The Watchtower's Scholars

by Honesty 14 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • Honesty
    Honesty

    We all have been exposed to the Watchtower scholars here on JWD.

    In reality, these people are nothing more than JW apologists who insist the twisted doctrines spewed out of the mouth of the false prophets in Brooklyn, New York are divinely inspired.

    However, the apologists are corrrect in one respect.

    Many of the scholars quoted and often misquoted by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society in its publications have been divinely inspired. For instance, W.E. Vine, Will Durant, John McClintock and Dr. James Strong to name a few were theologians. That's right, they were members of the very groups that are condemned in the pages of the WATCHTOWER as being pawns of Satan.

    W.E. Vine, M.A., was a classical scholar, skilled expositor, and a trustworthy theologian. Recognized internationally for his outstanding Greek scholarship, his Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, first published in 1939, represents the fruit of his lifetime labors and is an unsurpassed classic in its field. W.E. Vine was a Missionary Statesman. It was in December, 1909, that Mr. Vine was asked by W. H. Bennet and R. E. Sparks of Echoes of Services, to join in the work at Bath. Echoes of Service is a monthly record of missionary efforts by laborers from the British Isles. The editors not only corresponded with hundreds of missionaries but also channeled funds from their home congregations. Vine handled as many as sixty to seventy letters a day, many of them he personally answered, or dictated to his secretary. It was one of his remarkable characteristics that from early rising in the morning until late retirement at night he would fill every moment of his day with varied activities. During this time, he became a counselor and confidant to scores of workers who faced grave perplexities. Vine continued this work until his homecall in 1949. Mr. Vine was constantly preaching the Gospel and teaching the Scriptures. Around the year 1905, Mr. C. F. Hogg teamed up with Mr. Vine to conduct a correspondence course of Bible study. These studies in 1 Thessalonians and then in Galatians moved W. E. Vine into a wider sphere of influence. Thereafter his writing ministry expanded. His collected writings fill five large volumes (published by Gospel Tract Publishers of Glasgow). But surely his greatest contribution to the Church of God was his Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. W. E. Vine has put all English-speaking Bible students in his debt. The English reader with little or no knowledge of Greek has, of course, concordances and lexicons. These provide a skeleton: Vine clothes it with the flesh and sinews of living exposition, and in so doing makes available for the ordinary reader the expert knowledge contained in the more advanced works. In a preface to the dictionary, W. E. Vine wrote: "In any work in which we engage as servants of Christ, His word ever applies, 'When ye shall have done all those things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which was our duty to do' (Luke 17:10). So with the reminders given by the Apostle Paul, 'it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful . . . and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?' (1 Cor. 4:2,7). We ever have reason for humbling ourselves before God, for none of us knows yet as he ought to know, and at the Judgment Seat of Christ 'the fire itself shall prove each man's work of what sort it is' (1 Cor. 3:13)."

    James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D, former professor of exegetical theology at Drew Theological Seminary, spent more than thirty-five years preparing his landmark concordance. First published in 1890 Strong's remains the most widely used concordance and dictionary of Bible words from the King James Version of the Bible.

    John McClintock -

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McClintock

    Will Durant -

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Durant

    Now why would God have his mouthpiece and only channel to mankind here on earth turn to the very men who have been schooled in Christendom's schools of divinity for insight and understanding of the deep meaning of bible words???

  • slimboyfat
    slimboyfat

    Thought you might appreciate this quote from the book "New Mormon Challenge":

    Not only has Bringham Young University proved itself to be an important centre of intellectual activity, but LDS scholars can be found throughout the ranks of the North American academy. This fact by itself should dictate that evangelicals treat Mormonism differently than other groups that we have typically - and misleadingly - lumped together as "the cults." Christian Science has had almost no influence in the academy. And we are not being flippant in saying that the term "Jehovah's Witness scholar" has the feel of an oxymoron. But the existence of a highly intellectual Mormon subculture - where LDS scholars engage in serious exploration of other perspectives and debate these matters openly among themselves - suggests that we would do well to treat the Mormon worldview as a serious intellectual perspective. (page 12)
  • Kenneson
    Kenneson

    The Society will name and quote from worldly authorities in an effort to support their agenda. But, isn't it odd that they will not identify their own spiritual authorities from their own ranks? How can the credentials of the anonymous ever be verified? I am of the opinion that it is not really creature worship that bothers them, but that their own writers really have no credentials to speak of.

  • Bumble Bee
    Bumble Bee

    You mean the WTBTS actually has "Scholars"??????? Wow - you learn someting new every day!

    BB

  • inquirer
    inquirer

    There use to be this guy called Heinz Schmidt that was a JW scholar. He had this yahoo web page and thought King James was some sort of loose person... he used some strange word to describe him... I found his site INteresting... and was apart of his yahoo! group. But things got out of hand on it, and he became draconian about what people posted... Maybe having one of those yahoo! groups is quite difficult to handle with weird people comments... But yeah, he seemed to be quite knowledgeable on various things. Apparently he handed this letter out to all the congregations about evidence for the divine name in the New Testament.

    Seemed very knowledgeable, I don't neccessarily want to attack the guy, but for some reason he didn't like me much. Got nothing against him... Do any of you know HEINZ SCHMIDT?

  • inquirer
    inquirer

    On the subject of Christian scholars, I think Catholics are the best in orthodox Christianity. The New American Bible has excellent scholarship, even though I find it strange how they rearranged some of the verses for some unncessary reason.

  • blondie
  • inquirer
    inquirer

    blondie,

    YES! That's the one! HECTOR HEINZ SCHMIDT! :) LOL He was always very ambitious! :) I didn't know his first name was Hector, he always seemed to only have his middle and last name to everything he did. Hmmmm... a bit odd.

  • slimboyfat
    slimboyfat

    Heinz turned apostate (surprise surprise), but he still offers his defense of the Witnesses for a price on CD on ebay...

  • drew sagan
    drew sagan

    This all comes down to that real question "Who really is the Faithful and Discreet Slave", really Who is it WTS? Give us a name or two instead of shrowding the whole thing in mystery.

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