James Thomas Rook Jr.

JWI

I can't prove it, but I do NOT think the Jews during Jesus' time believed in any hell such as the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Babylonians, etc. believed in. 

To the best of my knowledge, in Jewish literature there was NEVER a Jewish "horror" story about any poltergeists, ghosts, vampires or anything else that somehow survived death without direct and specific intervention by Jehovah God.  They all knew the dead were just dead ... no more.

Even the account of Enoch does NOT say he died ... it says he was "transferred". ( I have been transferred a few times, and sometimes with a U-Haul, a rented truck, or a company paid for moving van, and it did not kill me ...).  Perhaps there were Kangaroos there where  he was relocated (?)

Perhaps your surgical scholarship could verify this .. I am by nature a chain saw kinda guy, but Jewish culture would perhaps give a partial combination at least to opening the "lock"

I first thought Bro. Rando was a troll, but I agree with his analysis ... so far .... even though it applies to CHRISTENDOM'S adoption of the concept of a hell of torment, which had been around pervasively LONG before Christendom.

To make a groaner pun .. The Devil is in the Details.

If you manipulate word, or numbers, to suit your own agenda, you can get ANYTHING!

You can have a just God, or a petulant, insane sadistic monster god .... but NOT BOTH at the same time.

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That has been my personal experience, and my direct observations in approximately 80% of all the Congregations I have attended in the past 50 and more years ...and have watched it escalate dramatically as the "love of the greater number" has cooled off.

I cherish the other 20% ... but it was such a long time ago .....

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Hell was borrowed from the pagans to scare the wallets out of Christians ...

I have said all I know how to say ..... time to move on.

Cereally though Eoin:

Perhaps after you have read this thread over and over you will understand that I ONLY wanted you to reply using the scripture you quoted, which did not apply to ANYTHING under current discussion at the time, to what I had stated that you found unpleasant ..... and  even offered my other 7,000 or so posts so you could find SOMETHING to bolster your implied accusation, backed by a scripture that did not apply specifically to my postings in this thread ... because to the points being discussed, your quoted scripture was COMPLETELY irrelevant. .... almost as if it was a cut-and-paste from another discussion thread of a completely different subject ... which I bring up ... BECAUSE IT WAS.

I saw it there, exactly as seen here, as you well know.

that suggestion is good for EVERYBODY!

Eoin Joyce:

Do what I and most people have to do ... now that you have some hints ... REREAD EVERYTHING, OVER AND OVER, UNTIL YOU DO UNDERSTAND IT.

When I steal jokes, I try to file off the serial numbers, beat to fit and paint to match.

Otherwise, unless I forget, or  it would be funnier if I didn't ....  I always try to properly attribute sources that are not my own.

32 minutes ago, tromboneck said:

Can't we all just get along? I would not impugn anyone's motives but my own!

Tom:

 It is a Fair and Necessary thing to do to impugn someones competence and motives when they are disparaging you with irrelevancy, and THEN using an irrelevant (to the specific point) Scripture as a club to try and give credibility to their lack of reasoning ability, which does accuse by inference.

If we do it YOUR way, and have peace ... it will be the peace of mental enslavement for EVERYBODY, as the bullies win.

You want to let the superfine politically correct bullies win?

Eoin Joyce:

So, what I said makes no sense to you whatsoever ....

WOW!

Your credibility and a fair impunement of your motives was on the line if you did not  have any EXAMPLES  of my statements that APPLIED to the scripture you quoted as a response ...

OK

There is nothing I know how to do with THAT.

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3 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

'And the loose cannons and the nutcases said to him: "by what authority do you do these things? Or who gave you this authority to do these things?" Jesus said to them: "I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things."

Well TTH ... thanks once again for answering my question, even though that was not your intent.

You have managed ONCE AGAIN to show Are you NEVER able to discuss any real ISSUE whatsoever ... without trying to divert attention to someone to blame, this time by attempted disparagement and innuendo.

I do see you have added irrelevancy to the list, in a prominent way.

I will have to admit, though .. it was "clever" ... and again you have managed to be 100% consistent.

9 hours ago, Eoin Joyce said:

16 hours ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

As a man ..........., with no spiritual qualifications

If you are referring to yourself here, why do you need examples?

Eoin Joyce:

I do not need examples of my statements, for my entertainment ..... YOU need to show examples of my statements to show that there is a rational basis for the scripture you quoted had anything whatsoever with anything I have ever said.

