This guy obviously hasn't done enough research.
Why I Believe The Bible, A Nuclear Scientist Tells His Story
by whereami 17 Replies latest jw friends
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LtCmd.Lore
Nevertheless, I was still skeptical about the teachings of the Witnesses, and I was looking forward to doing a mathematical check of the Bible prophecy concerning the year 1914. I thought that this approach would no doubt intimidate the Witness and, hopefully, help my wife to see the error of the beliefs taught by the Witnesses.
... He's a nuclear scientist, not a historian or a mathematician...
This is similar to them quoting an astronomer who disagrees with evolution.
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Jeremy C
Its humorous how the Watchtower is trying to bolster it’s 1914 position by publicizing this testimonial of a physicist who accepts it. There were plenty highly educated members of the Adventist movements who accepted those chronologies. There are also nuclear physicists who believe in the Koran. So what?
It is interesting to note that Francis Collins who has been one of the United States leading geneticists, and who was head of the Human Genome Project; later came to believe in the Bible as well. Why didn’t the Watchtower report this amazing testimony? Probably because Collins became a Born Again Christian and accepts the trinity.
Watchtower testimonials remind me of those late night commercials for exercise equipment. They always show the one guy who supposedly got twenty inch biceps by using some rubber strap with a handle on it. The only people who buy into it are those who already wanted to believe in it.
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HAL9000
Long on education, short on critical analysis skills.
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funkyderek
The Argument From Authority is specious at the best of times, but its flaws become glaringly obvious when it's used in such a manner. The fact that occasionally someone who should know better holds a minority opinion has to be weighed against the fact that the vast majority of that person's peers do not. I would bet a large amount of money that nuclear scientists are actually under-represented in JWism; in fact the one they quote is quite probably the only one. But that's enough for those who are only looking for a little more credibility. Knowing that someone clever believes the same as them is enough to validate their beliefs and indeed, to make them feel clever too.
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nameless_one
Wow, by his own admission his "scientific research" into the matter is thus:
((regarding the book Did Man Get Here by Evolution or by Creation?)): That same night I began reading the book that the Witness had left. Frankly, the contents impressed me. It was written in a logical manner, and it contained numerous scientific references concerning the subject of evolution. To my surprise, I learned that the Bible contains much more exact information regarding creation than I had previously realized. I finished examining the book in a few days and had to admit that what the Bible actually states about creation does not contradict the known scientific facts concerning life on earth.
Well that settles that!
I agree with what someone else above said, that this man is certainly a fluke and the society is hardly teeming with nuclear physicists. Still though, this is astonishing to me.
He also mentions the value of education:My parents often reminded us children that the only way out of poverty was to get a good education. As a result, at a very early age, I set my mind on obtaining a college degree.
Shame that most young JWs will never have that option themselves.
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freedomfighter
Good on him! Live in ignorance, you mindless droid. FF
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Blueblades
He does not realize that it was a 2/3rds vote that made 1914 the start of the last days. The other 1/3 vote disagreed, even voting for the year 1956 as the start of the last days. It is all about the voting, no inspiration there.
Blueblades
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VM44
Here is the citation for Dr Williams' 19778 PhD dissertation:
THE CLASSICAL TRAJECTORY IN NON-RELATIVISTIC SCATTERING
by WILLIAMS, ALTON CLEOTHA Ph.D. , THE CLASSICAL TRAJECTORY IN NON-RELATIVISTIC SCATTERING, University of Massachusetts Amherst , 1978, 167 pagesHis webpage, http://www.physics.aamu.edu/faculty/Williams.php, lists the following:
Research Interests: Lens Design, Fiber Optics, X-Ray Optics
Currently Funded Projects: NSF Center for Nonlinear Optics
Total Number of Publications: 35
Recent Publications:
- Four Photon Mixing Mediated Stimulated Raman Scattering in Silicate Fiber, Opt. Lett. 1994
- Stimulated Raman Scatterin in a Multimode Optical Fiber with Bend-Induced Loss, Opt. Comm. 1994
- Four Photon Mixing Mediated Stimulated Raman Scattering in a Multimode Optical Fiber, Opt. Lett. 1994
- The Formation of Double Layers Leading to the Critical Velocity Phenomenon, Laser and Particle Beams, 1987
His specialty after obtaining his PhD appears to be optics. Why then didn't The Watchtower choose the following title for his story?
Why I Believe The Bible, An Optics Scientist Tells His Story
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VM44
All of the "life story" articles published in The Watchtower have the same sytle. They all read as if they were written by the same person!