many that have come to this forum have left the jws religion and moved on with their lives but from a outsider's viewpoint what do think makes the jws religion wrong or incorrect as a active christian faith ?.
somethings come to mind such as its long continuous end times/armageddon soon doctrine which has really been a core doctrine for decades going right back to its beginning .. maybe they should have adopted the stance as other christian based faiths and adhered to jesus's own words when he said " no one knows of the time not even he ".
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I think if I could just bring out one thing and one thing only it would be this -
The Watchtower never admits it is wrong or apologizes for the pain it caused with its teaches. The Watchtower simply presents its "New Light" without even mentioning the former doctrine and then conveniently skips over all the Witnesses that suffered as a result of the old doctrine.
i just received a hand written envelope through the post containing an invitation to the online 2021 convenient.
i'm in staffs in the uk .
jan .
Donation boxes will be replaced with a donation button you can click on. I bet they still stream a part about Convention expenses and how joyous it is to donate.
can anyone remember the reasoning the watchtower gave for jesus speaking these words?
if you have a reference that would be even better!.
It is hard to tell as the writing of the Gospels is an exercise in putting the cart before the horse. When you look at the chronological order of when the books of the New Testament were written it is possible that the quote is not a quote at all. In other words, once the divinity of Jesus was accepted by some Christians the writers added the quote to the story where it eventually showed up in the Gospels.
it's pretty easy to see how current events would have any jw convinced the end is imminent, but i just don't see how there could be a major push for zealous service, pioneering, etc.
decades into the future.
even if (when) world events happen periodically that could scare the r&f, there are now countless hours of hd video of jw leaders saying how close the end is.
I think it was the Awake! magazine that used to have the statement in the inside of the cover that read: "this magazine builds confidence in the Creator's promise of a peaceful and secure new order before the generation that saw 1914 passes away". We know this ended in 1995 when the doctrine changed the meaning of the word "generation".
In 1995 this doctrine change actually got media attention. Many newspapers carried the story. I even remember someone cutting out the article from a local paper and posting it on the information board at the Kingdom Hall I attended.
That doctrine change bought the Watchtower some time. However, I think this will end up just like the Millerites of whom Charles Taze Russell based his beliefs. This was actually dramatized in the final episodes of the HBO series "The Leftovers" season two.
At some point the Watchtower can no longer kick the can down the road. This "Overlapping Generation" has an expiration date just like the original "generation that saw the event of 1914 unfold".
I couldn't agree more. We are perfect. We just have to see it.
i was crusin you tube, came across a guy fabricating a blacksmiths hammering station, built around a antique post vise.
the center piece was a slab of 1 inch t1 steel [expensive].
he said the steel came from a printing press out of new york city.. .
Good to know something use full came out of Bethel.
I second the sentiment. If you find out what they are making and it is for sale, please let us know.
So far one god, one Buddha
Minimus - That was a "no" for me. The Buddha stated it is better to do go things and strive for your goals through action rather than pray for the outcome you want.
notice that i left off "benevolent" .
reason being is because i could argue that being all knowing and all powerful is not a prerequisite of being "good".
yet i'm a firm believer that "something didn't come from nothing".
Benevolent meaning "well meaning and kindly" does not equal universal butler and Superman.
People are born, get sick, feel pain, suffer, grow old, and die. Conversely people also experience joy, peace, and happiness. The are two side of the same coin - Life. You cannot eradicate one side of a coin without destroying the whole coin. That is why the Christian/JW vision of la-la land cannot be.
notice that i left off "benevolent" .
reason being is because i could argue that being all knowing and all powerful is not a prerequisite of being "good".
yet i'm a firm believer that "something didn't come from nothing".
How did you reach that conclusion, truth_b_known?
Animals/insects have a certain level of awareness. Animals insects build structures that have function, but do not having meaning or purpose. That is to say, wildlife have been witnessed to make structures to reside in. Whereas human build structures to reside in (function), but also build structures that have purpose. Examples are structures used for religious practice (church, temple, etc.) or for education (school, university, etc.), or to maintain order (capitol, courthouse, etc.)
Wildlife sees the structures human make. Wildlife is not aware of the purpose of the above describe structures. Wildlife can only see the functionality (a place to seek protection from elements/threats) of the structures. This is due to a lower level of consciousness/awareness.
What I theorize is that there may be life with a higher level of consciousness than our own. As such, we may not be able to comprehend it as our own consciousness is not high enough. The problem then is how does one prove this without raising one's awareness or level of consciousness? The answer may be - you don't.
I prescribe to the Gautama Buddha's idea on prayer - If prayer worked we would all have what we want rather than have to work for what we want.
