The Bible isn't "true" or "false", it's a collection of disparate writings with many noted flaws, but certainly also some historicity. Take a look at contradictionsinthebible.com. If you prefer hard copy material, the writer recommends a few books in his articles, esp. in his early/introductory posts. It can take a while reading the site before his point sinks in -- that you need to take the writings at face value and let them speak for themselves, instead of viewing them through an interpretive lens that was invented centuries/millennia later.
Apognophos
JoinedPosts by Apognophos
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57
Was the Biblical Canon Directed by God?
by Chris Tann inthis is a question a sincere christian may agonize over after learning that some books of the bible were rejected by certain early christian groups,while other books that did not make the canon were accepted.
also,when one realizes that so called inspired writers of the greek scriptures quote from apocrypha,that most christians reject today,one wonders if these writings that include these quotes should even be in the bible.. it is true that when it comes to the christian greek scriptures the canon has been closed for many centuries.
also, these books have been accepted by christians ever since the second,perhaps first,century.
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Ham had sex with his mother...
by JosephP inin genesis 9:22, it says, "ham saw his fathers (noah) nakedness.
" over the years i have heard many theories of waht that meant.
leviticus 18:8...20:11...and 20:20-21 says.
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Apognophos
I think you have cause and effect backwards, JosephP. Gen 9:21 states that Noah was drunk and naked. That was why his sons had to go in and cover him after Ham told them. The statement in Deut. likens sleeping with a man's wife to uncovering his nakedness because seeing another man naked was considered a sin. People are looking for something deeper in the Ham account instead of simply accepting that the Jews were prudish about nudity and that seeing his father naked was a sin in and of itself.
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Account of Jehovah's Witness Women Prisoners in Auschwitz (very creepy)
by objectivetruth ina book titled written by a long ti me ss member .rudolf franz ferdinand hoess.
here is a quote from this book : .
"a pleasant contrast to this type were the female jehovah's witnesses, called "bible bees" or "bible worms.
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Apognophos
Yes, that's it, thank you ADCMS.
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Letts shows up noo "generation" teaching
by hamsterbait inin his preesentation, he speaks to "you the young ones".
"you are the next generation of " adult witnesses.
this one sentence using generation in the normal way, at a stroke, shows they just made up the overlapping teaching to get themselves out of a hole.. .
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Apognophos
I guess I see your point, Magnum and simon17. Lett can't be talking to the next generation because, according to the "overlapping" definition of the word, they don't exist yet.
A potential resolution to this linguistic quandary could be found if we imagine that, in his mind, generations are defined as fixed blocks anchored to the 1914 teaching. Generation 1 would be the block of anointed ones that saw 1914 and the later anointed ones that saw those earlier anointed ones (). Generation 2 would include anyone born after the death of the first part of the overlapping generation -- that is, the ones who saw 1914. So children born after, say, Fred Franz's death in 1992 cannot possibly be included in Generation 1. Technically even ones born long before 1992, but not anointed by 1992, are in Generation 2, which means that from the standpoint of a Generation 1er like Lett, they are in fact "the next generation".
Don't hurt me, I'm just thinking out loud here.
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Account of Jehovah's Witness Women Prisoners in Auschwitz (very creepy)
by objectivetruth ina book titled written by a long ti me ss member .rudolf franz ferdinand hoess.
here is a quote from this book : .
"a pleasant contrast to this type were the female jehovah's witnesses, called "bible bees" or "bible worms.
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Apognophos
Other researchers, though, have questioned the collaborative behavior of the JWs who worked for the SS and survived the war in positions of privledge.
I appreciated ADCMS' comment on page 1 that the subservience to the SS officers came naturally for a group of people who were trained to be sheep-like.
It's kind of hard to believe that the Society brags that the JWs could be counted on to safely shave the SS officers, who were known to execute prisoners as punishment, and in some cases were taking part in the gassing of the Jews. Most people would admit that pacificism can be admirable, but surely there's a point where pacificism that is conveniently self-serving starts to smack of cowardice or unethicality?
What if we found out that Hitler's photographer was a JW, passing up the opportunity to take his life on many occasions? Or that a JW was aiding in the record-keeping of the camp exterminations and made no attempt to tell the outside world what was happening? Presumably the Society would draw the line at bragging about such hypothetical scenarios, but I do wonder.
On the subject of political neutrality, I seem to recall Rutherford giving a speech somewhere that had big U.S. flags hanging on each side of the stage, and the Society did not depict the flags when recreating the scene for a recent video, but I might have the details wrong.
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Connecticut Law Tribune: Latest Sex Abuse Suits Target J.Ws
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.ctlawtribune.com/id=1202673073702/latest-sex-abuse-suits-target-jehovahs-witnesses?slreturn=20140911103232#ixzz3fqvmacjslatest sex abuse suits target jehovah's witnessesattorneys say religious doctrine barred reports of abuse.
isaac avilucea, .
the connecticut law tribuneoctober 10, 2014 | .
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Apognophos
It's strange that God would allow his chosen earthly organization to make a policy like this, isn't it? I mean, it's giving them a bad name, it's eating up donations that could have been used to preach the good news.... Just strange, really.
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How Religion Got in the Way
by Billyblobber ini feel this is an excellent mini-summary of the relationship of religion to science of the years and is a good read.
the only part i disagree with is "defining yourself by atheism.
" marginalized groups are defined that way by the majority and are forced to have it as part of their self identity.. .
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Apognophos
Well, when you put it that way...
If you describe spirituality as a driving force behind curiosity and exploration, it's certainly an important part of our lives. I just don't know why we can't call that "curiosity", "awe", "wonder", etc. Why use the same word that is used by others to refer to things that happen in a spirit realm, or to a belief in that realm?
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Let's suggest some programs for tv.jw.org
by rebel8 inweekday afternoons: a soap opera featuring judicial committees, demon possessions, and wives clamoring to be the ones who host the circuit overseer's lunch.
saturday mornings: sparlock cartoon.
friday evenings: reality show featuring jw dating.
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Apognophos
Hey Outlaw, I just noticed it's your 13th anniversary on the forum.
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Account of Jehovah's Witness Women Prisoners in Auschwitz (very creepy)
by objectivetruth ina book titled written by a long ti me ss member .rudolf franz ferdinand hoess.
here is a quote from this book : .
"a pleasant contrast to this type were the female jehovah's witnesses, called "bible bees" or "bible worms.
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Apognophos
Welcome to the board, OrphanCrow! Very interesting post. I hadn't considered that the Society was claiming the Bible Students as their own during WWII. Were there Students in the camps alongside JWs?
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Name of new TV Enterprise
by InquiryMan inhow can they use the name jw broadcasting when there is already a non-witness corporation based in atlanta with that name?.
jw broadcasting, llc, a television broadcasting company, provides multiple program streams to the viewers with a digital television receiver, such as news, business, entertainment, finance, health, politics, science, technology, travel, weather, and sports.
the company was incorporated in 2002 and is based in atlanta, georgia.
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Apognophos
Aude, yes, that has been written here, but those of us who looked into it found no proof. Simply put, one can go back in archive.org's Wayback Machine and see that nothing was placed at jw.org before the Society bought it and redirected it to watchtower.org. Before that, it was just owned by some guy named Eric or whatever who had bought it speculatively and was looking for a buyer.