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Anna

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  1. Upvote
    Anna reacted to Many Miles in What is our scriptural basis for refusing transfusion of products rendered from blood?   
    That's fine. From here on I'll let readers alert me if anything you present deserves my attention. So far all you've done is spew blather in the face of simple questions a child should be able to answer. Why you do this (and the same is true of us all) is for readers to decide as they will, and that's how it should be.
    Should want to me to re-engage discussion with you then it's as easy as you answering the two simple questions asked here:
    Until then, goodbye.
  2. Thanks
    Anna reacted to JW Insider in What is our scriptural basis for refusing transfusion of products rendered from blood?   
    So many topics in this thread (and so many threads in this topic). 
    I'd like to tackle just this one piece of your otherwise logical argument. I think you are giving way too much attention to an English translation of this verse rather than the more probable intent of it. But I also think people often give way too much attention to the original meanings of Greek and Hebrew words because it's usually done to support an interpretation based on the least likely possible meanings of the word from its context.
    Anyway, I said all that to say that the Bible NEVER says EVERY SORT of food eaten. And even if it had, it need not be interpreted to include food that died accidentally or "of itself." If we needed to focus on the words "every sort" we'd probably have to include, every kind, every species, every cooking method, every uncooked method, salted, unsalted, washed, unwashed, deboned, un-deboned, descaled, scaled, bloody, un-bled. The list would be endless. 
    But we don't need that because the Hebrew just says [of] EVERY FOOD not "all KINDS of food" or "all SORTS of food."
    And I don't think we should make too much of the word "ALL" here. The Hebrew word is "kol," pronounced "coal" and just means ALL or EVERYTHING. 
    -------This next part is interesting to me, but TLDR; -----------
    I took several semesters of Hebrew in school, but that doesn't make me an expert. What it did do is help me appreciate that Biblical Hebrew is not usually written in the way people naturally speak. At times, it's too simple --resulting in either understatements or exaggerations-- and we therefore MUST read into it what is only implied.  And at other times, especially Genesis, for example, it's more repetitive than it needs to be, and translations usually ignore this because, for example, our English-hearing ears are not trained to listen like that. The Hebrew is often (unnecessarily) alliterative and poetic even in historical accounts. 
    There is a Hebrew professor/archaeologist named Dr. James Tabor who actually has tried to make an English translation that imitates the alliterative and poetic "sound" and "rhythm" of Hebrew through some of these parts.
    If you look up Genesis 6:21 with the above in mind, you might even get the impression that the word ALL is actually not really literal but just a poetic way to make a statement with repetition, rhythm, and alliteration. Notice here: https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/gen/6/21/t_conc_6021
     וְאַתָּה קַח־לְךָ מִכָּל־מַֽאֲכָל אֲשֶׁר יֵֽאָכֵל
    v-atah kaht-l-khah m-kol maakhal asher y-ah-khel
    There are other ways to say the same thing wthout all the variations of kaht, khah, kol, khal, khel in the same short phrase. So I don't think ALL foods is necessarily literal.
     
     
  3. Upvote
    Anna reacted to JW Insider in Paul's Letter to the Galatians and the Struggle for Doctrinal Purity   
    Funny how opinions work: Based on available eidence it would have been just as easy to reword your statement above as follows and possibly be just as accurate:
    It is important to highlight that Mrs. Russell harbored NO ulterior motives and was not consistently honest in certain occasions [where some might say she was dishonest]. It is HARDLY possible that she was deceived by E.C. Hennings, a hypocrite person who was fully loyal to Russell such that Russell entrusted him with the Watch Tower's work on the entire continent of Australia, and who only later began to disagree with Pastor Russell on various matters. [And those matters were primarily matters in which ALL Jehovah's Witnesses have now come to also disagree with Russell.] Something we don't need to use Sultz's book to address.
    I won't repeat the defense that Russell printed for himself in the Watch Tower. It has been rather thoroughly debunked. Also, the Watchtower is currently more in line with Mrs. Russell's writings on some subjects than Mr. Russell's. And the Watchtower is currently more in line with Henninges views on the New Covenant and rejects Russell's view (that only natural Jews are in the New Covenant).
     
