you to believe this to be the case, @Terry, for I believe everyone is entitled to have their own opinion. But let me ask you this one question: Why is it that you feel the people that are becoming Jehovah's Witnesses are not entitled to have their own opinions? Why, for example, are you entitled to decide, based on your recounting of religious history, that something is wrong with the Bible and with the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses believing that what thing the Bible teaches are true, but other people are not entitled to decide for themselves whether or not they believe something to be wrong with the Bible and with the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses?
It's clear to me, @Terry, that you've given quite a bit of consideration to the things you believe and to the things that Jehovah's Witnesses believe (and/or to the things that you think we believe), and you are evidently comfortable with your beliefs, and you have decided that the teachings found in the Bible are based on a false premise and are not for you, but I, too, have given quite a bit of consideration to the things I believe and to the things that I've learned from Jehovah's Witnesses and I'm comfortable with my beliefs, but this seems to bother you for some reason.
Why does this seem to bother you, @Terry? Do you believe I would be happier were I to walk on the "dark side" with you by viewing the Bible as little more than excrement and putting my faith in your beliefs? What is your hope for the future? Is death all you see in your future? I'm not judging you here, but many people I know do not want to live their lives in a state of hopelessness, but they would rather live in hope for a better and brighter future just as they also live in hope of providing a better and brighter future for their own children than they themselves had growing up.
I am like these people, @Terry, believing in a spiritual Father that cares for us as we would care for our own children, and this belief is based upon the evidence that exists all around us, despite the "dark side" of life we all have to endure today, that demonstrates that our God is a loving Father. But what positive prospects for the future can you offer me? What are your prospects for the future, @Terry?
You may want me to follow you, but only a weak-minded person would actually be will to follow you to death, unless you happened to have been able to offer them a better hope than the hope I now have by my having learned, through reading and studying the Bible, what things my God, Jehovah, has promised He would do in the future were I to loyally serve Him and keep faith with the Christian principles taught by his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are able to convince me that that for which you are hoping is a better hope than the hope to which the Bible speaks, then I will gladly follow you.
It seems that it wasn't until 1943 that they realised they hadn't seen the "Sign" of Christ's presence before 1914.
In 1993/4 they realised they hadn't seen the "Sign" of Matthew 24:30 although for years they had claimed they had.
You quoted exactly what @The Finger stated in his post, so I suppose @The Finger is one of your disciples, but here's the thing: While Jehovah's Witnesses have wrongly interpreted certain Bible texts many times, and while they have not always gotten it right the first time, one of the things that distinguish them from other Christian denominations is the fact that they are willing to abandon beliefs when they come to realize that such beliefs are premised on wrong conclusions.
While other Christian denominations seem unwilling to adjust their theological viewpoints, even when they are presented with clear evidence demonstrating flaws in what are essentially the underpinnings of their theological beliefs, because Jehovah's Witnesses embrace Bible truth, we, unlike what other Christian denominations do, distinguish ourselves by championing Bible truth over what we may have thought at one time to have been Bible truth. IOW, Jehovah's Witnesses are honest enough to admit when we were wrong in the early-1900s, in the 1930s, in the 1960s, in the 1990s, and today, and you know what? Our God knows at all times who it is here on earth that is doing their best to do His will, even when He knows we've gotten something wrong.
@djeggnog
