DaVinci Code & "Mankind's Search for God"

by proplog2 19 Replies latest jw friends

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  BluesBrother

  I was told by an elder that it was a reference book

  Elders don't know, any more than the rest - he was just blagging.

  The book came out in 1990. My theory was that somebody changed their minds about it as study material . Perhaps they thought it too deep for the 90's generation of dubs spoonfed the pap of dumbed down brochures and the like.. Perhaps they did not want the groups answering q's like " "explain briefly the four noble truths [of Buddhism] page 139.

  Certainly we were all disappointed not to study it.
• 

  aniron

  I found the "Mankind Search" book quite interesting and when it came out waited for it to be a study book. Often wondered why it wasn't.

  Does anyone remember "Commentary on James" book. It caused some problems if I remember rightly. It was quietly removed from use.
• 

  hamsterbait

  The Jmes Commentary and the Search book both have in common that the writer(s) actually did deep research and seem to know what they are talking about.

  Both books require a level of understanding and thought from the reader to get anything out of it.

  In the Search book, it is apparent that JWs don't have copyright on wisdom and good principles for living. There is too much danger of a young witless challenging their own belief system.

  HB
• 

  press any key

  I liked the James book and was told by a gilead grad that it was out of use because the main writer had been dfed not long after writing it. Not sure how true that is, someone else here might know.

  I remember reading the predecessor to the search book, a yellow "What has religion done for mankind" I think was the title. It traced all religions back to Nimrod and babylon, total bs now but I lapped it up at the time. Great mythology.
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  blondie

  we never studied "Insight on the Scriptures" in bookstudies,

  No, but the Insight volumes were discussed as material in the instruction talks and later as material in the #3 and #4 talks.

  Not the Mankind's Search book. It never appears as one of the textbooks in the theocratic ministry school from 1990 to today.

  I used to drive the elders nuts asking when we were going to study the book or cover the material at the meetings. By the time I left 5 years ago, I knew that the WTS would never study the material and that it would go out of print. As far as I know, the WTS is printing no new copies of the book and is trying to clear out the remaining copies in the inventories of local congregations.

  Blondie
• 

  Seeker4

  I had stepped down as an elder and was moving into my fade period when the Mankind's Search book came out. I remember how excited some of the friends were when it was released. They told me they thought I'd really like it as they knew of my interest in Eastern thinking.

  I remember discussing it with a friend who was also fading out of the Witnesses around that time. She thought it was so interesting for them to quote Joseph Campbell in the book. If you accept Campbell as an authority on one religion, you need to see what he says about others, and he certainly lumps Christianity in with all the other mythologies. He even shows how so many of the Jewish and Chrisitian stories originated in other places and religions.

  S4
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  kgfreeperson

  This is the only JW publication I've read. I was making notes to discuss with the person who gave it to me from the first page! It was presented to me as "the best researched and written of the Watchtower publications." Silly me, with no experience of knowledge, sat down to read it from that perspective. And my eyebrows were up and my jaw down almost immediately.
  
  I thought it was interesting that this "best of the best" immediately revealed the writers to be people with no intellectual integrity whatsoever.
  
  Needless to say our conversation about the book was exceedingly short.
• 

  proplog2

  So we can pretty much conclude that the Mankind's Search book was not "food at the appropriate time".
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  Mulan

  I liked the James book and was told by a gilead grad that it was out of use because the main writer had been dfed not long after writing it. Not sure how true that is, someone else here might know.

  This is true. We have a friend, who was able to get out of Bethel, without being df'd right after the Ray Franz fiasco. He told us the above story.
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  Scully

  Mankind's Search For God was actually my favorite book. I read it from cover to cover within days of receiving it at the District Convention.

  I was also very disappointed when the book was never considered as Book Study™ material or used for anything other than shelf filler.

  I used the book as a reference piece in my essay about the WTS having cult-like behaviours, to demonstrate the contrast between what they say to the uninitiated, and what the reality is for JWs, in terms of having "tolerance" and "open-minded" discussions with people of other faiths.