the bible,truth,God's kingdom,Jehovah God,New World,Jehovah's Witnesses,God's church,Christianity,apologetics,spirituality.
Monday, 29 January 2024
(As tends to be the case) The slippery slope gets the last laugh.
Sunday, 28 January 2024
There is a time to punish: The Watchtower Society's Commentary
When Is There a Basis for Taking Offense?
Saturday, 27 January 2024
Yet more re:the God hypothesis.
Andrew Klavan and Stephen Meyer Talk God and Science
Friday, 26 January 2024
The rise of the machines is a thing?
Artificial General Intelligence: An Idol for Destruction
Thursday, 25 January 2024
On the ingenious design of trees.
Paper Digest: Are Trees Well Designed?
On the role of the "Logos/prototokos" in the originating of the creation.
John Ch.1:3NIV"Through(dia) him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made."
Colossians Ch.1:15,16KJV"Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16For by (en)him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by(dia) him, and for him: "
Proverbs Ch.8:22NAB"The LORD begot me, the first-born of his ways, the forerunner of his prodigies of long ago;"
Proverbs Ch.8:30NAB"Then was I beside him as his craftsman, and I was his delight day by day, Playing before him all the while,"
The Holy scriptures NEVER use prepositions like "en" and "dia" in connection with JEHOVAH'S Role in the originating of the creation. Instead we read statements like this .
Acts Ch.4:24NIV"When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them."
Genesis Ch.14:19NIV"and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth."
Revelation Ch.10:6NIV"And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, “There will be no more delay!"
Revelation Ch.4:11NIV"Thou art worthy, O LORD, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."
Note nary an "en" or a "dia" in sight,note also that it is ONLY of the God and Father of Jesus the Lord JEHOVAH are such statements EVER Made. That is because the prepositions "en" and " dia" indicate instrumentality or an intermediary role. Thus the one referred to by these prepositions would not be the source of the authority or resources that made the creation possible but merely the instrument of this source.
E.g Matthew Ch.7:13NIV"“Enter through(dia) the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through(dia) it."
it is not the gate that is doing the entering it is instrument by which the entering is accomplished.
Hebrews Ch.1:1NIV"In the past God spoke to our ancestors through(en) the prophets at many times and in various ways, "
Thus it was JEHOVAH who was revealing his will but the prophets were his instruments.
Likewise at John Ch.1:3 and colossians 1:16 it is the God and Father of the Logos/Prototokos who is accomplishing the originating of his creation. His Logos/prototokos is his instrument.
Wednesday, 24 January 2024
Why Origin of Life research struggles to be taken seriously.
Sunlight on the Puzzle of Prebiotic RNA?
Re:Norway's war on religious liberty.
Diplomat magazine
By Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers
HRWF (08.01.2024) – From 8 to 19 January 2024, the District Court of Oslo will examine the de-registration case of Jehovah’s Witnesses on the grounds of their exclusion policy of members, also named disfellowshipping.
The case follows the government’s denial of the Witnesses’ application for state grants in 2021, which they had received for 30 years. These subsidies are not “gifts” but allocations provided for by the Norwegian Constitution and laws to respect the principle of equality between religious communities, whatever their size, since the Church of Norway (Lutheran) is supported by taxpayers’ money.
A timeline in short
On 27 January 2022, the County Governor (Statsforvalteren) for Oslo and Viken, Ms. Valgerd Svarstad-Haugland, issued an administrative decision denying the state subsidy for the year 2021 to Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The starting point of the legal saga was a report addressed to the Ministry of Children and Family Affairs by Prof. Furuli, a professor emeritus of Semitic languages at the University of Oslo and a disfellowshipped Jehovah’s Witness himself, in connection with the exclusion and expulsion policy of members. The question was raised about how the report should be assessed with regard to the registration of and state subsidies to the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Noteworthy is that Prof. Furuli supported a first decision in August 2021 by a Norwegian court “annulling” an ecclesiastical decision where the Jehovah’s Witnesses disfellowshipped one of their female members, Gry Helen NygÃ¥rd. However, this decision was reversed on 9 July 2021 by the Borgarting Court of Appeal and on 3 May 2022 by the Supreme Court of Norway with a unanimous decision (5-0). NygÃ¥rd then took her case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which rejected her complaint without giving any further reason, which is common when the ECHR regards complaints as clearly unfounded.
NygÃ¥rd has also taken her case to a different court, the media, and has found a sympathetic ear from people hostile to Jehovah’s Witnesses.
