237 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
237 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
AWAKEN ISSUE #2
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A JEHOVAH'S WITNESS PRESENTS THE WATCHTOWER BIBLE TRACT SOCIETY'S
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VIEWS OF ALL OTHER RELIGIONS.
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Mark Cotherman is a Jehovah's Witness. The following are his remarks
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about Christianity. They are consistent with the views of all
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followers of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania,
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better known as Jehovah's Witnesses. Many people have asked me why
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I go to the trouble that I do to present facts about the Jehovah's
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Witnesses. I do this because they visit people door to door. They come
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uninvited. They all come trained to counter your objections. They
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come well versed in the perceived faults of any faith, but their own.
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They profess love of neighbor but on the other hand they privately
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despise all who are not followers of the Watchtower. It is unlikely
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that those who received their unwanted visits know their true feelings
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about other faiths. What Mr. Cotherman calls Christendom applies to
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all other faiths (Muslim, Hindi, Buddist etc).
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The following are Mr. Cotherman's words :
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Do you not agree that Christians should be awake in the time of the end.
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There are less JWs on welfare than RC also less in prison, on drugs,
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smoke, kill other "christians" in war, like in Ireland, WWI, WWII, Korea,
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Vietnam, Iraq, Central America (RC killing RC). Like Jesus said you will
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recognize his people by the fruit they produce- LOVE. Why don't you
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question your own beliefs about that? Your churches support of Hitler
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during WWII, while he was killing 10s of thousands. Including JW's for
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their LOVING their neighbors as themselves by not supporting him or any
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other WORLDLY nation.
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Or how about unity. Paul told the Corinthians to speak in UNITY.
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Where is your churches unity? Killing in wars is about the only thing
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their united in doing. A rotten tree can't produce fine fruit, show me
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your religions fine fruit compared to it's bloodguilt?
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Look at the fruits JW's ARE PRODUCING and compare them to the
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inquisition, Bible burnings, Wars, the history of Christendom.
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The JW's are a fine tree, christendom is going to be chopped down
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and thrown in the fire for it's worthless fruit.
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JW's also show their LOVE for people by warning them of the
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destruction of this system. We don't get paid for our door to door
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preaching. Show me where any other group preaches God's Kingdom as the
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only hope for mankind and then shows it by their actions. Christendom
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says that the U.N. is mankinds hope for peace. J.W.'s ACTIVELY preach
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that Jehovah's kingdom under his son Jesus Christ will soon destroy all
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false religion, governments and set up His own over the earth to mans
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eternal benefit. Jesus said you would recognize his followers by the
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fruit they produced. Show me YOUR religions fruit.
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A Christian is a person who wouldn't do to someone else what the
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would do to Jesus himself and they do what Jesus did and commanded. At
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Matthew 28:19,20 Jesus told ALL of his follower to go and make disciples
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if all of his disciples made disciples then all would be disciple
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makers. Kinda like taking a penny and doubling it each day. ALL WOULD
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BE PREACHERS.
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Jehovah's Witnesses produce the fruitage of God's holy spirit.
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Whether you or the Griese's want to recognise that is something that
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you'll have to answer for. But, JW's will continue to follow Jehovah
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God and his Son teaching other spiritual minded people to benefit
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themselves by being TRUE christians.
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Witnesses know the facts. We offer the solution to your faith and the
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fruitages of it...War, crime, immorality, abortions, drugs, broken
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families, child abuse, fear of Armageddon, enslavement to false
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doctrines, the burning anger of Jehovah.
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One of my best friend is 86. He's been a Witness longer than
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you've been alive. Who doesn't know JW history? The book your reading
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or someone who was there. He have EVERY Watchtower ever printed and
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almost all the books IN HIS HOME. The FACT is the Watchtower Bible and
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Tract Society (Jehovah's Witnesses) produce the FINE FRUIT of TRUE
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CHRISTIANITY as specified by Jesus Christ himself. LOVE AMOUNG
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THEMSELVES. CHRISTENDOM can't take a step toward saying that. Her
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HISTORY prevents it. Inquisition, burning people as heretics, crusades,
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corruption of the papacy, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Central America and
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the list goes on.
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Why don't you attack for our lack of love for each other and our
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neighbors since we refuse to murder in war for any cause. We spend
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MILLIONS of hours each year trying to teach people the Bible so they
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will love their neighbors. Or, attack our lack of morals. The Bible
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teaches the highest moral cleanness if we didn't follow this that would
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be a sign of not following the Bible. We would have priests molesting
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children in schools (insurance companies will not longer insure the
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Catholic schools against molestation cases), premarital sexual
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relations, homosexuality would be acceptable, drug dealers, drug users,
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crime bosses, corrupt politians, extramarital affairs would be ok,
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ABORTIONS, wars, just stating facts about what to look for when the
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Bible isn't followed. Spread this to your family and friends to help
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them see the truth about "THE TRUTH."
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I'm not a pioneer, yet. September 1, 1992.
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Selling? Jehovah's Witnesses don't sell. Selling implies making a
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profit we distribute our literature to people WHO WILL READ IT and if
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they CHOOSE they can donate for it.
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Publishers have no (as you put it) quota of hours. Pioneers also put in
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increased time because THEY WANT TO. Pioneering is a voluntary action
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by individual Witnesses which they can stop anytime they feel they must.
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They don't get paid either.
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VB>Watchtower claims that governments and their agencies are agents of
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VB>Satan,
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The BIBLE says that the worldly governments are controled by Satan (1
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John 5: 19)
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VB>but the Watchtower has no problems with many of it's
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VB>Pioneers sitting on Welfare. I guess that for Watchtower Pioneers,
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VB>it is no problem for an agency of Satan (welfare department which
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VB>is a governmental agency so must also be Satan's agency) to be
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VB>supporting the Watchtower.
