Posts by aikichristian

7

NWT Contradictions on the Identity of Christ.

by roflcopter in

so in doing some research into the identity of christ we all know that the nwt quotes john 1:1 as: .

2 this one was in [the] beginning with god.

yet lets rewind a little bit here in our copies of the nwt and go to isiah 43:10: .

aikichristian

Ancient Greek, which is the same greek in the Bible, does not have indefinite articles (a, an, the). So, there are some cases where it is necessary to insert an indefinite article for the sentence to make sense.

The NWT puts forth a controversial translation of John 1:1 with "a god" because it has always been translated as "God". The NWT parts with traditional translations and modern translations with thier Jn 1:1. The NWT translation of Jn 1:1 completely changes the meaning of the sentence and alters Christ's identity.

History points out that John 1:1 has always been translated as "God". Translation afer translation, version to verson, century to century, it has been the same...."the Word was God". I don't know why the NWT wants to break so far off from tradition. I don't know where they suddenly thought it was okay or correct to insert "a" where it didn't exist before.

Additionally, why didn't they make the additional distinction between Christ and God by using the name "Jehovah" instead?

Like this:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Jehovah, and the Word was a god."

wouldn't that be clearer? That is what the JWs really mean anyways. They've changed so much of the translations with the NWT then why don't they just "clarify" that verse further?

78

Is practicing Capoeira wrong/bad/discouraged by Jehovah's Witnesses?

by aikichristian in

my girlfriend used to be an avid capoeira practicioner for over year.

she has reaped many benefits from it: increased physical fitness, flexibility, some self-defense skills, and stress-relief.

she enjoyed it.. unfortunately, an article came out in the spanish version of the "watchtower" ("atalaya" in spanish) essentially saying that capoeira should not be practiced because it has some spirituality stuff in it that was wrong.

aikichristian

Akichristian..My appologies,I misunderstood your initial post..And..Confused Capoeria with a Brazillian fighting form..A bad night I`m afraid..LOL!!..I`m around alot of mau-ti,aki-do and hapki-do.....I will gracefully pass on the "Dum-Dum Award" to the next person who has a bad day..LOL!!...OUTLAW

If I came off a little "peeved" it was because Fred annoyed me with his idiotic posts and cited his IQ and worship of the God of Truth as reference. Capoeira, although cool-looking and a great way to get in shape, doesn't get much respect in the "fighting" or "self-defense" department. The most combat-like version of Capoeira is the African version, Capoeira Angola. If one simply "must" take Capoeira for SD, then take the Angola version. However, since the Brazilian (regional) version is more popular, it is much much easier to find than the Angola version.

7

What can a JW (and I) expect as/if they leave the WTS?

by aikichristian in

my girlfriend of 3 years is a pretty strong jehovah's witness.

however, she has celebrated birthdays, 4th of july, halloween, and attended christmas (related) parties since being with me.

i'm catholic, btw.. now, many of you may think i'm "winning", but she still goes to hall 2x/week and her book study.

aikichristian

She would definitely have to suffer and risk losing a lot (family and friends) if she decides to leave and even moreso, convert. It would be almost like starting her social life from scratch. Assuming the 'worst' happens (family AND friends rejection) she would be in a social desert.

I think the fear of being alienated by what you thought you knew is what keeps JWs in their place than any sound doctrine they possess (if any).

7

Watchtower news flash - heaven now open 24/7

by cultswatter in

here is a 3 page ms word document.

it looks much better in colour but b&w will do.. enjoy.

(click on download at bottom of page).

aikichristian

Does anybody here notice that the scanned pages are dated May 1, 2007?

Today is March 29, 2007.

As much as some of us would love to have "written proof" of the WTS contradicting itself, the dating sounds really fishy.

Unless bob1999 has a time machine, has a "pre-release" agreement with WTS, or something of the sort. The pages could be fakes.

To be sure, we will have to wait until May 2007's issue...that way there will be a hardcopy.

37

What is love?

by onacruse in

"love my enemies.".

"love those who love me.".

"love my family.".

aikichristian

"What is love?"

Answer:

Link

78

Is practicing Capoeira wrong/bad/discouraged by Jehovah's Witnesses?

by aikichristian in

my girlfriend used to be an avid capoeira practicioner for over year.

she has reaped many benefits from it: increased physical fitness, flexibility, some self-defense skills, and stress-relief.

she enjoyed it.. unfortunately, an article came out in the spanish version of the "watchtower" ("atalaya" in spanish) essentially saying that capoeira should not be practiced because it has some spirituality stuff in it that was wrong.

aikichristian

If she's truly one of Jehovah's Witnesses, I don't think she'd have you as a boyfriend because of the difference of religion.

