Your personal views about the... "

Originally posted by Suzianne
And exactly how is my comment about your "powers of mind-reading" a deflection?

I replied to your comment to him. How was I "deflecting"? What was I "deflecting"?

You were deflecting from having had it pointed out to you that you were simply trying to say something caustic to divegeester regardless of whether it was true or not.

Originally posted by divegeester
How many spaces are left in the 144,000?

That's an excellent question.
I expect that the only one(s) who know are Jehovah for sure and very possibly Jesus.
Probably most were selected in the first century along with those who lived through the following centuries.
This would still leave room for a number to be selected in our modern day.

Originally posted by roigam
That's an excellent question.
I expect that the only one(s) who know are Jehovah for sure and very possibly Jesus.
Probably most were selected in the first century along with those who lived through the following centuries.
This would still leave room for a number to be selected in our modern day.

Perhaps no one has been selected as yet.

What are the criteria for selection and how do those criteria differ from the criteria to be a (if you like) standard JW who will live of earth as not part of the 144,000?

Originally posted by divegeester
Perhaps no one has been selected as yet.

What are the criteria for selection and how do those criteria differ from the criteria to be a (if you like) standard JW who will live of earth as not part of the 144,000?

The criteria are the same for all.
Those who are selected for a work assignment in heaven
and those with an Earthly hope.
All will be working to fulfill Jehovah God's original purpose for the Earth and mankind.
He created perfect humans who would make the entire Earth a Paradise and would live on it forever.

(Deuteronomy 32:4) The Rock, perfect is his activity

(Genesis 1:28) Further, God blessed them, and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many, fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving on the earth.”

(John 3:16) “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have............... everlasting life.

btw Jesus foretold that there would be a Paradise also:
(Luke 23:43) And he said to him: “Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in Paradise.”

Originally posted by roigam
The criteria are the same for all.
Those who are selected for a work assignment in heaven
and those with an Earthly hope.
All will be working to fulfill Jehovah God's original purpose for the Earth and mankind.
He created perfect humans who would make the entire Earth a Paradise and would live on it forever.

(Deuteronomy 32:4) The Rock, perfect is his ...[text shortened]... so:
(Luke 23:43) And he said to him: “Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in Paradise.”

How will the 144,000 be selected then? Why is this number limited?

Your "btw" comment/scripture is the most relevant one you posted as "paradise" is not capitalised in the Bible because Jesus uses the term as an adjective describing heaven, not a noun describing a separate place.

Originally posted by divegeester
Perhaps no one has been selected as yet.

What are the criteria for selection and how do those criteria differ from the criteria to be a (if you like) standard JW who will live of earth as not part of the 144,000?

Yes, I do not believe any have been selected yet. We are not yet in the Great Tribulation.

They are ethnic Jews who come to Christ during the Great Tribulation.

I can't say that none of them will be JWs, but the number who are would have to be almost vanishingly small, just because of the JW dogma itself.

Originally posted by roigam
That's an excellent question.
I expect that the only one(s) who know are Jehovah for sure and very possibly Jesus.
Probably most were selected in the first century along with those who lived through the following centuries.
This would still leave room for a number to be selected in our modern day.

Is this official JW doctrine?

Back when the total number of JWs was still less than 144,000, they claimed ALL the JWs would be of the 144,000. Then once the total number of JWs passed 144,000, they claimed that only the most favored JWs would be of the 144,000.

Originally posted by Suzianne
Yes, I do not believe any have been selected yet. We are not yet in the Great Tribulation.

They are ethnic Jews who come to Christ during the Great Tribulation.

I can't say that none of them will be JWs, but the number who are would have to be almost vanishingly small, just because of the JW dogma itself.

The total number of 144,000 are chosen and sealed before the Great Tribulation occurs.

(Revelation 7:1-4) After this I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding tight the four winds of the earth, so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. 2 And I saw another angel ascending from the sunrise, having a seal of the living God; and he called with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying: “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until after we have sealed the slaves of our God in their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000, sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel:

Originally posted by Suzianne
Is this official JW doctrine?