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Your BIBLICAL logic escapes you.<g>
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----------------- END ---------------------
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Please note that future issues of AWAKEN will touch on points
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discussed by Mr. Cotherman. The following is one of my replies
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to Mr. Cotherman's messages. I think that you will find the facts
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to be most interesting.
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The following are some replies to Mr. Cotherman:
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MC> I didn't see 1975 in any of your comments. Only six millinum
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MC> were ending in the MID-70's.
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First of all I would like to thank you for taking the time to reply.
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You have brought up a number of points in your 3 messages to me. I
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would like to reply to each of your points. Please bear with me,
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while I prepare appropriate replies. Please also note that there
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are many beliefs that you and I share in common. I did not present
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my present belief system to you or to anyone else as the belief
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system to follow. I am sorry if I had not made myself clear on
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that point.
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From your statement quoted above, it seems that you did not receive
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the initial messages which I sent to you regarding 1975. The update
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message was just an addition to those messages. In the update
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message, you are very correct when you state that it does not speak
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of 1975 specificaly. This update message was drawing on info from
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the prior 3 messages on that topic. I will resend those three
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messages. I also believe that since you did not receive those
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messages you must have missed the two which discuss Ecclesiastes
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9:5, which you had quoted from. I'll send that up to you aswell.
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From your quote you agree that the Watchtower did convey that
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6th millennium was to end in the mid seventies. The Watchtower also
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conveyed that the millennial reign of Christ would "have" to follow
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the sixth millenium. Before Christ's millennial reign, the end of
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this system of things must occur.
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I'll quote from the Watchtower book called THINGS IN WHICH IT IS
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IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD TO LIE, pg 360:
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"This trouble will result in destruction to that world empire of
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false religion, "Babylon the Great", and to the imperfect political
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governments of this earth".
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The Watchtower magazine of May, 01, 1968 on pg 272 states :
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"The immediate future is certain to be filled with climatic events,
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for this old system is nearing its complete end. Within a few years
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at most the final parts of Bible prophecy relative to these "last
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days" will undergo fulfillment, resulting in the liberation of
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surviving mankind into Christ's glorious 1,000 year reign. What
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difficult days, but, at the same time, what grand days are
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just ahead!"
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So we see that only the survivors of this great war will go into
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Christ's 1,000 year reign. Clearly, the Watchtower states that
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the end of this system of things must occur after the end of the
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sixth millenium and before the seventh millenium started. Since
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the sixth millenium ended in the mid-70s, therefore we are well
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into the seventh millenium.
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MC> Teachings? What teachings? Facts? What facts?
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MC> He have EVERY Watchtower ever printed and almost all the
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MC> books IN HIS HOME.
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You see I also have about 15 years worth of Watchtower publications
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on the shelf. I don't know if you lived thru 1975, but I did. I
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think that the Watchtower should be commended for the things that
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are Biblical, such their stand against the taking of life. I also
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feel that the Watchtower should be held accountable when it has made
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predictions, especially when said predictions have failed. Having
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a failed prediction has biblical consequences. Surely, if the
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Watchtower was GOD's prophet, as it had made claim to be, then the
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Watchtower should either not have made any predictions or the said
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predictions should have happened as predicted. The lesson of 1914
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was not learned.
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I'll now quote from the Watchtower book called MAN'S SALVATION
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OUT OF WORLD DISTRESS AT HAND!, see page 136:
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"Furthermore, the remnant of spiritual Israel had for decades,
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yes, since the year 1876, been looking forward to the ending of the
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Times of the Gentiles in the autumn of 1914. They were expressing
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God's Messianic kingdom to be fully established in the heavens
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by then and also for the remnant of spiritual Israel to be
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glorified with Jesus Christ in the heavenly kingdom at that time.
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All understanding of the Holy scriptures was slanted in that
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direction or adjusted to that idea. And when the year 1941 ended
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amid the flames of World War I and the remnant of spiritual Israel
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found themselves still here on earth, then they were inclined to
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think that they would be glorified in the year 1918, three and a
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half years after the end of the Gentile Times."
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NOTE: the book from which this quote was taken was printed in 1975.
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The fact is stated clearly by the Watchtower that these spiritual
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Israelites "SLANTED" their understanding of the Holy Scriptures or
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they "ADJUSTED" the Holy Scriptures to that idea. You and I both
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know that the title Spiritual Israelites is just another name for
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followers of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.
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Is that any way for GOD's only channel of communication and GOD's
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prophet to behave ? What about the honesty about which you spoke.
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This is clear evidence that the Watchtower SLANTED and ADJUSTED
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the Holy Scriptures to their own ideas. If they did it in the past,
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how are you to know that they have stopped doing such things?
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Since you also did not get my message discussing the proven
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archealogical fact that the temple in Jerusalem was "NOT" destroyed
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by the Babylonians in 607 BCE. It is archealogical fact that it was
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destroyed in 587 BCE. The Watchtower adds 2520 years to 607 BCE to
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get their 1914 CE date. Since the temple was destroyed in 587 BCE,
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then the 2520 years should have been added to 587 BCE resulting
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in 1934 CE. This is provable fact, not conjecture. The Watchtower
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continues to claim that the temple was destroyed in 607 BCE.
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Copyright (c) 1991 by Vince Banial, Toronto Ontario Canada.
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This material cannot be incorporated into any book without the
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empress and written permission of Vince Banial. This file may be
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freely uploaded to any BBS, as long as it remains unchanged.
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