Doug Mason

Joined

• started 457 topics
• posted 2,351 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by Doug Mason

• 
  22

  Is my understanding correct?

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  is my understanding correct?

  1. to arrive at 1874 for christs parousia, ctr employed time parallels from the scriptures and measurements from the great pyramid.

  2. ctr used a 2520-year timeframe to arrive at october 1914 for the end of the gentile times.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Doug Mason

  The Sign that Jesus gave.
  
  When Jesus answered his Disciples’ question about the sign of the Temple’s destruction, they coupled it with the end of the age (aeon) because the end of the Temple would clearly indicate that the Jewish Age had come to its end.
  
  Likewise, the Disciples believed that this momentous event – the destruction of the Temple – would herald the appearance of Messiah in power. They did not recognize that, instead of coming as a mighty conquering warrior, the Messiah had arrived as a babe. They did not recognize that, instead of coming with almighty power, crushing the nations before it, the Kingdom had come quietly as a farmer sowing seed, and not as a reaper.
  
  They had no idea Jesus was going away. Since he was already with them, the Disciples’ expectation was that Jesus was finally speaking about that great manifestation of power they had long been anticipating. Later, just before Jesus was transported to heaven, the Disciples were still asking him “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6, NIV). To which Jesus answered: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority”.
  
  And as he answered his Disciples’ question about the destruction of the Temple, the “Parousia” and the “End of the Age”, Jesus warned them about deceivers who would claim to be Christ (the Anointed One) pointing to wars and stories of wars.
  
  Never did Jesus speak about the size of those wars, their length, scope or number of casualties. All he said was “see that YOU are not terrified. For these things must take place, but the end is not yet”.
  
  They would hear about wars simply because “nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom”. Things such as “food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another” are not a sign of the death of an Age but are of the very first signs of the labor pains of a birth.
  
  But Jesus did give his Disciples the “sign” of the powerful coming they were expecting and hoping for: “The sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other”. (Matt 24:30, 31, NIV).
• 
  2

  "No Blood" and Wikipedia

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  the "no blood" people sought comments on a piece it was preparing for wikipedia on the reasons jws do not accept blood.

  i wrote to them saying that they should indicate in their article that the wts is not a "no blood" organization and that they should also indicate the impact of the threat of "shunning"has on a jw patient's decision.

  i also provided them with a copy of my latest work on blood ("loyalty test", available at http://au.geocities.com/doug_mason1940/blood/html ).

  1. 
  2. 
• 

  Doug Mason

  The "No Blood" people sought comments on a piece it was preparing for Wikipedia on the reasons JWs do not accept blood.
  
  I wrote to them saying that they should indicate in their article that the WTS is not a "no blood" organization and that they should also indicate the impact of the threat of "shunning"has on a JW patient's decision.
  
  I also provided them with a copy of my latest work on blood ("Loyalty Test", available at http://au.geocities.com/doug_mason1940/blood/html ).
  
  I wonder if I will hear from them?
  
  Doug
• 
  5

  How can we know if we have God’s holy spirit?

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  * we can call jesus our lord (1 cor 12:3) .

  * we can discern spiritual things (1 cor.2:13, 14. compare john 7:37-39) .

  * we may know we belong to god (1 john 3:24) .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Doug Mason

  How can we know if we have God’s holy spirit?
  * we can call Jesus our Lord (1 Cor 12:3)
  * we can discern spiritual things (1 Cor.2:13, 14. Compare John 7:37-39)
  * we may know we belong to God (1 John 3:24)
  * we may be taught and we may learn (1 John 2:20,27)
  
  Anyone who does not have the spirit, then they
  * do not have life (Romans 8:6)
  * cannot obey the law of God (Romans 8:7,8)
  * do not belong to Jesus Christ (Romans 8:9).
  
  It is therefore vital to have the spirit of God in one’s life.
  
  The spirit is given, not because of one’s works (Titus 3:5-7), but is given as a gift (2 Cor 1:22; 5:5; Acts 10:45 John 4:10,14).
  
