Posts by truth_b

18

Catholicism and Orthodoxy- 2000 yrs of experience

by Powermetal4ever in

alright this has been in my brain lately: both catholic church and the orthodox church has been around for about 2000 years, shouldn't they know how to practice christendom correctly by now?

jw hasn't even been around for 200 years and yet they say they do it right.

so silly of them.

truth_b_known

Charles Taze Russell is the founder of the Watchtower religion. It is one of thousands of sects that came to being due to the Reformation Movement started by Martin Luther. It is Luther's "Five Solas" that are responsible for the disharmony of the church -

Sola scriptura ("by Scripture alone")
Sola fide ("by faith alone")
Sola gratia ("by grace alone")
Solus Christus or Solo Christo ("Christ alone" or "through Christ alone")
Soli Deo gloria ("glory to God alone")

Because of Luther's teachings the idea that the Bible should be interpreted literally. Luther also lobbied for the removal of several books of the Bible. He was partially successful. Any book of the Bible that contained scripture that opposed the Five Solas Luther wanted removed.

So, yes, it is quite amazing that the Watchtower has the gall to make such a claim.

33

Jesus, without sin and a perfect human being ?

by smiddy3 in

how could he be, regardless of how god impregnated mary, as she was a sinful human just like the rest of us according to the bible.. mary was subjected to the adamic sin like all other humans, so jesus had to at least be part sinner himself.. to believe otherwise is just deluding oneself imho .. the only way jesus could have been really without sin is if god created him the same way he created adam.. what do you think ?

.

truth_b_known

Just a point of clarification:

Siddharth Gautama, the first Buddha ("Enlightened One" or "Awakened One") is not a god, never claimed to be a god, and gave specific instructions not to worship him. The Buddha taught how to end our suffering and how to gain enlightenment, Nirvana, to stop the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. When asked questions about whether there is a God or not, whether or not we have a soul that lives forever or not, whether there was a beginning to the universe or not, the Buddha refused to answer. The reason is because these things have no bearing on our gaining enlightenment or the ending of our suffering.

Siddhartha Gautama died and was cremated. His ashes were deposited into several site around Asia. You can visit them today.

I believe the Biblical character known as Jesus did exist. I believe that man was similar to the Gautama Buddha - he gained enlightenment around the ago of 30 and then dedicated his life to teaching people what he had learned. I believe Jesus' fasting in the wilderness is where he gained this enlightenment. Gautama obtained enlightenment after meditating for 24 straight hours under a tree.

Gautama was raised a Hindu and therefor used Hindu cosmology to help people understand his teachings. Likewise, I believe Jesus was raised in the Judaic religion and used its teaching to help the Israelites understand what he was trying to get across to people. Jesus claimed to be a son of God. He also taught that were are all sons of God, that is to say - divine in nature. I believe the Israelites had him executed for this.

I believe after Jesus execution there were opportunists who embellished on Jesus' story. Eventually Jesus was deified. Christianity was invented, adopted by the Roman Empire as a control mechanism, and imposed on the citizens as the official state religion.

11

Did ANYBODY Here Believe The Witnesses Were The One True Religion?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i was raised believing i was very fortunate knowing i had the truth.

i was groomed to be an elder.

i figured if mother said something, even if i couldn’t totally understand it, it was correct because mother knows best.

truth_b_known

I cannot answer in a straight yes or no fashion. I did believe in Jehovah, in the Bible, and the doctrine. I did not believe in the Watchtower of the organization. I fully believed that when the Great Tribulation began that governments of the world would seize all the Watchtower assets. No more Bethel, Kingdom Halls, Assembly Halls, or Watchtower corporation. I believed those who were true worshippers of Jehovah would continue worshipping like the 1st century congregation.

I don't know if that answers the question well enough. I hope it helps.

32

Please Keep Your Comments 30 Seconds or Less

by IWant2Leave in

after listening to the zoom meetings the past two weeks, i started to wonder, what is the real purpose for such short comments.

policy for 5 or more years now.

supposedly, it is so more can comment.

truth_b_known

The use of the word "study" in Book Study and Watchtower Study need to be removed. There was a times when people were encouraged to do additional study to contribute knowledge at the meetings. Now it is just a brainwashing exercise.

I am not being facetious. An example of brainwashing is to have the intended target repeat the same thing over, and over. So, how are these "studies" to be conducted?

1. Reader reads aloud to the congregation Watchtower material usually 1 paragraph at a time.

2. Conductor asks a questions.

3. Audience member recites the portion of the paragraph that directly answers the question.

There is no thought or study that is required in this activity. This accomplishes 2 things -

1. It assists in the recent shortened length of the meeting.

2. It prevents members from doing research, especially in older publications or non-Watchtower sources, that could possible cause the member to question the material as being true.

