Posts by Island Man

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

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

The answer is no.

An omnipotent being's power cannot be inadequate to counteracting an external force because that would make the external force more powerful than him, thus making him not omnipotent. Now I know you're going to then suggest that his inability to create a force greater than himself suggests he is not omnipotent. But that is not so, because the issue with omnipotence is not the power of his creations but his own power/strength. The omnipotence paradox foolishly seeks to argue that God is not omnipotent because he can't ever be weaker than one of his creations. Worded another way, it is saying that God is not omnipotent because he can't not be omnipotent; God is not omnipotent because he always has to be omnipotent. Well, duhh!

The fact that he cannot make an outside entity stronger than himself actually confirms his absolute omnipotence. It means that his power exceeds even his own creativity. So rather than denying his omnipotence, it actually confirms it.

I think the fundamental flaw in the omnipotence paradox is in equating power with ability. I submit to you that they're actually not the same. Omnipotence does not and cannot mean God should have the ability to make an external entity stronger or more powerful than himself. That would be a recklessly absolute interpretation of the word omnipotent - absolute to the point of being contradictory!

7

Just suppose the GB decided.........

by Phizzy in

now, i know this is preposterous, in fact totally an unbelievable hypothesis, but what if the gb decided that to go more mainstream and pick up more suckers, sorry, converts, they had received new light that the basic idea of the trinity was true.. obviously they could not be as blatant about it so as to say something like the various creeds say, but i can see a way that they could teach something that was more akin to mainstream christianity, and would make them seem less wacky-weird in comparison.. how on earth would the old-school dubs react ?

it would shake them up so much !.

i know this is far-fetched, but i do see them doing something similar eventually, some years down the line, when they are running out of cash.

Island Man

The SDA's did that, so it wouldn't be an unusual 180 degree doctrinal shift that is entirely without historical precedent.

24

The Organization is expanding so much........

by DATA-DOG in

...that district overseers are now being used as circuit overseers!!

that was a comment at the wt study program.

another great comment was this: " you can go to bethel and have zero skills.

Island Man

This D.O. firing news hasn't been announced in my cong. yet.

1

After escaping home fire, never ever go back in for a pet. Program that deep into yourself! Jehovah's Witness lady in Nash, Texas, never made it back out.

by Sol Reform in

after escaping home fire, never ever go back in for a pet.

program that deep into yourself!

jehovah's witness lady in nash, texas, never made it back out.. .

Island Man

She couldn't leave her pet to die. She knew that she would not be reunited with her pet in paradise since JWs teach that the animals would not be resurrected as they were not made to live forever.

15

Stephen Fry explains the purpose of life in 3 minutes (with pictures)

by besty in

jw
friends

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dhvwhrqvbs#t=167.

.

Island Man

In other words, stop searching for the purpose of life. Instead, make your life a purposefull one.

10

Advice, TTATT or Bible

by Crazyguy in

i really starting to see the problems with the bible and it being influenced by other cultures, religions and also the fact that many of the books or letter were written after the fact or so called prophecy.

so i am wondering would it work better to try to wake my children to ttatt about the jw cult or work on destroying the bible and its credibility?

which do you think would work better??

Island Man

I would say stick to TTATT and the BITE model. It would be easier for your children to accept TTATT than TTATB (The Truth About The Bible). TTATB is something you should leave until they get older and after they have seen the real truth about the JWs.

Sharing TTATB with them at this time could backfire on you, by causing them to see you as an evil person who is denying the fundamental truth that the bible is God's Word. If the children let any JW know that you're sharing TTATB with them the JW can use such an argument to discredit you as an evil person who is denying the Bible is true and scare the children into being afraid to listen to or accept what you're saying.

But it all depends on how deeply your children are ingrained with the idea that the Bible is God's Word. TTATT is easier because you can use the bible's own teachings and the JWs own appeal to truth and morality to expose them as hypocrites.

22

Meeting after meeeting

by molybdenum in

i just got information that there is going to be a short 10 min meeting.

with elders and ms after the first meeting of the week during the co visit.. this is in addition to the usual elders/ms meeting.. it might just be for my congregation, but is this something new?.

i wonder why.. .

