peacefulpete

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Posts by peacefulpete

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  21

  The Great Tribulation

  by Fisherman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  will the great tribulation hurt individuals more than what job, jesus, roman punishment, naz&i germany, hiroshima, jail, capital punishment, disease, pain, terror, horror, soldier in the battlefield or some terrible pain people experience this very moment?

  how worse can pain and suffering get.

  it is very common.

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  peacefulpete

  Leolaia did a great research project on this and related topics. Talk a couple hours reading.

  The 144,000 and the Great Crowd of Revelation
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  7

  Philosophical Question

  by budbayview in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  according to the bible, there was dissention in heaven or god’s kingdom.

  in god’s own courtyard, the factors existed for such, that perfect creations morphed into gods’ opposition, even in the presence of the universal creator.

  accordingly, they are still at it, hell bent on destroying all.. here is my question; how is it that the creation thinks they can win a war with the universal creator?

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  peacefulpete

  The Gnostic Jews and Christians pondered along similar lines. Some concluded the god of creation was in fact merely a demiurge manifestation of the true god that had lost the purity of a spirit god. Sounds crazy today simply because of our religious tradition but it more made sense to many, than the OT on face value.

  Fact is the stories and legends can hardly be expected to fully work with Western modern minds, given as they were written and collected with a very different ancient approach to truth and history. The Gnostics were early attempts to make sense of the OT stories while yet wishing for a god worthy of worship.
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  31

  Hobbies

  by peacefulpete in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i think it's been a while since this was asked.

  tell us your hobbies, interests, pastimes, whatever you find enjoyable as a diversion from work and school.

  i am lucky enough to live in a small cabin on a lake, i enjoy rowing my old boat and fishing, i play with car projects, and we travel as much as we can.

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  peacefulpete

  myname....My wife did collect the early trade tokens of Canada and I seem to have acquired a bunch of merchant tokens and "hard times" tokens from the US. IMO those are most interesting from a history perspective.
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  30

  Opinions on the Divine name in the New Testament? + an interesting question

  by Blotty in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i am genuinely curious and mainly posting this for research purposes, i do not have enough knowledge on either of these subjects to debate them in any useful manner.. (this information is as far as i am aware and may be incorrect in places)as most know the nwt is known for placing a form of the divine name in the nt (new testament) - while i agree the evidence is significantly weak for it too appear in the nt, a few things must be considered - (from my limited research)rev references the name twice (3:12, 14:1)early copies of the lxx contain the divine name (likely the versions that the nt writers copied?

  stafford has a couple of videos on this subject)it was emphasized over and over the name [divine name, which ever form you prefer] would be "known" (other words used aswell) forever - if this is true, why then go against your own message in some cases and replace it with a surrogate?some also claim the nwt is dishonest for not translating some occurrences of "lord" as the divine name - common ones i notice are: phil 2:10-11, 1pe 3:14-15, heb 1:10yet these all use "lord" as a title not a proper noun, seems to be staunch trinitarians who make this claim most oftenscholar qualifications:why does a scholars qualification's matter?

  sounds dumb i know.

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  peacefulpete

  Regarding pronunciation. On the internet you will find countless attempts to assert the solution. The bottom line is the deity (or deities) that evolved into the first century Jewish God had been called lots of things in lots of ways.

  Language, culture and time are like that. That so much ink has been spilled on this topic betrays the oversized importance modern Christians place on it. Was it of such importance to the writers of the OT? Apparently not as they used a slew of variations and abbreviations and a number of theophoric titles rather than a name. Secular evidence has led to some scholars suggesting the name was once a longer phrase describing a southern storm god or a hypocoristicon (shortened affectionate name) of a theophoric of El the father of the Palestinian gods. Others postulate a deified human ancestor with a theophoric name at the root. All are possible though some seem less probable. It's also possible more than one possibility is true. A local deity overlapped/merged with an imported one.

