Srecko Sostar

SPOING!

That's pretty much how I dress every day ... except for meetings, when I dress up like a Penguin, ( see profile photo) except I have old Levis, and a dark blue long sleeve blue shirt, and muddy sports shoes (what is the generic name for those things .... we USED to call them "tennis shoes" ...).
As much as the Society disparages military thinking ... it seems we are headed towards military uniforms ... WITH JW.ORG INSIGNIA.
The Governing Body is constantly experimenting with new ideas for proper dress!

Interesting ... I like the idea that when there are NEW things,
someone runs it up a flagpole to SEE WHO SALUTES IT!
( in this case ... almost EVERYBODY! )
 

Absolutely. This is what they are relying on - readers taking on trust what is being said/written without properly checking - to hoodwink the uninformed. If the article/book looks technical and has lots of footnotes or endnotes, it gives the appearance of being well-researched, truthful, or balanced. But not necessarily so (Hislop's Two Babylons is a prime example). And it isn't always easy getting hold of reference works - especially in these kinds of niche subjects. Thankfully, we have the internet now!
Uh oh, that's how I started with this subject many years ago - lots of questions, mostly a spectator in these mind-bendingly involved discussions, limited time, energy and resources as a wife, mother of young children, multiple other responsibilities, etc., etc., but with a burning interest to get to the bottom of all these niggles, lots of scraps of paper with brick diagrams and notes all over the place ... 
'Wanting to know' will impel you to build up a decent working knowledge little by little.

Yes, it is simple and clear, but I wish I could agree with you that it is also correct. I cannot logically reconcile the fact that WT agrees on 539, but has a problem with 587, if I am to believe that both dates are derived from the same sources. Why would one be false and the other true? It seems as illogical as saying 587 is a correct date, but 539 is a wrong date,  so we will count forward 70 years from 587, and insist that 517 is when Cyrus conquered Babylon.
 

Do they have as much to boast about their financial report

Population growth is 1.12% so most of them are witness kids.
 

More to the point:
https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/religious-institutions
Australian RC Final Report 2017 - Jehovahs Witnesses.pdf

Many of JW members who read the topics in this forum can not accept the fact that the main church body aka Gb violates both laws - divine and human.
GB asks of every member to report any fact and person that violates the JW Code in the assembly. But the GB does not want to report and give facts, evidence, documents, statements that would allow a justice, even "imperfect, worldly" justice. hehe

Mr Sostar,
 
And it can easily be shown that the NWT is the incorrect rendering. <><

Ms Fofana,
 
Sorry for the lateness of this response, so many things occupy my attention of late.
 
Nana:
It is very deceptive, imo, to refer to "quoting articles out of context", as if the customary and accepted practice is not to quote anything unless 'context'   -maybe the whole article?, or maybe the whole book?, or maybe everything the author ever wrote, along with his life history, including the context of the times in which he operated?-   is included,  and then to portray a false innuendo by calling them "misquotes." 
 
Of course it depends on which side you are on whether you agree on the use of any quote, but for me if the quote is intentionally made so that it appears to say one thing when really it is saying another that then constitutes as deception, and that is not a trait of real Christianity, no matter how you try to excuse it, only false religion would stoop to that leave...sorry. Visit any good library and you will see what I mean for yourself!
 
 I didn't hear  what you say is "Oneness idea" at the UCC, and that's what I was trying to say all along!
 
Wherever you get this idea from that Jesus is the Father it is incorrect and it is not the Trinity. The Father is a person, the Son is a person, and the Holy Spirit is a person who exist as One (Matt. 28:19) that, put simply, is the Trinity. Jesus being God does not mean that Jesus is the Father, any who claim this are just as wrong as the JWs claims about Him.
 
Here is offered some New Testament basis that the trinity concept is unscriptural.-
 
You refer to Matt. 16:13-16 where Jesus is confessed to be the Son of God by Peter. Jesus’ sonship is also confessed by the disciples in Matthew 14: 33, it was also a part of Caiaphas’s question to Jesus at his trial (Matt 26: 63), and the sonship of Jesus is also the focus of a round of taunts lobbed at him while nailed to the cross (Matt. 27: 39– 43). These people all knew what being the Son of God meant!
 