Then I sure hope she isn't. That would be one less person the WTS could harm and confuse with their crap. The difference in religion has made somethings difficult, but the fact that she has a brain and can think for herself is becoming more and more apparent...kinda like a beacon of light, getting brighter.....

sound familiar?

78

Is practicing Capoeira wrong/bad/discouraged by Jehovah's Witnesses?

by aikichristian in

my girlfriend used to be an avid capoeira practicioner for over year.

she has reaped many benefits from it: increased physical fitness, flexibility, some self-defense skills, and stress-relief.

she enjoyed it.. unfortunately, an article came out in the spanish version of the "watchtower" ("atalaya" in spanish) essentially saying that capoeira should not be practiced because it has some spirituality stuff in it that was wrong.

aikichristian

to aikichristian: Answer to Eph 6:12: Did it ever occur to you that principalities are composed of people, who are made of flesh and blood?
The Bible is a Spiritual book, primarily. Its inspired teaching at 2 Timothy 2:24-26 states that 24 a slave of the Lord does not need to fight, but needs to be gentle toward all, qualified to teach, keeping himself restrained under evil, 25 instructing with mildness those not favorably disposed; as perhaps God may give them repentance leading to an accurate knowledge of truth, 26 and they may come back to their proper senses out from the snare of the Devil, seeing that they have been caught alive by him for the will of that one. The true Christian protects himself with knowledge and skill, much of it indirectly through reasoning ability. Many who have lived in a violent environment have moved to where they can worship more freely, or they have reformed their lives so that they can live more peaceably. Many others have stood firmly on the side of peace and respectful court challenges, without retaliation, in such places as Germany, Malawi, Armenia, and the USA, especially when it has been a generalized religious attack on freedoms, even suffering beatings, being tarred-and-feathered, and being killed by firing squad.
We know enough about evil and war from reading the Bible and having it in our environment without looking for it. Bad associations spoil useful habits, after all. (1 Cor.15:33 and surrounding verses)

Answer to my "false reasoning": Jehovah can give people the power to do beyond the normal, but does he always and in every situation? When you stubbed your toe, it hurt right?...that seems pretty normal to me. Have you, or know anyone, who has been in a car accident, the victim of an attack, been injured/wronged, or any such thing? If so, then chances are they were being quite normal.
Just because I am not immune to the painful effects of clumsiness or bad motives, does not mean that my reaction must be anger, retaliation, etc. If I have been benefited from the spiritual teaching I receive, I may shake my head and/or laugh it off and carry on with my day. Vindictiveness is not a given for me if I am ruled by Jehovah's holy spirit. (Galatians 5)
You can't prevent everything. Try thinking your way out when someone is choking the life out of you. What happened to all the "sound thinking" and prevention?......Martial arts to the rescue!
If my sound thinking has ever been cut off, I've fallen into at least one of Satan's traps.
Answer to my "have to": Don't mince words Fred. You know exactly what I meant. I know that everyone has Free Will. "Have to" was a figure of speech, just in case you didn't know.
I wasn't mincing my words, which means that I said what I meant clearly and directly, even if I upset you by doing this (which I didn't intend to, as a matter of fact.) We all need help to improve and clarify our thought patterns. I meant no disrespect. I'm just interested in accuracy of statement. I worship the God of truth, after all.

Nobody really wants to live in violence. However, that is not always the case. There are many historical and Biblical cases where violence comes looking for victims. How many times has Israel had to defend itself [in the OT]? Yes, their faith was strong [whenever they won] but they still participated in military campaigns where people were killed on both sides. During Jesus' time and Paul's time, Israel was occupied by the Romans. Those were dangerous times, especially for early Christians. Both people and nations needed to protect themselves from violence, sometimes by using violence in self-defense. A good example of this is when Jesus drove out the merchants from the temple (Mk 11:15-16). In that scene, he overturned tables and chairs, drove the merchants out, and did not permit anyone to carry anything through the temple. Jesus essentially vandalized other people's personal property. Jehovah also drowned Egypt's chariots, pretty violent....i could go on and on.... Self-defense is not a matter of anger or retaliation as a result of anger. I used the stubbed toe as an example situation when God probably didn't give you the power to do what was beyond normal. Self-defense has nothing to do with vindictiveness (definition), it is about self-preservation from harm inflicted upon you. Yes, martial arts have been used in wars, crimes, and other bad things, but they have also been used in crime-prevention by both civilians and law enforcement. Should you come across such a violent confrontation (fight, attack, etc.) you will most-likely use martial arts (hitting, blocking, striking, dodging, grappling, throwing) yourself or approve of its use upon your opponent [by law enforcement, or a rescuer]. You can exercise all the sound thinking you want. Like I said before: "You can't prevent everything". You could have taken every precaution and still end up in a situation where you need to defend yourself physically. Going to learn Karate, Judo, or Capoeira to have some physical tools to protect yourself should the occasion arise, is not "looking for trouble". It would be another precaution....like putting on a helmet or seat-belt or reading your Bible. You're preparing yourself should trouble come looking for you. You can do all this and still not be violating Jehovah's teachings. What does you worshipping the "God of truth" have to do with figures of speech? I used a figure of speech and you want to go ahead and correct it. We're not writing a legal contract here, so my language can be quite loose and still have a clearly understandable meaning within its context as a figure of speech in the American English language of the 21st century, March 26, 2007, 2:33:57:34 PM EST. Accurate enough for you?

