Posts by Island Man

9

To the angel of the church in Ephesus

by kassad84 in

the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:.

i know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for my names sake, and have not grown weary.

but i have this against you, that you have left your first love.

Island Man

"You have left your first love"......

that says it all....

ifthey had any love in the beginning to beginwith....

Of course they had first love - love of setting end time dates. They have truly left that first love . . . at least for now.

40

Letter to Governing Body .Recorded conversations with Elders

by Watchtower-Free in

i found this on youtube...very good example of twisted reasoning by elders.. .

recorded conversations with elders by a former pioneer....a series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw8amuphqis.

Island Man

One of the best elder meeting recordings I've heard in terms of the defense put forth by the "accused".

48

Jesus was a False Prophet - But was he deluded or deceitful?

by cofty in

any objective reading of the gospels makes it plain that jesus believed his parousia would happen within the lifetime of his generation.. his followers believed in his imminent return until the day of their deaths.. his false prophecy damaged the lives of his disciples in a similar way to that done by the lies of modern cults like the watchtower.

peter and others walked out on their wives, children and businesses to follow him around palestine.

jesus taught them to put their families and other normal concerns in second place to their task of spreading his message - which turned out to be false.. the question is what he was up to?.

Island Man

One of the reasons the JWs are having so much difficulty understanding Matthew 24 is that they look at it through Watchtower lens. If you analyse that chapter carefully and objectively it all becomes very easy to understand. The barrier to understanding it is assuming that what is predicted there must come true, that it's all true prophecy. That's why JWs are unable to understand "this generation" - they assume that Jesus promise about all things happening before "this generation" passes away must come true and because it hasn't they resort to all manner of twisted meaning of the word generation. The simple truth is that the end time generation promise in Matthew 24 failed! It makes perfect sense when you accept the reality of its falsehood.

48

Jesus was a False Prophet - But was he deluded or deceitful?

by cofty in

any objective reading of the gospels makes it plain that jesus believed his parousia would happen within the lifetime of his generation.. his followers believed in his imminent return until the day of their deaths.. his false prophecy damaged the lives of his disciples in a similar way to that done by the lies of modern cults like the watchtower.

peter and others walked out on their wives, children and businesses to follow him around palestine.

jesus taught them to put their families and other normal concerns in second place to their task of spreading his message - which turned out to be false.. the question is what he was up to?.

Island Man

" What will be the sign of your presence (TIME PERIOD 2)", "What will be the sign of the conclusion of the system of things (TIME PERIOD 3)."

There is no evidence that the disciples were actually mentioning his presence and the conclusion of the system of things to mean two separate time periods. Remember his disciples were ignorant of what would happen in the end so how could they know to separate his presence from the conlusion as beign 2 separate events? It would mean they had a much deeper insight about the timelne of the end than the fact of their questioning him about it implies. It's tantamount to someone completely ignorant about physics asking einstein: "How does matter change into energy and how does the speed of light factor in to the equation?"

It is Watchtower that seeks to imply that they're separate for the sake of twisting the scriptures to harmonize with their invisible presence doctrine. The disciples weren't asking about 2 separate periods they were asking about one period - the parousia - which will mean the conclusion of the system of things. It's like someone asking: "What will be the sign of the police's presence and the arresting of these drug pushers?"

13

For fellow Beroeans, Gen 49:27

by jonahstourguide in

i thought this was worth sharing.. .

where did the interpretation of gen 49:27 come from ?.

tms review question 4. .

Island Man

So in reality they're not the Faithful and Discreet Slave but the Plagiarist and Pretentious Slave

7

What the writer of Revelation intended by his cryptic 666 mark of the beast reference.

by Island Man in

it's amazing how simple the answer is and yet the watchtower organization seems completely oblivious to it.

revelation itself tells you what the number is: "a man's number", "the number of his name".

the writer of revelation spells it out and yet they don't see it!

Island Man

It's amazing how simple the answer is and yet the Watchtower organization seems completely oblivious to it. Revelation itself tells you what the number is: "a man's number", "the number of his name". The writer of Revelation spells it out and yet they don't see it! Not only that, the answer is not really a mystery at all. It has been known for centuries and is even corroborated by textual variations of Revelation! See the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkZqFtYtqaI

I think this is the most reasonable and historically sound explanation I have ever heard for the meaning of 666.

26

I am DF'd and a JW sister called me to tell me she wants to leave

by KateWild in

one of my dear loved ones called me.

she knows i am df'd and she wanted to reach out to me.

she fell away for a few years, and when she came back i had a study with her before she became active again.

Island Man

But you do have to tread very carefully. The fact that she is longing for companionship and is willing to speak to you a disfellowshipped person could mean that she may not quickly resort to shunning you if you share some TTATT with her. Just tread slowly and carefully.

26

I am DF'd and a JW sister called me to tell me she wants to leave

by KateWild in

one of my dear loved ones called me.

she knows i am df'd and she wanted to reach out to me.

she fell away for a few years, and when she came back i had a study with her before she became active again.

Island Man

Build on what she has already told you - the lack of love she notices. Maybe you can share with her your own experience along the same lines. Tell her how you've been treated by your judicial committee. Try to get her to see that's it's a systematic, organization problem. JWs make showy acts of affection but it's often a stilted show of affection for the sake of proving to themselves and outsiders that they're christians, rather than genuine love.

55

A medieval question for you, if you believe in god....

by snare&racket in

jw
friends

many ancient believers of god used cognition to 'think' their way from belief to atheism.

what initially seems a silly question to reason over, can actually destroy a whole theology.. here is a question made famous by 'saint' thomas aquinas, believers in a almighty god with unlimited ability, please have a think about this..... the omnipotence paradox:.

"could an omnipotent being create a stone so heavy that even he could not lift it?

Island Man

" Island man- listen to yourself... an omnipotent being can't by definition be omnipotent if he is restricted in any manner. The emotional attachment to god can cloud the purpose of this question. The second you go into theology or semantics you are missing the point."

I think the fundamental issue here is that the word omnipotent as used of God has a more loose meaning than its meaning in the paradox. Omnipotent as used of God does not mean there is absolutely nothing that he is incapable of doing. It simply means that he is the most powerful. Even the bible acknowledges that there are certain things that God can't do. For example, it says he can't lie. By the way, I'm an atheist. It just seems to me that the paradox reaks of smart alec technicality capitalizing on the fact that omnipotent is somewhat of a misnomer.

20

Have Jehovahs Witnesses Changed the Bible to Fit Their Beliefs

by KSFernando in

no, we havent.

on the contrary, when we have discovered that our beliefs were not completely in line with the bible, we have changed our beliefs.. is this correct?.

gods name in greek scriptures?

Island Man

In some verses, yes.

I think one big change that seems to be often overlooked and which amounts to a spurious addition to the text, is their rendering of 2 Peter 2:11:

"whereas angels, although they are greater in strength and power, do not bring against them an accusation in abusive terms, [not doing so] out of respect for Jehovah."

The entire phrase: "not doing so out of respect for Jehovah [or the Lord]" cannot be found in the Greek text! This is essentially a spurious addition to the text. This spurious scripture is cited in JW publications to tell members not to disrespect the authority of appointed men out of respect for Jehovah.