I don't remember being told directly from the platform or in the literature not to use Aid book but you are always encouraged to keep up with nulite by reading the current publications.
Did any of you read the Insight books cover to cover? I did, ugh.
by Wasanelder Once 20 Replies latest watchtower bible
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OnTheWayOut
They were great for giving talks and doing research as a JW. That is, until I got my first WT Library CD-ROM. They were still referenced often in there, but there was always some WT article that said things better in an easier-to-understand-cult-language sort of way.
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crownboy
I come from one of those old school, multi-generational JW families, so my family has both the Aid and Insight book. I remember growing up my dad always used the Aid book to prepare his talks and the Insight book mostly just stayed on the shelf almost unused. I'm guessing he preferred the Aid book because he was familiar with it and more used to doing research in it. I never really read many of the Society's books from cover to cover, so there's no way I'd have done it with the Insight book.
GGG, so true on the Barnes & Noble thing. That section of that bookstore really did a lot to inform me on the topic of Christianity and religion in general, more so than anything I learned in the hall ever. If the Society actually engaged in real bible study (even if only in a conservative Christian context) maybe more people wouldn't be so bored and tired of their "spiritual routine" in general. But then that might lead to thinking, and we can't have that .
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cantleave
Not quite cover top cover but read large sections for "pleasure". I think most elders did.
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flipper
WASANELDERONCE- Boy were you a freak ! ( Just teasing ) A real glutton for punishment ! LOL ! Peace out, Mr. Flipper
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stillajwexelder
Yes I did - twice
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fjtoth
I have to say that I'm a bit surprised at the comments here. My wife and I both read the Insight volumes extensively and found them more thorough and easier to grasp than other Bible dictionaries we had in our personal library. Except for the sections on chronology and a comparatively few other topics, it was obvious that the writers scrupulously avoided the insertion of WT doctrinal teachings. It was also easy to see that the writers did an excellent job of condensing as well as clarifying long and tedious explanations provided in other Bible cyclopedias and dictionaries. It should be noted that the Insight volumes didn't change very much what is in the Aid book. The print was enlarged and minor changes were made, but basically the information is the same. No doubt some will say that I'm a defender of the WT Society in view of what I've stated here, but in reality it was the Insight volumes that led me to eventually leave the WT Society. What I read in those volumes built in me a hunger for a deeper understanding of the Bible which I believe has been satisfied over the years by continuing to do research in those volumes as well as scholarly works available in seminary libraries and elsewhere.
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mentallyfree31
Honestly, I have never heard of anybody reading he insight books from cover to cover. Wow! Impressive! That's JW committment there.
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Leolaia
I read the Aid book twice cover-to-cover when I was 14 and referred to it constantly in my teens. It was the birthplace of my obsession with biblical literature. I also realized some of its failings even at so young an age, particularly its predictably slanted approach to archaeological evidence.
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crownboy
Somehow that fact does not shock me Leolaia.
I actually think my love of reading and literature has a great deal to do with reading My Book of Bible Stories and the Great Teacher book as much as I did when I was 4 and 5 years old. There can be weird positive influences to be gained from some of our experiences in that religion.