Back when the total number of JWs was still less than 144,000, they claimed ALL the JWs would be of the 144,000. Then once the total number of JWs passed 144,000, they claimed that only the most favored JWs would be of the 144,000.

These are what the Bible teach.

Originally posted by roigam
These are what the Bible teach.

It's what YOUR Bible teaches.

There's a reason why your church paid to have their own Bible written, that just "magically" substantiates church dogma. The problem is that most churches base their dogma on the Word of God. JWs based their commissioned "Bible" on the their dogma that was already in place. A classic case of "the cart before the horse".

Originally posted by divegeester
How will the 144,000 be selected then? Why is this number limited?

Your "btw" comment/scripture is the most relevant one you posted as "paradise" is not capitalised in the Bible because Jesus uses the term as an adjective describing heaven, not a noun describing a separate place.

The 144.000 are seleted by Jehovah and drawn to Jesus. The number is in harmony with Rev 7:4-8.

Paradise was originally referring to the Garden of Eden
(Genesis 2:8) Further, Jehovah God planted a garden in Eʹden, toward the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
The original words used were Gr. paradesion, Lat. paradisum.

Jesus was saying paradise and telling the evildoer on the stake next to him that because he had put faith in Jesus he would be in the Paradise worldwide that would be established in the future . That would be through a resurrection back to life on Earth.

(Acts 24:15) And I have hope toward God, which hope these men also look forward to, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.

Originally posted by roigam
[b]The 144.000 are seleted by Jehovah and drawn to Jesus. The number is in harmony with Rev 7:4

You are just waffling. I asked how are the 144,000 selected based on your response that there is not difference between one of the 144k and a standard jw. Obviously you don't know.

Originally posted by roigam
Paradise was originally referring to the Garden of Eden
(Genesis 2:8) Further, Jehovah God planted a garden in Eʹden, toward the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
The original words used were Gr. paradesion, Lat. paradisum.

Jesus was saying paradise and telling the evildoer on the stake next to him that because he had put faith in Jesus ...[text shortened]... forward to, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.

Paradise was originally referring to the Garden of Eden
(Genesis 2:8) Further, Jehovah God planted a garden in Eʹden, toward the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
The original words used were Gr. paradesion, Lat. paradisum.

I can believe that the garden of Eden was described as a "paradise" although I don't see any scripture for it. Still an "adjective" though so not really relevant.

Jesus was saying paradise and telling the evildoer on the stake next to him that because he had put faith in Jesus he would be in the Paradise worldwide that would be established in the future . That would be through a resurrection back to life on Earth.

No he wasn't, you are making that up. Correction, you are regurgitating what you jw leaders have made up. It does not say that at all anywhere in the Bible. You cannot use one jw based (erroneous) assumption to support another when contending over scripture.

(Acts 24:15) And I have hope toward God, which hope these men also look forward to, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.

I have no idea why you posted this last piece as it is totally irrelevant to what we are discussing.

Where I am on this. All that is supported in scripture are these points:
There is death then judgement
Heaven and earth will pass away - rolled up like a blanket.
...gone, kaput.
There will be a new heaven and a new earth - a completely new creation, not a re-hash of the old one.
Those who down the millennia have served God, obeyed God, were chosen by God or redeemed by God will be there in one way or another.
No one can imagine what this place will be like (says so in scripture)
So drawing pictures of it on the front of the WatchTower magazine is erroneous and pointless.

Originally posted by Suzianne
It's what YOUR Bible teaches.

There's a reason why your church paid to have their own Bible written, that just "magically" substantiates church dogma. The problem is that most churches base their dogma on the Word of God. JWs based their commissioned "Bible" on the their dogma that was already in place. A classic case of "the cart before the horse".

Try reading that scripture in your Bible.

The Bible we use most is only one of a number of modern translations based on the latest advances in Bible translation based on the latest ancient Bible scrolls found by the archeologists.
btw No one was paid to translate the New World Translation of the Bible.
It was a voluntary work done by scholars of the Bible.

We will use all Bibles that meet the criterion of being a Bible but we are not stuck on Bibles that are out of date, although these are a good jumping off point if you are just beginning to study the Bible seriously.

Originally posted by divegeester
You post a lot about death, why?

Because our physical death is inevitable.