The title of this thread is of course, a parody of the WTS book: “What does the Bible really teach?” Not that the Witnesses really know…. And this is the problem….
I’m just amazed at the people coming to this forum from the Witnesses who have no idea what is fact and what is fiction in the Bible, so we are having discussions about talking snakes and Noah’s Ark; all the weird and wonderful stories written down by the Jewish scribes all those millennia ago. It doesn’t seem to matter how long someone has been a Witness, or what position they have attained in the Borg- their knowledge of common Bible scholarship seems to be nil. I will admit to being equally ignorant when I joined this forum, so I can’t throw any stones….
For many decades, Bible research, Bible archaeology and Higher Criticism have been exploring the boundary between fact and fiction in the Bible, and there is a huge body of work that can be examined, compared and verified- but this mainstream knowledge is leading people to different conclusions than the Watchtower’s literal view of the Bible as ‘inspired’ and factual history.
Of course, part of the indoctrination into the Witness religion is the belief that true knowledge of the Bible isn’t widespread or common; it can only be found in Brooklyn, in the minds of the mysterious ‘faithful and discreet slave’. But really, what is the nature of knowledge and information? It can’t be contained, and quickly becomes widespread, and can be accepted and understood by everyone.
So this is just a plea to people coming to this forum: there is information available; books that can be trusted written by people like John Shelby Spong, Burton L. Mack, Elaine Pagels, John Dominic Crossan among others. Wikipedia also has many pages of Bible subjects, and is accurate enough to be quite useful. The real story of the Bible is far more interesting that the Watchtower Society will ever let you know….
Rant over.
