Srecko Sostar

This question that you asked, hit the core. WTJWorg with GB leadership has been supporting its own chronology of past and future events for decades. Certainly, most of the effort was invested in proving that "Armageddon is at the very door" and that it will happen in a certain period of time. Sometimes this included a precisely expressed year, sometimes a short period bounded by the lifespan of a “generation” or the end of a century (e.g., the 20th century). Indeed, should one have faith and confidence in the “spiritual food” that comes from GB forecasters?

In spiritual sense. In a figurative sense. In literal and medical way, blood is fluid for the transfer of nutrients and waste. Blood is circulatory tissue. Blood needs the heart to circulate through the body. So blood can't do anything without a heart. But also .... "heart is source of life". Above all the things that you guard, safeguard your heart,+For out of it are the sources of life. -Prov 4 23 nwt

What self-confidence .... “guided by the Holy Spirit”.

Not literal. But Jesus' words that he said are this: 53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. - John 6:53-59 Later, much later, he explained to 11 how it is not about literal understanding but with bread and wine symbols. It has already been said in other places that blood is a symbol of life. Blood is not life. Blood is just a symbol. Life has every advantage over symbols. Preserving life is more important than preserving symbols. Can the issue of blood cause dilemmas and controversies? Clearly it can. But will you take a child who broke his arm to the doctor during the Sabbath or will you wait for the holidays to pass? And some Jewish holidays lasted for days and weeks.

The body and blood of Jesus were given a transferred meaning in bread and wine. But bread and wine, precisely because they directly represent the body and blood of a man, are exactly what they are - body and blood. So to eat bread and drink wine, in commemoration of Christ's death, is nothing else but to bite into the flesh and drink some blood. Does it bother God that by some human activity man cannot be saved forever? No, he doesn't mind. Because, human life is erratic and often times we have to repeat the same or similar actions in order to live or survive some circumstances. Little correction please. 28 For the holy spirit+ and we ourselves have favored ... nwt Since the apostles were imperfect and sinful people and prone to wrong assumptions, so says WTJWorg and GB, could it be that they said and wrote something that has errors? No matter what topic. Because, that is exactly how today's GB justifies itself for its theological acrobatics. GB says that even the first Christians had wrong assumptions and expectations and misinterpreted the teachings of Jesus. Under what circumstances did the apostles err? Then when were they “inspired” or when were they “guided” by the Holy Spirit? GB said they, today, are "guided", ... just "guided".

Yes, lol. There is a kind of obsession in your mind because you often use terminology about "gnashing your teeth" and the like, in response to some other people’s comments, that is, as a reaction to those people.

My remaining life time is shortened, too. Compared to the length of time I had 20, 30 or 40 years ago. I am 60 years old today. It is logical that, given the average life expectancy of a man, my time is reduced. So, it would be pointless to expect another 60 years of life. I can count on another 20,30 years of life, more or less. That would be the average life expectancy of today’s people in certain parts of the world. Has the time of the whole human race been shortened, reduced in the same way? There is no calculation, nor is there any experience to confirm this. Disasters exist, wars exist and they can shorten the lives of people and animals and plants. But even the Bible nowhere says that there is a deadline that determines how long the planet Earth will exist and the living world on it. So what kind of time reduction is about? People are constantly being born, so preaching should go on and on, constantly. The earth, the sea, the trees and the whole natural world have been under attack for some 150-200 years. Someone is hurting them. Who? Humanity. With its way of life of consumer society, industry, destruction of nature for profit. Your version suggests how, harm the earth or the sea or the trees, will began in 2033? Would that mean that so-called “climate change” hasn’t actually started and that people are worried for no reason? There is something wrong with your interpretation of the Bible.