24

The CATHOLIC doctrine of the Faithful and Discreet Slave??? Yes!!

by Terry in

majesterium (sacred tradition) is a technical theological term used in some christian traditions, primarily in the roman catholic and eastern orthodox traditions, to refer to the fundamental basis of church dogma.

the term refers to the "deposit of faith" that these churches hold was communicated by jesus christ to his first followers, and which they hold has been passed down (latin tradere, to hand over or hand down) through succeeding generations.

the church as a community, therefore, was the initial receiver, and has remained the guardian and codifier, of sacred tradition.

aikichristian

I disagree with the statement that the Catholic church predates the Bible. One could only accept that hypothesis if one accepts the church's doctrine of "apostolic succession." And most historians date the start of the church at a much later time when the "popes" began to assert their primacy. We should not confuse the church in Rome during the apostles' time with what later became a grab at supremacy over the other Christian churches. We should not forget that the various books of the Christian Scriptures were well circulated and accepted as authentic by many Christian churches well before a council was formed to decide which ones were to be included in the collection we now call the New Testament. It was this fact that helped in making the decision of the authenticity of the various books by the members of the council.

It is not a statement, it is historical fact. The Church does predate the Bible because it canonized and organized it! The texts did exist prior to the Bible, but the Bible itself is younger than the Church by approximately 300 years. It was like building a car, all the parts were there, but the Church put it all together.

"Most" historians do not date the start of the Church at the time where the popes asserted their primacy. If one is asserting their primacy, they existed before then, during a time where they could not assert it (early Christian Persecutions). The "grab for supremacy" really didn't happen as such. Christianity gained its most solid foothold with Charlamagne in 800AD (wiki) and gained tolerance under Constantine I (313AD) prior to that. The Church started to struggle with princes in the Holy Roman Empire in the 15th century. The Treaties of Wesphalia and Utrecht, helped shake loose this "power grab".One cannot document an institution's "rise to power" as its starting point. That would like saying, "Well, Alishia Keys wasn't a singer until she won a Grammy." - ridiculous.

Apostolic Succession has more to do with the teaching authority of the Church even though it is supported by history.

24

The CATHOLIC doctrine of the Faithful and Discreet Slave??? Yes!!

by Terry in

majesterium (sacred tradition) is a technical theological term used in some christian traditions, primarily in the roman catholic and eastern orthodox traditions, to refer to the fundamental basis of church dogma.

the term refers to the "deposit of faith" that these churches hold was communicated by jesus christ to his first followers, and which they hold has been passed down (latin tradere, to hand over or hand down) through succeeding generations.

the church as a community, therefore, was the initial receiver, and has remained the guardian and codifier, of sacred tradition.

aikichristian

AikiChristian, I'd just like to add my personal view on the scriptures you cited.
Luke 10:16: "The one listening to you listens to me, and the one rejecting you rejects me" is very interesting in that it is speaking about "seventy others" (not apostles, but 'ordinary' disciples) - see verse 1.
Romans 13:1-2: This is talking about the Roman government to whom the people would be paying taxes (see verse 6). It is not talking about Christian 'authority'. The writer is dealing specifically with agents of the state.
Matthew 28:18-20: Here Jesus says that "all authority" was given to him. His disciples were merely to teach others all the things he had commanded them, rather than wielding authority over them.
Ephesians 2:19-20: The "cornerstone" is Jesus and the foundation is the "apostles and prophets". The apostles were those who were directly appointed by Jesus, the only exception being Judas' replacement. The foundational teaching that they laid down should therefore have remained unchanged. There is no scriptural proof that I am aware of that more apostles were appointed at later dates, thus carrying on some special authority that would ultimately result in a single 'supreme' representative of Jesus on earth.
Deuteronomy 17:8-12: This scripture relates specifically, of course, to the nation of Israel with a special system of worship and way of life. If one wishes to use this as a principle for Christian 'authority' then one is free to do so, but such is simply a personal interpretation and cannot be tagged on as an addition to New Testament teaching.

