dear Terry...
you said: "It is precisely because we don't have the originals that what we do have IS GUESSes and SPECULATION. Further, it isn't reconstruction from mere copies of originals because we don't even have that! No first generation copies exist either.
The foundation of original writings was ORAL, you'll recall. So, even the original manuscripts were distillations of verbal communication best described as hearsay."...
we don't have the originals NOW, but what we have may have been copied from originals and why wouldn't they be?...you're looking for a nefarious conspiracy where there isn't one! The NT says, "it is written"...about Jesus and His ministry, so we can go to the OT and learn about Him and the reason for His ministry. The OT wasn't "oral" like the NT was. So what we need to know about Jesus being the King and Redeemer and only Saviour is "traditionally" written. + paul's letters may have circulated among the churches...they were likely copied not orally transmitted. we're talking about leaders among the congregations that could read and so probably could write as well.
"A pharmacist will not fill a prescription from a doctor unless they can see the original slip in his own handwriting. You can't walk in with YOUR recopied version and get the pills!" ...that's not what I said...a person will take pills the dr. prescribes relying on him without test results...an educated guess but a guess just the same.
"You can't offer less than best evidence (originals) in a court of law without stipulation either." hello!...people swear on the bible(word of God) as the highest authority that there is that one could "lie" towards in a court of law. the evidence is only as "good" as the people giving it, really. if someone's motive is to mislead they may do that if they can think they can get away with it. YOU put the motivation to mislead squarely on the shoulders of the church when they gave the best evidence that they had.
"A recopy of a third and fourth generation verbal remembrance is the best we have which clearly indicates God Almighty was NOT INTERESTED in preserving anything written as a guide for pure worship!" ...I would say that because God works with human beings that die and that have faulty rememberances He's DID use the means best suited to the task. He also said that the Holy Spirit would lead the followers of Jesus Christ into all truth...now if you want to look for a nefarious conspiracy you need not look any farther than those that seek to use THE INVISIBLE as a cover for their misleading ways.
"The Catholic Church tried always to keep Scripture on the down-low and pump up their own Tradition and Authority instead." ...the RCC turned into some nasty business for a long time but/and even the scriptures refute some of their wrong ideas...surely that says something about their desire to conspire from the get go.
"The Authority of Official Orthodoxy ruined Christianity and continues to run rampant in Jehovah's Witnesses Governing Body." ...not so...Jesus sent out a group to evangelize, productive groups have authoritive leaders. The GB is a whole different ball of wax that (it can be agreed apon) neither holds to orthodox tenents nor practices basic christian "community" of build up and edification...the GB builds ITSELF up and tears everyone else down...you must agree they are quite different that the "modern" RCC?
"There is simply no "there" there to interpret." ...you miss the point! there is a WHO...and they meet at a there...to do a what...in the name of the WHO.
love michelle
p.s. why are the pages all wonky on this thread?
