WT :They Don't Even Know the Bible!

by metatron 26 Replies latest jw friends

  • TD
    TD

    The lengths to which JW's carry the prooftexting mentality has always struck me as interesting.

    In seems to me that the notion of the modern Bible being a single, contiguous book from cover to cover rather than a more loosely organized anthology contributes in large measure to that mentality.

    For example, I've lost count of the number of times I've heard it asserted by JW's that the Bible as a whole has a central theme and that theme is Jehovah's kingdom. Naturally, a homogenous work with a central theme requires an intended audience who would understand that theme and ostensibly benefit from it and this audience must of necessity exist sometime after this book has been compiled. In this case, that audience is of course, the JW's themselves.

    The natural corollaries to this idea are all things anyone familiar with the JW's will recognize. A colloquilism, metaphor, illustration, figure of speech etc. used by one author, must naturally mean the same thing as a similar expression from another author. Therefore in JW theology, we find John inadvertently clarifying things that Daniel wrote.

    Parts of the Bible (Actually most of it) not directly tied to JW theology get relegated to the background. Context is lost and the original audience becomes unimportant. Charaters depicted in the Bible actually lived their whole lives acting as prophetic "Types" for the benefit of JW's today since JW's today are really the ones the Bible was written to, for and about.

    JW's are of course, not the only ones who do this, but the seem to be one of the more extreme examples.

  • sir82
    sir82
    In seems to me that the notion of the modern Bible being a single, contiguous book from cover to cover rather than a more loosely organized anthology contributes in large measure to that mentality.

    Yep.

    Our current CO encourages us to use this approach to start Bible studies: "It's OK to read the Bible, you can get some benefit that way, but to gain the most you need to study it. That means picking a topic (say, God's Kingdom) and then researching what all the various Bible writers had to say about that topic."

    I.e., according to the CO, the Bible is a mishmash of confusing stuff, and reading it in context will only confuse you. The only way to really understand it its to jump around and read snippets of a verse or 2, out of context, and then scotch-tape those fragments together into a more or less cohesive whole.

    This is of course what JWs have done for most if not all of their history. I just find it rather amusing that he sees it as the most perfectly logical thing to do.

    I mean, how would that method work with other books? "OK, class, this semester we're going to study War and Peace, but instead of reading it from cover to cover, I want you to read the following paragraphs, out of order, without context, and skip most of the boring parts. That way you'll understand it far better than those idiots who actually think it's better to read it in order as written."

  • metatron
    metatron

    If anyone here is lurking and doubts that Watchtower writers could be that dumb or lazy, let me give you another example: Backward Masking.

    Some years ago, some nutjob born agains claimed that pop music contained hidden backward messages. The Society repeated this nonsense uncritically, without bothering to check the facts. There were no hidden messages - and the famous supposed "My sweet Satan" in Stairway to Heaven was nothing more than "there's still time to change the road you're on" played backwards. It was all a product of imagination.

    I know this because I actually had a multitrack reel to reel tape deck and I checked it.

    Another example: as some on this website have pointed out, until recently, they couldn't even get their own history right! They printed remarks suggesting that they predicted Jesus' invisible parousia before 1914. They also portrayed themselves as sinless as regards anti-Semitism while forgetting about official statements about Jews running New York and AngloAmerica, during the 1930's.

    metatron

  • Chalam
    Chalam

    Stairway to Heaven - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Have a listen on the page and decide for yourself.

    Just watching this now Backward Masking, Beatles, Aleister Crowley, & The Occult - NMETV ...

    Agreed regarding the anti-Semetic WT comments (also anti negro).

    All the best,

    Stephen

  • steve2
    steve2

    I do not think that the members of the Governing Body have a comprehensive knowledge of the Bible. What they do have is a comprehensive knowledge of Watchtower policies, backed up by selective texts. I don't think the GB act against an explicit knowledge that they are contradicting Scripture. This doesn't excuse them from accountability at all.

  • Chalam
    Chalam

    I just watched the video-I highly recommend it.

    If the words of Aleister Crowley's book don't convince you then I don't know what will

    Magick, Book 4

    II. "First Method." Let the Exempt Adept first train himself to think backwards by external means, as set forth here following. --- (a) Let him learn to write backwards, with either hand. (b) Let him learn to walk backwards. (c) Let him constantly watch, if convenient, cinematograph films, and listen to phonograph records, reversed, and let him so accustom himself to these that they appear natural and appreciable as a whole. (d) Let him practise speaking backwards: thus for "I am He" let him say, "Eh ma I". (e) Let him learn to read backwards. In this it is difficult to avoid cheating one's self, as an expert reader sees a a sentence at a glance. Let his disciple read aloud to him backwards, slowly at first, then more quickly. (f) Of his own ingenium, let him devise other methods.
    Anyhow, here's the whole video series if you want some more info like this.
    John Muncy teaching on rock music
    All the best,
    Stephen
  • WTWizard
    WTWizard

    They just use enough of the Bible to make it look like they have a mastery of it. And they want everyone to read the Bible--what if someone at the door asks if you have read the Bible through (never mind if it lies)?

    What they don't tell you is that there is never a chance to read more of the Bible than is assigned, and you are supposed to read it along with the Washtowel littera-trash. You get around to reading more, and along comes a Washtowel or Asleep! magazine for you to read instead. Plus there is field circus--no time to read the Bible to see for yourself that the Washtowel Babble and Crap Slaveholdery doesn't abide by it, let alone has a monopoly on it. (Or, to see for yourself that the Bible lies.)

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