It is a quite common occurrence that when people do not like what someone has said, based on their ingrained CULTURAL values,  that they root around for a scripture to support their intellectual position, and attempt to beat someone over the head with it.

The scripture you quoted was a fine scripture ... but my position ( since I do know what statements that I make..) is that it was completely irrelevant to the conversational thread ACTUALLY taking place. 

Similar to using the scripture " ... after I leave, wolves will enter in among the flock .." to support the supposition that one's dog is going to go to heaven, reasoning that "Uh... well... a dog is a kinda wolf!" That is wrong on SEVERAL levels.

I have challenged you to show the relevance of THAT specific scripture you quoted as a reply, to those SPECIFIC statements that I was making ... or even allowing any have EVER made in over 7,000 of my comments.

Further, if you refuse to make the connection ... AND since there is prima fascia evidence that there IS NO CONNECTION, then you are just trying to support your pique by bullying someone with a Scripture that has nothing to do with what was being discussed ... or anything I have EVER said.

I do not think there is any connection, and have a legitimate reason to accuse you of attempting to bully.

If you CAN logically and reasonably show the connection, then I am wrong, and your point is valid.

I don't have any spiritual qualifications, but all that is required is a moderate ability to reason.

If, as an example,  a member of the Governing Body is wrong about something, he may have IMMENSE spiritual qualifications, but he is STILL WRONG about that something, whatever it might be.

I DON'T NEED EXAMPLES ....... YOU DO!

Your credibility and a fair impunement of your motives are on the line if you don't have any ...

mice ...the are all gettin mor uppity!

...sigh....

Jimmy Carter WAS a carpenter, after he left the presidency ... he volunteeres to help build homes for the homeless, etc. He has been doing that for YEARS!

A fine and decent man by most standards ... at least I think so ... but a TERRIBLE President ... the original Amateur in Chief.

 Of course if one  judges a fish because he cannot climb a ladder, that does not make the FISH stupid.

Money  

Always go with a buddy after after a natural disaster.  Preferably one slower than you so that during Zombie attacks ...well ... you know ...

Wewwy?

I have a hand-held green laser pistol that will put a spot on a wall in bright daylight, 200 feet away ... unfortunately the hand gun will only punch holes in a person sufficiently potent to drop them only out to about 90 feet.  I made it myself using standard parts, and cost about $800.

It also has a red dot targeting laser set for 75 feet because of the parallax problem between the laser emitter and the hole puncher, but is too weak to be seen in daylight most of the time.

I carry it all the time, it fits in my right-front front pants pocket.

I put it together with SHOE GOO, which you can buy at Wal-Mart.

I have a magnet brass plaque on my refrigerator:

"PRAY TOWARD HEAVEN

ROW TOWARDS SHORE"

Photon TORPEDOES ... similar to missiles.

I used to work for the Department of Energy at Savannah River Site, which 'does Tritium" better than anybody else, and at Nevada's Yucca Mountain, and off and on with that for 20 years ... and I personally would eat any seafood that was caught in the past few years without specific evidence to the contrary.

AND ... a lot of times, "evidence" is manufactured to manipulate people, and I understand that, too.

This morning I ate a Banana which contained radioactive potassium.

I could do essays on this stuff for three months ... but the only reaction would be the villagers coming up the hillside with torches at night yelling "Kill the Monster!".
 

I kinda like those fish with the three eyes.

I like Jimmy Carter as a man.

As a President, he made a wonderful carpenter.

Kinda an "Obama Lite".

1 hour ago, Eoin Joyce said:

More pathetically callous observations, reflecting the words of the apostle Paul at 1 Cor.2:14:

My observations of reality the way reality REALLY IS may be callous, but today with the final appeal of the Russian Federation Supreme Court ... they proved to be accurate.

... being right covers a multitude of sins .... but only among reality based, rational people.

1 hour ago, Eoin Joyce said:

"A person who isn't spiritual doesn't accept the teachings of God's Spirit. He thinks they're nonsense. He can't understand them because a person must be spiritual to evaluate them."

As a man who has never claimed to be anything but a self-assessed Barbarian, with no spiritual qualifications whatsoever ... your quoting that Scripture seems to have absolutely no relevance whatsoever to anything I have ever stated.

If you would please, correct me with a (or some) specific example(s) of a teaching of God's Spirit that I have NOT accepted.

It should be clear and unambiguous, and REAL.

Opinion is  ... um ... irrelevant.