  The spirit is received by those who hear (Gal 3:1-3) and ask (Luke 11:13).
  
  Holy spirit is freely available to all who ask (Acts 2: 38, 39), believe, hope in Christ (Eph 1:13), and obey (Acts 5:32), not to just a limited few (John 3:34).
  
  When we believe, want to be able to obey God and want to call Jesus our Lord, then all we need do is to ask:
  “Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.” (John 7: 38 – 39, NIV)
  
  The holy spirit will immediately provide:
  * freedom (2 Cor 3:17, 18)
  * release (Romans 8:2)
  * foretaste of glory (2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:11-14)
  * fruits (Gal 5:22)
  * gifts (1 Cor 12:4-11)
  * the ability to witness (Matt 10:18-20)
  * adoption as one of God’s sons (Romans 8:14,17 John 1:12, 13).
  
  And the spirit intercedes before God on the believer’s behalf:
  “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” (Romans 8:26 – 27, NIV)
• 
  22

  Is my understanding correct?

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  is my understanding correct?

  1. to arrive at 1874 for christs parousia, ctr employed time parallels from the scriptures and measurements from the great pyramid.

  2. ctr used a 2520-year timeframe to arrive at october 1914 for the end of the gentile times.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Doug Mason

  Beginnersmind,
  
  I don't feel that you hijacked my thread. In fact, through your questions I have now discovered how to insert quotes. And I enjoyed the ongoing discussion.
  
  While I am replying, I would like to add that it is my view that when Jesus was talking to his disciples about "wars, and so on", he was telling them not to be disturbed by people who were pointing to such events as portents. I think that in one of the parallel synoptics, the sense of his words are something like "cease being concerned about wars".
  
  Doug
• 
  22

  Is my understanding correct?

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  is my understanding correct?

  1. to arrive at 1874 for christs parousia, ctr employed time parallels from the scriptures and measurements from the great pyramid.

  2. ctr used a 2520-year timeframe to arrive at october 1914 for the end of the gentile times.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Doug Mason

  Dear OTWO,
  
  Yes, I know my question looks simple on the surface but I find the WTS position regarding "1914" quite fuzzy. (I have never been a JW so I thought my post might bring me some help.)
  
  I am trying to draw a picture that shows the foundation of the Governing Body's authority. So I have gone up the line working from the 607 BCE "Downfall of God's Messianic Kingdom", through the "2520 years" up to the "1914 CE end of the Gentile Times".
  
  I need to see whether the Parousia is part of the foundation for their authority. When the WTS speaks about Jesus as "King in 1914" I presume this is in relationship to the "Gentile Times", not to the "Parousia". The "Parousia" is not the same as the end of the "Gentile Times", and their relationship in WTS history has been fluid.
  
  The covers of Barbour's magazine suggest to me that the date of 1874 was derived using historic paralelisms, whereas but the date for the 1914 Parousia does not appear to be. (Hence their reliance on the "sign" even though Jesus was warning AGAINST listening to people pointing to wars, etc.!) The restoration of the Kingdom in 1914 is a calculated date.
  
  Doug
• 
  2

  Typology

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  has anyone prepared an analysis of the wts/gb's typology?

  do the wts/gb have rules for applying types and antitypes, or do they apply them to verify a predetermined conclusion?

  doug

  1. 
  2. 
• 

  Doug Mason

  Has anyone prepared an analysis of the WTS/GB's typology?
  
  Do the WTS/GB have rules for applying types and antitypes, or do they apply them to verify a predetermined conclusion?
  
  Doug
• 
  8

  Nisan 14 and polycarp - Memorials in March??

  by hamsterbait in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been reading about polycarp and the disputes with the western churches over the celebration of easter.. polycarp celebrated on nisan 14 as did the jews.

  in rome it was the first sunday after nisan 14. according to what i am reading, nisan 14 cannot come before the end of march in any year.. when was the last time the wtbcs celebrated the memorial in march, and if so, why - if the information above is correct?.

  and if they have incorrectly calculated the date, does this invalidate the annointed eating the emblems?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Doug Mason

  Is it possible to show that Nisan 16 in 33 CE fell on the first day of the week (= Sunday)?
  
