Second that.
Spot on Timothy
the anointed (the christs) or fds (ruling religious clergy class) are placed above the gb in 1971, then below the elders (pharisees) in 2007, and back above the gb in 2009. .
what next in the sanhedrin's (gb's) perpetual, unrepentant, and inane vignette of deception, smoke and mirrors, as well as spiritual blindness, confusion, inebriation, and insanity perpetrated on the laity (dumb sheeple)?
w71 12/15 p. 749 (chart)w07 5/1 pp.
Second that.
Spot on Timothy
in 6 months, my life has completely changed!.
i have chosen to be gay, i no longer suffer with guilty suicidal feelings, i have the most amazing boyfriend, and my parents and friends accept me for who i am.. i was informed today that a judicial comitee will be formed to disfellowship me.
i dont feel any kind of bitterness or sadness despite the fact that this is all i have known for 20 years and im about to lose some very close friends.. on the contrary, i feel fabulous!!!
Dear TimothyT
Great to hear you've let go of WBT$ fear, guilt, embarrassment, judgment, and hypocrisy.
Why did Jesus never call a Judging Committee meeting? Why did he denounce religious leaders and not us mere fallen mortals "the dumb sheeple" (Luke 18:13-14)?
Imagine asking each elder to first draw up a list comparing the top 10 sexual sins, and top 10 religious sins, according to Jesus, with special reference to Matthew chapters 15 and 23! Imagine writing them a letter, denouncing them as hypocrites and apostates, and disfellowshipping them from your life instead!
Jesus said to them [the elders (Pharisees) and the Governing Body (Sanhedrin)]: “Truly I say to YOU that the tax collectors and the harlots are going ahead of YOU into the kingdom of God. For John came to YOU in a way of righteousness, but YOU did not believe him. However, the tax collectors and the harlots believed him, and YOU, although YOU saw [this], did not feel regret afterwards so as to believe him." (Matthew 21:31-32)
The WBT$ ruling religious hierarchy are exactly like the Pharisees (elders) and Sanhedrin (Governing Body) with their apostate supremacist legalism ("right" rules), moralism ("right" morals), ethnocentrism ("right" doctrines), and Gnosticism ("right" knowledge) as a way to establish their own righteousness.
Paul said: "For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God; but not according to accurate knowledge; for, because of not knowing the righteousness of God but seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God" (Romans 10:2-3).
They refused to accept the free gifts of IMUPTED righteousness and Holiness extended to any person who would simply admit they are (spiritually) fallen, dysfunctional, aberrant, and decayed and in need of God's solution to our many problems.
When Raymond Franz' conscience would not go along with the GB's legalistic ways they found ways to ostracise and eventually disfellowship him. Seemingly before they "got him" he cleverly managed to slip in two very telling articles when they were fussing about something else! (w80 5/1 pp. 5-8 Learning from an Experiment That Failed, and g79 6/8 pp. 27-28 Why the Emphasis on Christian Freedom?)
To this day these are some of the most hated Watchtower library articles in the ruling religious hierarchy circles since it exposes and accuses them so thoroughly.
Greetings and blessings
Fernando
the anointed (the christs) or fds (ruling religious clergy class) are placed above the gb in 1971, then below the elders (pharisees) in 2007, and back above the gb in 2009. .
what next in the sanhedrin's (gb's) perpetual, unrepentant, and inane vignette of deception, smoke and mirrors, as well as spiritual blindness, confusion, inebriation, and insanity perpetrated on the laity (dumb sheeple)?
w71 12/15 p. 749 (chart)w07 5/1 pp.
The anointed (the Christs) or FDS (ruling religious clergy class) are placed above the GB in 1971, then below the elders (Pharisees) in 2007, and back above the GB in 2009.
What next in the Sanhedrin's (GB's) perpetual, unrepentant, and inane vignette of deception, smoke and mirrors, as well as spiritual blindness, confusion, inebriation, and insanity perpetrated on the laity (dumb sheeple)?
