this conversation was so absurd...that i actually chuckled under my breath.. ..the shooting in conneticut really hit me hard...so i decided to call my parents, kids and siblings just to say hello and i loved them.. well my dad was happy to hear from me and said he loved me as well.
he said, i know you don't want to hear this...but because we are in the last days things like this is going to happen and even get worse.
well i had to bite my tongue...because i really just want to show my parents i love them and spend time with them...so i choose not to dispute his statement.
I asked my wife if she thought she would hear the families of the victems being prayed for on Sunday.
I asked her if she thought that if they were mentioned if it would only be in a way such as "help them to find hope" or "help them find you".
I could tell she already knew the answer and could feel her thinking about it.
of course i am talking about tertullian.
i presented this topic to jehovah's witnesses one time and they were not able to clearly explain why.
tertullian held certain beliefs contrary to the jws but there are some things the jws do agree with and often quote them in their articles.
Hey Jeff,
I have a couple thoughts on this. The first is that lets be honest, there aren't many Christian scholars they can point to, in order to back up their viewpoints on certain matters. Modern day for sure. The scholarly community is very close knit, and in many ways like the medical community. You have to accept certain things to even be at the table to be taken seriously. I am not saying its right or wrong, just that it is true.
Next, I see what you are saying with the old light new light thing. At the heart of your question, am I understanding you are asking if it is ethical to accept the writings of someone to support your viewpoint on doctrine, even if that person at their core didn't believe int he doctrine you did?
I honestly don't have aproblem with that. The ECF's changed their minds all the time. I suppose much more interesting would be WHY they felt one way or another, not just that they said it.
Now that being said, if the intent with the quote is to DECEIVE someone into thinking Tertullian didn't know what he believed, then that would certainly be wrong no matter what. Didn't Tertullian coin the term Trinity?
wtf is the wt doing to the minds of the brethren???.
this morning i went to the post office at 7:50am to pick up a package.
turns out the mail box section was open at 8am but the actual post office didn't open until 8:30am... rather than drive home and come back later i decided to get out my car and wait on a nearby park bench.
Well at least we know in this able pioneers hands few will turn to the saying of truth he bestows.
What a mess.
hubby and i (faders) were in the supermarket today.
we had just avoided and completely ignored an elder and his wife when we saw a newly married couple who were both recently disfellowshipped, of course being the rebels we are we made a bee line for them.
the df man was until recently a workmate of my hubby so they quickly got into an animated discussion and i met the new wife who seemed nice but let me know they were getting reinstated asap.
JEMBA,
Guess what keeps you from getting reinstated? Hanging around with DF's people. I think you should take them up on their offer (as long as you actually like them of course and all that). You know....a glass of wine....a few conversations......people often surprise you. If he was willing to get cut off for love, he probably is slightly more of a rebel than you think.
I don't know, as long as you like these guys, why not hang out? The opportunity may come up for you to UNwitness to them. (rim shot)
last year i did a review of 2011 for the forum.
this was more of a review that focussed on some of the awful stuff that was printed in the literature that year - the first year of my awakening.. 2012 has been more interesting from the point of view of things actually happening outside the literature.
i thought it might be nice to take a look back and put some of these events in chronological order.... .
Thanks Cedar. Yeah....slight truth bend here....
No. Many millions who lived in centuries past and who weren’t Jehovah’s Witnesses will have an opportunity for salvation. The Bible explains that in God’s promised new world, “ there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. ” (Acts 24:15) Additionally, many now living may yet begin to serve God, and they too will gain salvation. In any case, it’s not our job to judge who will or won’t be saved. That assignment rests squarely in Jesus’ hands.—John 5:22, 27.
for what ever reason i have been contacted by a number of jw's as to why i do not attend the meetings etc.
in the past i have blown it off by saying i am super busy, tired, sick etc.
i had the opportunity just last week when i ran into an elder and his wife at the grocery store to respond to their comment.
Hey Yan,
I can't speak for people I don't know. if a couple ladies ran into him at the grocery store, I am pretty sure they just said what they felt. Why not give the ladies a break.
Plus, even if you don't want to give them a break, by jumping to the part where you tell them they are in a cult, you speak the punchline before the joke. I mean this dude can do whatever he wants. But I'm not slapping him ont he back for telling some ladies in the store that said they missed him that "the two witness rule harbors pedophiles and harbors wife beaters", and expecting anything other than.......What!?!
I mean, if your intent was to come off as crazy, congrats right?
not really good at introductions.
i am an active jw who has my doubts about certain things like the bible as a whole but im slowly but surely wading through them.
just of curiousity: what on earth has happened to this board?
Jeez you guys are sensative sallys.
Welcome FTF. What do you want to discuss? Please start a topic. I personalyl am not on the 607vs587 level. But Blood is a good one for me.
Start it up, and people will come to play. If you see benign threads right now, its because that is what has been on peoples minds. You want to fire up the deeper discussion, all you have to do is go there, and others will follow.
for what ever reason i have been contacted by a number of jw's as to why i do not attend the meetings etc.
in the past i have blown it off by saying i am super busy, tired, sick etc.
i had the opportunity just last week when i ran into an elder and his wife at the grocery store to respond to their comment.
Just a couple thoughts. Those people asking you to come back, are doing so because they think its the right thing and are concerned about you. Why respond in a way that shuts everything down, and makes you the jerk? Could have just said no, but thanks for asking. Or no, I have a problem with the way we__________, and I just don't see that changing. At least that would have gotten them to think about the subject, and not just how nuts and shocking you sound.
When someone suggests you write the society, explain that the current direction of the service department, is that questions be dealt with by the local elders primarily. That IS the policy.
greetings to you all from scotland!
it's nice to finally be able to say hello to you all, having been a long time reader of the forum.. i put off signing up as i didn't feel i had much to contribute, but if i'm honest, seeing atlantis' post about confidential information pushed me into it.. i hope i can get round to writing my story - i always enjoy reading others and it never ceases to amaze me how many have had similar experiences.. so there goes my first post!.
.
Welcome from sunny California. Looking forward to your story. It reminds me.....I haven't told mine yet. Too many unique spoilers on who I am I guess. :)
Scotland is fantastic. We got lost in the highland, did some hiking, and Edinburgh is one of my favorite European cities.
so, if the current gb is this "faithful and discreet slave" and they place greater emphasis on 1919 now, are they saying that only a few anointed christians were selected in the 1st century, followed by nearly 2000 years of no selections and starting around 1914-1919, the selection of the rest of the 144,000 resumed?.
if so, this is an easy explanation for the increase in numbers of partakers since 2008. have they gone right out and said this officially or have they only alluded to it up to now?.
also, the original understanding was this "shut door" policy of 1935. i never understood how they arrived at that year.
I'll take a stab at this.
The number of the annointed does not seem to be affected by this change. It is simply the role. So it doesn't mean more were chosen after 1919. So that should address your second point. What they have explained from the sidelines regarding the number increasing is that some may not be mentally stable and still being counted.
The 1935 "shut door" policy was already done away with. Remember, there is a 47 year old GB member. The only reason they considered it to begin with according to them, is because that is when the great crowd seemed to appear. They later backed off that.
Technically they now teach that whoever the youngest member of the annointed (who are now not the FDS), has to be alive when the end comes. So still ina roundabout way, predicting when the end will come. I am sure I will live to see this teaching backed off as well.
