i am of the opinion that the wt doctrine is influenced more by external factors that it is by internal ones.
one of the doctrines that has puzzled me for some time is the armageddon prediction of 1975. why would the wts make this prediction?
what was their real purpose?.
Actually the growth was better from 1945 to 1955 than 1965 to 1975. I haven't checked this again right now but I remember from comparing it a few years ago.
But yes it's true to say 1975 appears to have been a net gain for JW numbers because growth was slowing down considerably in the 1960s before the prediction was made.
ok so this week's wt study article is entitled "why must we keep on the watch?"..
it is filled with statements on the importance of "being watchful" for the beginning of the "great tribulation".
paragraph 2: “keep looking, keep awake, for you do not know when the appointed time is.”after that, jesus admonished them repeatedly: “keep on the watch.”.
Reminds me of the genius WT a few years ago that explained how a "short period of time" is really "an extended period of time".
ok so this week's wt study article is entitled "why must we keep on the watch?"..
it is filled with statements on the importance of "being watchful" for the beginning of the "great tribulation".
paragraph 2: “keep looking, keep awake, for you do not know when the appointed time is.”after that, jesus admonished them repeatedly: “keep on the watch.”.
Yeah I had a local JW explain this to me.
She said, "this week's WT study shows the end is really near".
I said, "oh, how does it show that?"
She said, "it makes the point that Armageddon will come when no one expects it, so it must be really near now."
Doh!
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/worlds-oldest-person-man-mbah-gotho-indonesia-145-years-old-a7213191.html.
I think an alternative interpretation of the verse offered in the WT was that God gave humans 120 years to repent before he brought the flood
Why did god step down the age of people from almost 1000 to 120 then to 70 or 80.
It used to be a major feature of JW teaching that humanity has progressively degenerated since the fall: in terms of longevity, strength, intelligence, morals.
The old WT literature against evolution relied heavily on the argument that evolution is about the improvement of mankind, and humans are clearly degenerating over the centuries, therefore evolution can't be true. Thus in one fell swoop they managed to misunderstand evolution, the Bible and history.
i am of the opinion that the wt doctrine is influenced more by external factors that it is by internal ones.
one of the doctrines that has puzzled me for some time is the armageddon prediction of 1975. why would the wts make this prediction?
what was their real purpose?.
Is it right, that the tax involved was property tax in the state of New York? It's not the same as JWs losing tax exemption in general. Any idea about the amount of money involved? If they paid the tax from 1971 to 1974 is there public record?
Yes I read the part of the article that says preaching was key to their argument for being considered a religious community. What is absent however is any evidence that 1975 was promoted with the aim of proving that they are a proselytising community when they were already regarded as such. Instead what we have is a lot of evidence that JWs were pointing to 1975 for decades (at least since the 1940s) and that Fred Franz heavily promoted the idea and was idelogically committed to it.
As dozy says, many recent developments were clearly financially motivated, such as dropping charges for the literature. The evidence for the financial and legal motives behind that change is clear.
i am of the opinion that the wt doctrine is influenced more by external factors that it is by internal ones.
one of the doctrines that has puzzled me for some time is the armageddon prediction of 1975. why would the wts make this prediction?
what was their real purpose?.
The fact WT lost tax exemption on their New York properties between 1971 and 1974 is an interesting fact in itself I have not seen mentioned elsewhere. Thanks for posting it. I wonder why it's not been commented upon.
But linking it with the 1975 prediction seems unwarranted, unless there's some evidence.
just a side note that i found interesting and sort of upsetting, the wt that the jw's will study on sunday the 18th of september has the words undeserved kindness mentioned 50 in just 19 paragraphs.
really they need to beat it into their people that they are very worthless and do no deserve anything from god?
so much so that they use the words over and over, don't they.. lits .
The word "grace" tends to emphasize God's mercy, whereas the term "underserved kindness" emphasises that humans are not worthy.
When you gain broader perspective it becomes apparent that JWs are not a very God oriented religion.
Is he "anointed"?
Splane looked smitten. Yuck.
in recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?
as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.
there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.
Cofty in first post:
How do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?
Cofty in later post:
It has nothing at all to do with answering "ultimate questions" How the process of life began is a scientific puzzle not a metaphysical one. That is the point. It's not about whether god exists, it's simply about how the process of life gets started.
Huh? Which is it?
Cofty consistently using insults instead of addressing the argument:
You are a troll. You constantly hijack threads with your tedious po-mo bullshit.
in recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?
as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.
there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.
You are correct. I thought my point was already reasonable, but struck by Cofty's response, I attempted to express it in even milder terms, and I unnecessarily altered the meaning. I could have better said:
"This thread is based on the assumption that scientific discoveries will establish an atheistic view of reality and asks how theists will respond when confronted with that reality."
The idea that science can answer ultimate questions about existence is far from an established fact. In fact it's probably a minority view, mainly popular among some science writers. The idea that anyone challenging it must be a troll is bizarre and startlingly blinkered.