    But you did say this:
    Turns out that she wasn't a child at all during the time that Mrs Russell spoke. She was a grown woman of legal age. She was the VICE PRESIDENT OF THE WATCH TOWER SOCIETY. Russell tried to paint her as 'a little child in a short skirts/dresses sitting on his lap' to make himself appear more innocent, as if she was just a young girl jumping on papa's lap, not because anyone would have been thinking about child molestation. Otherwise Russell wouldn't have voluntarily mentioned her short skirts.
    Or one could say that when an egotistical and vindictive man tries to take everything away from a woman, including her means of support, and her reputation, and her place to live, she has little choice but to take him to court.
  4. Upvote
    Anna reacted to JW Insider in Paul's Letter to the Galatians and the Struggle for Doctrinal Purity   
    Exactly! it was no more relevant than when you asked who the first president of the Watch Tower Society was when no one else had brought that up. If anyone else wants to know, they can read a little more about him in the refereces cited in this Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Conley
    He gave a lot of money to charities and missionary societies. Started a missionary home in Jerusalem. But his support for another Bible-study publication outside the Watchotwer apparently triggered Russell to speak out against that publication, and to tell Watch Tower readers not to buy it. And Conley was not mentioned again. Not even a notice of his death or funeral, which is something the Watchtower did for several other early supporters of the Watch Tower.
    It's a simple matter to see that your information is false. I believe I have all the available court papers and commentaries about the case from neutral sources, opposing sources and supporting sources. She was in Australia when the judge made a ruling, and it wasn't about her statement. You might be thinking about the ruling over whether it was permissable for Mrs. Russell to bring up adultery and/or sexual misconduct in open court or not.
    We can sometimes find out if something has any significance to anyone by seeing whether anyone gets upset by such information. I'm not saying that you would get upset, but some people do, and that MIGHT mean that they are giving too much importance to the reputation of a man. Then it could become a scriptural matter:
    Galatians 2:6  But regarding those who seemed to be important+—whatever they were makes no difference to me, for God does not go by a man’s outward appearance—those highly regarded men imparted nothing new to me.
    There is a lot of Russell "worship" still going on among some today. Not so much Witnesses, but among some Bible Student groups who follow his writings.
    Then you and I agree totally on that point.
  5. Upvote
    Anna got a reaction from ComfortMyPeople in Paul's Letter to the Galatians and the Struggle for Doctrinal Purity   
    I realized the book has no appendix where I could search for Rose Ball. I don't have time to search the whole book, but I found quite a lot of information on Schulz's blog:
    https://truthhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=rose+ball
    Not sure if it mentions the minutes, as I haven't read through everything, but I do know that Schulz won't put pen to paper unless he has written evidence for what he says. But these articles were written mostly by Jerome, not Schulz himself.
  6. Upvote
    Anna reacted to Srecko Sostar in Paul's Letter to the Galatians and the Struggle for Doctrinal Purity   
    Well, I could say that:
    1. it is possible to be very (highly) educated, very rich and at the same time be a good Christian
    2. it is possible to make a good deal and see a business opportunity as the president of a publishing company that deals with religious topics
     
  7. Thanks
    Anna reacted to JW Insider in Paul's Letter to the Galatians and the Struggle for Doctrinal Purity   
    I read the book. I don't think he ever mentions any of those meeting minutes, but he already knows and states the gist of the point about Russell having complete authority and final say about any decision, and that the board members, both editorial board and society officers, were basically just a legal formality. They had no real input into any of his decisions. Russell pretty much ran the Society by himself. If others helped, and we know that his wife had plenty of input, he didn't give them any credit publicly. I know we think of Rutherford as the most autocratic in this regard, but Rutherford seemed to allow quite a bit of leeway and input from those around him, even if his was the only name that would be put on the publications for most of his presidency. Russell did this early on too although most of those others who had writing input all left the Watch Tower Society within a few short years.
  8. Upvote
    Anna got a reaction from Many Miles in Paul's Letter to the Galatians and the Struggle for Doctrinal Purity   
    I realized the book has no appendix where I could search for Rose Ball. I don't have time to search the whole book, but I found quite a lot of information on Schulz's blog:
    https://truthhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=rose+ball
    Not sure if it mentions the minutes, as I haven't read through everything, but I do know that Schulz won't put pen to paper unless he has written evidence for what he says. But these articles were written mostly by Jerome, not Schulz himself.
  9. Upvote
    Anna got a reaction from Thinking in Paul's Letter to the Galatians and the Struggle for Doctrinal Purity   
    I wonder if B.W. Schulz mentions this. He is a big Russell historian. I will have to check it out...
  10. Thanks
    Anna reacted to JW Insider in What is our scriptural basis for refusing transfusion of products rendered from blood?   
    When the Noahide Laws were clarified and expanded from what we currently see in the Genesis account, the rabbis specifically forbade eating a limb or part of an animal while it was alive and kicking. In fact, some even interpret the term "strangled" to refer to the twisting off of a limb for eating.
    https://www.jstor.org/stable/26551218?read-now=1&seq=3#page_scan_tab_contents
    in the Tosefta, a supplementary work to the Mishnah. Its teachings date back
    to the time of the Tannaim and provide a glimpse into how the early rab-
    bis approached Jewish-gentile relations. In t. ʿAbod. Zar. 8:4, the text states:
    “Concerning seven commandments were the sons of Noah admonished:
    [establishing] courts of justice, idolatry, cursing the name [of God], illicit inter-
    course, bloodshed, thievery and [consuming] a limb from a living beast.”2
    These are the commandments generally accepted within rabbinic litera-
    ture as the seven Noahide laws pertaining to gentiles. Sifre Deuteronomy, an
    early Tannaitic midrash (late 3rd c. CE), provides additional information . . .
    That was from:
    The Sons of Noah and the Sons of Abraham: The Origins of Noahide Law
    Matthew P. Van Zile Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Period, Vol. 48, No. 3 (2017), pp. 386-417 (32 pages)
  11. Upvote
    Anna reacted to Pudgy in What is our scriptural basis for refusing transfusion of products rendered from blood?   
    “Brazen Conduct” is one of those nebulous indefinite and non-defined terms that can in the hands of the inexperienced inflict TREMENDOUS damage to people with strong personalities.
    Often with BRAZEN disregard for reality, or consequences.
     
