So far in this series, I have discussed the Jehovah’s Witness belief system focusing on problems in translation of their “bible”, flawed interpretation of core beliefs , and flawed interpretation of religious practices . Now I want to take a look at one of the essential doctrines of Christianity, and that is regarding the God-nature of Jesus Christ. Before I get too deep into what I am going to present as evidence about who Jesus was, I want to give some props to another blogger who has done... Read Full Story
As I wrap up this series about the Jehovah’s Witness faith, I would like to take the opportunity to address one of the most important points that I can about interacting with people in this faith-system. Much has been said about their bible (the New World Translation ), their publications ( The Watchtower ), and many of their beliefs and religious practices. And often when people share their views on the Jehovah’s Witnesses, they often share ways to rebut their views, and try to convince... Read Full Story
So there are colleagues who spend hours doing a screen-by-screen critique of Edison Chen 's home movies and then there are colleagues who, despite declaring themselves old skool, cannot resist folding in references to Nigella Lawson and her ample posterior into every (baking) conversation: "Hey, what chocolate do you think is best for this cake?" "Well, Nigella would say 'best dark chocolate' but look at her now ." "Do you think I should up the proportion of butter?" "Well, Nigella always... Read Full Story
She beckoned through the ceiling-high windows, flaunting her freedom, vaulting through luminous leaves, sparkling off the azure sea (the really real simulacra of cheesy literary adjectives). But we were inside the board room, haunted by the spectre of inter-governmental meetings, gathered round the enormous whiteboard, adding structure upon structure to an already complicated deal. Then at last it was over. And I ran like a beggar's dog into the last light of the day. Finally, the fresh... Read Full Story
The topic of submission is such a difficult topic to discuss these days. So often the idea of submission is taken as a sign of weakness. But Biblically, it is a source of strength. God did not call us to be rogue individuals, He called us to be a part of a body which has a Head. If we are to ever fulfill our place in life, then we should all know our role, and submit ourselves to the various authorities over us. You may also be thinking… “but not to ungodly authority!” If that’s what you... Read Full Story
In my last post on the Tabernacle , I talked about the actual Tabernacle proper. Today I will talk about some of the details concerning the Tabernacle entrance and their meanings. The Gate - The gate was about 30 feet wide. This was the only entrance into the Tabernacle. The gate was made of "finely twisted line"(see below) with purple, scarlet and blue. The location of the gate is also significant. When the Tabernacle was taken apart and reassembled, the gate was always placed to the east... Read Full Story
I wake up nearly every Sunday morning and prepare myself for church by shaving, showering, and picking out nice-enough clothing that I won’t offend anyone else who might be there judging me for what I wear. Then after nourishing myself with a breakfast bar that I eat while getting my son ready, we all rush out the door so that we can get to church in time so that we can get a good seat. We rush in just as the service starts, and we move into the “worship” time which is full of songs that... Read Full Story
I have been struggling with this post for weeks. I really want to share what I have learned about the Tabernacle but I don't want to sound "preachy". So I have been thinking about how to word this. I don't want it to be a really long post, but I do want to get the main idea in here. The purpose of the Tabernacle was for God to have a dwelling place with the Israelites. In the N.T., Christ dwelt (tabernacled) with us. God gave very specific instructions for the Tabernacle. How it was to be... Read Full Story
In this series, I have already pointed out some flawed interpretation that leads to some of the core beliefs of the Jehovah’s Witness faith. I have also discussed how the quality of translation of the “Scriptures” used also gives reason to doubt the fundamental doctrines of this belief system. This time I’d like to take another look at some flawed interpretation, but this time it will focus on some of the practices as opposed to the core beliefs. The practice that I would like to look at is... Read Full Story
In my first article about the shaky foundation of the Jehovah’s Witness belief system focused on the credibility, or lack thereof, of their Bible (the New World Translation ). Basically we’ve identified how other modern translations used techniques and scholars in such a way that anyone using these versions of the Bible can have confidence that they are reading a reasonably accurate, and more importantly unbiased translation of the original text. Neither of these (accuracy or bias) can be... Read Full Story
