Watchtower STUDY EDITION - Vehicle for Vitriol and REALLY crazy statements?

by punkofnice 87 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Teary Oberon

  "Your blog is an elaborate red herring to the real issue at hand, nothing more."

  Well if you actually READ the article, then you'll see that Teary does indeed make the same point that you do: it is mainly a Bible issue, not a Witness issue. The Bible is where the language originated, and any person today can open a Bible up and read it for themselves -- the Witnesses simply quoted it.

  "Mentally diseased or not, Paul disagreed with the "Governing Body" of his day, and Jehovah used him to write part of His Word, no?"

  Paul never advocated abandoning their counsel and decrees (heck, he helped deliver them personally!), he never tried to usurp the authority of the original Apostles and he certainly didn't push the idea that every Christian is an island and that organization is unnecessary (he actually promoted the exact opposite).
• 

  cantleave

  "Mentally diseased or not, Paul disagreed with the "Governing Body" of his day, and Jehovah used him to write part of His Word, no?

  What governing body?
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  ziddina

  Oooohhh, great....

  "Twa..." - er, "Twitty" - is back....
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  sabastious

  Well if you actually READ the article, then you'll see that Teary does indeed make the same point that you do: it is mainly a Bible issue, not a Witness issue. The Bible is where the language originated, and any person today can open a Bible up and read it for themselves -- the Witnesses simply quoted it.

  Psychology progressed rapidly in the 20th century, the century of which the New World Translation was translated by Fred Franz and his team. They knew what that term was evolving into before their very eyes. When they came up to 1 Tim 6:4 they chose to translate and print the term "mentally diseased" instead of more appropriate words/terms like "unhealthy interest" or "sick." As you pointed out in your blog, the term they used is technically correct. Although their translation choice, over the more appropriate ones, would seem to indicate agenda. After all that's what the NWT translation is all about. Interchanging "root" translations of words and terms creating linquistic loopholes to support any doctrine one desired. Real evil genius stuff.

  In the case of 1 Timothy 6 I don't think Paul was studied up on Freud if you catch my drift. Calling any group of people mentally diseased back in that day wouldn't amount to anything more than an emotional outburst in reaction to something not well understood. Is that what Christian's are supposed to do? Call people, who they as define false teachers, as crackpots? Their leader is surely doing just that while writing that verse is he not? Or is he just pointing out the fact that it always ends in tears and there fore is "unhealthy" because of cause and effect rather than some biological defect.

  Nevertheless you're blog's tone heavily favors the Watchtower as some "innocent bystander" and that is slightly amusing, but mostly deplorable. You paint the aggressor as the victim which is a warped take on reality and ultimately fallacious and possibly destructive.

  -Sab
• 

  Quendi

  I'll give Teary Oblivion this much: at least he doesn't suffer from the verbal diarrhea that his brother-in-Christ, djeggnogg has. Besides that, there is no difference in the substance of their offerings even if the style isn't the same.

  The decision to publish two versions of The Watchtower did this much for me and other observers. We didn't have to pull the sheep's covering off these false prophets. They did that themselves. Anyone who is impartial can see the WTS and its leaders as the ravenous wolves they truly are. Jesus went on to say about such false teachers that they couldn't bear good fruit and would eventually get cut down and thrown into the fire. Teary Oblivion and others of like mind should reflect on that. The WTS has used ad hominem attacks, specious reasoning and deception for decades to mislead others. But at last people are beginning to free themselves in pursuit of the real life. It is no wonder that WTS reaction has been so strong and hateful language is appearing in its publications.

  Quendi
• 

  Teary Oberon

  Funny. Teary was thinking the exact same thing about your post sabastious:

  "Nevertheless you're post's tone heavily favors the disgruntled ex-Witness as some "innocent bystander" and that is slightly amusing, but mostly deplorable. You paint the aggressor as the victim which is a warped take on reality and ultimately fallacious and possibly destructive."

  p.s., It is not a translator's place to deliberately change the meaning and tone of a text simply for the sake of being PC, anymore than it is a Supreme Court Justice's place to ignore the U.S. Constitution for the sake of pandering to a special or political interest. If you don't like the properly translated text, then don't read it.

  4. Doting. "Doting" is the present participle of noseo (only here in the NT). Literally the verb means "to be sick." In classical Greek it was used metaphorically for mental illness. Thayer says that here it means "to be taken with such an interest in a thing as amounts to a disease, to have a morbid fondness for" (p.429). Arndt and Gingrich suggest the translation "have a morbid craving for" (cf. Goodspeed). White says of the person described here: "His disease is intellectual curiosity about trifles" (EGT, 4:141). -- Word Meanings in the New Testament, by Ralph Earle.
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  ziddina

  When one looks at past literature issued by the Watchtower Corporation, one can see that the 'craziness' has been there all along...

  Which reminds me - it's probably time [and then some!] for me to dig into those old "International Bible Students" books I've got...

  Talk about craziness....
• 

  punkofnice

  agonus - 'meet the new boss, same as tha old boss' that reminds me of the Who - 'Won't get fooled again'.........very appropriate!

  ziddina - Good idea.....watch to see what they do about counting the 'mentally imbalanced' 'anointed'!

  james woods - They'll still count! They're as obsessed with counting as that charachter from 'Sesame Street'......what was his name? Oh, yes...The Count!

  sebastious - (Don't hold your breath) Yes. The NWT is VERY bias toward the weirdness of Freddie!

  designs - Spot o comparison!

  ..............stands aside to observe Teary and the others 'discuss' things!

  Quendi - Teary 'OBLIVION'. Not wishing to insult Teary but this made me titter. I like to see a play on words.

  Ziddina - I love your costume. When I first saw it I mistook it for Kronos out of the 'Time Monster' Dr Who episodes.
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  ziddina

  "...I love your costume. When I first saw it I mistook it for Kronos out of the 'Time Monster' Dr Who episodes..."

  Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!

  This is totally OT, but since you mentioned it...

  Here's a larger version of that picture...

  And in profile...
• 

  sabastious

  Funny. Teary was thinking the exact same thing about your post sabastious: "Nevertheless you're post's tone heavily favors the disgruntled ex-Witness as some "innocent bystander" and that is slightly amusing, but mostly deplorable. You paint the aggressor as the victim which is a warped take on reality and ultimately fallacious and possibly destructive."

  I can clearly define who the Watchtower is and why they are destructive. You, on the other hand, have no clear definition as to what an "EXJW" is. That is because EXJW's are real people and real people cannot be classifed as they are each individually unique. If you want to continue to paint the Watchtower as the victims and the ex Witnesses as the nameless perpatrators feel free, you are no threat at all, and actually you help the cause.

  -Sab