  12. Haha
    Anna reacted to Many Miles in What is our scriptural basis for refusing transfusion of products rendered from blood?   
    There's that.
    And, there's this.
    Does this mean I have no need to respond to that?
    Had I known you were Aussie, I'd have kept my work here to just a sentence or two at-a-time.
  13. Upvote
    Anna reacted to Pudgy in What is our scriptural basis for refusing transfusion of products rendered from blood?   
    Actually, I found the book “Shepherding The Flock Of God“ to be quite valuable.
    I found absolutely nothing wrong with it, having read every word from cover to cover, although the part dealing about brazen conduct was creepy and a catchall for anything the Elders didn’t like, like when you confronted them with overreach.
    ”Brazen Conduct”. (?)
    What I did not like is that it was top-secret. What I did not like is that sisters were not supposed to know of it’s existence, or touch it..
    How would you feel if you were dragged into court for some traffic offense or some criminal offense and you wanted to know what you were charged with, and the court or the police said I’m sorry I’m not allowed to tell you what law you broke or to know in advance what they are, and you’re not allowed to know how the proceeding is going to go against you.
    SURPRISE!!
    And if you’re convicted it’s roughly the equivalent of being executed, Because you’ll be evicted from the Congregation from which is the source of life.
    Secrecy ALWAYS begets tyranny! 

  14. Upvote
    Anna reacted to TrueTomHarley in Paul's Letter to the Galatians and the Struggle for Doctrinal Purity   
    It seems like if we are going to do overstepping headship, we should criticize Aaron for not going all the way and saying to God, ‘Oh, come on! After all he’s done? It was just a little loss of temper, and goodness knows, they had it coming!’
    That is the sentiment most of us have to come to grips with upon reading the account. Aaron was human. Would he not have had to come to grips with it too?
    The trouble with overstepping headship is that people don’t have the judgment to know when to do it. For every ‘proper’ time they do it, there are 5 improper times.
  15. Upvote
    Anna reacted to Thinking in Paul's Letter to the Galatians and the Struggle for Doctrinal Purity   
    Did Jehovah think it just a little loss of temper..or Aaron’s failure to be strong in his faith . Jehovah was goi g to strike him dead except for Moses begging for his life.
    Do I feel sorry for either of them…absolutely..more for Moses than Aaron….as there for the grace of god go I…….I ponder on both of them…and I think,,,….Thinking … your dead...
  16. Upvote
    Anna reacted to Srecko Sostar in What is our scriptural basis for refusing transfusion of products rendered from blood?   
    To simplify. Joshua David was not at the Court, but spoke in front of the camera answering questions from journalist. He was speaking to listeners, many of whom were ordinary, averagely educated people. But regardless of their education, they would understand if JD explained to them that "freedom of conscience among JWs" is not unlimited, and that they must obey GBs orders or they will be excommunicated.
  17. Thanks
    Anna got a reaction from Juan Rivera in What is our scriptural basis for refusing transfusion of products rendered from blood?   
    Ahh, interpretation of scripture, who can get it right? That is the question. In my opinion, the most important scriptures, those that help us to live as Christians, do not need much interpreting. When read in context they are self explanatory. It is prophetic books that are written in riddles that need interpreting. Also some of Jesus' illustrations about the Kingdom etc. We have made a number of adjustments to our interpretation of prophecies, but there is no quarantee that we have got even the latest right. (It always makes me laugh when we say that sometimes prophecies are understood after they have occurred. I always wonder, what is the point of the prophecy then, lol. At the same time, I believe that full understanding of prophetic words won't happen until they are revealed not by people, but by Jesus himself in a supernatural way. And I think this will occur when other supernatural things are already occurring, i.e. during and after Armageddon). 
    The point is, if you live your life as best as you can, according to what you know the scriptures that need no interpretation say about it, then that is all you can do presently. If you are unsure about the interpretation of something the GB teaches, especially things that pertain to the future, like the order of what will occur during the great tribulation etc. and who will attack who, then you have to evaluate if that is something God will judge you on. Or will he rather judge you on how you lived your life. I think the latter. I believe the Witnesses are the only group that teach people how to live their life in order to be pleasing to God, using scriptures which need no interpretation. The book Enjoy Life Forever covers it all. There are just three lessons out of a total of 60 which personally I am unsure about. Those three I put on the back burner. I have not covered them  with a Bible student yet but when I do, I will let the Bible student form their own opinions, of course. It will be up to them how they receive them, I am definitely not going to influence them either way. And if they by any chance ask my opinion, I will tell them my opinion is irrelevant, they have to form their own opinion on the information they have read...
     