Jesus is the Son of God, but what that means must be understood in the way the ancients viewed the term, not read with a modern “understand” back into the Scriptures.
 
Jesus is called "the Son of God" in a non-literal sense, since He was not procreated. In fact Christians claim that Jesus, according to the NT and the way those around him understood the term that it meant that Jesus possess the nature of God fully and completely (see for example Col. 2:9; Heb. 1:3).
 
When Jesus was condemned to death by the Jewish Sanhedrin, the Jews insisted to Pilate, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God” (John 19:7). Prior to this, the high priest who was the president of the Jewish council, put Christ under oath, and asked Him two questions (mentioned together in Matt and Mark, but stated as proposed separately by Luke. “Are you the Christ?” (Luke 22:67) and “Are you then the Son of God? (Luke 22:70). And it was the affirmative answer of Jesus to the last of these questions, which were grounds for condemnation.
 
Keep in mind that Jesus knew the sense in which the question was asked (for He had been accused of this before, see John 5:17-18 and John 10:30-39), and He was bound to answer it honestly and truly in the sense in which He knew the high priest meant it.
 
He therefore affirmed under oath, at His trial before the council, that He was the Son of God in the high sense the phrase was meant, and for this He was condemned to death.
 
According to the Law of Moses, any person who enticed others to idolatry was to be punished with death (Deut. 13:6-8, see also Lev. 24:16). A mere creature, who should claim divine honour to himself, was guilty of this crime, and even though the Romans had taken away from the Jews the power of inflicting this punishment, they still had the right to report to the governor concerning such a person, “We have a law, and by that law He ought to die” (John 19:7). This was their decision as reported to Pilate, concerning Jesus, and if He was not entitled to this claim then their decision was just.  
 
So when we read the account in the Bible, the Jews brought two charges against Jesus, one was treason against Caesar, by making Himself a King.  To this charge Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you a king?” (John 18:37). Jesus answered in the affirmative, but so that they would not convict Him of a crime of which He was not guilty, He explained, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). His reply was satisfactory to the governor, who acquitted Him of the charge (John 18:38).  
 
In the other case He not only claimed to be the Son of God, yet accompanied the claim with NO explanation. He could have said, I am the Son of God, but not in such a sense as true Deity. But he made no such explanation.
 
If Jesus was not entitled to divine honour, He knew it; and He also knew then that He deserved death for claiming it. To make the claim before the court was to be guilty of the crime. To answer as He did, on oath, if He did not mean to make the claim, was perjury. And to allow the sentence against Him to pass, without any effort to explain, was to be guilty of His own death. 
 
Yes Jesus is the Son of God. That is, true God from true God, Amen. <><

Very succinctly put;  "both laws - divine and human"  
 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.  Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."  Matt 5:17-20

Many of JW members who read the topics in this forum can not accept the fact that the main church body aka Gb violates both laws - divine and human.
GB asks of every member to report any fact and person that violates the JW Code in the assembly. But the GB does not want to report and give facts, evidence, documents, statements that would allow a justice, even "imperfect, worldly" justice. hehe

Further in Romans 13 -    
"Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.  For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.  Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. "   Rom 13:2-5
 
 

This is just ONE of MANY instances in the past few years where the Society's lawyers constantly, consistantly, and without conscience, pervert Justice. 
Wednesday night we dropped a small check in the contribution box at the Kingdom Hall ... and felt guilty that part of that money would be used to deliberately, and with premeditation ... to pervert Justice.
Normally, lawyers have a fiduciary responsibility to win at any cost ... and the Society's lawyers are no different. What gives them special "power" is that they are now redefining our core theology based on economic considerations.
This has already happened, as due to many lawsuits, we are now "allowed" to take into our veins up to 99% of all blood products ... if they put it in separately.
The REASON it is now a matter of conscience ... is that the Governing Body does NOT want to lose all that money.
This has all been brought out here on the Archive over, and over, and over ... so I will not beat a dead horse into mush.
Jehovah's Witnesses are rightfully becoming known in the community of men as extremists ... perverting Justice in many ways ... and this reflects on the reputation of the God whose name is Jehovah.
BADLY!

