Blatantly Stupid Contradiction

by The Searcher 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Bobcat

  Splash:

  Nice catch! I'm saying that with reference to my own intention of understanding the discussion in Romans 6.

  Incidentally, in the most recent NWT the brackets were taken out. In the previous edition and in the WT Library CD "his" is in brackets. (Often times a verb has no subject and a translation will insert a pronoun according to the inflection of the verb. Off hand, I'm not sure if that was the intention here [in the NWT] or if the intention was doctinal. I would venture to say, based on how the Society views the verse, that it is doctrinal. But I'm just conjecturing.)

  But either way, "his" changes the meaning of the argument in Romans 6. If you look at the context beginning in verse one, Paul is talking about "sin" in a general sense, as a principle ('sinfulness', as it were), not an individual's particular sins that he may have committed. And that fits well with the idea that "he that has died" is referring to a believer that has been baptized.

  Thanks again for the good eye.

  Take Care

  Edited to add:

  Just looking at the context and verse 7 again, I feel quite confident that "sin" in verse 7 is abstract, not, as you said, a particular history of sin. The article before "sin" is genetive, singular, feminine.
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  Ding

  The word "acquitted" is Freddy's.

  So far as I know, no other translation renders it "acquitted"; rather, they render it "freed from sin."

  I believe that the passage actually means that a person who has died has been freed from the control of the power of sin.

  That is, Romans 6 is teaching that a person who has repented of his sin and trusted in Christ to save him has been freed spiritually and is therefore no longer a captive to control of the power of sin (although he can still choose to sin).

  The passage has nothing to do with a person's death acquitting him from guilt.
• 

  Bobcat

  Ding:

  You said it more concisely than me. Thanks for your comments.
• 

  Bobcat

  Its amazing how taking a shower can clarify one's thoughts.

  Just to add to the discussion already:

  I think I see now how "he that has died has been acquitted of [his] sin." (NWT)

  It should read, "he that has died has been freed from sin." In other words, a person who has literally died has been set free from the effects that sinfulness has on him. ("Acquitted" is technically possible, but it obscures the point being made in 6:7.)

  Paul is talking about the believer who has been baptized. But the "For" statement in verse 7 sets out a truth that the believer benefits from. When a person has literally died he is no longer subject to sin's mastery over him. Of course, it goes without saying that literal death is not the optimum condition to be in. But the believer benefits from the fact that symbolically he has died when he gets baptized. His 'coming back to life' when he comes up out of the water represents a new life free from the domination of sin. (Although, as the context of Romans 6 shows, he is still capable of sin and of being re-mastered by sin, if he is not careful.

  Searcher:

  You say you are hoping to cause some to think. You have that effect on me for one.

  As for your "deceased relative," I wouldn't be too quick to write them off. A lot of what happens before the millenium is preparatory work. I'm thinking of Revelation 10:7, " . . .in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to blow his trumpet, the sacred secret of God according to the good news which he declared to his own slaves the prophets is indeed brought to a finish. . ."

  That seventh trumpet hasn't blown yet (despite what the Society says). Compare Revelation 16:17 which corresponds timewise.

  Edited to add:

  Sorry if I sound like a kid who has just discovered a candy store. But some of this represents a victory over decades of WT thought imprisonment.