Posts by peacefulpete

Well I ain't dead yet. Thanks for kind thoughts. You reach an age where everyone you love leaves or is facing crisis. Hang on to who you can and tune out the pot stirrers.

19

After leaving the JWs

by punkofnice in

how do i view the world after leaving the jws?.

1. most politicians are disgusting filth.

political parties are disgusting filth.

Life is an incredible stroke of luck and should be lived with as little needless conflict as possible. I'm going into surgery for advanced cancer tomorrow morn and can honestly say if I don't make it, it's been a good ride with few regrets. Humans are rather amazing given the winding evolutionary road we took to get here. We've made much progress that needs to be treasured and protected. Politics and the media are exactly what should be expected from naked apes that have just recently become civilized. It's the best we got and once in a while politicians raise to the occasion and do the right thing. Also, there are plenty of honest hardworking reporters not simply looking for ad revenue and fame. reward them by reading and weighing the facts. Most days I'm smiling more than not.

3

Tall el-Hammam

by Jerryh in

i was never a jw so rarely post here, maybe to ask a question sometime.

just by an occasional visit it seems most regulars have found the bible untenable not only in its jw redaction.

i get that so please don't view this as an attempt to debate.

peacefulpete

Unfortunately, this, and many digs in the Bibleland, is funded by church groups and have passionate biases. While it would be rash to say that there couldn't have been some natural disaster that inspired the story, there simply is nothing but wishful thinking to suggest these folks have discovered it. The legends spawned by the hellish landscape around the dead sea have spawned countless futile efforts to assert the location of the cities. Others have insisted upon Syria and others insist Jordan etc. It's very relevant that the report has many critics and detractors, they photoshopped images, they did not practice careful dating, they may be simply misinterpreting the supposed evidence of heat and impact. they found a few disarticulated bones but can't be sure if they are all human but have created a narrative of thousands of bodies being blown apart and roasted. It's sad this 19th century style archaeology still is common.

53

New World Translation is not much different other translations

by Abraham1 in

key scripture 2 timothy 3:16 should have been translated as “every scripture inspired of god is also profitable for teaching” like many other serious translations (such as american standard version ; douay-rheims bible etc) as it is what the greek text says.. this is in harmony with the contents of bible and also with the writer paul himself who knew after his departure ‘even from his own number men will arise and distort the truth.’ (acts 20:29-30) for example, verses such as romans 7:19 is such distortion.

such verses cannot originate from real paul who was “holy, righteous and blameless.” (1 thessalonians 2:10) hence paul had the freeness of speech to tell others to be “blameless” like him (1 thessalonians 5:19-23; ephesians 5:24) there are many things in the scriptures which are not inspired such as words of satan, words of job’s wife and his false friends, words of judas, lot’s daughters …etc.

apostle peter never disowned jesus because if he had done so, his contemporaries would have interrupted him when he rebuked jews, saying: “you disowned the holy and righteous one and asked that a murderer be released to you.“ (acts 3:14) his listeners would have asked him “what right do you have to reprove us for ‘disowning jesus” when you yourself have done it first?” all such verses or accounts were later adoptions.

peacefulpete

Every translation is an interpretation. . It's the nature of translating. Every ancient or modern translation is burdened with opinion and interpolation. It's one of the most glaringly obvious problems with believing a deity would communicate through an ancient text.

25

Eating of blood prohibition specifically not forbidden for non-Jews

by peacefulpete in

deut 14:21 you shall not eat anything that has died a natural death; give it to the stranger in your community to eat, or you may sell it to a foreigner.

for you are a people consecrated to yhwh.... it seems quite self evident the ritual of blood letting prior to eating meat was understood by the deuteronomist as binding only on jews..

peacefulpete

The Imagined distinction between Noachian and Mosaic law is irrelevant, and a modern construct. There was no "Noachian Law". The Noah story was one of hundreds found in the, traditionally believed, writings of Moses, ie the Pentateuch.

" 21 For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since [k]he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

2 Cor 3:15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts;.....

IOW the OT passages we are discussing were all by Moses in the minds of Jewish readers.

25

Eating of blood prohibition specifically not forbidden for non-Jews

by peacefulpete in

deut 14:21 you shall not eat anything that has died a natural death; give it to the stranger in your community to eat, or you may sell it to a foreigner.

for you are a people consecrated to yhwh.... it seems quite self evident the ritual of blood letting prior to eating meat was understood by the deuteronomist as binding only on jews..

peacefulpete

Fisherman....A subtle shift in the significance of blood has taken place in your mind and that of many others.

According the author of the Genesis dietary directive, life is sacred, bleeding a animal ensured the life was not present in the animal when it was eaten.

However in time the close relationship of blood with life morphed into a magical property whereby blood became synonymous with life itself. Even so, Jewish thinking then and today denies blood had value for forgiveness of sins. Animal sacrifices were an ancient tradition all over the middle east so naturally worshipers of Yahweh did it as well. However, they were gifts of thanksgiving or a reminder of the failures to keep perfect obedience, not a tool of redemption. At some point the novel idea that blood could buy forgiveness crept into certain early Christian thinking. Not all Christians adopted this view, branches of Christianity existed without the novel idea of blood redemption at all. But among the circle of Christians represented in Acts two views are in tension, Christians like Paul understood the blood of Christ alone had significance while certain other Jewish Christians felt the blood of animals had magical value yet. JWs cling to this later view in contradiction of Paul.