  18. Haha
    Anna got a reaction from JW Insider in Paul's Letter to the Galatians and the Struggle for Doctrinal Purity   
    And this is why we have the closed club, so we don't have to put up with many Allen Smiths with many problems, and his buddy George. Oh why, oh why, did I even start commenting here I ask myself.
  19. Upvote
    Anna reacted to Thinking in Paul's Letter to the Galatians and the Struggle for Doctrinal Purity   
    I’m surprised I did too…but Miles was an attraction…..and others had left….
  20. Haha
    Anna got a reaction from Juan Rivera in Paul's Letter to the Galatians and the Struggle for Doctrinal Purity   
    And this is why we have the closed club, so we don't have to put up with many Allen Smiths with many problems, and his buddy George. Oh why, oh why, did I even start commenting here I ask myself.
  21. Haha
    Anna got a reaction from Pudgy in Paul's Letter to the Galatians and the Struggle for Doctrinal Purity   
    And this is why we have the closed club, so we don't have to put up with many Allen Smiths with many problems, and his buddy George. Oh why, oh why, did I even start commenting here I ask myself.
  22. Upvote
    Anna got a reaction from JW Insider in Paul's Letter to the Galatians and the Struggle for Doctrinal Purity   
    Yeah. If someone, no matter their lofty status, asks me to jump off a cliff, I ain't doing it!
  23. Upvote
    Anna got a reaction from JW Insider in What is our scriptural basis for refusing transfusion of products rendered from blood?   
    Ahh, interpretation of scripture, who can get it right? That is the question. In my opinion, the most important scriptures, those that help us to live as Christians, do not need much interpreting. When read in context they are self explanatory. It is prophetic books that are written in riddles that need interpreting. Also some of Jesus' illustrations about the Kingdom etc. We have made a number of adjustments to our interpretation of prophecies, but there is no quarantee that we have got even the latest right. (It always makes me laugh when we say that sometimes prophecies are understood after they have occurred. I always wonder, what is the point of the prophecy then, lol. At the same time, I believe that full understanding of prophetic words won't happen until they are revealed not by people, but by Jesus himself in a supernatural way. And I think this will occur when other supernatural things are already occurring, i.e. during and after Armageddon). 
    The point is, if you live your life as best as you can, according to what you know the scriptures that need no interpretation say about it, then that is all you can do presently. If you are unsure about the interpretation of something the GB teaches, especially things that pertain to the future, like the order of what will occur during the great tribulation etc. and who will attack who, then you have to evaluate if that is something God will judge you on. Or will he rather judge you on how you lived your life. I think the latter. I believe the Witnesses are the only group that teach people how to live their life in order to be pleasing to God, using scriptures which need no interpretation. The book Enjoy Life Forever covers it all. There are just three lessons out of a total of 60 which personally I am unsure about. Those three I put on the back burner. I have not covered them  with a Bible student yet but when I do, I will let the Bible student form their own opinions, of course. It will be up to them how they receive them, I am definitely not going to influence them either way. And if they by any chance ask my opinion, I will tell them my opinion is irrelevant, they have to form their own opinion on the information they have read...
     
  24. Haha
    Anna reacted to TrueTomHarley in Paul's Letter to the Galatians and the Struggle for Doctrinal Purity   
    What? It was a red herring? They got me all going over a red herring? I sure won’t make that mistake again!
    Hmm…..if the ball cost x, and the bat cost x + 1, then the price of the ball . . . 
    …okay, take a break, Tommy. Good thread, and all, but doesn’t your wife have some chores lined up for you? Better get to them.
  25. Upvote
    Anna reacted to Many Miles in Paul's Letter to the Galatians and the Struggle for Doctrinal Purity   
    I completely understand what you write here, and don't necessarily disagree. The sole reason I brought up the questions you responded to was only to show there is a limit to any obedience or loyalty we may owe any human or group of humans, regardless of whatever authority they might hold.
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