Where Is God?

I was talking to a couple of Jehovah Witnesses and I asked them where God was. The older of the couple looked upwards and made a gesture with his hands, again upwards. He did this without thinking, and then tried to give me another answer.

Wondering where God is, first puzzled me when in my teens. At the time I thought I had the answer and wrote a poem about it - a poor poem I might add, but despite my embarrassment here it is.

The Search

I've looked everywhere to see your face,
To feel the glow of your grace.
I've searched all the countries far and wide,
Delved everywhere looking from each side.
I've mingled with the Church congregation
Of this and every other nation.

But still my soul it felt alone,
Until I found by chance your home.
I looked within and there I saw
The open entrance to your door.

For I am you and your are me.
Not only the blind cannot see.

Okay, I said it wasn't very good! But I think, by chance, I had hit the right note, even if a bit out of tune. What made me think about all of this was because of the Jehovah Witnesses reaction to my question, and also because shortly after the visit I opened a book by chance - as I often do - and came across the following,

"... the brain can only answer barren words, whereas the spirit answers with ravishing experience of internal illumination ... mystical concentration will receive increasing confirmation of the truth of man's divinity by his own experience. Books and Bibles will begin to lose their authority as he begins to find his own.

God is His own best interpreter. Find the god in your own heart and you will understand by direct intuition what all the great teachers, real mystics, true philosophers and inspired men have been trying to tell you by the tortuous method using words.

There is ... one way to discover who we really are. That way is to pass from the outer to the inner, from being busy with a multitude of external activities to being busy with a single internal activity of the mind.

St.Augustine soliloquises thus: 'I, Lord, went wandering like a strayed sheep, seeking Thee with anxious reasoning without, whilst thou wast within me ... I went round the streets and squares of the city of this world seeking thee; and I found thee not, because in vain I sought without for him, who was within my self.'"

~ The Secret Path by Dr Paul Brunton

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Is The End Of The World Nigh - The Answer!

A few days ago (Nov 5) we were ready to go for a walk but the door bell rang. I answered and on the doorstep were two Jehovah Witnesses. I don't normally bother with them but I heard Karin answer the phone to one of her friends - so knew she would be a while!

So we chatted away about the end of the world as we know it - Armageddon - and I asked them lots of questions about 1914, 1975, how the Bible has been altered and so on. I asked if they followed the Bible and if they did, did they keep to the Divers Laws as in Leviticus 20-23. This threw them a bit.

The two men were lovely, genuine people but I think they were glad to get away from me, as opposed to the reaction they normally get on the doorstep. We shook hands and agreed to disagree.

With thoughts of the end of the world in my head Karin and I went for our walk. On the way back I popped in to buy a newspaper. I still occasionally like reading news the old fashioned way accompanied by a mug of tea and a biscuit.

I read the front page doom and gloom and then opened up the paper by 'chance' at page 40 - the astrology predictions. I glanced at my sign and it read:

"The end of the world, is it nigh? Many insist it is, indeed, all through history there have been such people. You can trace them back to the beginning of the world. And I suppose, if they just keep sticking to that line, one of these millennia they are going to be proved right. But not now. Not this year; next year nor any century soon. That said, we all live in a private, personal world that must one day come to an end. But that's nothing to fear. Forget about endings today; think instead of beginnings."

I'm not saying for one minute that I believe these sort of newspaper or magazine daily predictions. But it was synchronicity. I'd been talking about the end of the world and received an answer which confirmed what I thought on the matter. It was by 'chance' that I had bothered to buy a newspaper.

I don't believe the Jehovah Witnesses version of events and published two posts a while back about this: The Failed Predictions Of The Jehovah Witness Part 1 and The Failed Predictions Of The Jehovah Witness Part 2.

I don't doubt the sincerity of many Jehovah Witnesses, it takes guts to knock on doors, but I see it as a man made religion.

Judge Joseph R. Rutherford, one of their past leaders, said that 'Millions now living will never die.' What he meant by this, at the time, was that people born in 1914 would be alive at the time of Armageddon when the world on Earth, as we know it, would end. Instead it would be turned into a paradise for - well, I guess, Jehovah's Witnesses.

In 1925 Rutherford announced that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the prophets were to return so he prepared a mansion ... and so on. I'll just add that Charles Taze Russell, the founder, had previously forecast 1914 as the date when the world would end.

Anyway, looks like we are all safe for a while yet: my newspaper astrologer couldn't possibly be wrong, could he!!

