JW organization.

[Elijah John]

Jehovah's Witnesses are not allowed to:

-vote
-celebrate birthdays
-celebrate Christmas or Easter
-donate or receive blood transfusions.

And if any JW openly persists in doing these things[edit to add publicly], they will be shunned or disfellowshipped, [edit to add or otherwise admonished or disciplined.]

For debate,

1) what do any of these check-list prohibitions have to do with Christianity?

2) And are any of these prohibitions compatible with the idea of Christian freedom?

3) Are these prohibitions arbitrary or legalistic?

4) And could Jehvoah's Witness as an organization flourish without these particular prohibitions and still honor God?

Please address any or all of the above.

[showme]

[Replying to post 10 by Elijah John]

Being legalistic is detrimental. Jesus blasted the Pharisees for being legalistic.

Yeshua taught that you must be more righteous than the Pharisees (Mt 5:20) to enter into the kingdom of heaven. He also taught that you were to do what the Pharisees say, just not do what they do. (Mt 23:2) I think you are mixing the teaching of men with the teachings of Yeshua. Nothing new there.

[polonius]

JehovahsWitness wrote:

Are you suggesting that the above is universally accepted, proven fact?
https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/why ... rvive-1.54...

RESPONSE: Using the principles of historiography, the best evidence available, and common sense, the Exodus is logically untenable.

According to the Bible, the Hebrews were in Egypt for 400 years. At the time of the Exodus if the reported figure of 600,000 Israel soldiers is correct, the total Hebrew population, soldiers, men not soldiers, all their wives, and children, would establish a population of over 2 million Hebrews or about a quarter of the then Egyptian population of about 8 million.

Yet there is absolutely no archaeological evidence: no Egyptian records, nor Hebrew records, no Hebrew graves, as one archaeologist commented, not even a single broken piece of Hebrew pottery. The Egyptians kept pretty good records. A sudden loss of 25 % or more of their work force would have been noted.

The first written record we have is from an Egyptian pharaoh writing about 1200 BC, a warrior who drove invaders out of Canaan and mentioned some itinerant herdsmen who are deemed to have been Hebrews (or at least that's what he evidently thought).

Are you suggesting that there are no bible prophecies that could have been fulfilled after 7th century BCE?

.

RESPONSE: One can claim that anything could have happened. I deal with what we have historical reason for thinking did happen.

Do you feel inclined to answer the above?

RESPONSE: I now have.

And for your information, there is this:

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/dai ... rew-bible/

The Ashkar-Gilson Manuscript was purchased by Fuad Ashkar and Albert Gilson (hence the name Ashkar-Gilson) from an antiquities dealer in Beirut, Lebanon in 1972, and some years later, they donated it to Duke University in North Carolina. Based on carbon-14 dating and paleographic analysis, the Ashkar-Gilson Manuscript was dated to sometime between the seventh and eighth centuries C.E., right at the tail end of the so-called “silent era�— an almost 600-year period from the third through eighth centuries, or the time between the oldest Hebrew Bible fragments (the Dead Sea Scrolls) and the oldest complete Hebrew Bible authoritative Masoretic codices.

[brianbbs67]

Jehovah's Witnesses are not allowed to:

-vote
-celebrate birthdays
-celebrate Christmas or Easter
-donate or receive blood transfusions.

And if any JW openly persists in doing these things[edit to add publicly], they will be shunned or disfellowshipped, [edit to add or otherwise admonished or disciplined.]

For debate,

1) what do any of these check-list prohibitions have to do with Christianity?

2) And are any of these prohibitions compatible with the idea of Christian freedom?

3) Are these prohibitions arbitrary or legalistic?

4) And could Jehvoah's Witness as an organization flourish without these particular prohibitions and still honor God?

Please address any or all of the above.

I came late to this.

Vote. I would assume this because God is supposed to choose their leaders? But, they should remember who God is. He doesn't need thier vote and He expects us to chose wisely using the mind He gave us.