The name Isaiah means “Salvation of Jehovah,” which is the same meaning, though written in the reverse order, of the name Jesus (“Jehovah Is Salvation”). - https://www.jw.org/hr/biblioteka/knjige/Sve-je-Pismo-nadahnuto-od-Boga-i-korisno/23-knjiga-Biblije-Izaija/ God's name is also embedded in many Israeli personal names. Thus we read Adonijah (meaning “My Lord is Yahweh,” and “Yah” is a shorter form for Jehovah), Isaiah (“Salvation is from Jehovah”), Jonathan (“Jehovah has given”), and Micah (“Who is like Jehovah?” ? ”) And Joshua (“ Jehovah is salvation ”). - https://www.jw.org/hr/biblioteka/knjige/Božansko-ime-koje-će-vječno-postojati/Božansko-ime-tijekom-stoljeća/ According to WTJWorg articles, God’s name is embedded in other Jewish names as well. Well, what is the point if somebody have name with such particle? Then, what if in the original name of satan, devil is also the particle "Jah"? And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. - Eph. 4:30 Were Adam and Eve "anointed", sealed with HS? But a physical (natural man in other translations) man does not accept* the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot get to know them, because they are examined spiritually. 15 However, the spiritual man examines all things,+ but he himself is not examined by any man. - 1. Cor 2:14,15 Were Adam and Eve natural and spiritual at the same time? Or were they just natural, physical? People have “spiritual needs,” don’t they? Jesus gave lessons about it in His Sermon. In 31 C.E., Jesus delivered one of the most famous discourses of all time. It is called the Sermon on the Mount because Jesus gave it on a mountainside overlooking the Sea of Galilee. The Gospel of Matthew relates: “When [Jesus] saw the crowds he went up into the mountain; and after he sat down his disciples came to him; and he opened his mouth and began teaching them, saying: ‘Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need, since the kingdom of the heavens belongs to them.’” Translated literally, Jesus’ opening words read: “Happy the poor ones (as) to the spirit,” or “Happy are those who are beggars for the spirit.” (Matthew 5:1-3; Kingdom Interlinear; footnote) Today’s English Version reads: “Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor.” - https://www.jw.org/hr/biblioteka/casopisi/w20041101/Sretni-Jehovini-sluge/ When man satisfies these his spiritual needs, has he become a "spiritual man" or has he remained a "physical man"?

Understandably. It just means that each new generation (new GB generation, new JW members generation, or people in general) has learned nothing from previous generations from the recent or distant past. Is this paragraph about asking questions due to a misunderstanding by followers? Or is it that the followers tried to set the dogma on the basis of Jesus' teaching and-or previous or subsequent answers / comments / illustrations He gave them? Sure, it’s not ideal for a sinner to follow another sinner, but if a JW member so desires, who am I to object to that?

I am sorry, but wish to react with illustration connected to real JW life. When WTJWorg religious leaders replace one theology with another, then it is also called “loss of credibility”. JW members who reluctantly accept the new theology, along with GB, are losing credibility, too. Take for example the teaching of “generation”. From a logical point of view, the previous concept seems more acceptable. You set a chronological reference point (1914), determine the lifespan of a generation (70-80 years), and establish the claim that it is this generation that will not die before the Kingdom is established. Now, all JWs (with exceptions, of course) have abandoned their own credibility into a doctrine that had a fundamental value for everyday life, both literal and spiritual. And what have you achieved with that? This is a question you need to think about well. "Everyone else in the world" are not so much in lose if few sentences are in the Bible or not or if they don't know how generation issue have new interpretation in JW religion.

Hi again. An example that compares JW’s dramatization of biblical text with “original biblical text” from generally accepted manuscripts (or ... text available as biblical, to be more precise in words) is an indication of how certain past events can be used in a way that "enrich" existing biblical text with a broader account/description of what allegedly happened, and these are words and actions, for which there is no evidence that it really happened. But in the minds and feelings of observers at the JW Congress this will leave an impression given and foreseen by the writer of the modern conversation attributed to characters from the past. Consequently, the so-called official biblical text of the book itself (with or without certain parts in dispute) gets a new sound. It gets an addition in the form of words spoken by a JW actor that do not exist in the Bible. But after listening to the “biblical drama” these fictional words slowly become an integral part of the beliefs and doctrinal guidance of believers as if they were indeed uttered thousands of years ago and as if they were truly the word of God. A virtual, "new Greek Scriptures” is being created in the memory of believers, because it will become an interpretation, a description, a picture of events from the past that should become an example of how to live today, because that is how faithful people in the past allegedly spoke and acted. That's the connection.

Yes, you are right. Also, many or most people don't think WTJWorg and JW people are the only true religion.

@Equivocation please consider one important detail, because you are JW member and as such you absorb (everything) what is taught from GB. Dramatizations of biblical events have long been an important part of the Congress program, and many await with great anticipation and enthusiasm “biblical dramas” that are costumed and that contain a script specially prepared. As it is today, this summer. Is every word, every sentence uttered by JW actors in any of these plays written in the Bible? It's not! I'm sure you know the same thing. What explanation do you have for staging biblical events based on fictional dialogues attributed to historical biblical figures? Do you have to believe that real biblical characters uttered just such sentences written by screenwriters in WTJWorg? You tend to prove that something Jesus did not say and do, and on the other hand you “swallow” fictional dialogues written by some people in Bethel, which are attributed to being spoken by people of biblical times. Do not you see that you (and SpaceM) are supporting the absurdity, in an expanded form with respect to this form of Bible teaching (through "biblical dramas" performed by JW actors)?