34

STUDY ARTICLE When a Loved One Leaves Jehovah

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

the watchtower—study edition | september 2021. study article 39. when a loved one leaves jehovah.

2 think how heartbroken jehovah must have been when members of his own angelic family turned their back on him!

(jude 6) and imagine how hurt he was at seeing his beloved people, the israelites, rebel against him time and again.

truth_b_known

A question I would love to throw at a JW who accused me of "leaving" or "turning my back" on Jehovah.
The question : "How can I "turn my back" on a fictional character ?"

That is a valid point. Another way to put it would be something similar to -

"The Bible is specific about how one maintains a relationship with Jehovah. Read His Word. Follow his son's example. Love Him, love my neighbor (which is all mankind), care for the sick, the poor, widows, and orphans. If I went into your bank and claimed to have power of attorney for you no doubt the bank would ask for proof. If I pulled out a sheet of paper and wrote 'I have power of attorney for John Doe' and said 'Here is my proof' do you think the bank would accept it?"

That is what the Watchtower did. It published a magazine that said "We are God's appointed representatives on Earth." That's the Watchtower's proof. That is like quoting Amazing Fantasy #15 to prove Spider-Man exists.

Catholic Bishops can trace their Apostolic Lineage back to the original Apostles. At least they can say "My authority comes from the Apostolic lineage back to St. Peter. Here's the proof."

34

STUDY ARTICLE When a Loved One Leaves Jehovah

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

the watchtower—study edition | september 2021. study article 39. when a loved one leaves jehovah.

2 think how heartbroken jehovah must have been when members of his own angelic family turned their back on him!

(jude 6) and imagine how hurt he was at seeing his beloved people, the israelites, rebel against him time and again.

truth_b_known

It is a sick and twisted coercion tactic.

co·er·cion

/kōˈərZHən,kōˈərSHən/

Learn to pronounce

noun

the practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats.

Persons who commit crimes under coercion are not held criminally liable under the law.

First, the Watchtower coerces the parents. The Watchtower makes it known that Witnesses are to raise, that is to say indoctrinate, their children. Witness children have no choice. This is taken all the way to the baptism of the child. Once the child is baptized he or she may now be coerced by the Watchtower. Failure for parents to do this forced indoctrination is met with the label of "unfaithful" or "not exemplary" which results in privileges being withheld or shunning outside the meetings.

Once the child reaches adult years, but still lives in his or her parents' home the coercion continues. The child must continue to obey the Watchtower under threat of being thrown out of the parents' home. This happens once again due to coercion by using shunning as leverage against the parent.

Once the child is able to provide for himself and is willing to accept shunning from his parents the child may stop being one of Jehovah's Witnesses. According to this Watchtower article, the parents should not blame themselves. I whole heartedly disagree.

The parents made a choice. That choice was to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Children are not able to give consent. No child ever consented to being raised as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. That was imposed on the child. Child baptism is also non-consensual. The child is forced to enter a contract.

This is no different than a person strapping a remote denoted bomb to a child's chest and telling the child to go into a bank with a stick-up note to give the teller. Then telling the child if they don't do it you will remote denote the bomb. If at some point that child refuses to comply and you remote denote the bomb you don't get to blame the child's death on the child. That blood is on your hands!

I understand taking your children with you to meetings, assemblies, conventions, and in the ministry when they are too small to supervise themselves. Once the child is capable of caring for themselves for a few hours while the parents are at the meeting and the child doesn't want to go, let them stay home. Don't force your kids to read Watchtower literature. Don't force any of it on to them.

27

Statements or Comments Made By JWs That Were WRONG

by minimus in

jw
friends

jehovah’s witnesses claim to be the only religion that has the truth.

they claim to be representing god himself.

can you think of anything that you could use to prove that the witnesses do not have the truth?.

truth_b_known

Where can one even begin with this? It is like shooting fish in a barrel.

"Millions now living will never die." - Everyone who heard those words are now dead.

"The generation that saw the sign of 1914 will witness Armageddon." - No Armageddon. The generation is dead.

"The end of the system will come before then end of the 20th century." - The 20th century ended 2 decades ago and the clock is still ticking.

"This system won't last long enough for you to need to prepare for retirement." - Tell that to my grandparents, parents, and now me as I gracefully enter my 50s.

"If you lose your family and friends for the Truth you will receive a hundredfold of new family and friends of Jehovah's Witness." - As a faithful Witness serving as a Ministerial Servant who was given every privilege possible I was rejected by Witnesses because my father professed to be of the Annointed.

9

Really Proud to be a Jehovahs-Witness, I am a student these days and Saving ALOT thanks to Student Wow Deals

by Studentwowdeals in

hey guys, i just wanted to let any felow students know there there is a website just for us to save money :) since the covid i have been buying everything online through them it i have saved alot of money thanks student wow deals.

basically you sign up for free thats it.

hope this helps some people while they are studying!