by Snoozy 55 Replies latest watchtower bible
How accurate can the bible really be? I am losing faith that it is accurate at all.. according to an article I read in our paper today they are now saying in translation there are no english words to match every word...so the scripture that say "Peace on earth and goodwill towards all men " should really be " Peace on earth to all men of goodwill ".
Now if they can screw something that simple up..what else in the bible have they screwed up?
Snoozy...
Sorry, but have you ever played the game where you have friends in a circle then whisper in each others ear till the message comes back to the origanator. That is the way the bible was written except add changing languages to the mix. So just forget about an accurate translation of the original text. There is none!
The bible is also not accurate when weighed against empirical evidence, Sorry to crush your hope.
The bible is merely some mythical story telling, with some historical facts thrown in, no less written by ignorant imperfect men that lived thousands of years ago
How can anyone confidently assume that it would or could be accurate !
Thrown in to mix the many translations and interpretations that have taken place then, and what should a rational thinking person conclude ?
I find it interesting that many who continue to call themselves Christian have also devalued the Bible in favour of experiential 'evidence'.
The Bible is more a parable. When taken correctly, it describes the progression of man from bicameral mode to conscious thinking. Once upon a time, man would hallucinate voices to guide them out of difficult situations. When society was simple, that worked. These voices would appear to be coming from God, and hence people would actually have their own Gods. In fact, that was their right brain coming on and telling them what to do. Since society was simple in those days, the voices one person would hear would be similar to what another would hear. That explains why one person would hear a distinct voice and others around would not.
This also explains the miracles. People would hallucinate them. In fact, the legends were nothing more than fiction works made up from bicameral men. The whole of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy were written up by Moses, who was bicameral. He had these hallucinations that were guiding him, and through him the whole nation. That is not the kind of person I would trust to get details of ancient history correct, since Moses was not capable of independent, conscious thinking. Notably, all the prophets in the Bible were also bicameral.
What happened when society became too complicated, this broke down. The voices became inaccurate, confusing, or simply stopped altogether. This forced man to develop conscious thinking, and David was the first in the Bible to do this. Note all the bad things he did (not just the three incidents that the Tower focuses on, but the countless thousands he killed just because they didn't obey a God that was a myth.) David sought to use this newfound power to his personal advantage, keeping the nation in a bicameral mode. Instead of hallucinated voices, now the nation had David as their leader!
When we jump up to Jesus, he was the opposite. Jesus wanted people to become conscious thinkers, but most of the peasants were bicameral. Thus, Jesus needed to speak in parables to get through to them. In that context, God was put in there to neutralize the Pharisees and the rulers that were taking advantage of them and keeping them from developing true conscious thinking. This pxxxed off the Pharisees, because they would have lost power if people thought on their own. And so they had Jesus killed.
Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament, was a Pharisee and hence able to think consciously. He had the desire to help people (sort of like the Raymond Franz of the Pharisees), but he did not realize that the Bible was written in bicameral language to help those people think on their own. Instead, he took it literally and thereby unintentionally created more problems. The sins that are listed, like fornication, are largely the result of this misunderstanding. The New Testament is full of this. That explains why the Trinity confuses so many--because it is actually a parable (and yet it belongs there: Jesus was trying to teach people to become Godlike in thinking independently, just as he himself was).
Then comes the Catholic church. St Augustine now takes the parts of the Bible that fits his new doctrines, which are intended to control others. The early Catholic church wanted nothing more than to force people to become bicameral again, but instead of following hallucinated voices, they had to follow a voice from an external leader. This is exactly the opposite of what Christ taught! No wonder so many people are fed up with the Catholic church!
Of course, the Watchtower Society is even worse. Not only do they have these inherited problems from the Bible's origins, but they twist the scriptures to add even more. They re-write key passages so that they will make the other versions look bad and their own look good. They have created so many bogus scriptures and deleted others, in an attempt to make people follow them in the name of God. To me, this too is an attempt to force conscious thinking people back into bicameral mode. The true Christian message is designed to get bicameral-thinking people to think on their own without external guidance!
I am losing faith that it is accurate at all..
I know, it's scary isn't it?
Don't worry, eventually rational thought starts to be fun.