  IMO. We have good epigraphic reason to accept the OT's acknowledgement that he was worshipped in Edom and northern Arabia before imported to Israel/Judah likely by Kenite traders. If so the name is likely a translation of a verbal theophoric and probably beyond definitive etymology much less pronunciation. In the end we just do not have enough to be dogmatic about the murky past. If all you care is how the first century Jews pronounced the name then the answer is simple, they didn't and you are missing the forest for the trees.
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  30

  Opinions on the Divine name in the New Testament? + an interesting question

  by Blotty in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i am genuinely curious and mainly posting this for research purposes, i do not have enough knowledge on either of these subjects to debate them in any useful manner.. (this information is as far as i am aware and may be incorrect in places)as most know the nwt is known for placing a form of the divine name in the nt (new testament) - while i agree the evidence is significantly weak for it too appear in the nt, a few things must be considered - (from my limited research)rev references the name twice (3:12, 14:1)early copies of the lxx contain the divine name (likely the versions that the nt writers copied?

  stafford has a couple of videos on this subject)it was emphasized over and over the name [divine name, which ever form you prefer] would be "known" (other words used aswell) forever - if this is true, why then go against your own message in some cases and replace it with a surrogate?some also claim the nwt is dishonest for not translating some occurrences of "lord" as the divine name - common ones i notice are: phil 2:10-11, 1pe 3:14-15, heb 1:10yet these all use "lord" as a title not a proper noun, seems to be staunch trinitarians who make this claim most oftenscholar qualifications:why does a scholars qualification's matter?

  sounds dumb i know.

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  peacefulpete

  I find inexplicable that the WT insists the texts of the NT were altered for theological reasons but refuse to acknowledge what that implies. In short it means nothing can be assumed original or complete.
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  13

  Article: The Crypto Ponzi Scheme Avenger - [A former JW]

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  (this article is available by subscription only so i copied and pasted it below.).

  https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/11/business/crypto-ponzi-scheme-hyperfund.html.

  here's part of the information about mr. de hek's past as a jw:.

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  peacefulpete

  The stock market is fundamentally different from cryptos in that they represent shares in actual industry. But your point is taken that they can and are at times driven by irrational panic and greed. Being aware of that can also prevent rushing to trade in or out.
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  13

  Article: The Crypto Ponzi Scheme Avenger - [A former JW]

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  (this article is available by subscription only so i copied and pasted it below.).

  https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/11/business/crypto-ponzi-scheme-hyperfund.html.

  here's part of the information about mr. de hek's past as a jw:.

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  peacefulpete

  There are psychological parallels in euphoria felt and the irrationality. They could also be said to be in parallel in the FOMO. fear of missing out driving them. I've had people frankly tell me "why take a chance of being wrong" when defending their religion. It can be powerful. However it's said just knowing you are susceptible to FOMO can give you pause, a moment to objectively consider your choices.
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  60

  Freemasons

  by UnDisfellowshipped in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am posting this thread because i've seen some people ask "who are the freemasons?

  back a few years ago, i had never heard of the masons before.. then, i had some masons involved in my life, so i did a lot of research into them (at the library, on the internet, in books, testimony by former masons, etc.)..

  i will start a thread soon and post my beliefs and opinions on freemasonry.. here are a few things i have found in my research.. in a "well-ordered" masonic lodge, masons are allowed to believe in any god they want to, except jesus christ.. in fact, in a "well-ordered" masonic lodge, the name jesus christ should not even be mentioned.. that makes one wonder, doesn't it?.

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  peacefulpete

  This stuff is like cocaine to conspiracy theorists. Why not just reach and talk to your local Masons?

  https://wimasons.org/about/
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  20

  Are you convinced what the Gospels say about Jesus is true?

  by Fisherman in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  probably, the greatest advocacy for the gospels is the jw publication: the greatest man that ever lived.

  it convinced me.. everything else that the bible says about the resurrection and eternal life logically follows.. the testimony of a “witness” in court matters only if it is observation not commentary ( expert witness is also commentary): what did you see, what did you hear, what is the magnitude of your measurement.

  not, are you convinced; that is only belief.

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  peacefulpete

  Ironically it was the greatest man book that broke the spell completely. I was conducting and we poured over the material and wt explanations. The glossing over contradictions and impossible attempts to harmonize sunk in.
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  10

  Favorite Xmas movie?

  by peacefulpete in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  elf...simply a great movie imo.

  funny, heartwarming and well acted..

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  peacefulpete

  I know, downvoting Zooey, Newhart, and Ferrell. Come on.