New Light on Beards

[Pudgy]

3 hours ago, Matthew9969 said:

Brothers can now get beards tattoo'd on their faces?

Yeah!

[George88]

The topic of beards triggered memories of how the church fathers perceived philosophers and individuals who believed their interpretation of scripture, as well as their understanding of Christ's parables, to be superior to the church father's interpretation. However, it is now evident that the church father's interpretation was flawed. But, at that time, they firmly believed their understanding was solid.

It appears that individual interpretation remains largely unchanged, and shortly, starting in 2024, God will once again be motivated to cleanse spiritual Israel.

Those who truly love God and cherish Christ's sacrifice and mission on this earth will find obedience, faith, and loyalty to be highly admirable qualities that God will truly appreciate.

Will the use of loose tongues, strife, divisions, etc. be included? That will indeed be part of the purge.

Chapter XXV
Boastings and Quarrels of the Philosophers.

What great and wonderful things have your philosophers effected? They leave uncovered one of their shoulders; they let their hair grow long; they cultivate their beards; their nails are like the claws of wild beasts. Though they say that they want nothing, yet, like Proteus,  they need a currier for their wallet, and a weaver for their mantle, and a wood-cutter for their staff, and the rich,  and a cook also for their gluttony. O man competing with the dog,  you know not God, and so have turned to the imitation of an irrational animal. You cry out in public with an assumption of authority, and take upon you to avenge your own self; and if you receive nothing, you indulge in abuse, and philosophy is with you the art of getting money. You follow the doctrines of Plato, and a disciple of Epicurus lifts up his voice to oppose you. 
Again, you wish to be a disciple of Aristotle, and a follower of Democritus rails at you. Pythagoras says that he was Euphorbus, and he is the heir of the doctrine of Pherecydes; but Aristotle impugns the immortality of the soul. You who receive from your predecessors doctrines which clash with one another, you the inharmonious, are fighting against the harmonious. One of you asserts that God is body, but I assert that He is without body; that the world is indestructible, but I say that it is to be destroyed; that a conflagration will take place at various times, but I say that it will come to pass once for all; that Minos and Rhadamanthus are judges, but I say that God Himself is Judge; that the soul alone is endowed with immortality, but I say that the flesh also is endowed with it.  What injury do we inflict upon you, O Greeks? Why do you hate those who follow the word of God, as if they were the vilest of mankind? It is not we who eat human flesh  -they among you who assert such a thing have been suborned as false witnesses; it is among you that Pelops is made a supper for the gods, although beloved by Poseidon, and Kronos devours his children, and Zeus swallows Metis.
(from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2)

Boastings and Quarrels of the Philosophers.

§6

6. Each one was desirous of increasing his estate; and forgetful of what believers had either done before in the times of the apostles, or always ought to do, they, with the insatiable ardour of covetousness, devoted themselves to the increase of their property. Among the priests there was no devotedness of religion; among the ministers there was no sound faith: in their works there was no mercy; in their manners there was no discipline. In men, their beards were defaced; in women, their complexion was dyed: the eyes were falsified from what God's hand had made them; their hair was stained with a falsehood. Crafty frauds were used to deceive the hearts of the simple, subtle meanings for circumventing the brethren. They united in the bond of marriage with unbelievers; they prostituted the members of Christ to the Gentiles. They would swear not only rashly, but even more, would swear falsely; would despise those set over them with haughty swelling, would speak evil of one another with envenomed tongue, would quarrel with one another with obstinate hatred. Not a few bishops who ought to furnish both exhortation and example to others, despising their divine charge, became agents in secular business, forsook their throne, deserted their people, wandered about over foreign provinces, hunted the markets for gainful merchandise, while brethren were starving in the Church. They sought to possess money in hoards, they seized estates by crafty deceits, they increased their gains by multiplying usuries. What do not such as we deserve to suffer for sins of this kind, when even already the divine rebuke has forewarned us, and said, "If they shall forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they shall profane my statutes, and shall not observe my precepts, I will visit their offences with a rod, and their sins with scourges? " 
(from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5)
 

[Anna]

Woohoo! Br. Jackson now has a goatee! Taken at the SKE graduation this past weekend.

[TrueTomHarley]

I dunno. He looks like a Bond villain about to order a nuclear strike.

[Pudgy]

A Bethelite documented how Bro. Jackson came to the decision to wear a beard. It was actually his GB Helper’s idea!

[Srecko Sostar]

6 hours ago, Anna said:

Woohoo! Br. Jackson now has a goatie! Taken at the SKE graduation this past weekend.

Indeed, now he looks like someone who is completely responsible and a serious politician, sorry businessman. lol

[BTK59]

Indeed, this topic is widely discussed on websites that are critical of the Watchtower organization. Surprisingly, even individuals like Magnum, who strongly oppose Jehovah's Witnesses, consider this particular claim to be fabricated. Nevertheless, it is worth contemplating if this website possesses any unique credibility compared to the others.

[TrueTomHarley]

24 minutes ago, BTK59 said:

Indeed, this topic is widely discussed on websites that are critical of the Watchtower organization. Surprisingly, even individuals like Magnum, who strongly oppose Jehovah's Witnesses, consider this particular claim to be fabricated.

I don’t really believe it simply on the basis of character. It is not something I can picture him doing.

[Pudgy]

1 hour ago, TrueTomHarley said:

I don’t really believe it simply on the basis of character. It is not something I can picture him doing.

You’re Right!

I enlarged the picture.

It’s clearly a FAKE!

[Pudgy]

Hopefully, the publishing of Governing Body Update 2023-8 on December 15, 2023 about beards will help heal some great injustices that have taken place over the last 80 plus years in the Congregations, and usher in an era of much needed and long overdue reforms. 

I am glad to have lived long enough to see it happen, where Liberty is proclaimed throughout the Earth.

In his second inaugural address, delivered on March 4, 1865, during the final stages of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln emphasized unity and reconciliation. He famously stated, "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds." The address reflected Lincoln's commitment to healing the nation and rebuilding after a divisive conflict.

May we do the same.

When I saw the picture of Bro. Jackson with the goatee, I did not think it was fake.  I thought it looked good, and set a good example that Update No. 8 greatly needed to overcome 80 plus years of, as was admitted, unscriptural policy.

[Anna]

2 hours ago, BTK59 said:

Indeed, this topic is widely discussed on websites that are critical of the Watchtower organization. Surprisingly, even individuals like Magnum, who strongly oppose Jehovah's Witnesses, consider this particular claim to be fabricated. Nevertheless, it is worth contemplating if this website possesses any unique credibility compared to the others.

I'm afraid you are wrong. This IS real. Well, not this picture. The picture I posted is real.

[Srecko Sostar]

Whether the picture is fake or not, I don't know.

But be that as it may, religious leaders are expected to set a proper example for their followers by their own actions. Have your beard, which you personally, as a member of GB, banned for decades. And now you still allow it. Have a beard.

lol