peacefulpete

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Posts by peacefulpete

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  41

  God cannot lie

  by psyco in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the bible does not say that god does not want to lie, but that he cannot lie or it is impossible for god to lie.

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  so, if god cannot lie, for what purpose and why did he create creatures (satan, demons, humans) who can lie?.

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  peacefulpete

  Jhine....Your link points out the Hebrew idiom "dying you/they shall die" was often used in the OT. Never in those usages does the expression suggest "eventually" or "gradually" as the writer of the article proposes for Genesis 2. Yes, the "the day" was referring to the day they ate, but it equally refers to the time of death. Elsewise the inclusion of "the day" becomes superfluous.

  It is difficult to extrapolate exactly what (J) had in mind but likely his brief narrative was meant to stand alone as a warning tale. The expansions and bridges of later redactors created the continuity issue. Possibly the redactor and later sages were not concerned by this as they had inherited a larger body of tradition that made some explanation possible even obvious. (i.e. God's mercy.)
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  73

  Did God know adam and eve would sin?

  by gavindlt in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  to all those on this forum, i would love to know what your take on this vital question is..

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  peacefulpete

  I see I made a rather glaring blunder. The Genesis Eden/tree story was J not P. Later intertestamental Zadokite (priestly) obsession with this story led to many expansions and mystical connections.
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  40

  A Modest proposal to solve the 1914 problem

  by r51785 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  throughout watchtower history dates have been a problem.

  the usual solution for failed prophetic dates has been to kick the can down the road.

  this needs to be done with 1914. the generation that will never pass away is now 110 years old and therefore is past its useful life span.

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  peacefulpete

  A simple solution might just be brewing. The protraction of the 'great tribulation' to new lengths could possibly be explained as a step toward 'new light' that we have been in the GT. Why not? In fact, that is closer to the meaning of the Gospels. The 'tribulation' was a descriptor of the events as a whole.
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  2

  Another Messiah in the News

  by peacefulpete in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a news item making rounds today regards the famous chabad-lubavitch synagogue in brooklyn.

  in short, the leader of the movement/sect was world famous rabbi menachem mendel schneerson.

  schneerson passed away in 1994.....or did he?

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  peacefulpete

  A news item making rounds today regards the famous Chabad-Lubavitch synagogue in Brooklyn. In short, the leader of the movement/sect was world famous Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Schneerson passed away in 1994.....or did he? Prior to his absence a number of the members of the community regarded him as the Messiah and believe he is alive and yet leading the movement. Schneerson himself was ambiguous about the matter.

  In this developing story it appears that this group of believers are responsible for a pretty impressive, illegally constructed, tunnel system linking the synagogue with other buildings as a means of expanding the building's capacity, or preparation for something.

  How many times must this pattern be repeated?
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  22

  The Meaning of ETC

  by titch in

  1. forum
  2. suggestions

  folks: i don't mean to be a "forum grammar policeman", but there is something that i've noticed a few times.

  i've noticed that a few---not all---but some, members of the forum who use the abbreviation "ect" when they want to use the abbreviation of "etc.

  " for your education today, the term "etc" is the abbreviation for the latin term "et cetera.

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  peacefulpete

  https://www.yuqo.com/what-is-grammar-pedantry-syndrome/#:~:text=There%20are%20some%20studies%20that,unrelated%20anxiety%20toward%20grammatical%20errors.
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  73

  Did God know adam and eve would sin?

  by gavindlt in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  to all those on this forum, i would love to know what your take on this vital question is..

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  peacefulpete

  If Ford made a car without confidence it was safe, and that resulted in deaths, they would rightly be liable and guilty of negligent homicide.

  A god making a world without confidence it was safe makes that god equally responsible. Imaging a god that could have foreseen the suffering but chose not to is guilty of reckless willful homicide.
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  73

  Did God know adam and eve would sin?

  by gavindlt in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  to all those on this forum, i would love to know what your take on this vital question is..

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  peacefulpete

  Adam and Eve did not sin they 'became like' their creators, i.e. no longer naive. Letting the author explain his very short story leads to a very different conclusion than the countless spins theologians have overlain upon it. Unfortunately, we primarily know of this particular legend only through the voice of one such theologian (P).

  Appreciating the literary stages the Genesis composition passed through prevents anyone from being dogmatic about the original purpose the small more ancient elements individually had, prior to being woven together. However in this case the original intent seems to be retained by the "become like one of us, knowing good and bad". IOW, the end of childlike naivety.

  The P compiler/redactor, that borrowed this snippet, seems to have in mind the Eden ideal of 'holy place' with it's implied connections to the temple rights that he and his fellows were engaged in. The place seems to be of greater import than the message. Some of this is lost on modern readers as a result of the merging with other traditions in the later centuries BCE.

  So what we have is a snippet of metaphor drawn from local cult of the goddess brilliantly commandeered to emphasize the naivety of man in contrast to the creators, preserved in a larger narrative (P) that utilizes it to contrast sacred from profane then later merged with other traditions into a collection, more concerned with preservation of legends, loosely woven into a 'history of man' (R/sages).
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  14

  Did Jesus have a pre-existence or was he fully human, begotten at his human birth.

  by gavindlt in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  so when was jesus begotten.

  was he truly and wholly fully human.

  did he exist in two states, part human part god.

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  peacefulpete

  The Christ figure was a pliable icon that dozens of very different sects held as central to their identity and soteriology. They imagined and described him differently. A few of these conceptions became unnaturally collected together through the Catholic process of canonization. Even among this emerging orthodoxy, this artificial collection resulted in endless controversy.

  For example:

  Anomoeanism - Wikipedia

  Homoiousian - Wikipedia

  Anomoeanism - Wikipedia
  

  • Sabellianism = One and the same substance
  • Homoousian = Distinct but identical substance
  • Homoiousian = Similar in substance
  • Neo-Arianism or heteroousians = Unlike in substance
  • Homoianism refuses to refer to substance.
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  87

  Lines you would never hear from a Jehovah's Witness

  by Ron.W. in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a slightly tongue in cheek, but also serious roundup of jw speak and why trying to reason with them is like trying to chip through concrete with a plastic spoon.. how many can you think of??.

  elder: 'yes.

  i read through the material you asked me to at your judicial meeting - you're right we're both in a cult!

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  peacefulpete

  deleted
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  5

  In the spirit of Christmas

  by no-zombie in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  on this auspicious day, i'd like to propose a question (half in fun and the other half not) to ask, ... if the governing body reviewed the origins of christmas and now proclaimed that it was now a matter of conscience, how many of the brotherhood would pick it up and start practicing it?.

  for me, i think that very, very few would take issue of the change and disassociate themselves.

  yes, many would question it in their minds for a while but since it would be a governing body sanctioned holiday, i think a very surprising large number would do so with zeal ... particularly in europe, were it still has wholesome family traditions.

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  peacefulpete

  I know some like my sister (now passed) would love nothing more than to have an occasion for a get-together and cook a special meal. Others seem to have a cultivated negativity about lots of things. Just look at how many former JWs think of it as a bother and speak disparagingly about the holidays and the privilege to vote.