In the New Covenant or Testament (scriptures) there is only ONE "the anointed" (ho Christos) which is always correctly translated as "the Christ" - even in the dangerously theologically biased New World Translation.
could we be doing more brothers and sisters?
i'm sure i'm not alone in wishing that there was more we could do to hasten the demise of the wtbts and to speed up the exodus of it's members.
and i'm sure i'm not alone in thinking of possible ways to do this.. one which i have been considering lately is to make use of the fact that many who leave the organization actually leave the area, move away, and start a new life.
@Essan
I'm with you 100% on this (your post) - and in a technical/spiritual position to deliver.
I also see a day where a much larger scale criminal case puts an end to the demonic WBT$ hegemony, their abuse, their lies, their coverups, as well as their theft of their followers' faith, spirituality, and salvation.
How ironic that bad boy Rutherford was right - ALL religion is indeed a snare and a racket. Yes that is what he said and meant in a number of books, booklets, and phonograph recordings. He did not talk about so called "true religion/ists" versus "false religion/ists" as the WBT$ falsely claims (see 1937_enemies.pdf, 1940_religion.pdf and related publications at the time).
Greetings and blessings
Fernando
so this is the basic logical flaw in christianity i believe.
a brother identified it from the stage for me in a talk.
we all agree (as christians and jw's) that the ransom was necessary because adam lost his perfection and everlasting life.. this is a paraphrase from the talk:.
Dear Anony Mous
In short one needs to understand BOTH spiritual atonement/reconciliation AND spiritual deliverance/liberation (release by ransom), as well as their respective counterparts or opposites namely spiritual enmity AND spiritual bondage/captivity.
Maybe this (partly speculative) perspective may help?
Satan (our evil stepfather) wanted to take custody of the human children to control and exploit them. God decided to give a simple instruction to the children and allowed our evil stepfather to challenge this with his own instructions.
When Adam and Eve decided to listen to our stepfather they effectively and legally chose his custody of them - something they very soon regretted.
They did not enjoy being captive to Satan, Sin, Sickness, Suffering, and Death.
God wanted his children back without resorting to deception as our stepfather had. Since our stepfather hated Jesus, he demanded his life as a ransom. Our heavenly father and our older brother Jesus determined that they would gladly pay this ransom due to their immense love for humans (John 3:16; 1 Cor 1:30; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14; Heb 9:15).
This (partly speculative) perspective finds support where the Bible often and clearly distinguishes between the "children of God" and the "children of the devil". Most notably Jesus who was against religion and the teaching of religion (proselytising Matt 23:15), denounced religious leaders as offspring of vipers, and from their father the devil.
Seeing (discerning) this picture in much greater clarity requires a detailed study of the full and true "good news" versus "religion".
However it is not possible to practice religion, and obey the "good news" at the same time. Just ask any JW!
It is near impossible to find a JW that can list more than 1 of the 30-odd key ingredients or components of the "good news".
It is near impossible to find a JW that can explain the "good news" according to Paul, whereas more than half the Bible's references to the "good news" are by Paul!
When one pursues a deeper understanding of spiritual bondage/captivity/custody/possession/control (aka a key ingredient of religion) - versus - spiritual liberation/deliverance (aka a key ingredient of the "good news"), matters become a lot clearer.
Also understanding enmity (aka a key ingredient of religion) - versus - reconciliation/atonement (aka a key ingredient of the "good news") is also a vital key to the puzzle.
It is a bit like hunting for lost, hidden or missing puzzle pieces of a treasure map that leads to a priceless treasure.
Oddly enough even this most profound and fairly hard to understand part of the "good news" is "reasonably" well described in the Watchtower. Indeed all the full and true "good news" can be found (albeit fragmented) in the JW publications, just not in their hearts, and not on their lips.
