AuldSoul
JoinedTopics Started by AuldSoul
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124
thirdwitness and other pseudo-scholars: Let's discuss the Hillah Stele
by AuldSoul inthirdwitness and other pseudo-scholars, .
firstly, i offer this disclaimer: i am not a scholar.
but i can add and subtract.
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87
What if she never leaves JWs? (The interminable waiting period...)
by AuldSoul inthis has nothing to do with whether i love my wife.
i always will.. pragmatically, i have come to the devastating conclusion that i don't want to be married to a jw.
any jw.. she asked me last night, "so, do you believe in santa clause, now?
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72
Are you an a-xenist?
by AuldSoul in"xeno" is a common taxonomical designation for aliens (strangers) including extraterrestrials.. are you someone who lacks belief in intelligent extraterrestrial beings?
do you believe it is possible that such extraterrestrial beings exist?
do you think it is possible or likely that our planet has had interactions with extraterrestrials?.
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70
For Christians: Grace vs. Forgiveness
by AuldSoul ini have been trying to sort this out scripturally, and would like to get input from christians on how these two concepts differ and/or overlap.
please be liberal with scriptures to support statements.
i think there may be others who are trying to figure this out for themselves, too.
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62
If Jesus could talk to Satan...
by AuldSoul inconsider the scene: jesus has just been baptized and immediately leaves for an extended stay in the wilderness all on his lonesome.
now ... already this is something the governing body would discourage any jw from doing, but i digress.. along comes satan.
jesus knows it is satan, because of how satany he is.
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61
Sophistry LessonsJW Baptismal Prerequisites
by AuldSoul in(definition).
in this thread we will examine chapter 18 of the book what does the bible really teach?, entitled baptism and your relationship with god.. .
is there any scripture provided to support the statement?
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61
JW Reform, It will NEVER happen...
by AuldSoul ini have read several posts by posters who fervently hope jws will become a mainstream religion, or will become "the truth," or will stop teaching this doctrine, or tweak that one, and "oh, if they would only [fill in the blank].".
such dreaming will, in the end, come to naught.
there are practical reasons why.. (1) the rank and file have no authority over the governing body.. (2) the rank and file do not hold sway over any of the corporate interests.. (3) the vast majority of memorial partakers are not credible in the eyes of the governing body, nor do they have any authority over anything.. (4) the organization shows a willingness to publicly claim beliefs to which jehovah's witnesses do not actually subscribe in order to improve public image (see lisa's interview with j.r. brown), while retaining the same hard-line beliefs in reality.. (5) the governing body is unwilling to relinquish control over the organization, to share authority with underlings (e.g.
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59
Statistical effect of disassociating the inactive
by AuldSoul init has been tossed around several times on the forum, and invariably someone pipes up that the wts will never do it because of the adverse effects on the numbers.
there is a glaring flaw in that reasoning.. the inactive are never counted as publishers.
the numbers that are reported are of active, reporting publishers.. if they disassociate every single person who is inactive and refuses to reactivate themselves, the numbers will not be negatively affected at all.
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57
Oh, Schizm! (Daniel 11:35)
by AuldSoul inschizm: here's something for you to consider, which you will no doubt disagree with, but that shows that the wts will refine its thinking on these issues:
and some of those having insight will be made to stumble, in order to do a refining work because of them and to do a cleansing and to do a whitening, until the time of [the] end; because it is yet for the time appointed.
-- daniel 11:35 .
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BirthdaysSimple Deconstruction of the JW Rationale
by AuldSoul into deconstruct the jw rationale surrounding birthdays, a few simple guidelines should be followed.. (1): don't waste any energy trying to convince a jw that birthdays are not pagan, if they suggest that, readily agree.
whether or not the celebrations are pagan turns out to be a non-issue that distracts from the main point.. (2): stay focused on the fact that jws disfellowship people for celebrating birthdays.. (3): stress the point that there should always be clear scriptural reason for disfellowshipping someone.
ask them often throughout the discussion whether this is the case, get them to reinforce this need to themselves.. (4): remember, the first goal is deconstructing their rationale, not giving them a new rationale, not convincing them that celebrating birthdays is a good thing.. once you have these well in mind, the deconstruction can begin.. jw rationale, in brief:.