by DeusMauzzim 9 Replies latest jw friends
I remember I heard this some times (but not from the platform)
It would go something like: 'Oh isn't it wonderful that with the help of the organization we know more about the Bible than people who study theology at university?!'
At least with theology you learn the meaning of difficult words like "biblical litteralism"
Does this ring a bell? Or was it something local?
- Deus Mauzzim
Yes, I used to hear that from the platform from different halls I attended.
Sounded like pure bullshit back then too.
Actually, I not only heard it, I believed it at one point. Maybe not that we knew more than them when it came to history etc., but that we had biblical insights they didn't have and could "beat" them in a scriptural face-off.
I heard that line of crap many times myself. But, what they don't tell you is that what they know is all based on a translation of the Bible that is deliberately tampered with. What they know is all encapsulated into the theme of the Watchtower doctrine, which is what they tampered with the Bible with a view to highlight.
The truth is that most theology students know more about the Bible itself than any Witless. They know it because they study the actual sources, and in context. This is harder than taking pieces out of context to support some stupid doctrines. And so it is going to take longer for them to understand what the Bible actually says. In fact, there is so much heated debate about how the Bible should be taken--whether the missing books are actually part of the Bible, whether the Bible should be taken literally or as a parable, and if it's even valid. That shows me that the Bible is an extremely difficult work to understand correctly, and one viewpoint is as good as any other (as long as it isn't deliberately tampered with to support some nefarious purpose).
I feel that I know more about the Bible now as an apostate than I ever did as a Witless. I know that the Witlesses take pieces out of context to support their nefarious aim, and all I have to do is find the missing pieces to better understand it. I understand that Christmas and birthdays are actually scripturally allowed (Luke 2:10-14 supports this). I understand Ephesians 2:8 and 9 as directly clashing with the Watchtower Society. And I understand that the dashes found throughout the New World Translation are there because the text would have undermined the doctrine of the Puketower Society.
Up untill about 5 years ago I thought I knew a lot about the bible. Then I started actually studing the bible and realized that I didnt really know anthing about it, and most of what I did know was not even correct. I think that is true with most JWS.
Hell, after reading 4 years of the AWAKE we were supoosed to know more than a University graduate. We knew more than Theology students. We knew more than their professors. And some, especially at Brooklyn Bethl knew/know more than God. We sure were caught up in ourselves. What a bunch of pompous bombastic bastards we were!
Yes, guilty as charged. How arrogant of me.
Two words: Documentary Hypothesis (aka Higher Criticism)
When I finally came to an understanding of the scholarship behind the Documentary Hypothesis, I realized for the first time just how little I had previously understood the Bible. The WTS wrote against "Higher Criticism" without ever explaining what it was. That's their method. Present one side of the issue and use hidden premises and logical fallacies to make it seem correct. Other Fundamentalist Christian groups do the same thing, so the WTS is not alone in its faulty "scholarship."
Dave
Two words: Documentary Hypothesis (aka Higher Criticism)
Exactly!
Well, since I know more than everyone who ever lived, then I would naturally be correct in assuming I know more than theologians. Knowing so much gets old though, because people always expect you to prove it. I always ask them why I should be burdened to prove something that is self evident.
You know, people aren't very emotionally stable these days either. They get angry and unreasonable for no reason at all. They even tell me I'm insufferable at times! The nerve of those sillies!!
John Doe, you make me smile.