  Doug
• 
  22

  Is my understanding correct?

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  is my understanding correct?

  1. to arrive at 1874 for christs parousia, ctr employed time parallels from the scriptures and measurements from the great pyramid.

  2. ctr used a 2520-year timeframe to arrive at october 1914 for the end of the gentile times.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Doug Mason

  Is my understanding correct?
  
  1. To arrive at 1874 for Christ’s Parousia, CTR employed time parallels from the Scriptures and measurements from the Great Pyramid.
  
  2. CTR used a 2520-year timeframe to arrive at October 1914 for the end of the “Gentile Times”.
  
  3. CTR therefore did not have the Parousia taking place at the end of the Gentile Times.
  
  4. The WTS/GB moved the Parousia from 1874 to 1914 because they moved the end of the Millennium forwards from 1872 by about 100 years.
  
  5. Today, the WTS/GB uses the 2520-year timeframe only to arrive at October 1914 for the end of the “Gentile Times”.
  
  6. Today, the WTS/GB does not use any timeframe from prophecies in Scripture to calculate that the Parousia also occurred in October 1914.
• 
  25

  Qaulifying for life in the new world

  by skeptic1914 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  attended co public talk today, "will you qualify for life in god's new world?.

  the essence in this quote: "it is essential that we cooperate with the fds, that we conform to bible standards and that we ourselves share in preaching the good news of the kingdom.

  " not once was faith in jesus christ mentioned.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Doug Mason

  Jesus has already done the qualifying, and the eternal life resides in him.
  
  It is thus a matter of fellowshipping with him. Then, as the apostle John says, the benefits are ours here and now, including the life from the eternal one.
  
  We proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. (1 John 1:1 – 4, NIV)
  
  Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5: 10 – 13, NIV)
  
  Doug
• 
  12

  Seven times - Daniel

  by Bonnie_Clyde in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  somebody (maybe terry) posted about a month ago, and clyde is asking me about it.

  it was real cute about the wt reasoning about the "seven times" equalling days and years and the whole jumbled mess.

  my memory is not working today.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Doug Mason

  There never was a Jewish year (or any other year) that ran for 360 days.
  
  Interestingly, the WTS jumps over to Revelation to create its 7 "times" = 7 "years" in Daniel yet when it interprets Revelation, it does not employ that "principle". Instead, it has a literal "day" = "day" from 1914 to 1918. Likewise for the "1000 years" of Revelation, it does not multiply this by 360. Goodness, that would make the Millennium run for 360,000 years.
  
  It is very odd that the king of Babylon, the arch enemy of God's people, and represented as such in Revelation, should be used as the symbol of the fate of God's Kingdom.
  
  I would have thought it is more fitting that the 70 years of servitude by God's people should have been dragged in to symbolise the trampling of Jerusalem by the Gentiles. 70 years by this mythical 360 days gives 25,200. That should give an extended life to the WTS! And of course if we revert to the real 365 day year, they can add 25,550 years to their mythical 607 BCE start date. Since Jerusalem was destroyed some 19 years later, the wait will stretch out by that much. What are they waiting for?
  
  When I went to school (I left in 1955) a year was determined by the rotation of our planet around our sun and our day was determined by the rotation of our planet on its axis.
  
  Since this periodicity is unique to our planet in our solar system, presumably the (almost) 144,000 strong Kingdom government has some means to synchronize their watches with the times we experience here on earth.
  
  If they are located at the nearest star, our light reaches them 4 years after it leaves us. So how did they synchronise Jesus' actions in their temple with our time that we call 1918? Did they have to go through this action before the end of the "Gentile Time" in order to synchronize with our earth times? Maybe they are thousands of light years away? Parallel universes?
  
  Maybe I need a lie down.
  
  Doug
  (There is no zero year in the transition from BCE to CE.)