Travelling Our Individual Evolution Trail

It amuses me when I hear of people praying to a God to help them slay the enemy in any conflict. God wouldn't, no couldn't do this because, if we believe in a God, He is the creator of everyone - and we are therefore part of Him.

It's why sects like the Jehovah Witnesses have got it wrong with their views of Armageddon, God wouldn't/couldn't destroy a large section Himself.

Evolution is a spiritual system whereby we gradually realise that we are part of the whole i.e. God, or whatever term you would prefer to call a supreme power or source of life.

Jesus, was/is known as the Son of God. True, because we are all the 'children' of God following an evolution trail at whatever speed, and in any way we choose.

Thinking along these lines I happened to read the following in The Science Of Mind by Ernest Holmes:

"Evolution is the awakening of the soul to a recognition of its unity with the Whole. Material evolution is an effect, not a cause. This reverses the popular belief, declaring that evolution is the result of intelligence, rather than intelligence being the result of evolution."

Holmes goes on to say:

"The aim of evolution is to produce a man, who at the objective point of his own self-determination, may completely manifest the inner life of the spirit. Even the spirit does not seek to control us, it lets us alone to discover ourselves. The most precious thing a man possesses is his own individuality; indeed, this is the only thing he really has or is."

That about sums it up: we are individualised parts of God, therefore immortal. One day, no doubt, we will realise our possible potential.

Just rambling thoughts. Enjoy the evolution trail, most of us probably still have a very long way to travel!

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Daily Mail, Simon Cowell And Jehovah Witness Education Coincidence

I was reading an article in the Daily Mail titled The TV star who can't tell the time on his £70,000 watch and why being thick is now a great career move. This reminded me that the TV and pop mogul Simon Cowell also praised his own lack of qualifications. He said about his schooling: "I didn't work hard when I was at school. I left at 16 and I didn't have any qualifications. I was useless. The secret is to be useless at school and then get lucky."

So why should anyone bother with a higher education? Oh, and the Jehovah Witnesses agree! They gave the following advice to students in 2012:

"No doubt, school counsellors sincerely believe that it is in your best interests to pursue higher education and to plan for a secular career. Yet, their confidence lies in a social and financial system that has no lasting future." ~ Watchtower 2012 Jun 15 p.23

Yes we are all doomed anyway - though they have given several wrong predictions previously, of course.

The Jehovah Witnesses were giving similar advice to young people in 1969:

"If you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things. Why not? Because all the evidence in fulfillment of Bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years ...

Therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers. If you are in high school and thinking about a college education, it means at least four, perhaps even six or eight more years to graduate into a specialized career. But where will this system of things be by that time? It will be well on the way toward its finish, if not actually gone!"
~ Awake! 1969 May 22 p.15

But they did have a reason to say this, other than a forthcoming Armageddon, they wanted to ensure that young people had time to spread the word. In the same 1969 Awake! they wrote:

"... This allows them [young people] to spend much more of their time helping interested persons to learn God's requirements for life ...

True those who do not understand where we are in the stream of time from God's viewpoint will call this impractical. But which is really impractical: preparing yourself for a position in this world that will soon pass away? or working toward surviving the systems end and enjoying eternal life in God's righteous new order?"

It seems a bit of a coincidence that we have the Daily Mail, Simon Cowell and the Jehovah Witnesses on a similar train of thought about education - though the title of the Daily Mail article is somewhat tongue in cheek.

There has, however, been much discussed in the press about the dumbing down of education in the UK and the USA generally - is this part of some conspiracy theory perhaps?

Ruth Lea, policy director at the United Kingdom's Institute of Directors has stated: "This is farcical – we have now got endemic grade inflation which is making it harder and harder for employers to discriminate between able and less well able students, and the universities are having the same problem. We are deeply pessimistic about this dumbing down, A-levels are no longer the gold standard they were 20 years ago."

Other 67 Not Out Posts:
The Failed Predictions Of The Jehovah Witness - Part 2
The Failed Predictions Of The Jehovah Witness - Part 1
When Will The End Of The Earth Come?

When Will The End Of The Earth Come?

I didn't intend to return to the subject of the Jehovah Witnesses, following my post The Failed Predictions Of The Jehovah Witness, but a few things have been brought to my attention so, in fairness, here they are.

Firstly, in my post, I discussed how the Jehovah Witnesses have given dates in the past for the end of the world as we know it: 1914, within the lifetime of people born in 1914 and 1975.

