JWs are much closer to the biblical texts than other Christian groups in key teachings including: the importance of God’s name; that Jesus is the firstborn of all creation and subordinate to God; that Christians should be separate from the world and not take part in wars; that consciousness ends at death; that humans will be resurrected to a restored earth; that anointed Christians comprise the ‘Israel of God’; that all Christians must preach; and so on, this is not a complete list. The things they are wrong about are relatively minor and mainly to do with the end times, such as the Gentile Times ending in 1914 and the identity of the ‘faithful slave’.
slimboyfat
JoinedPosts by slimboyfat
-
74
Doctrines and Bible Interpretations
by IWant2Know ini would like to know if ex's and formers who are not church christians, believe that many of jws' doctrines and bible interpretations are correct, or do you feel that they aren't?
.
-
-
-
73
Any other churches call themselves the 'truth'??
by Beck_Melbourne inold habits die hard...and quite often in my comments i will refer to the borg as the 'truth'.
does anyone know of any other churches that refer to their own particular church or religion as the 'truth'??
also, does anyone know how it originated...all my life i have used the term...comments like 'how long have u been in the truth?
-
-
slimboyfat
Yes Christadelphians do use this phrase.
-
54
Is AI going to change the world?
by Reasonfirst inhad lunch with a friend, whose a lecturer in the accounting dept.
of one of australia's best universities.
he told me he expects to lose his job at some point in the next 5 years, as the accounting dept, will disappear, as all accounting will be done by ai programs, so why teach it.. if his fears are correct, that means that any profession that involves the mind, may one day face the same future.
-
-
slimboyfat
Yes, zero reasoning is happening, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is outcomes. A computer can beat you at chess, solve protein folding that has eluded the best efforts of scientists for decades, and it can write more persuasive copy than any human can, and all the while zero reasoning is happening, only number crunching. Machines are not becoming conscious they are becoming capable, and their capability is increasing at an exponential rate. If it seems like they have a long way yet to go then remember that an exponential curve is already half way to a destination when only a tiny fraction of the ground has been covered. The story goes that it took scientist years to map just 1% of the human genome and despondent backers thought it would never be competed in their lifetimes. Somebody who knows how exponential progress work responded: “1% alread? Then you’re almost done!” And it was completed shortly after.
GPT2 produced incoherent strings of words
GPT4 is already passing the Turing test of output that humans find difficult to distinguish from a human being
What will GPT5 and 6 and 7 be like?
The world is going to change radically beyond recognition within a very short period of time.
-
29
BREAKING NEWS | Highlights of 2023 Worldwide Service Year Report
by Drearyweather inbreaking news | highlights of 2023 worldwide service year report.
on november 15, 2023, the service committee of the governing body shared highlights of the 2023 worldwide service year report with the bethel family.
the following exciting increases were announced: baptisms: during the 2023 service year, 269,517 persons were baptized.
-
-
slimboyfat
It’s all very well saying that a bounce back after the pandemic was inevitable, but I know many churches that suffered huge losses during the pandemic … that continue to suffer even greater losses post pandemic. Membership of the Church of Scotland decreased 5% this year alone.
-
29
BREAKING NEWS | Highlights of 2023 Worldwide Service Year Report
by Drearyweather inbreaking news | highlights of 2023 worldwide service year report.
on november 15, 2023, the service committee of the governing body shared highlights of the 2023 worldwide service year report with the bethel family.
the following exciting increases were announced: baptisms: during the 2023 service year, 269,517 persons were baptized.
-
-
slimboyfat
Also worth comparing the Mormon and Adventist baptism figures which should be available somewhere.
-
29
BREAKING NEWS | Highlights of 2023 Worldwide Service Year Report
by Drearyweather inbreaking news | highlights of 2023 worldwide service year report.
on november 15, 2023, the service committee of the governing body shared highlights of the 2023 worldwide service year report with the bethel family.
the following exciting increases were announced: baptisms: during the 2023 service year, 269,517 persons were baptized.
-
-
slimboyfat
Absolutely, joe134cd !
-
29
BREAKING NEWS | Highlights of 2023 Worldwide Service Year Report
by Drearyweather inbreaking news | highlights of 2023 worldwide service year report.
on november 15, 2023, the service committee of the governing body shared highlights of the 2023 worldwide service year report with the bethel family.
the following exciting increases were announced: baptisms: during the 2023 service year, 269,517 persons were baptized.
-
-
slimboyfat
The Catholic Church is in rapid decline in Europe and North America
See this great book on the topic with lots of facts and figures and analysis, written by an academic who is a practising Catholic
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mass-Exodus-Catholic-Disaffiliation-Britain/dp/0198837941/
-
29
BREAKING NEWS | Highlights of 2023 Worldwide Service Year Report
by Drearyweather inbreaking news | highlights of 2023 worldwide service year report.
on november 15, 2023, the service committee of the governing body shared highlights of the 2023 worldwide service year report with the bethel family.
the following exciting increases were announced: baptisms: during the 2023 service year, 269,517 persons were baptized.
-
-
slimboyfat
Since the publisher figure is the only figure they don’t give us I guess that probably means it is minus or flat.
If 58 lands had all time peaks, does that mean most of the rest had decreases? (Presumably only excluding ones that had all time peaks in years previous to last year)
They will be relieved about the baptism number being up because it was scary low during the pandemic.
-
3151
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)
by Simon inuh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.
-
-
slimboyfat
Hang about are Mike and Kim Christian believers? Or was he wrong about that? I missed this. Not that it matters greatly, just surprises me for some reason.
-
49
Will the GB Eventually "observe" Tithing?
by Sea Breeze infound this on fb from the recent losch talk.
time for a new business model?.
.
-
-
slimboyfat
I think it’s a possibility. I heard a local JW say that tithing really wasn’t so bad because it was never strictly enforced. Jews were asked to contribute a tenth but nobody checked up on them to see if they paid the full amount. (Unlike the Mormons, and others, who check!) That sounds like the kind of tithing that the GB could plausibly introduce: they tell JWs that they should be contributing a tenth of their income but that it’s up to their own conscience whether they meet that obligation or not. I think it would be highly effective because you’d get a reasonable proportion of JWs who would feel conscience bound to contribute a tenth of their income. The others were probably wishy washy JWs to begin with and it might be a further psychological barrier that separates marginal JWs from feeling part of the group.