by pubtruth 10 Replies latest watchtower bible
They just released a "Simplified English" version of the Watchtower..
"It is very important that everyone understands
the information that we study
in TheWatchtower each week. This is because
the Watchtower Study is the main
way that “the faithful and discreet slave”
teaches God’s people today. (Matthew
24:45) But why is a simplified Watchtower
needed?"
http://www.jw.org/index.html?option=QrYQCsVrGZNT
Just so every one is dumbed down for sure with the drivel!..
I like the box on page 11: "Some Words Explained".
The box should read:
Christendom: Every other Christian religion except Jehovah's Witnesses
False teachers, or apostates: Anyone who thinks we're wrong about anything
But this is where we get to see the bottom line of what is REALLY being said. I think I already see a good example of this. Page 24, paragraph 9.
--sd-7
"Today the faithful and discreet slave sometimes helps us understand a teaching in the Bible in a way that is different from what WE thought before." Because especially if it was wrong, it was YOUR idea, too.
"Sometimes the Governing Body, who represents the faithful and discreet slave, reviews how we understand certain truths." This is different from "representative members of the 'slave'", as stated in the uh, 'Big Boys Edition'. I actually think the Simplified Edition will help them to stick their foot in their mouths far more clearly and effectively. If people can't figure it out with this version--and no, they can't, assimilation is inevitable--then it's hopeless.
--sd-7
Am I right? Is this simplified WT version the study mag for non-English speaking congregations, like for Spanish, etc congregations now, it won't be in Spanish any more? For in common English-speaking countries? Is this less expense than printing out several 'other' languages for WT study? Really cutting down costs primary reason? As donations down, are people of foreign languages not donating much for the trouble?
They just released a "Simplified English" version of the Watchtower..
You mean it can get simpler???
I'm wondering what will be next.
W
SD7 says: I actually think the Simplified Edition will help them to stick their foot in their mouths far more clearly and effectively .
Now there is no need to read between the lines.
In the box on page 11 (dumber version):
Some Words Explained
Christendom: Religions that call themselves Christian but that do not follow the teachings of Christ
Really? That's a bold statement.
Let's compare that with some other sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christendom
Christendom, [ 1 ] or the Christian world, [ 2 ] has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity. In a historical or geopolitical sense the term usually refers collectively to Christian majority countries or countries in which Christianity dominates [ 1 ] or was a territorial phenomenon.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Christendom
1. Christians considered as a group. 2. The Christian world. And the Catholic Encyclopedia's has a nice long article about it. I'll share just the first paragraph http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03699b.htm In its wider sense this term is used to describe the part of the world which is inhabited by Christians, as Germany in the Middle Ages was the country inhabited by Germans. The word will be taken in this quantitative sense in the article R ELIGIONS in comparing the extent of Christendom with that of Paganism or of Islam. But there is a narrower sense in which Christendom stands for a polity as well as a religion, for a nation as well as for a people. Christendom in this sense was an ideal which inspired and dignified many centuries of history and which has not yet altogether lost its power over the minds of men.
Wow. Now there's a far more enlightened and positive understanding of 'Christendom'. For JWs it's basically the equivalent of a religious slur. Way to go in beating back the loaded language, undercover.
--sd-7
@Gayle: The simple English version is for other English speaking congregations in other countries (many that have their own dialects and arent familiar with words used in the states and other mainstream countries)
"Many of our brothers and sisters
around the world attend English meetings
but do not always understand the
kind of English used in The Watchtower.
There are several reasons for this. For
example, English is used in many countries
in Africa, Asia, and the South Pacific.
Our brothers in those places use
English at meetings and in the preaching
work, but they may speak other languages
at home. Also, the English that
is spoken in those countries may be
different from the English that is used
in the standard edition of The Watchtower.
Some of our brothers and sisters
are refugees in countries where they attend
meetings in English. But it is difficult
for them to understand TheWatchtower
because English is not their native
language. Some young ones whosemain
language is English sometimes find The
Watchtower hard to understand. The
simplified English magazine will make
it easier for more of our brothers and sisters
around theworld to benefit from the
Watchtower Study."
It could be for children. And sd-7, I agree, it will make it harder to state things in a devious indirect way and could be counterproductive.