They are not found in the two earliest available papyri .... This sentence does not claim that it will not be found one day. This sentence does not claim that subsequently found text will not be considered “inspired text”.

As far as I could notice regarding other Jesus stories (chapters of Luke before and after the story of Lazarus), illustrations, parables, and similar descriptions, one could say that they have elements that were real (that happened to someone, somewhere), or would could be real in everyday life (which will happen, they could happen to someone, somewhere). If Jesus did not believe in an immortal soul and hell, and neither did the Jews who listened to him, then I do not see real need, why Jesus would use “pagan” motives to give lessons to the Jews. I can answer, at least, on two ways on this. A) If Jesus was brave enough to tear down the tables of the merchants in the Temple and make them flee, then I see why it would not be possible for him to deal diplomatically with a multitude of hypocrites, fanatics, seduced believers, self-proclaimed righteous and influential religious leaders. B) There are also, in fact, many other things that Jesus did, which if ever they were written in full detail, I suppose the world itself could not contain the scrolls written. - Lk 21:25

After this explanation (thank you) I have to ask at least two questions, or more than two: 1) Who decides what an inspired biblical text is ? (Space Merhant, WTJWorg, experts, translators, archaeologists ..., '') 2) Is it crucial for the canonization of a biblical text that: A) "the text is inspired" or B) that the text can be found in "old manuscripts"? 3) Who can claim that "manuscripts" are completely reliable? About "an exaggerated story" issue. Questions: Was the story about the Rich Man and Lazarus, an exaggeration of Jesus? Let's read which elements are mentioned here: 1) a poor man, after death, is carried by angels (to Heaven, Paradise ??) to be with Abraham who also died a long time ago 2) The dead rich man is in the Tomb (Grave), but he is in fiery torment 3) the rich man is looking for water on Lazarus' finger to cool his tongue 4) there is a big chasm between the three of them What is so exaggerated in the story of Adulterous Woman in comparison to story about Rich Man and Lazarus? Why does Jesus use ideological / religious elements of the immortal soul, hellfire, torture of sinners ...,?

Bible errors have nothing with pandemic. In sense, errors in Bible text are problem in general, not only in pandemic time.

Is your real name "Space Merchant"? I am not making problem with that. Also, i don't understand your strong desire to deal with the issue of who is called on a forum where almost everyone has fictitious names.

I am confused an have no "basics" about this . What is "Truther Community" and who are "Truthers"? Is that some Movement, Religion, Internet Community? Who are members? And can you be, for example Catholic or Muslim or JW and "Truther" who belong to "Truther Community" in the same time?

Do you want to be extremely uncompromising (utterly unyielding) in claiming that JWs do not make a single mistake in their beliefs and the way they practice their religion (including JW people who created NWT) ?? If you start with such a perspective then it is superfluous for John and I to answer such and other similar questions. The fact is, which does not require it to be explained and proven, that JWs are not on the streets with their magazine trolleys and that they cannot be seen going from house to house. This kind of “sacred service”, for them, was proof that they were “true witnesses” for God. It was an indicator and example, in the eyes of JW, for other religious members of how to preach and how individual faith in God is proven and demonstrated. If JWs preach over the phone, the Internet, writing letters, or the like, that is not something that would be the original way of preaching after the example of the First Church. This is what JW's himself (they) claims, that going from house to house and looking people in the face is the best way because Jesus and the apostles practiced and established it as an example to follow. From everything we know (see) is going on, we don't need to start again (which started on the first page) with a discussion, because the current practice of JW members, on preaching, ends / concludes your question.

You are closer to their thinking than I am. I can only quote their allegations that could give a possible answer to your question. But since you read their publications yourself, I am convinced that you can guess what the explanation for your objection to their translation of the Bible might be. That in the sense, “we are not inspired", "we are not perfect", "we thought", "Jesus thought" and the like.

Basic knowledge about WTJWorg tell me they are in error in things in which they teach and act erroneously. I am with that cognition. If you and others think otherwise, it is yours and their right to dissent.

What do those who know, who are well learned about history, say on question: Does the devil believe in the Trinity?

I think it’s always about how the Bible is interpreted and how far one wants and can go in interpretation. After some time, people in the profession begin to give names to certain types of interpretations and to those who are proponents of such theses. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. - Malachi 3:10 Beloved, I pray that in every way you may prosper and enjoy good health, as your soul also prospers. - 3 John 1:3 So doesn’t GB invite its members to give material gifts because it will please YHVH who will pour out their blessings on them because they are generous. Yes, and GB talks about the same thing only with different tactics and other theological-organizational methods.