Meaningful Study

by Awake at last 29 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Magnum

  rebel8-

  I agree with in principle with what you're saying, and I especially think that would be true if we were sure which translation(s) was(were) accurate and which books were really inspired (if any) and should have been included in the canon. However I haven't made a decision yet as to whether I believe the Bible is true, and if so, which translation(s) is(are) best, which books should be canonical, etc.  So I feel I need to do some outside reading and analyze the opinions and research of others.

  Also, sometimes, because the Bible was written in languages that are now dead and different cultures and historical settings, I feel the need to read material that will help me to understand parts of the Bible that I couldn't otherwise understand without reading in the original languages and knowing the different cultures, situations, etc. that existed at the time of writing. For example, could one really understand the New Testament if he didn't know something about Roman and Jewish history?

  I think what you're saying would be true if we had a document written to us by a god in our own language in our own day - in a culture and setting we're familiar with.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
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  Awake at last

  Rebel8 I understand what you are saying but that was the idea of checking very carefully each scripture quoted, not just taking his word for it.  Also the study questions that the WTBTS use draw the readers attention to what they want whereas no questions make the reader analyse the whole article and not participate in a mindless question and answer underling session.

  Some of us need some guidance but also need to develop our own thinking skills too.  I am not just taking everything at face value anymore.  I have read enough since fading to realise that everything needs to be picked apart and checked properly now and I hope that is what I am on the road to doing.
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  FayeDunaway

  Rebel8, it can be important for ex witnesses to use commentaries, or they maybe can't get past witness propaganda and twists out of their heads. In other situations I would agree with you that the bible can stand alone!! But these witness associations are pervasive. 

  Once I had to write a talk and it was one of those without any source material. I couldn't find anything, so googled info on the scripture! I felt bad doing this at the time, you weren't supposed to read anything from other religions! But I found a beautiful commentary that sparked the first truly Christian thoughts I had ever had, made me so grateful for the sacrifice Jesus made for us. That talk was the best one I had ever written, and it was'nt too long before I was out of the religion. It was in the back room, second school, but I hope someone was touched by the info as I was! 
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  FadeToBlack

  I could be wrong, but I believe most of the responders to Rebel8's post missed her point. I read it completely differently. Try reading it again with an 'open' mind. Myabe it was just me. I will read it again...
  
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  rebel8

  When I began to realize TTATT, I read the bible in its entirety without using any outside resources.

  I discovered, a few chapters in, that it was pure poppycock. I kept going and telling myself I was wrong. By the time I finished Revelation, I thought it was madness.

  So I started over, because I thought for sure I was wrong. And I couldn't help but come to the same difficult conclusion. Not only must my cult affiliation end--along with all my friendships and some familial relationships--but so must my belief in that evil book.

  I so wanted to believe. It would have been easier.  Had I sought out the interpretation of others, I may have ended up on a different, wrong path. I'm so glad I didn't.
  

  It is full of factual and historical inaccuracies, and many of the things churches preach against (violence, rape, bigotry and meanness). 

  Reading it by itself helps remove those blinders.

  I'm sorry but I do not buy the need to understand historical context. This is a timeless, omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent god who could effortlessly inspire a literary work that would be understood by his true followers without need for understanding ancient cultures. Such a work would be believable by us today, awe-inspiring and breathtaking.

  To each, his own, but that's my $.02.

  Reading the bible in entirety by myself was one of the most freeing, therapeutic things I've ever done.
  
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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  How did you find the Orgs way of studying?  Effective or not effective?

  It's the mental equivalent of "busy work". They call it "study", but it isn't really an intellectual activity. It's actually mind-numbing that allows for only one way of thinking. It's just a review of exactly what is printed right in front of you. No need to think, reason, or debate. No problem-solving skills required. And no room for opinion or originality! The only acceptable answer is right there like low-hanging fruit. Then when you say exactly what's in the paragraph, the conductor says, "Yes, very good! You're so smart and making such wonderful spiritual progress!"

  So it's as effective as a cult gets!

  For the sake of anyone that has forgotten what a WT "study" is like, here's a reminder:

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeidZmxHLiY
  
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  smiddy

  Awake at Last

  Does the bible mean what it says. ?

  Does the bible say what it means.?

  Think seriously about those two questions , then ask yourself how is  it possible that their are more than 40,000 different christian sects operating today.

  Amen to what rebel8 said above.

  smiddy
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  mikeypants

  Billy, that video is hilarious. I'm watching it at the gym and almost fell off the treadmill. That opening song was one I always thought was so funny. Thanks for laugh!
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  Trailer Park Pioneer

  
  

  There are thousands of sects of Christian Churches but they all don't claim to have the "Real Truth and Infallibility" the Watchtower Organization trained us to believe they had.  Why is it you can have fifty different Christian sects agreeing each person probably will be Saved if they apply Jesus Christ's Words while some like the Watchtower claim "Jehovah is our Author of the Watchtower and Awake" and "all other religions are going to be destroyed!".  Not every religion teaches they are the 'one and only true religion", usually that's left to Cults!

  
  

  The more I talk with different Christians they emphasize  "Grace" while High-Group-Mind Control religious businessmen, they teach "Anxiety, Fear, Guilt and Works-Works-Works".   WTS said "What have you done for the Group Today?"  There may be 40,000 different sects but the majority don't accuse you of being Apostates!
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  jhine

  Rebel8 ,

  the whole point of what I said was that most ,if not all of the so called innacuracies are easily explained . If you take the time to look into them . Also much of the hard to read stuff where we see genocide etc is not what it appears when understood in the right way . Again often mistranslation (and more accurate translation of certain words is available all the time ) and a misunderstanding of the ways of the time are often to blame . 

  A crude example being , someone a thousand years from now reading a newspaper article about a boxing match may read that one boxer "slaughtered " another . They could conclude that boxing was a fight to the death ! If they took the time to look into the subject they would realise that a figure of speach was being used . 

  That is why I suggested using online or printed help . Not someone's interpretation of Scripture , that is a different thing , just help from people with the education and experience to help with the understanding of language and customs .