the 5/14/06 watchtower study

by buffalosrfree 11 Replies latest jw friends

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  buffalosrfree

  I was watching my wife study the watchtower Saturday and Sunday Morn before leaving for the hall, She had a couple of questions about the Ethiopian Enuch (spelling) and Phillip. I asked her honey, think a second are you able to read a book or mag while driving in the car on faily good roads, and of course her answer was no. Why I asked she said its too hard to, the bumping the movement of the car/truck etc throws the words off all the time. i asked her can some people do that and she of course replied yes, and she's right i can and so can my children. However on a road that isn't so smooth its almost totally impossible to do so and she agreed.

  Then I asked her how could the Ethiopian official be reading a scroll (book) while bouncing around inside a chariot? How many chariots have you seen where you can sit in them? well she wasn't sure how he could possibly be reading a scroll outloud or even silently. If he was really infact of the treasury of Ethiopia wouldn't he be traveling with an ontourage? And wouldn't he have personal guards too. She of course replied yes that sounds logical, so then i asked how come none are mentioned in the bible text, why was he traveling alone in a chariot with just him and one and possibly two others, wasn't he ascared of thieves etc. That made her wonder, but not for longer, her watchtower reasoning kicked in at that point, she called me one of satan's angels a real supporter of him, and in fact i was satan myself, I had to laugh, if all else fails especially being able to reason the situation to fit the bible's or watchtowers description of events the attack the person pointing it out.

  My youngest child picked right up on it, and said to be able to read would have been impossible, and what had been described couldn't have happened, like they say out of the mouth of babes. It makes me wonder how kids can see it and yet grownups supposedly, can't.
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  blondie

  Good point, buffalosrfree. I wondered that myself when I was doing my review for last Sunday. I know how hard it is to read a book while a passenger in a car on a bumpy road. Imagine trying to hold a scroll on a bumpy road. While difficult, it wasn't impossible though.

  What I thought was interesting was the reasoning that he could be baptized so quickly because he was a Jewish proselyte.

  How long did the Gentile Cornelius study? How long did Peter expound the scriptures to him before he received holy spirit and even before baptism?

  (Acts 10:44-47) While Peter was yet speaking about these matters the holy spirit fell upon all those hearing the word. 45

  And the faithful ones that had come with Peter who were of those circumcised were amazed, because the free gift of the holy spirit was being poured out also upon people of the nations. 46 For they heard them speaking with tongues and magnifying God. Then Peter responded: 47 "Can anyone forbid water so that these might not be baptized who have received the holy spirit even as we have?"
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  serendipity

  Didn't the Romans lay cobblestone roads?
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  blondie

  In some areas. But I can attest that driving over cobblestone is not much of an improvement.
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  rekless

  cobblestone is even rougher than a plain old road, wooden wheels were non shock absorbing.
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  shadow

  1. The chariot wasn't going too fast, Philip was able to keep up on foot and even start a conversation.
  
  2. The type of road is not mentioned, maybe it was dirt. I've driven a car on dirt roads at 50 mph and had a very smooth ride.
  
  The points made here seem to be full of assumptions and quite ridiculous.
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  buffalosrfree

  Shadow, my points aren't ridclous, they make sense, they aren't assumptions either, he was traveling, 

  in a chariot pulled by animals, horses, camels, whatever, chariots don't have shocks, the road wasn't graded 

  he couldn't have been reading. its a myth.
• 

  thecarpenter

  I have to agree with Shadow here, there isn't enough information to go by.

  Acts 8 27 With that he rose and went, and, look! an E·thi·o´pi·an eunuch, a man in power under Can·da´ce queen of the E·thi·o´pi·ans, and who was over all her treasure. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 but he was returning and was sitting in his chariot and reading aloud the prophet Isaiah. 29 So the spirit said to Philip: "Approach and join yourself to this chariot." 30 Philip ran alongside and heard him reading aloud Isaiah the prophet, and he said: "Do you actually know what you are reading?" 31 He said: "Really, how could I ever do so, unless someone guided me?" And he entreated Philip to get on and sit down with him.

  The scripture says he was sitting in his chariot obviously going slow enough so that he could read and Philip could run with his sandals on alongside of the chariot. He didn't seem to be in a hurry. Also, I've noticed that sometimes they have a companion traveling with him and sometimes they don't. WT artist illustrations are not absolutes (they said this in the article about the crucifixion "Where were his legs?" WT 87 8/15 p29

  The point that differs from us today is why aren't jews today baptizes as quickly as the ethiopian eunuch. The reason is that the society is adding to the basic requirements that he set for Christians in the first century.
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  aniron

  I asked her honey, think a second are you able to read a book or mag while driving in the car on fairly good roads

  Do you read while driving? Have you never read a book, newspaper while travelling, in a car , bus or train? Just look next time you do how many people are reading while travelling. Why just because a road is rough would it stop a person from reading?

  How many chariots have you seen where you can sit in them?

  Plenty of them. Because the term chariot is not confined to some one or two horse drawn vehicle like you see in some films like Ben-Hur or Gladiator. If you see from history at that time there were many "chariots that were more like four wheeled coaches. If you have a car do you know that the word "car" is derived from the Latin word for Chariot so in a sense you drive a chariot!

  why was he traveling alone in a chariot with just him and one and possibly two others,

  Why do you presume he was alone? Just because it doesn't mention others. If you get on a bus full of people and travel to see someone. They ask if you with anyone, don't you say "I'm travelling alone" yet you were on a bus full of people. As a court official it probably would be taken that he would be travelling with an escort. Also as he was travelling from Jerusalem back to Ethiopia, quite a distance, who would probably be carrying provisions, maybe even a tent so at night they could stop and set up camp and eat.

  Your reasoning is as bad as the way the Watchtower sometimes does it.
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  BluesBrother

  Do you remember the opening scenes of "Gladiator" when Commodus and his sister were travelling to the Army camp? Their "chariot" was a luxury affair that would certainly have allowed for reading. Also, there is nothing to say that he did not have an entourage.