The "snake" in the Garden of Eden story may have been Adam's first wife, Lilith. There are several older paintings of the snake having a woman's head.
truth_b_known
JoinedPosts by truth_b_known
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How Would You React if a Snake Started Talking to You?
by RubaDub injust an odd thought i guess.
i saw a large snake in the back of my house the other day and it went on its merry way.
i just asked myself, what if the snake turned around and wanted to have a philosophical discussion on life, the universe or the origin of creation and then began to ask me questions?
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Spiritual Paradise Watchtower Style
by Vanderhoven7 incan you believe the presumption?.
https://youtu.be/1mamt-krcnc.
https://youtu.be/wjnk-mr_860.
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truth_b_known
Hairtrigger:
Yes. There are writings by the such ones. Check out The Apostolic Fathers in English 3rd Edition by Michael Holmes.
Please keep in mind that Martin Luther's Reformation Movement is why some many outside the Catholic Church have no idea where much of Christian doctrine comes from. Luther touted Sola Scriptura (Scripture Only) or "if it is not in the Bible it is not true." Then Luther started removing books from the Bible because they opposed his beliefs (i.e. saved by grace alone which gave us "once saved, always saved"). Luther tried to have the Book of James removed from the Bible because one verse counters the saved by grace alone belief.
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Spiritual Paradise Watchtower Style
by Vanderhoven7 incan you believe the presumption?.
https://youtu.be/1mamt-krcnc.
https://youtu.be/wjnk-mr_860.
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truth_b_known
Hairtrigger:
Being raised a Witness, one of thousands of Protestant denominations that started from Luther's Reformation Movement around 1517AD, I had never heard of Apostolic Succession until my recent studies on the history of Christianity.
As the story goes, when Jesus was on Earth he directly appointed 12 Apostles. Judas Iscariot's death resulting in a vacancy. In the book of Acts the remaining 11 Apostles appoint Mathias to replace Judas. This is the first person to succeed an Apostle by appointment from previous Apostles. Later Paul and Timothy would be appointed.
Over the years, every time one of the Apostles died the remaining Apostles would literally lay hands on a person who was to be one of the next Apostles. This procedure continued over the centuries whenever a Pope or Bishop was appointed. Every person appointed could trace their lineage of appointing back to the original 12.
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J. W's Are Afraid of Old Literature
by IWant2Leave ini'm reading babylon the great has fallen, god's kingdom rules, published 1963. this was studied years ago when i was about 10-12 years old.
i wanted to just read some of the beliefs from decades ago.
my wife wants to know why i'm reading this book.
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truth_b_known
I have not stepped inside a Kingdom Hall in about 12 years, maybe longer. For those who are PIMO or have just recently left, please tell me what have Witnesses done with the congregation library inside the Kingdom Halls? The Kingdom Hall I attended as a really young child had a massive library with literature going back to the beginning of Russell including the old phonograph records.
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Spiritual Paradise Watchtower Style
by Vanderhoven7 incan you believe the presumption?.
https://youtu.be/1mamt-krcnc.
https://youtu.be/wjnk-mr_860.
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truth_b_known
Where is there ANY evidence of the Christian Church being in "spiritual captivity" of anything, let alone itself? So, for less than 200 years the Christian Church is A-Ok, but then for nearly 19 centuries it is in spiritual captivity until a publishing corporation's president is released from prison?
Apostolic succession is documented in the Bible starting with Matthias replacing Judas in the book of Acts. Other examples are Timothy and Titus. Their are Catholic priests living today who can trace their apostolic succession all the way back to the original 12.
It baffles my mind sometimes that I was ever a Witness.
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Organized Rioting Across America Due To A Black Man’s Death
by minimus incities across america have been pillaged and destroyed these last few days.
a white policeman has been charged with murder of a black man.
protests have been organized across major us cities and horrible riots have occurred.
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truth_b_known
370 Million Americans
1 Million Americans serve in some capacity as law enforcement officer
250 Million contacts between law enforcement officers in their official capacity and private citizens annually
Annually in the U.S. about 1,000 of those 250 million contacts result in law enforcement officers using deadly force and less than 1% of those encounters were declared unjustified. in 2019 there were 1,005 people in the U.S. that were killed by the police.
Statistically speaking, in the U.S, more white people are killed by the police than any other ethnic background. Also statistically black and Hispanic persons are more likely to be killed by the police. However, studies have shown that the ethnicity of the police officer who uses deadly force has had no bearing on whether deadly force was used because of the suspect's skin color.
Studies have also shown that a reason for the disproportionate amount of deadly force used against minorities is because contact between the police and minorities is higher. This may be because the police contact may be higher in economically depressed areas.
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J. W's Are Afraid of Old Literature
by IWant2Leave ini'm reading babylon the great has fallen, god's kingdom rules, published 1963. this was studied years ago when i was about 10-12 years old.
i wanted to just read some of the beliefs from decades ago.
my wife wants to know why i'm reading this book.
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truth_b_known
What would a PIMI define as "old"? That refers to a anything not in the present. Yesterday is old (i.e. day old bread).
Is there an expiration date on Watchtower literature like there is on a carton of milk? At what point is it no longer safe to read a particular book or magazine that was published by the Watchtower?
If I drink expired milk I risk getting food poisoning and getting physically ill. What risk do I take from reading old literature?
The Bible was literally written thousands of years ago. Should we stop reading it since it is no longer safe to read a Watchtower publication based on the Bible that was written a decade or two ago?
If there is something wrong with reading a Watchtower publication today, why was it considered required reading by the entire organization at the time it was printed? Why was the release of that publication literally celebrated with thunderous applause at a convention?
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Welsh Police v American Police
by ThomasCovenant inhow's we do it in my home country.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w30sckf9j2s.
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truth_b_known
Deadly force is deadly force. That man chose to threaten those officers with deadly force. He proved it when he stabbed the one officer multiple times. He made his choice.
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Resurrection, Reconstruction? What is it? It never made sense to me. Your opinion.
by Wasanelder Once ini never had much faith in whatever resurrection was.
what appealed to me about jw doctrines was the rejection of the "it's a mystery" defense of the indefensible.
when i would ask how going into non existence could be reversed when all the atomic parts of who we are had been scattered for thousands of years, the answer was "jehovah can do anything".
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truth_b_known
Regardless of the denomination, Christian afterlife has always perplexed me. It is like signing a contract without reading it or understanding it.
There is no clear understanding of what humans living on Earth will be doing for eternity in the Witness paradise or what life will be like as a resurrected human. I have heard speculation of the resurrected not being physically recognizable or even being brought back in these sexless bodies.
Being told "Whatever it will be like we are sure it will be good (translation - at least you will be alive, forever)." Sorry, but I want to know the details. Living forever isn't necessarily a good thing and one person's paradise is another persons hell.
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Gorby has to admit
by Gorbatchov infor the first time in my life, i have to admit that the world is rapidly deteriorating.
first i saw a decline in democracy worldwide.
elections were a tough battle every time, unfair too.
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truth_b_known
The only thing that has changed is we now are bombarded 24 hours a day with news on "cable" news networks and social media. 24 hour news networks have about 5 hours worth of news they have to spread out over 24 hours. They also have to compete in a saturated market so things are dramatized/sensationalized.