"I decided not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him impaled"

by JimmyPage 9 Replies latest jw friends

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  JimmyPage

  That is what the apostle Paul said to the Corinthians. If any travelling representative of the WT today were to make such a statement he would immediately be viewed with suspicion as though of a different religion.

  If a speaker at a meeting were simply to paraphrase one of Paul's letters, such as Ephesians, without first informing his audience that this is what he was doing, he, too, would be viewed as "sounding strange", speaking a different language than what his listeners were accustomed to and as though representative of a different religion.

  -Ray Franz, "In Search Of Christian Freedom", page 548.
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  Warlock

  Reading the context of certain scriptures and without the "aid" of WTS publications, put some serious questions in my head.

  Warlock
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  passwordprotected

  Amazingly most JWs don't see the message of Christ alone as being sufficient. Why not?
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  LUKEWARM

  All that Bible reading and yet so much deviation from the Bible's message and emphasis on "teachings of men"
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  leavingwt

  Amazingly most JWs don't see the message of Christ alone as being sufficient. Why not?

  That is NOT how you run a cult.
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  Pistoff

  Watchtower writers strive continually to present the Bible as one harmonious whole. When I quit looking at the Bible that way, by reading only the Bible itself and not watchtower publications, I was struck at the vastly different tones that are present. I have been a witness all my life; still, I realize how ignorant I was of the real nature of Paul's writings. Paul never mentions Jesus miracles, and really does not mention his teachings or sayings; Paul is only interested in Jesus impaled, that it say, his role in the cosmic struggle between good and evil. Most scholars credit Paul with writing first Corinthians only; the rest are written in the school of Paul, a not uncommon practice at the time, and not viewed as being dishonest. Writers would write in what they felt was a style, or thinking, a certain person. The school of Plato is a good example; not all that is attributed to Plato is thought to have been said by Plato himself.

  The more I read about Paul, the more I think that his interest was in building congregations. There is no evidence that Jesus intended for his followers to form congregations. Modern Christianity, as many have said, is the victory of Paul over Jesus.
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  isaacaustin

  to elaborate on that...if a JW were to talk about Jesus 'too much' it would be viewed with suspicion. A typical conversation with another witness has the name Jehovah used endlessly. Try having the same conversation but using the name Jesus in those places and see what happens.
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  snowbird

  I wonder how a speaker would be viewed if he stated the following, verbatim?

  1 Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

  Tee hee hee.

  Sylvia
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  nicolaou

  Amazingly most JWs don't see the message of Christ alone as being sufficient. Why not?

  Probably for the same reason that you reject the obvious simple truth of atheism - it is not enough for you. You want something more. . .
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  mkr32208

  I had to take some religion classes (well actually just humanities crap but I opted for religion as I thought it would be a hoot) one of our professors said on several occasions "to embrace Paul is to reject Jesus..." I really took that to heart upon rereading the bible. Paul was a legalistic woman hating maniac. Jesus was a liberal sexed up hippie... To very different takes on life there!