Posts by dropoffyourkeylee

4

The Dead Sea Scrolls - did the Qmran sect influence Jesus and the early Christians?

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

the small sect that lived in the qmran area (and who 'owned' the documents known as the dead sea scrolls), is important if we want to understand the religious thinking in the form of judaism practised in the first century ce, and therefore the starting point for the development of early christianity.. what did jesus know about the essenes who were at least in some sort of association with that sect?.

if early judaism was truly monotheistic, how can we relate some of these thoughts to that concept?.

from document iiq17 viii: "they bless and praise the god of gods ..." (note the translators(geza vermes) use of a capital g, why did he decide to use a capital.

dropoffyourkeylee

I think I read an article once that claimed that John the Baptist had been influenced by the Essenes. Had to do with their practices of ritual cleansing.

6

Those new doorbell thingies & jw's

by carla in

i didn't know if i should put this in humor or what?

have you seen those new doorbell devices with built-in camera/microphone/speaker?

i wonder how that will work with jw's coming to the door?

dropoffyourkeylee

I have to think this SNL clip was based loosely on JWs:

Bible Salesmen

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/shirtless-bible-salesmen/n11100?snl=1

13

Governing Body pre-'70s: All Shareholders?

by neat blue dog in

i used to think that before the governing body was introduced in the 1970's as we know it today, that they used that term for the 7-member board of directors.

but the article written by milton henschel in the '50s that was just posted showed another angle.

apparently all shareholders were the "governing body" and the board was their representative, just like later they would say that all anointed ones were the faithful slave and the gb was their representative.. the governing body at present has 402 members, who reside in 29 countries and elect seven ministers as a board of directors.

dropoffyourkeylee

There was a time not too long ago when the Annual Meeting was only attended by 'members' of the legal corporation, or their proxies. I personally knew one elder whose family had been in since the early 1900's, and one of the older members (with spouse) of the family had two voting shares in the Society (I never really knew how that happened, but I know that they knew A H MacMillan personally). For years, the elder I knew was able to go to the Annual Meetings as a proxy.

As long as a legal corporation exists, there will be some definition of voting members, whether that is called 'shareholder' or 'voting member' or whatever.

19

Watchtower History Gem: I Found When Maria Got Her Teaching Certificate

by Wild_Thing in

jw
friends

i consider myself an amateur watchtower history buff.

i have always read that maria frances ackley russell, charles taze russell's first and only wife, went to a teacher training college and was a teacher for a number of years before marrying russell.

but, i have never seen proof that she truly did finish college and became a certified teacher.

dropoffyourkeylee

Listener In what way do you consider it the weakest? Do you mean the least imaginative, the least bible based, etc?

I gave away all my copies of the Studies, so i am speaking from memory. The fourth volume was entitled 'The Battle of Armageddon' or something like that, and the majority of the book was simply a compilation of news stories showing that the predictions of world collapse were coming true. It was basically 200 pages of 'Watching the World', if you remember that from the old days of the Awake magazine.

In contrast, the first volume, 'Divine Plan' was really easy to read and engaging to the reader. The subject matter was total bunk, of course, but the writing is admittedly good. In my opinion, the Bible Student movement would never have gotten off the ground if not for that first volume. It was the catalyst that got people hooked back then.

4

Viola plans to put pool inside old JW property

by betterdaze in

vincent viola plans to put a pool inside old jehovah's witnesses property in brooklyn heights.

eye on real estate: florida panthers' owner is turning 124 columbia heights into an apartment building.

by lore croghan.

dropoffyourkeylee

maybe it is a baptismal pool. lol

11

I found a silver NWT at a very small library.

by blownaway in

my wife and i went to war eagle ar saturday.

there is a small library.

its about 18 inches x 18 inches.

dropoffyourkeylee

As a curious and voracious reader when I was younger, I was glad that my local library had books like Mein Kampf and the Koran (in English, of course).

42

JWs line up to have Gov. Body members autograph bibles.

by blownaway in

i was watching some of the videos on line and marc and cora had one where they said that after zone talks the gov body members would autograph bibles.

anyone have any video of this?.

dropoffyourkeylee

Gift Bibles often have a page to write a personal message from the giver. Like the kids at a Sunday School class will all get a gift Bible at the end of the program. The pastor or Sunday School teacher might sign it after writing their message. But the GB signing Bibles as if it makes the book 'special' seems to have a different intent.

4

Where do Bethelites now go to the meetings?

by RubaDub in

with all the changes in the borg, does anyone know where all the ones that have been moved out of brooklyn go to the meetings?.

in the past, they were assigned to a number of congregations in new york city.

having now moved into more rural areas where there is no public transportation as there is in new york, where do they all go?.

dropoffyourkeylee

Most of the Bethelites at Warwick, Tuxedo, etc have cars now. There is a Bethel garage where they can get auto work done free (they have to get the cars themselves; I'm not sure if they have to pay for tires, parts, etc), and they get mileage from Bethel to get them to their meetings and service, depending on how far it is. A lot of them drive an hour or more to their meetings. There is also a big congregation that meets at Warwick (about 200 or so in attendance the day we were there).

Also, there are regular shuttle vans between the major sites (during the day) so there is no problem for them going between Warwick, Tuxedo, Wallkill, etc.

42

JWs line up to have Gov. Body members autograph bibles.

by blownaway in

i was watching some of the videos on line and marc and cora had one where they said that after zone talks the gov body members would autograph bibles.

anyone have any video of this?.

dropoffyourkeylee

Nearly every convention I attended as a youth would have an American flag hanging up somewhere and no one paid any attention to it. Not a big deal.

45

Why Did JWs Abandon Brooklyn for the Sticks?

by Room 215 in

i may have missed this, but can anyone tell me what was the pretext the gb concocted to justify their abandonment of a perfectly suitable, high-profile, high-visibility complex in what is arguably the world's greatest metropolis for the bucolic isolation of upstate new york.

any how does the move square with their purported belief in the imminence of armageddon?

.

dropoffyourkeylee

I find it hard to critcise the pullout from Brooklyn. The presence in the city had some justification with the printing factories, supporting personnel, and shipping proximity. But that need has evaporated in the internet age, so cashing out and moving seems like a good business decision to me.