Lk 10:16 does indeed reference 72 "appointed" (key word). The importance of their position and their authority to teach is emphasized in verse 16. So, the idea of people appointed to teach is clearly expressed here. It is also inline with the Church's position on its authority to teach Christ's teachings to others. Christ may have appointed 72 "others" but he also sent out his apostles, who were also certified to teach.

Matt 10:18-20 does say that all authority was given to Christ. However, Christ appoints his apostles and gives them the authority to teach all that He had commanded. The Church as an unbroken lineage of pope's and hierachigal structure which stretches back to Peter, the ONLY apostle with the "keys to heaven", which symbolize authority (Matt 16:19, Rev 3:7) as the supreme steward to the master's house (Isaiah 22:22). If anybody comes close to the structure, its the Catholic Church, and it can prove it more than any other Christian denomination, esp. Post-Reformation ones.

Eph 2:19-20 the Church has had this belief all along. Christ is the cornerstone and the foundation is the apostles. It stems from Christ's earlier statement of "on this rock I will build my church". The struture of Christ's Church is consistent thus far in the NT. Not to continue the lineage of appointed teachers with the authority to teach all the Christ had commanded would allow the Church to dissolve as it spread over time and geography. The Church really didn't begin to seriously split until the Protestant Reformation. And the Protestants didn't reform any doctrine of the Church, they just broke off.....from the only institution which could even come historically close to Apostolic times and its lineage. I'll post Scriptural references in my next post.

Deut 17:8-12 is just to show that such a structure is nothing new. It also showed how unified the whole thing was, until the Protestant Reformation. Everything was a hierarchy, even our relationship to God, the Protestants ended democratizing the whole thing and fragmenting Christianity against itself.

Why wasn't my 1 Tim Scripture passage responded to?

Its 2:02AM.....good night!

78

Is practicing Capoeira wrong/bad/discouraged by Jehovah's Witnesses?

by aikichristian in

my girlfriend used to be an avid capoeira practicioner for over year.

she has reaped many benefits from it: increased physical fitness, flexibility, some self-defense skills, and stress-relief.

she enjoyed it.. unfortunately, an article came out in the spanish version of the "watchtower" ("atalaya" in spanish) essentially saying that capoeira should not be practiced because it has some spirituality stuff in it that was wrong.

aikichristian

akichristian..If you truley are a martial artist,why would you need to ask these questions?..Why would you discourage someone from one of the most respected fighting forms?..My best guess is,you know nothing about martial arts..Except..What you read,watch on TV or the Movies...OUTLAW

Whoa, whoa, whoa! I never discouraged anyone, especially my own girlfriend, from practicing martial arts. You're mis-informed about Capoeira. Capoeira is popular, but it does not have a lot of respect as an effective style for combat or self-defense. Karate, Judo, BJJ, Muay Thai, and Escrima have WAY more respect than Capoeira. I don't even think Capoeira would be in the top 50 styles in terms of "respect". Your best guess is WAY wrong, I'm an active judoka (nikyu rank), aikidoka (yonkyu rank), and goju ryu karateka (ikkyu rank). Martial arts has been a big part of my life since I was 7 years old. I don't discourage my girlfriend from re-taking Capoeira or picking up a new MA. I am worried that the WTS will come out with another article saying that martial art "X" is bad too, causing her to get drama from her parents and eventually drop it. I have recommended that she take Judo, but who knows? the WTS may oppose that too because Judo's founder was a Shinto-ist and may be against the bowing and stuff. Fred: You don't have to look for war, sometimes war looks for you! Which is why one ought to have the ability to protect oneself should that situation arise (spiritually AND physically). I don't wish this on you or your loved ones: But one day you may find yourself in a situation where someone is imposing physical harm/violence upon you through no fault of your own. You're going to protect yourself or your loved ones from harm or further harm. Your attacker will not be interested in Jehovah, Christ's sacrifice, how many doors you knocked on, or if you read your Bible. Besides, the majority of MA schools emphasize self-defense rather than just going up to people and attacking them. Also a lot of MA styles developed as a defensive measure to invading forces (Okinawin karate, Escrima/Kali, Savate, etc.). Read your Bible, Fred, even Jehovah has used armies to protect his "Chosen People" and to expand the Kingdom of Israel. Spiritual and physical battle has been intertwined since Lucifer opposed Jehovah.