So allow me to have some fun:
(1 Chronicles 3:18-20) "19 ... and the sons of Ze·rub´ba·bel were Me·shul´lam and Han·a·ni´ah (and She·lo´mith was their sister); 20 and Ha·shu´bah and O´hel and Ber·e·chi´ah and Has·a·di´ah, Ju´shab-he´sed, five."
That's right! Count 'em, five! (This is the part where faith kicks in and you only see five sons...)
"There are FOUR LIGHTS!!!!!"
(2 Samuel 6:23) says "Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death"
(2 Samuel 21:8) "But the king took...the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul"
(Joshua 15:33-36) "33 In the She?phe'lah there were Esh'ta?ol and Zo'rah and Ash'nah, 34 and Za?no'ah and En-gan'nim, Tap'pu?ah and E'nam, 35 Jar'muth and A?dul'lam, So'coh and A?ze'kah, 36 and Sha'a?ra'im and Ad?i?tha'im and Ge?de'rah and Ged?e?ro?tha'im; fourteen cities and their settlements."
This time faith kicks in and you don't realise that if they can't even count to fifteen, they probably wouldn't even know what 70 weeks of days even is, let alone converting it into years.
(Gen 5:5) "And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died."
Although judging by the Bible's math skills, that's probably a couple hundred years off.
(Matt 1:16), "And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus..."
(Luke 3:23) "And Jesus...the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli"
Also consider that Noah was instructed to take seven of each clean animal into the ark, even though they weren't even allowed to eat meat yet, plus the distiction between clean and unclean animals wouldn't be made untill after the exodus.
Speeking of clean animals, did you know that bats are in fact birds, and not mammals?
(Deuteronomy 14:11-18) "11 “Any clean bird YOU may eat. 12 But these are the ones of which YOU must not eat: the eagle and the osprey and the black vulture, 13 and the red kite and the black kite and the glede according to its kind; 14 and every raven according to its kind; 15 and the ostrich and the owl and the gull and the falcon according to its kind; 16 the little owl and the long-eared owl and the swan, 17 and the pelican and the vulture and the cormorant, 18 and the stork and the heron according to its kind, and the hoopoe and the bat. "
(James 1:13) "..for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man."
(Gen 22:1) "And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham..."
Multiple choice time, what where Jesus last words?
A: Luke 23:46: And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit" and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
B: John 19:30: When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, "It is finished" and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
C: Lore 33:41: And Jesus, forgetting that this was actually part of the plan all along, said, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
(Leviticus 11:20) "All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you."
(Leviticus 11:20) "Every winged swarming creature that goes on all fours is a loathsome thing to YOU."
This is an example of translation error, one says fowl the other says bugs. Either way it's translated it's wrong. Fowl have two legs, not four. And bugs don't have four legs, they have six.
(Matthew 13:31-32) “The kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard grain, which a man took and planted in his field; 32 which is, in fact, the tiniest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the largest of the vegetables and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and find lodging among its branches.”
First off, there ARE smaller seeds, like the orchid for example. (You'd think he'd know if he actually designed them right?) Second, the mustard plant is not a tree.
I could keep going for quite a while, but I don't want to suck up all the fun!
Lore
Lore,
Thank you for those verses, the Chronicles and Samuel ones i had never come across.
And an interesting point on the Noah animals.
FAITH
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.
By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.
By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned [ f ]; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
-Hebrews 11
Cheers,
Brother Apostate!
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see
I would actually go further and use what faith really is by definition.
Faith is a belief of things that there is no evidence for, or in the face of available evidence.
Faith asks you to put aside any question and reason or logic, and blindly accept a statement or follow an idea. Faith is probably the most dangerous standpoint we have ever made as a species, and yet in a Christian view faith is a virtue, whihc in itself is relative, as faith is only a virtue if you agree with a with what every view point faith is needed, if you have a 'faith based' view point that is against a dogma, then you are an 'evil class' or apostate or blinded!
Kind of ironic really
Ok, If Joseph was Jesus adopted father, why does his geneology matter?
The fact is, It doesn't. It has no relevance to Jesus at all.
The geneology that matters is MARY'S, since she provided the DNA for Jesus.
But since the bible is patriarical, and written by men, they failed to consider that.
Unless of course, Joseph WAS the biological father to Jesus, then his geneology would have relevance.