On 25 October 2022, the County Governor of Oslo and Viken, Ms. Valgerd Svarstad-Haugland, demanded via letter that Jehovah’s Witnesses change their religious beliefs and practices, otherwise they would lose their registration. In her letter, she did not refer to any court decisions or complaints to the police, child welfare authorities, or other relevant authorities. The Witnesses proposed to meet her but she declined their request.
On 22 December 2022, the County Governor revoked their registration as a religious community.
On 30 December 2022, Oslo District Court granted Jehovah’s Witnesses a temporary injunction suspending the County Governor’s decision and pending litigation.
On 26 April 2023, the District Court lifted the injunction in response to a request by the Ministry of Children and Families. The decision was appealed.
On 30 June 2023, the Borgarting Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal on technical grounds.
What are and can be the consequences of the de-registration?
News reports about the State revoking the Witnesses’ registration stigmatize the nearly 12,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses of Norway.
The negative media coverage has led to considerable increase in verbal abuse, physical assaults, as well as vandalism of places of worship (e.g., offensive graffiti, arson).
The community is losing the State’s recognition of their religious marriages as well as some $1.6 million (USD) in government grants.
The State intrusion into the beliefs and practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses that is being examined in Norway can have a very negative impact on other religious communities in Norway and other countries.
The ruling against that religious community “can have consequences for a whole range of other faiths,” stated Dag Øistein Endsjø, professor of Religious studies at the University of Oslo, in an interview published in the newspaper VÃ¥rt Land .
In an editorial, Vebjørn Selbekk (editor-in-chief of the respected Norwegian Christian newspaper, Dagen) expressed fear that the County Governor may go on and sanction other religious groups whose beliefs and practices she happens to disagree with. He regarded the decision as anti-democratic, and expressed the hope that the Jehovah’s Witnesses will “emerge victorious from the upcoming court process.” Noteworthy is that Mr. Selbekk is not a Jehovah’s Witness and is critical of their theology.
Monsignor Torbjørn Olsen, the Secretary of the Catholic Norwegian Bishops’ Conference, wrote in a Norwegian media: “If the denial of registration stands, it may soon only be a matter of time before a number of other communities with ‘incorrect’ positions will be deregistered.”
Last but not least, a collateral damage is also the reaction of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs whose spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, decried the hypocrisy of Norway which deregistered Jehovah’s Witnesses, while criticizing Moscow at international forums for banning that same religious community. She also added that Russia’s nationwide ban is hereby legitimized by the decision in Norway.
Psalms chapter 133 New World Translation study edition
1.Look! How good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell together in unity!+
2 It is like fine oil poured on the head+
That runs down the beard,
Aaron’s beard,+
And runs down onto the collar of his garments.
3 It is like the dew of Herʹmon+
That descends on the mountains of Zion.+
That is where JEHOVAH decreed his blessing
—Life everlasting
Quantum neurology?
Brain as a Quantum System: Theory Gets New Traction
Tuesday, 23 January 2024
On the bible's historical accuracy re: Media and Persia.
A Book You Can Trust—Part 4
Medo-Persia in Bible History
Furthermore, some two centuries before Babylon’s defeat, the prophet Isaiah foretold both the name of the conquering Persian king—who was not yet born—and his strategy for taking Babylon. Isaiah wrote: “This is what Jehovah has said to his anointed one, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of, to subdue before him nations, . . . to open before him the two-leaved doors, so that even the gates will not be shut.” (Isaiah 45:1) Both Isaiah and Jeremiah foretold that Babylon’s “rivers,” or canals fed by the Euphrates River, which served as a protective moat, would be dried up. (Isaiah 44:27; Jeremiah 50:38) The Greek historians Herodotus and Xenophon confirm the Bible’s prophetic accuracy, including the fact that the Babylonians were reveling on the very night that Cyrus took the city. (Isaiah 21:5, 9; Daniel 5:1-4, 30) Having diverted the Euphrates River, Cyrus’ armies entered the city through open gates along the river, encountering little resistance. In one night mighty Babylon fell!
The precise fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy adds to the abundant evidence confirming Jesus’ identity. This evidence also confirms our hope for the future. Jesus, as King of God’s heavenly Kingdom, will bring an end to harsh human rule. Thereafter, he will fulfill many more Bible prophecies, including those pointing forward to a resurrection of the dead to endless life in Paradise on earth.—Daniel 12:2; John 5:28, 29; Revelation 21:3-5.