Someone sent me a cutting from a Watchtower magazine dated August 1, 2010. This is what it says:

When Will the End Come?: Jehovah God has set an 'appointed time' to bring an end to wickedness and to install his kingdom government (Mark 13:33), But the Bible clearly indicates that we cannot calculate a specific date for the end.

Jesus said, "Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father" (Matthew 24:36). Jesus did, however, foretell what conditions on earth would be like just before God brings the end. The end in imminent when all the following events are on a global scale ...

I won't list these signs but for those interested the following Bible passages are quoted: Mark 13:8 and 2 Timothy 3:1-5.

The above just confuses me as to why dates were previously given. The passage quoted shows quite clearly, under their own admission, that the date cannot be foretold.

The second point is about what makes some of us evil. It seems that the problem is Satan the Devil. To quote again from the JW's literature:

What is the root cause of this tainted environment? The Bible answers: "The whole world is in the power of the evil one" (1 John 5:19). This "evil one", Satan the Devil, is exposed in the Scriptures as a liar and a manslayer (John 8:44). He propagates evil through the influence of his world."

Okay, and the third point mentioned to me is that, according to the Jehovah's Witnesses, Jesus is actually the Archangel Michael.

To quote the JW's literature again:

"It is important to note that the human birth of Jesus was not the beginning of his life. Before Jesus was born, Mary was visited by an angel who told her that she would conceive a child by means of the holy spirit and that she should name the child Jesus. During his ministry, Jesus often spoke of his pre-human existence (John 3:13; 8:23,58)."

I'll resist making a comment on this and will leave readers to draw their own conclusions. No, I didn't mention reincarnation.

Further Reading:
The Failed Predictions Of The Jehovah Witness - Part 1
The Failed Predictions Of The Jehovah Witness - Part 2

The Failed Predictions Of The Jehovah Witness - 2

This post follows on from The Failed Predictions Of The Jehovah Witness Part 1 we continue with more on the Jehovah's Witness religion.

Following the death of Charles Taze Russell (photo above), the founder, he was succeeded by Judge Joseph R. Rutherford - though he wasn't actually a judge.

Rutherford kept to the 'world will end' message and came up with the slogan 'Millions now living will never die.' What he meant by this was that people born in 1914 would be alive at the time of Armageddon when the world on Earth, as we know it, would end. Instead it would be turned into a paradise for - well, I guess, Jehovah's Witnesses.

In 1925 Rutherford announced that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the prophets were to return so he prepared a mansion, Beth Sarim in San Diego, where they could live. Once ready he moved in himself (he also died there in 1942) and purchased a car so he could drive Abraham etc. about once they were resurrected.

Again this was yet another failed prophesy and the Watch Tower organisation brushed this under the carpet by selling the mansion.

Rutherford also talked about Pleides in the 1928 book Reconciliation. On page 14 he said:

"The constellation of the seven stars forming the Pleides appears to be the crowning center around which the known systems of the planets revolve even as our sun's planets obey the sun and travel in their respective orbits. It has been suggested, and with much weight, that one of the stars of that group is the dwelling-place of Jehovah and the place of the highest heavens; that it is the place to which the inspired writer referred when he said: 'Hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven'; and that it is the place to which Job referred when under inspiration he wrote: 'Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?' (Job 38:31)

When Joseph R. Rutherford died his successor was Nathan Homer Knorr (1905-1977) and he in turn was replaced by Frederick Franz.

There was another problem with their predictions. For several years their magazines were saying that Armageddon would now occur in 1975. When this didn't materialise Franz had some explaining to do and their membership numbers dwindled.

In 1993 Milton Henschel took over from Franz. They had yet another problem as their prediction, that the generation born in 1914 would witness Armageddon, had almost died out - but again no Armageddon. Once more they changed track and in 1995 decided it better to start saying that the great event would happen 'soon' - but what is the definition of soon?

Despite getting so much wrong with their predictions the Jehovah's Witnesses door knocking is proving effective and numbers are growing once more. This all shows how there is a need for some form of spirituality, which the main churches aren't providing. Plus there is the 2012 factor.

I've a certain admiration for people who are prepared to follow their faith and live by a standard of rules, even if enforced ones - providing they have given it proper thought.

Jehovah's Witnesses can be 'disfellowshipped', similar to excommunication, for all sorts of reasons such as: attending a Catholic or Protestant church or receiving a blood transfusion.

