Posts by inkling

40

OK, so what's the deal with the Cyrus prophecy?

by Amha·aret in

i'd really like an answer to this.

its probably been discussed already and if so, feel free to send the link.. as a dub, i always marvelled at this prophecy - how jehovah was able to name the person who would overthrow babylon and in what manner he would do it (drying up the river, gates unlocked, etc.

) and so far in advance too.

inkling

It's the old "miracles are false because they are miracles" argument.

Ok, fair enough... I prefer the:

"Miracles are false because there are non-miraculous explanations that fit
as well or better, and also seem to be in harmony with the way the universe
seems to work"

argument.

I cannot say, yet, that the non-miraculous explanations of Isaiah explain the facts
to that level of satisfaction, but I also admit that I am very new to this subject other
than years of highly questionable WT logic.

Therefore, I tend to mistrust my feelings on the matter.

I still wait eagerly to hear WHY the "2nd Isaiah" would write what he did, and why
everyone seemed to accept it as truth at the time and for many years after.

[inkling]

23

C.T. Russell:"I AM A FREE AND ACCEPTED MASON"

by cameo-d in

excerpt from cr 359, "the temple of god" p.915.

russell...in his own words...... .

"i am very glad to have this particular opportunity of saying a word about some of the things in which we agree with our masonic friends, because we are speaking in a building dedicated to masonry, and we are also masons.. .

inkling

It's like an "annointed" JW saying "I am a TRUE Born Again Christian"

Does that mean they are a member of a Born Again church?

23

C.T. Russell:"I AM A FREE AND ACCEPTED MASON"

by cameo-d in

excerpt from cr 359, "the temple of god" p.915.

russell...in his own words...... .

"i am very glad to have this particular opportunity of saying a word about some of the things in which we agree with our masonic friends, because we are speaking in a building dedicated to masonry, and we are also masons.. .

inkling

Just?
what do you make of that?

He was saying he (the bible students) were TRUE Masons.

That they took the symbols and goals of the Mason's and
lived up to them far better than the Mason's did.

23

C.T. Russell:"I AM A FREE AND ACCEPTED MASON"

by cameo-d in

excerpt from cr 359, "the temple of god" p.915.

russell...in his own words...... .

"i am very glad to have this particular opportunity of saying a word about some of the things in which we agree with our masonic friends, because we are speaking in a building dedicated to masonry, and we are also masons.. .

inkling

Main Entry:
met·a·phor
Pronunciation:
\'me-t?-?fo?r also -f?r\
Function:
noun

1: a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them (as in drowning in money) ; broadly : figurative language —

23

C.T. Russell:"I AM A FREE AND ACCEPTED MASON"

by cameo-d in

excerpt from cr 359, "the temple of god" p.915.

russell...in his own words...... .

"i am very glad to have this particular opportunity of saying a word about some of the things in which we agree with our masonic friends, because we are speaking in a building dedicated to masonry, and we are also masons.. .

inkling

But not just after the style of our Masonic brethern.

40

OK, so what's the deal with the Cyrus prophecy?

by Amha·aret in

i'd really like an answer to this.

its probably been discussed already and if so, feel free to send the link.. as a dub, i always marvelled at this prophecy - how jehovah was able to name the person who would overthrow babylon and in what manner he would do it (drying up the river, gates unlocked, etc.

) and so far in advance too.

inkling

Most of the arguments stated have that presuppostion at their root and are a result of a anti-supernaturalism bent on disproving that a
"second" Isaiah wrote these prophecies after the fact.

Well... yeah.

If I was going to write a exhaustive historical report on, say, Harry Houdini, should I start from the
assumption that magic is REAL, and he was, in fact, a wizard?

Just because humans have only recently woken up from hundreds of thousands of years of superstitious gullibility,
is that reason to think that magic used to happen ALL THE TIME, and then (weirdly enough around the time of formation
of the scientific method) suddenly STOPPED happening all the time?

Does the fact that the Celt's have books describing the anthropomorphic nature and actions of trees mean
that Irish botanists today are fanatically trying to "explain away" the Druid's story of how trees work, becuase
they have "lost thier faith" in Celtic mythology?

Why should modern historians assume that the best explaination is supernatural
if an entirly natural explaination also fits all the know facts just as well?

Ockhams razor anyone?

[inkling]

9

Jon Stewart has some fun with inauguration speech.

by BurnTheShips in

or more accurately, the reaction to it.. http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoid=216538&title=changefest-09-obamas-inaugural.

.

bts.

inkling

Wow. So, honest, so funny.

Seriously, I am really proud of Jon Stewart for doing this bit.
It shows me that he is serious in his promise to make fun of
everyone, even people he likes.

It gives me hope that his show will continue to be really
really funny and insightful even without the great reams of
nearly-perfect-right-off-the-shelf material of the Bush era.

[inkling]

40

OK, so what's the deal with the Cyrus prophecy?

by Amha·aret in

i'd really like an answer to this.

its probably been discussed already and if so, feel free to send the link.. as a dub, i always marvelled at this prophecy - how jehovah was able to name the person who would overthrow babylon and in what manner he would do it (drying up the river, gates unlocked, etc.

) and so far in advance too.

inkling

This suggests a date in the latter part of Nabonidus' reign, when Cyrus (who had already conquered Media) posed a significant threat to the continued existence of the Neo-Babylonian kingdom.

Oh, wait... so it WAS written before the destruction of Babylon, just not far enough before to be impressive?

Like, it was a pretty good, but safe, guess?

[inkling] <--- is confused

40

OK, so what's the deal with the Cyrus prophecy?

by Amha·aret in

i'd really like an answer to this.

its probably been discussed already and if so, feel free to send the link.. as a dub, i always marvelled at this prophecy - how jehovah was able to name the person who would overthrow babylon and in what manner he would do it (drying up the river, gates unlocked, etc.

) and so far in advance too.

inkling

Leolaia:

First off, thanks so much for your insight. I was just yesterday wondering about this very subject.

Here is my question though...

Why? Why would this Deutero-Isaiah person write a prophecy after the fact? Clearly he wasn't fooling anyone
at the time, right? I mean, at some point this additions appeared in the text within the living memory of a reader
who has read the old version of Isaiah, and knows that there was never anything in the book about Cyrus until
well AFTER Cyrus had done his thing.

So who was his audience, and why were they not bothered by the fact that the "prophecy" they were reading was
fictitious?

[inkling]

20

The Inconsistent Skepticism of Bill Maher

by inkling in

jw
friends

ok, so i recently watched the film religulous, and found it to be very funny.. .

however, i was quite disappointed to see maher "confront" some christians with.

the "fact" that the jesus myth was borrowed pretty nearly whole-cloth from the.

inkling

Is that photo even real?

It's from "The Onion"....