peacefulpete

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Posts by peacefulpete

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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.
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  75

  Is the governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses REALLY the "faithful and discreet slave" of Matt. 24:45-47?

  by Roger Kirkpatrick in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  thesis: when someone who is given a responsibility mistakes that responsibility for authority, bullying is very likely to occur.. jesus spoke an illustration recorded at matthew 24: 45-51 which well illustrates this thesis.. jesus asked, “who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over all his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time?

  happy is that slave if his master on arriving finds him doing so.

  truly i say to you, he will appoint him over all his belongings.

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  peacefulpete

  Not a single comment or question regarding my earlier explanation? who is the vineyard/field/household? israel. Who is the owner/master ? Yahweh. Who were contracted,hired,indentured to work? The Jewish religious leaders. How were they to be judged? How well they took care of the estate and recognized the time of the arrival of the son/messiah. When would they be judged? In the that generation. The authors having written right after or a few decades after 70 no doubt felt the repeated parable focus and meaning was self evident.

  Let the texts interpret themselves.
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  20

  How do Jehovah's Witnesses differ from first century Christians?

  by Vanderhoven7 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  let me start with a couple of distinctions.. first century christians:.

  1. baptized military personnel.. 2. baptized men with political authority.

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  peacefulpete

  It's just a perceptual bias leading you to believe people are less trustworthy today than 2000 years ago. Those who would break into your car today, would have robbed your ass back then. Ba-dum-bum
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  20

  How do Jehovah's Witnesses differ from first century Christians?

  by Vanderhoven7 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  let me start with a couple of distinctions.. first century christians:.

  1. baptized military personnel.. 2. baptized men with political authority.

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  peacefulpete

  That's not an easy question. The earliest christian records already show huge diversity of thought,doctrine and practice. The authentic works of Paul show him trying to corral Christians to his spin on Christianity revealing that his was not the same as others. He seems to be tolerant of charismatics but not a promoter. Early church father's show a Christianity completely foreign to anything today. There was no Christian Canon,with hundreds of writings, now lost, in circulation. The orthodoxy that eventually dominated spent the next thousand years beating down holdouts and schisms. They never fully succeeded.

  I'll sum by reminding everyone that nearly every new sect has asserted they were reestablishing "true" or "original" Christianity
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  28

  An interesting Observation of some Bibles

  by Blotty in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  first of all, hi, i go by blotty on this website :) i am someone who has a passion for the bible and like to get a as balanced view as i can from the trinitarian and the jw (or unitarian) side - even though i come off as leaning towards one or the other at times, in my opinion they both have merits in certain cases..if this is in the wrong section i apologise - this is just something i found interesting.iv seen online a lot that say the watchtower and tract society "invented" the link between proverbs 8:22 - 30 and jesus (the word).

  yet interestingly some "mainstream" "trinitarian- aimed" translations are cross referencing the following:source:https://www.biblegateway.comprov 8:22 cr rev 3:14niv, gnt,esv, nasb, nasb1995, nasbre, cevprov 8:30 cr john 1:1,2 esv nasbprov 8:30 cr john 1:3esvnasb1995nasb(this list is by no means complete)if this is simply wisdom, why is it referenced with jesus (or the word)?.

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  peacefulpete

  Ancient mystical religious philosophy is as foreign to most modern Christians as Hinduism. Asking if logos or wisdom or light or son are physically identified in Jesus is like asking if Vishnu really had blue skin. It's simply a question that betrays ignorance. I'm hardly an expert in such matters but know enough to know how naive I am. A few works from writers like Ben Sira and Philo have survived. Take some time to learn how they developed these concepts. the writers of the New testament were heavily influenced by the metaphor and conceptualizations in the ethos of the day. Some even quoted them.
  
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  28

  An interesting Observation of some Bibles

  by Blotty in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  first of all, hi, i go by blotty on this website :) i am someone who has a passion for the bible and like to get a as balanced view as i can from the trinitarian and the jw (or unitarian) side - even though i come off as leaning towards one or the other at times, in my opinion they both have merits in certain cases..if this is in the wrong section i apologise - this is just something i found interesting.iv seen online a lot that say the watchtower and tract society "invented" the link between proverbs 8:22 - 30 and jesus (the word).

  yet interestingly some "mainstream" "trinitarian- aimed" translations are cross referencing the following:source:https://www.biblegateway.comprov 8:22 cr rev 3:14niv, gnt,esv, nasb, nasb1995, nasbre, cevprov 8:30 cr john 1:1,2 esv nasbprov 8:30 cr john 1:3esvnasb1995nasb(this list is by no means complete)if this is simply wisdom, why is it referenced with jesus (or the word)?.

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  peacefulpete

  Deleted
• 
  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

  Elf...simply a great movie IMO. Funny, heartwarming and well acted.
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  59

  Why isn't this forum growing like reddit exjw??

  by nowwhat? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  admittedly it 90% crap over there but still they are up to 80k in subscribers.

  over here it's the same half dozen or so that posts something, including myself.

  why is that?.

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  peacefulpete

  The database here contains real treasure. Sometimes I just go back and read 10-20 year old threads and amazed what I find. Thanks Simon for preserving it