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Early GB Existed Before Jesus: The Apocalyptists!
by cameo-d 6 Replies latest watchtower bible
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cameo-d
About one hundred years before the days of Jesus and John a new school of religious teachers arose in Palestine, the apocalyptists. These new teachers evolved a system of belief that accounted for the sufferings and humiliation of the Jews on the ground that they were paying the penalty for the nation's sins. They fell back onto the well-known reasons assigned to explain the Babylonian and other captivities of former times. But, so taught the apocalyptists, Israel should take heart; the days of their affliction were almost over; the discipline of God's chosen people was about finished; God's patience with the gentile foreigners was about exhausted. The end of Roman rule was synonymous with the end of the age and, in a certain sense, with the end of the world. These new teachers leaned heavily on the predictions of Daniel, and they consistently taught that creation was about to pass into its final stage; the kingdoms of this world were about to become the kingdom of God. To the Jewish mind of that day this was the meaning of that phrase--the kingdom of heaven--which runs throughout the teachings of both John and Jesus. To the Jews of Palestine the phrase "kingdom of heaven" had but one meaning: an absolutely righteous state in which God (the Messiah) would rule the nations of earth in perfection of power just as he ruled in heaven--"Your will be done on earth as in heaven." In the days of John all Jews were expectantly asking, "How soon will the kingdom come?" There was a general feeling that the end of the rule of the gentile nations was drawing near. There was present throughout all Jewry a lively hope and a keen expectation that the consummation of the desire of the ages would occur during the lifetime of that generation. While the Jews differed greatly in their estimates of the nature of the coming kingdom, they were alike in their belief that the event was impending, near at hand, even at the door. Many who read the Old Testament literally looked expectantly for a new king in Palestine, for a regenerated Jewish nation delivered from its enemies and presided over by the successor of King David, the Messiah who would quickly be acknowledged as the rightful and righteous ruler of all the world. Another, though smaller, group of devout Jews held a vastly different view of this kingdom of God. They taught that the coming kingdom was not of this world, that the world was approaching its certain end, and that "a new heaven and a new earth" were to usher in the establishment of the kingdom of God; that this kingdom was to be an everlasting dominion, that sin was to be ended, and that the citizens of the new kingdom were to become immortal in their enjoyment of this endless bliss. All were agreed that some drastic purging or purifying discipline would of necessity precede the establishment of the new kingdom on earth. The literalists taught that a world-wide war would ensue which would destroy all unbelievers, while the faithful would sweep on to universal and eternal victory. The spiritists taught that the kingdom would be ushered in by the great judgment of God which would relegate the unrighteous to their well-deserved judgment of punishment and final destruction, at the same time elevating the believing saints of the chosen people to high seats of honor and authority with the Son of Man, who would rule over the redeemed nations in God's name. And this latter group even believed that many devout gentiles might be admitted to the fellowship of the new kingdom. Some of the Jews held to the opinion that God might possibly establish this new kingdom by direct and divine intervention, but the vast majority believed that he would interpose some representative intermediary, the Messiah. And that was the only possible meaning the term Messiah could have had in the minds of the Jews of the generation of John and Jesus. Messiah could not possibly refer to one who merely taught God's will or proclaimed the necessity for righteous living. http://www.urantia.org/papers/paper135.html Doesn't this sound like the origins of the WT?
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Kosonen
Very similar, interesting. The history repeating it self. What will follow of that?
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cameo-d
I was surprised to find this.
I have not had a chance to do further investigating on this Apocalyptic movement pre-Jesus.
But it would certainly seem to explain why WT just gives a "wink and a nod" to Jesus and continues on with this same rhethoric.
I don't think Jesus focused on this kind of disruption of life or encouraged people to "live for the next one."
I don't think any of these teachings came from Jesus as the bulk of these ideas were already being promoted before he came.
Maybe some of this nonsense was what Jesus was trying to expose as false.
The pharisees and scribes did not like him revealing their tricks and they were loosing their control over people.
That's what got Jesus killed.
He was murdered for a reason.
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cameo-d
I have heard it said that the GB talks about the original JW's going back to "First Century".
If this is true then they cannot be based upon teachings of Jesus.
By acknowledging "the Christ" or rather "the Christ principle" I suppose they then call themselves being 'progressive'.
I also wonder if this is why they refer to Jesus as something of an object by using the word "the" instead of the man's name.
Remember how much importance they have put on "the name". And yet they do not give Jesus his due??
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cameo-d
btt
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cameo-d
Could the first century apocalyptists movement be based on this one scripture, although much more could have been written about this that was edited out.
1st CenturyJesus said, "Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." (Matthew 16:28) This implies that the Second Coming would return within the lifetime of his contemporaries, and indeed the Apostles expected Jesus to return before the passing of their generation.
Look how many times "the end" has been claimed throughout the centuries!