Island Man

The fact that it's after the first meeting tells me that the information the C.O. wants to convey has a bearing on the week of the visit. It may be a meeting for the C.O. to give pointers to the elders and servants on how to motivate the whole cong. to participate in the week of special activities, to try to be present at all the meetings and field service activities and try to encourage others in the cong to do the same.

Is he a new C.O.? If so it might just be him wanting to get to know all the elders and servants and their various responsibilities.

Or maybe it's some new policy or concern that the governing body wants shared only with the servant body. Maybe the C.O. will tell them the GB is concerned about apostasy and will give them signs to look out for in R&F members. But that kind of info could just as easily be shared with them at the regular meeting with elders and ministerial servants . . . unless the information is somehow related to events that will transpire during all the days of the visit.

16

I don't believe the JWs will ever change and say the 144,000 is "symbolic"

by booker-t in

it will never happen.

because that will definitely be the "final nail" in their coffin.

jws will not stand for it any longer.

Island Man

" It won't happen because it will prove point blank JWs cannot be trusted with biblical teachings."

You're right. So far there has never been any changes over the decades to prove point blank that JWs cannot be trusted with biblical teachings. JWs have never falsely predicted the end of the system of things. JWs have never taught utter foolishness like saying the superior authorities of Romans 13 refers to God and Jesus and not the governments. JWs have never promoted medical quackery in their literature. JWs have always taught only sensible teachings. So if their governing body comes with the utterly ridiculous, outlandish and incredible idea that the 144,000 could be a symbolic number it would represent a change in their understanding - something unprecedented in JW history - and of such a magnitude as to prove to all JWs that they are false teachers. You're kidding right?

The governing body of JWs would have to work much harder than that to convince JWs that they can't be trusted with biblical teachings. You must understand that the JWs primary concern is not actual truth - not the actual veracity of their teachings. Their actual concern is making it to the new system, and to them the way to make it to the new system is to blindly obey and be loyal to The Organization. It doesn't matter much to them that the organization is wrong. All that matters is that The Organization is The Truth, Jehovah's Organization. And so help them Jehovah they will be loyal to it!

34

Pushing the JW.ORG

by Etude in

i took these pictures over a month ago.

i had not realized that they were really pushing their site.

this was at our farmers market, although they were not officially in the market area but off the side on the sidewalk.. .

Island Man

Is it just me, or doesn't it seem idiotic to be using word of mouth, display tables and hardcopy publications distributed by brute force manpower to advertise an internet website? I mean, isn't the internet already itself the greatest advertising platform? It's as if they don't fully understand how to best utilize the technology that they already have so that they're still using paper thinking to make the most out of their internet asset. It's like a man with a smart phone still using a physical notepad to write down your name and telephone number so he can contact you in the future.

19

Overseer's wife accompanied my Elderette, to answer my question, "Who really is the faithful and discreet slave?"

by Faithful Witness in

as usual, i was unprepared for a "drop-in" visit by a jw.

they seem to have a knack for coming when you're in the middle of something, or your house is a complete disaster... for me, both things are almost always true.

it's better if you call me and warn me before you come over.

Island Man

Speaking about that scripture in Daniel, it is noteworthy that Daniel 12:4 makes that statement with reference to understanding the time prophecies mentioned by the angel. The publication 'Pay Attention to Daniel's Prophecy' gives some very embarrassing self-serving interpretations to some of these prophecies, applying them to JW conventions and things of the sort. But that's not even the worst of it. The dates the publication gives for the fulfilments of these prophecies DO NOT MATCH back with the number of days mentioned in the prophecies. Their intepretation of those prophecies are clearly false. So it is a fact that Daniel 12:4 definitely IS NOT having fulfillment on them. Londo did a great video on that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu7030iiaBU

So if they bring up Daniel 12:4 you can ask them if the text isn't speaking about the prophecies the angel gave Daniel which he didn't understand. They would have to say yes because that's plainly the case. Then you ask them do JWs now have an accurate understanding of the fulfillment of these texts. That would give you the opening to point out the mathematical impossibilities of their interpretations given the number of days mentioned in those time prophecies.