Topics Started by cedars
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Bizarre 'Spirit anointed' v. 'Spirit appointed' explanation in Dec 15th WT
by cedars inhi everyone, i am going through the dec 15th study edition of the wt thanks to a tip-off that this issue is now available online at jw.org.. in the article "guided by god's spirit in the first century and today" on page 25 there is a bizarre argument put forward by the society about the difference between spirit-anointed and spirit-appointed.. this touches on a subject that i have often wondered about, which is this.
why are spirit anointed brothers and sisters (memorial partakers) not given positions of oversight in the congregation by default?
i know it sounds like a stupid question, but please think about it for a moment.
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Dec 15th WT: "Be like Solomon and don't go to university / don't be like Solomon and join a sports team!"
by cedars inthanks to 'gayle' for bringing our attention to the fact that the december 15th watchtower has now been uploaded to jw.org.
it doesn't take long to reach the first juicy bit on pages 8 and 9, this time regarding higher education:.
it would be good to ask, am i taking to heart solomons example of treasuring divine wisdom?
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34
Fallout from the apostate-bashing WT article?
by cedars ini've noticed there are a few excellent threads on here about sunday's 9/11 watchtower study.
my own analysis of its more blatantly farcical claims (including that of apostates being "mentally diseased") can be seen here.. what i really wanted to know is - what has the fallout been?
has it created any horror-stories within people's families or homes, etc?
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Your top 5 most irritating doctrines/practices?
by cedars init's clear that virtually everyone on here is infuriated by wt teachings/doctrines/practices, but i would really like to know what is of most concern to people who frequent this forum.. here is my top 5, number 1 being the most significant/infuriating:.
the disfellowshipping practice - expanded to include family members (but not parents) who are old enough to leave home.
wrecks families and creates abject fear once people find out the truth about the organization.the blood issue - another unmerciful teaching, but one that costs lives.unquestioned authority of governing body - a handful of men make life-altering decisions as representatives of a larger group of people who they never see or speak to, and yet they demand unquestioning obedience on pain of being disfellowshipped.failed prophecy - the fulfilment of huge swathes of bible prophecy, including revelation, has been attributed to the events of the early 20th century, and the actions of a small group of men.two-tier christianity - faithful and discreet slave are anointed who go to heaven to whom ransom provisions apply directly, whereas remainder, or "great crowd" stay on earth and form a sub-class, only access benefits of ransom through fds.i realise that many of these issues are inter-related, but that's roughly how i would put them.
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WT: "A sport is objectionable if too many people like it"
by cedars inif i may, i would like to offer another glimpse into the strange minds of the writers of the more recent watchtower study editions, this time on the topic of sport.. no doubt like many of you, i enjoy playing sport because (apart from anything else) regular exercise stops me from becoming fat and unhealthy.
during my time as an active witness, i often had the opportunity to play sports with other brothers, although i became increasingly frustrated that this was not (in my case) organised on a more regular basis by those in my congregation; rather, games of my particular sport were organised less and less frequently until they became virtually non-existant.. things have improved considerably since i became inactive and was improperly shunned by those 'brothers' i used to play sport with, because i have begun playing my particular sport with so-called "worldly" people in my local community.
apart from allowing me to get back into some semblance of shape (thereby keeping mrs cedars happy) i am also able to keep in touch with my neighbours and be more sociable with those who live near me.
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Crisis of Conscience - The Movie
by cedars ini know... how cool would that be??!.
having just commented on the post by trailerfitter about the situation with his wife, and how i have personally found the book crisis of conscience by ray franz to be the perfect antidote to the society's perception of itself as being god's earthly organisation, the thought occurred to me: what if there was a movie about ray franz and his life?
obviously the society would be in uproar, and letters would be read out to all congregations all over the world not to go and see it, but just imagine!
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WT: "Disfellowshipped teenagers = Nadab and Abihu"
by cedars incontinuing on my objective sojourn through the latest watchtower study editions, i thought i would write a few words about the article "god's rest - have you entered into it?
" taken from the july 15th watchtower.
incidentally, this watchtower is the same one that i discussed on my previous post concerning the society's latest bout of apostate-bashing.
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WT: "Don't watch news items featuring witnesses!"
by cedars inhi everyone, yet another analysis of a recent watchtower i'm afraid.
this one's a little closer to home, as it concerns apostates.
yes - i'm referring to the forthcoming article "will you heed jehovah's clear warnings?
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23
Watchtower: "Google is like a mushroom picker"
by cedars inif you don't mind i'll share another gem from my review of the latest watchtower study editions (july to october '11).. one article which seemed riddled with flawed reasoning and bizarre analogies was entitled "the internet - making wise use of a global tool" on page 3 of the august 15th watchtower.. under the heading "information - reliable or false?
"never assume that all information found on the internet is good and beneficial.
internet search engines might be compared to a legion of mushroom pickers who tirelessly collect all types of mushrooms - edible as well as poisonous - throwing them into a single container and dishing them out for us to eat.".
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QFR: "Warning - memorial partakers might be loonies!"
by cedars inas part of my objective analysis of four month's worth of watchtower study editions from july to october 2011, i found the following gem from a question from readers, on page 22 of the august 15 magazine.
the question under discussion was "how are we to understand the figures in the annual service report?
", and it goes on to provide an idiot's guide to what the figures mean, including the following.... "memorial partakers.