Celebrate birthdays. Muslims and other religions do this too. Some christians too. IDK why. I was told by a Garner Ted follower(wwcog) to celebrate the day I die, not my birth. I replied, "How can I do that I am dead?"

Celebrate Christmas or Easter. Well, they are right here. Neither is one of God's holy days. Infact they are deeply pagan , especially Easter. Neither are a religious holiday for my house.

Donate or receive blood. This comes from the OT command to "not drink the blood for it is life". They don't do communion either, I hear. As Christ said it was his blood and body. All of which is silly. Getting or giving blood is not ingesting it orally. And Christ spoke in obvious metaphor, as no cannabalism occured while they ate and drank.

[JehovahsWitness]

They don't do communion either, I hear.

What is "doing communion"? Are you referring to the Catholic ceremony of mass? If so, why would we (Jehovah's Witnesses) follow a Catholic ceremony if we are not Catholics?

[Tcg]

What is "doing communion"? Are you referring to the Catholic ceremony of mass?

This atheist can answer that question for you. No, communion is not the Catholic ceremony known as mass. It is known as the Lord's Supper and is practiced by Christians throughout the world.

If so, why would we (Jehovah's Witnesses) follow a Catholic ceremony if we are not Catholics?

It is not a Catholic ceremony.

The proper question is, why do you (Jehovah's Witnesses) not practice communion given that you are Christians.

[showme]

They don't do communion either, I hear.

What is "doing communion"? Are you referring to the Catholic ceremony of mass? If so, why would we (Jehovah's Witnesses) follow a Catholic ceremony if we are not Catholics?

You seem to be obfuscating. According to Wikipedia, the JWs are divided into the "anointed" and the "other sheep", and only the "anointed" celebrate the "last supper". The JW "anointed", according to the reference, are part of the 144,000 of Revelation, living and dead. The JWs apparently have a two level cast system, and ignore the teachings of Yeshua per Mt 23:8 & Mt 23:10. By accepting the Roman Catholic canon, initiated by Athanasius in 367 AD, per his Easter letter, they have put a stumbling block in their path, and suffer the consequences.

[JehovahsWitness]

What is "doing communion"? Are you referring to the Catholic ceremony of mass?

This atheist can answer that question for you. No, communion is not the Catholic ceremony known as mass. It is known as the Lord's Supper and is practiced by Christians throughout the world.

Thank you, well in that case yes, Jehovah's Witnesses do commemorate the Lords Supper (or the Lord's evening meal).


This year it was on 31st March


[youtube][/youtube]

[tam]

Peace to you OWH!

Just a couple of questions, if I may?

[Replying to post 364 by onewithhim]

nor can we argue that "Your Word," as Jesus put it, would not include the written Hebrew Scriptures.

Do you think that the Word of God has (or speaks in) error?


Do the Hebrew Scriptures (including or not including the NT) have errors?



Peace again to you,
your servant and a slave of Christ,
tammy

[showme]

What is "doing communion"? Are you referring to the Catholic ceremony of mass?

This atheist can answer that question for you. No, communion is not the Catholic ceremony known as mass. It is known as the Lord's Supper and is practiced by Christians throughout the world.

Thank you, well in that case yes, Jehovah's Witnesses do commemorate the Lords Supper (or the Lord's evening meal).


This year it was on 31st March


[youtube][/youtube]

And exactly how do they "commemorate" the "Lords Supper"? Do the 144,000 anointed actually eat the unleavened bread and drink the wine, and the "other sheep", other members, simply say Amen, or is Wikipedia wrong? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah%2 ... _salvation

[Tcg]

Thank you, well in that case yes, Jehovah's Witnesses do commemorate the Lords Supper (or the Lord's evening meal).

There is no need to thank me for pointing out what you undoubtedly already knew.

If you are thanking me for moving the discussion along after an obvious attempt to derail it, you can do so by addressing the questions that have been addressed to you.