Find and highlight the words "custody" (15X) and "bondage" (18X) in w52 7/15 pp. 437-445. Admittedly our family had to reread this very deep article many times, and do a lot of prayerful research, until the penny finally dropped, and we saw the stunning picture. There are many easier ingredients of the "good news" that one may choose to study first as stepping stones to these more arcane ingredients and the big picture.
We did also learn that the only thing the Watchtower Society fears more than their own publications, is someone who knows and can use their publications better than them. Once we walked out and formally denounced them as apostates, it was possible to research and explore the "good news" freely and progress much faster.
We rejoice at finally being free of the spiritually blind, confused, inebriated, and insane Watchtower and their mindless apostate minions.
As Isaiah 61:1 explains the power and purpose of the "good news": "The spirit of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah is upon me [Jesus], for the reason that Jehovah has anointed me [Jesus] to tell [the] good news to the meek ones [sheep or wheat]. He has sent me [Jesus] to bind up the brokenhearted [spiritually deprived and unregenerated], to proclaim [spiritual] liberty to those taken [spiritually] captive [by religion/ists] and the wide opening [of the spiritual eyes] even to the [spiritual] prisoners [of religion/ists]".
PM me if you can benefit from a comprehensive list of suggested search strings in the Watchtower library, to help your research.
Greetings and blessings
Fernando
i found this awesome quote from the book captives of a concept:.
beware of "organization.
it is wholly unnecessary.
@Shanagirl
How true, and well stated!
This painstakingly well researched and free e-book shows just how badly so-called "Christianity" has lost its way: http://www.christinyou.net/pdfs/Christiantynotrel.pdf
Greetings and blessings
Fernando
there is one basic distinction i no longer share with those who adhere to one of the many abrahamic religions and that is the holiness of the bible.
it seems to be the common thread in the religious beliefs of half the planet (although muslims dismiss the bible as an "earlier revelation".
sort of like islamic new light taken to a much higher order).
For a painstakingly well researched and free 169 page e-book that discusses this topic in detail in chapter 2 on page 23 (plus much more related to surreptitious Watchtower style "Pagan Christianity" and "Christless Christianity"):
http://www.christinyou.net/pdfs/Christiantynotrel.pdf
Greetings and blessings
Fernando
PS - Those that enjoy this e-book may also be interested in the books titled "Pagan Christianity" (Frank Viola and George Barna) and "Christless Christianity" (Michael Horton) which can be purchased from http://www.bookdepository.co.uk (free shipping to most countries at present).
can anyone tell me why rutherford is not shown giving a talk or speaking in public?
i noticed that russell was on film in the first dvd -out of darkness but rutherford was shown in a picture only - never speaking or doing a public presentation, same goes for the second one -they have an actor portraying him... was there a reason?
was his persona that bad?
This post on Rutherford might be of interest:
Greetings and blessings
Fernando
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Why do Watchtower religionists repeatedly, dishonestly, blatantly and deliberately misrepresent Rutherford as denouncing “false religion” and “false religionists”, when in fact he repeatedly and clearly denounced ALL religion, and ALL religionists?
If they cannot even be trusted in print and when quoting their own publications, it seems everything is suspect and must be checked.
Greetings and blessings
Fernando
(Compare jv chap. 7 pp. 84-85 “On Saturday…”; 1937_enemies.pdf pp. 130 & 117)
(More refs: 1940_religion.pdf; 1937_Model_study.pdf p. 41,63,64; 1936 Protection pp. 6,7 )
can anyone tell me why rutherford is not shown giving a talk or speaking in public?
i noticed that russell was on film in the first dvd -out of darkness but rutherford was shown in a picture only - never speaking or doing a public presentation, same goes for the second one -they have an actor portraying him... was there a reason?
was his persona that bad?
@ziddina
This link may be of interest: http://www.centralprint.net/jwtalks/SpecialTalks/Rutherford/Rutherford.html
Greetings and blessings
Fernando