They refuse to recognise the legitimacy of any governmental authority, since they believe all earthly authority is of Satan. They will not serve in the military, salute the flag, say the Pledge of Allegiance, vote, run for office, or serve as officials for labour unions. There are given standards for their sex lives, even if married.

It does seem that organised religions are often about control and manipulation. Pure speculation, of course, but just imagine if there was really a connection between the Jehovah Witness organisation and the Illuminati or even the Freemasons higher echelons.

The motto for the cross and crown symbol, shown on Charles Taze Russell's memorial and on early Watch Tower magazines is 'In Hoc Signo Vinces' - 'In this sign you will conquer.' As I say, pure speculation. Might be a story for Dan Brown there!

See also The Failed Predictions Of The Jehovah Witness Part 1

The Failed Predictions Of The Jehovah Witness - 1

I know someone who is a Jehovah Witness and she often sends people to see us. If I'm in the mood, and have time, I'll happily chat to them. I question them about predictions their organisation has made but they don't seem to have any answers, beyond what they have been taught. So I thought I'd look for some of the answers myself.

The guy who many call their founder is Charles Taze Russell. He was born in 1852 and worked in Pittsburgh. He seemed to have got involved with Adventism meetings and in particular with William Miller.

Miller predicted that the world would end in 1843 - it didn't, as you probably realise, but this must have had an impact on Russell as he went on to do a bit of doom and gloom forecasting himself. He thought Miller's calculations were wrong so had a go himself - by now he was calling himself Pastor Russell. 1914 was stated as the new date when the world would end.

Again the world didn't end so he adjusted his thinking and now claimed that Jesus had returned to Earth but, er, the problem was he was invisible.

The official Jehovah's Witness Watch Tower website does actually accept that they got 1914 wrong: "Not all that was expected to happen in 1914 did happen, but it did mark the end of the Gentile Times and was a year of special significance. Many historians and commentators agree that 1914 was a turning point in human history.

Pastor Russell died in 1916 and was succeeded by Judge Joseph R. Rutherford - though he wasn't actually a real judge.

First though, they had to bury Charles Taze Russell. I'd better mention this as his grave and nearby pyramid shaped memorial at Rosemont has caused some discussion, because of it's alleged links to the Freemasons. There are also suggestions that Russell had links with the Masons. Russell denied this (while still alive).

In 1913, during a speaking tour he is quoted as saying, "Although I have never been a Mason something I do seems to be the same as Masons do, I don't know what it is; but they often give me all kinds of grips and I give them back, then I tell them I don't know anything about it except just a few grips that have come to me naturally".

The only evidence, of sorts, of Russell being a Mason is Lady Queenborough's book Occult Theocracy. On page 737 it records C.T. Russell's Masonic membership.

Why do some insist he had ties with the Freemasons? It's partly down to his memorial, which is a short distance from his grave - see photo at the top of this post which shows the pyramid memorial with his grave in the background.

It's the symbol of the cross and crown at the top of the pyramid that causes so much debate. This has links to Freemasonry, the Illuminati and the likes of the Knights Templar (image above right shows a Knights Templar seal)

But there's more. The early Watchtower magazines also included this cross and crown symbol, as can be seen below.


To be fair though, the cross and crown symbol has also been used within some forms of Christianity.

Before I move on to further details on the Jehovah's Witnesses a little more about Charles Taze Russell.

On March 13, 1879, Russell married Maria Frances Ackley but they separated in 1897. Maria filed for divorce in June 1903 on grounds of mental cruelty.

During the divorce proceedings Mrs. Russell's attorney alleged that in 1894 Mr. Russell had engaged in 'improper intimacy' with Rose Ball a 25-year old woman. Mrs. Russell also alleged that Rose had told her that Charles Russell was an 'amorous jellyfish floating around' to different women until someone responded to his advances. The newspapers at the time mentioned the amorous jellyfish quote - as they probably would today.

Russell divorced, which is probably wrong according to the Bible, and there were a couple of other often mentioned disputes. As I understand it, Jehovah's Witnesses can divorce as long as there is no third party involved.

He is known to have promoted a 'Miracle Wheat' and sold this for $60 per bushel. It was expensive but Russell claimed it would grow five times quicker than your bog standard wheat. Problem was this was a bit of a porky pie. It was no better than ordinary wheat so he was sued.

He was also involved with a Millennial Bean to cure cancer. Unfortunately another fake.

There we have the beginnings of this religion. The Jehovah's Witness story is continued on The Failed Predictions Of The Jehovah Witness Part 2, starting with Joseph R. Rutherford's reign.