3.5 years vs. a lifetime of going door to door. (page 4)

NewChapter

when I was studying, I asked how many people in the hall came in from a door knock. The elder said none. I was shocked, and then took another swig of the kool aid

I was entrapped from a door knock.

I think I'm starting to like the bible more. It's kind of a litmus test if you will. Since it can be interpreted by anyone and in anyway they wish, it kind of shows character. You have the Chrisitians that are all about the charity and love. Then you have those that say taxes are evil and no effort should be made to help the poor. There are those that are all about stoning homosexuals and vaginal probes.

In the end, I think I should listen to how individual Christians interpret the bible. It will give me a heads up. Since absolutely NONE accept all parts of the bible, the parts they do accept or reinterpret is useful information.

NC

james_woods

In the original Greek - is there only one word house, or are there two words house?

talesin

To the OP, I feel it is all about busy-work, and keeping the R&F feeling they can never do enough.

Re: the Acts scripture and door-to-door, this thread has a clear explanation by logical.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/2384/1/The-Door-to-Door-Minsitry

t

Searril

TEC - Consider the context and content of the scripture - teaching and proclaiming the good news. The passage is not talking about gatherings. The evidence is plain - it's in writting in that passage nonetheless. Just because you say it isn't so, doesn't make it so. I think you might do well attending some JW meetings for some better bible education.

You seem a bit hostile here, but I will respond to this anyway to help you with your misunderstanding.

Although the wording "from house to house" does appear in multiple translations, the wording itself is a bit clunky (as often happens when translating, especially with ancient writings), and does not imply a literal knocking on a door, preaching, then moving to the next door in a repetitive fashion street by street. The term used here is more accurately translated as "in the homes" that aligns more with the reality of what occurred when preaching was done in public areas and then those doing the preaching would be invited into people's homes to continue the discussion.

Even Fred Franz admitted as much (at least privately and to himself) by some handwritten notes he made in his own bible. This very subject is covered by Ray Franz in one of his books.

tootired2care

Sorry if I seemed hostile, it wasn't meant to be hostile, just flip, these threads don't convey feeling. I feel that the translators of those texts translated it like that for a reason. They are the experts in these fields, and given that it's not just one translation that provides pretty stong evidence that they probably got the text right. I would trust their translation of over any opinions of Ray Franz or whoever. And I will always make arguments from the literal text written in context, as anything more is useless in discussions.

At the end of the day I'm not really too concerned with this, because the life that the bible asks us to live as Christians witnesses or not, is cruel and a pointless waste of time and potential. Perhaps I should have titled the thread "3-5-years-vs-a-lifetime-of-preaching", does it really matter? Market place to market place, door to door, the annoying labor intensive, no-gain work is required of a Christian is still the same for all practical purposes, is it not? Can you really say you're a true Christian if your not activley preaching in some form? Matt 6:33 and other such texts that give you the impression that God is somehow magically helping you with this work is crap.

The last 2,000 years of history and confusion from all religious texts have plainly shown that all religion is futility and only produces bad fruit in the end. Thanks to people like Christopher Hitchins, and the many people on this board that have helped me on my path to freedom.

NewChapter

TooTired, I think you started another thread (or maybe not you) that when it comes to discussing anything in the bible, believers will just tell you that you don't understand the bible, and that you don't really have the needed---skills, power, faith, magic, whatever---to understand it like they do. You will always be the one misinterpreting, regardless of what the words and piles of translations say. You will always choose the wrong verses to take seriously, you will never understand the method of picking and choosing what to put faith in, the complicated formula that goes behind deciding exactly what part of the bible is true and what part was tainted by man, is lost to you and nonbelievers.

We know this already. We are not qualified to discuss this mystical imperfect book, because we don't have the desire to sugar coat, twist, dismiss and reinvent any of it. If we got on board, it would be okay, but that takes belief and a desire to look the other way when young women are sold to their rapists. I don't understand it either. Now that my eyes have opened up, I see how horrible it all is, and have an impossible time just shrugging and dismissing writing that shaped the churches today. But I am ignorant to faith (even though, I was a believer for the vast majority of my life, and not only as a JW), and my mind just doesn't remember the acrobatic moves anymore.

Are you having fun? I hope so.

tootired2care

I am having fun, and I think I've decided I'm going to try and quote more scripture texts in my commentaries on religious subjects and God, to keep exposing Judiasm, Christianity, and Islam for what it all really is CRAP. I don't know if you've checked out much of Christopher Hitchins debates with the religious but they are very intersting. I appreciate how he is familiar with the religious texts, which really helped to expose so much incorrect thinking about what religion really is in his debates.

I say to everyone who is poaching these threads for new converts - don't think that JW's are the boogie man here, they are really just a symptom of a much deeper problem, which is well founded in biblical texts and God's inaction.

NewChapter

I've watched MANY of Hitchens debates. He really had a touch for this.

Quote all the scriptures you want. You will be accused of misusing them or not understanding them. Your discussion will become circular, and when you ask what criteria is being used to decide which parts to emphasize and which part to take with a grain of salt, you'll be told it's because they know Jesus better and can guess at the real meanings. It's endless.

Meeting Junkie No More

Great discussion. I'll wade in here and agree with the OP that near the end, I too thought that for Jesus at least, the 'ministry' lasted only 3.5 years. At that point, mine was heading into its well-nigh 50th year! I was getting tired, so yeah, it crossed my mind.

'75 came and went, '95 came and went, and if the 'end' didn't come soon, I still had years and years of Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon witnessing to accomplish with not one convert to my credit or one soul (TM) saved from this wicked world (TM)...and then on top of that, weekly, I'd be encouraged to do more and reach out - geeze, when was it all going to END???

In the meantime, I've been reading a book called The Jesus Sayings (the Quest for his Authentic Message) by Rex Weyler, which I would very highly recommend to both those who still believe and those who don't. So many of the scriptures y'all are debating, such as the one in Luke about the worker getting his wages etc. may in fact not even have been spoken by Jesus, but been added by later redactors, once issues of payment and commerce etc. crept into the earliest congregations, as a means to control the message. The book is very enlightening with its analysis of the most ancient competing sources (over 200) and discussion of research by international Bible scholars - too in-depth to post here. I guess the bottom line is that the book rescues Jesus from his association with religion of any stripe. And no, before I get lambasted, I neither wrote the book myself nor stand to gain in any way from my recommendation...

http://rexweyler.com/the-jesus-sayings/

wha happened?

Look even if it was correct to go door to door in the 1st century, it was because it may have been an effective way of reaching people, with the technology available. Obviously today it's a different world. To try and cram the sqaure peg of going door to door into the round hole of veryone's schedules in this busy world, suggests the door to door has a different purpose. Which several people have commented on

3.5 years vs. a lifetime of going door to door.

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