JW organization.

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Elijah John
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JW organization.

Post #1

Post by Elijah John »

Jehovah's Witnesses are not allowed to:

-vote
-celebrate birthdays
-celebrate Christmas or Easter
-donate or receive blood transfusions.

And if any JW openly persists in doing these things[edit to add publicly], they will be shunned or disfellowshipped, [edit to add or otherwise admonished or disciplined.]

For debate,

1) what do any of these check-list prohibitions have to do with Christianity?

2) And are any of these prohibitions compatible with the idea of Christian freedom?

3) Are these prohibitions arbitrary or legalistic?

4) And could Jehvoah's Witness as an organization flourish without these particular prohibitions and still honor God?

Please address any or all of the above.
Last edited by Elijah John on Tue Jan 17, 2017 1:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.
My theological positions:

-God created us in His image, not the other way around.
-The Bible is redeemed by it's good parts.
-Pure monotheism, simple repentance.
-YHVH is LORD
-The real Jesus is not God, the real YHVH is not a monster.
-Eternal life is a gift from the Living God.
-Keep the Commandments, keep your salvation.
-I have accepted YHVH as my Heavenly Father, LORD and Savior.

I am inspired by Jesus to worship none but YHVH, and to serve only Him.

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onewithhim
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Re: JW organization.

Post #271

Post by onewithhim »

Benoni wrote:
onewithhim wrote:
Benoni wrote: [Replying to onewithhim]

I disagree. I have been part of organization much like the JW religion and yes they mean well but their dogma is nothing but bondage. The idea that God has only one name is so last century where God's people had no way of searching the original language of the Bible, The so called Jehovah God is judgemental to all who is not part of this man made system.
Do you believe the Bible? If you do, and I would think that you would have to, to be making some of the statements you do, then you would have to concede that it contains in the ancient languages the personal name of God, represented in Hebrew as "YHWH." It is pronounced according to people's languages today, and the pronunciations vary, just as your name or my name would be pronounced differently in Spanish or Greek. The most widely known and used pronunciation in the English-speaking world is JEHOVAH, from the rendering in the King James version.

God's name (as the Tetragrammaton, YHWH) has been in the Bible for 3,000 years. It can be seen over 7,000 times in the original Hebrew, and anyone can see it who opens their eyes to look.

How could it be possible that what JWs teach is "bondage"? I feel completely free, and have been for the 43 years I've been a JW. O:)
They say there are over two hundred different names for God in the Bible and it does not matter if they are a title or a name they are all equally relevant. The first name for God in the Bible is Elohim not Jehovah and the name Jehovah was never even used until the third chapter of Genesis so why does the JW insert/or add things to God’s Word when they know they are altering scripture to push their bias.
They are not altering anything. It has all been there since the Bible started being written.

There is ONLY ONE name for God, and is recognizable in the original Hebrew throughout the Bible. That name is : (please click on this link and you will see it presented in the Hebrew letters, as it appears 7,000 times in the Bible)


www.eliyah.com/tetragrm.html




All of the names that have more than the Four Letters (Tetragrammaton) are names of PLACES that have been given the name of God along with what Jehovah did for them or what their particular feeling was at the time.

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Benoni
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Re: JW organization.

Post #272

Post by Benoni »

[Replying to onewithhim]

Sorry I am not so ignorant. The first name/title in the Bible is Elohim not Jehovah. Someone is ignoring the Hebrew language and inserting their bias. Bondage. Pretty bad when you need to change God's Word to push a bias or as the verses declares hewed out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.


Jeremiah 2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can
hold no water.

Very sad.

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Blastcat
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Re: JW organization.

Post #273

Post by Blastcat »

[Replying to post 267 by Benoni]




[center]Smorgasbord religion ... we get to pick just what we like to be bonded to.[/center]

Benoni wrote:
I disagree. I have been part of organization much like the JW religion and yes they mean well but their dogma is nothing but bondage.
Well the etymology of "religion" IS bondage.
They are binding themselves to their religion, and you are binding yourself to yours.

You bind yourself to a more personal, subjective kind of religion, but it's still a bond.

"Bond, Benoni Bond."
Cue the music.