Romans 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION
COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION ONE
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
OSBALDO PADRON,
Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT
SOCIETY OF NEW YORK, INC.,
Defendant and Appellant.
D070723
(Super. Ct. No. 37-2013-00067529-
CU-PO-CTL)
 
Nonetheless, Watchtower refuses to comply
with the court order and maintains the court was just wrong. In this sense, it refuses to
acknowledge the authority of the court and repudiates the procedures and rules all
litigants are supposed to follow in superior court. In these extreme circumstances, we
conclude the superior court was authorized to issue the monetary sanctions below. Also,
we see nothing in the Civil Discovery Act that expressly prohibits the superior court from
imposing monetary sanctions like the ones issued here. Indeed, we find Watchtower's
conduct so egregious that if it continues to defy the March 25, 2016 order, terminating
sanctions appear to be warranted and necessary.
It is clear that those responses, at least in
part, were in consideration of future litigation and liability that could arise from the
placement of known child molesters in positions of leadership and authority within the
Jehovah's Witnesses organization.
Here, Watchtower has abused the discovery process. It has zealously advocated
its position and lost multiple times. Yet, it cavalierly refuses to acknowledge the
consequences of these losses and the validity of the court's orders requiring it to produce
documents in response to request number 12. And, in a further act of defiance,
Watchtower informed the court that it would not comply with the March 25, 2016 order
requiring it to produce documents responsive to request number 12. The court, following
Lopez, supra, 246 Cal.App.4th 566, as an incremental step toward terminating sanctions
if Watchtower persists in its unjustified conduct, imposed monetary sanctions. On the
record before us, we are satisfied that the superior court's order was not arbitrary,
capricious, or whimsical. To the contrary, the superior court has shown great patience
and flexibility in dealing with a recalcitrant litigant who refuses to follow valid orders
and merely reiterates losing arguments. We therefore affirm.
DISPOSITION
The order is affirmed. Padron is awarded his costs of appeal.

 

Please, show me place where G. Jackson said that, that i would be able to check for myself, thanks! 
https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/getattachment/c2d1f1f5-a1f2-4241-82fb-978d072734bd/Report-of-Case-Study-No-29
"Authority to produce or revise child sexual abuse policy
Mr Geoffrey Jackson said that the Governing Body’s expectation is that Branch Offices around the world will act in accordance with the procedures and guidelines set out in the 2015 Branch Organization Manual.113 Mr O’Brien told the Royal Commission that ‘the theocratic or Scriptural direction that the Governing Body provides, is the same in every branch and for all Jehovah’s Witnesses, worldwide’.114 Mr O’Brien explained that the Branch Committee faithfully implements and follows the direction of the Governing Body.115 Mr Toole said that Jehovah’s Witness congregations in Australia take their direction and instructions from the Branch Office.116
It is apparent that the Governing Body retains authority over the general principle and framework of all publications in the name of the Jehovah’s Witness organisation, and any view or perspective contrary to the Governing Body’s interpretation of the Scriptures is not tolerated."

heheehe, playing with translations we have 2 possibilities  
Jesus is;
1) God
2) god
in any way he is not angel , Michael :))))
 

Almost 2000 viewers, but no comment??

Hi Shiwiii,
 
Yes I believe so. The booklet became an embarrassment to the JWs because of all the false and misleading quotes. <><

Ding Ding Ding Ding, I take "what we are allowed to read and what is forbidden" for three hundred Alex. 
 
Hey, isn't that why the WT pulled the Trinity book in the first place? Something about the quotes used were taken out of context and those whom the WT quoted fought back? 

Watchtower Loses Appeal of $4000 Per Day Fine
d070723-marked-up.pdf

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/96547/watchtower-joins-political-lobby