____________

Question:


  • Are you "bonded" to your personal brand of religious beliefs?

____________



:)

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onewithhim
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Re: JW organization.

Post #274

Post by onewithhim »

Benoni wrote: [Replying to onewithhim]

Sorry I am not so ignorant. The first name/title in the Bible is Elohim not Jehovah. Someone is ignoring the Hebrew language and inserting their bias. Bondage. Pretty bad when you need to change God's Word to push a bias or as the verses declares hewed out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.


Jeremiah 2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can
hold no water.

Very sad.
Yes, it is very sad. "Elohim" is not a name for anybody. It is a TITLE. In the Scriptures "elohim" applies to many things, including angels and pagan gods. Do some digging and you'll find this out. The pagan god "Dagon" is called "elohim" in I Samuel chapter 5.

The term implies great magnificence. It is not God's name.

Did you click on the following link?

www.eliyah.com/tetragrm.html

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Benoni
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Re: JW organization.

Post #275

Post by Benoni »

[Replying to Blastcat]

Difference between you and me if God reveals something new to me I receive it and do not try to fit it into some preconceived bondage. God's Word is not old nor is it new its spiritual and that means when God reveals a new truth we need receive it instead of change it because or religion is our god. That's Bondage.

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Benoni
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Re: JW organization.

Post #276

Post by Benoni »

[Replying to post 273 by onewithhim]

Name title what ever according to JW Bible they inserted the word Jehovah they and thousands of other places in the Bible so you are adding to God's Word a false teaching. Bondage.

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Re: JW organization.

Post #277

Post by hoghead1 »

[Replying to post 275 by Benoni]

I agree with you. "Jehovah" is a serious mistranslation of YHWH. The fact the NWT repeatedly uses it just goes to show the 'translators" didn't know what they were dong. The NWT has also inserted "Lord Jehovah" abound 239 times in the NT, where it never occurs in the Geek texts. The NWT is a totally corrupt translation, condemned by the majority of major biblical scholars.

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Benoni
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Re: JW organization.

Post #278

Post by Benoni »

[Replying to hoghead1]

I find a lot of errors in scripture but not as blatant as the JW Bible. The idea of deliberately fabricating error to force God's Word to align their bias is so sad indeed.
Notice it is God who allows the error
2Th 2:11
(ALT) And for this reason God will send to them a supernatural working of deception, for them to believe the lie,
(ASV) And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie:
(CEV) So God will make sure that they are fooled into believing a lie.
(CLV) And therefore God will be sending them an operation of deception, for them to believe the falsehood,

hoghead1
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Re: JW organization.

Post #279

Post by hoghead1 »

[Replying to post 277 by Benoni]

Yes, there re about 100 well-documented contradictions in Scripture.

Elijah John
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Re: JW organization.

Post #280

Post by Elijah John »

hoghead1 wrote: [Replying to post 275 by Benoni]

I agree with you. "Jehovah" is a serious mistranslation of YHWH. The fact the NWT repeatedly uses it just goes to show the 'translators" didn't know what they were dong. The NWT has also inserted "Lord Jehovah" abound 239 times in the NT, where it never occurs in the Geek texts. The NWT is a totally corrupt translation, condemned by the majority of major biblical scholars.
What about the Jerusalem Bible, the World English Bible and some others which render the Tetragrammaton as "Yahweh". His name, after all, is not "the LORD".

Karaite Jews render it "Yehovah" so "Jehovah" is not that far off.

And @ Benoni. Adding to God's word? Possibly...but more like restoring the Divine name to it's rightful place of honor, which the Rabbis out of an abundance (or excess) of caution, redacted from the original text. At least in the "Old" Testament. And where the New quotes the "Old", it only logical that the Divine Name be restored to those passages as well.
My theological positions:

-God created us in His image, not the other way around.
-The Bible is redeemed by it's good parts.
-Pure monotheism, simple repentance.
-YHVH is LORD
-The real Jesus is not God, the real YHVH is not a monster.
-Eternal life is a gift from the Living God.
-Keep the Commandments, keep your salvation.
-I have accepted YHVH as my Heavenly Father, LORD and Savior.

I am inspired by Jesus to worship none but YHVH, and to serve only Him.

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