The thing is.... as far as the Bible is concerned. Historically Critical Thinking should dictate ones interpretations in my opinion. That is, not reading more into the text than is there and appreciating what is going on at that point in time. Then you get ....that people were writing about events confronting them at thiis time in their lives or in their near future and not writing about symbolically relevent things to come in the distant future. As Ann said, many things were written even "post dated" so to speak, about events or people important to the early followers of Christ. Writers took on names of relevent people, wrote about the way things should be or could be, about the desire to enjoy religious freedom or cultural freedoms etc.. and so on.... Vat 4956 should be viewed as an indicator of a possibly accurate picture of history then, or at least a strong counter argument for the WT societies standalone theories on all of this, but does all this argumentation about Bible Cronology actually have meaning as far as 1914, 1975, or 120 years since 1914, or on and on and on??.... no way...as far as I can see. Yes the JW will say...yes but all the connecting prophesies and the mysterios connections between the books of the Bible all of this fits together as a big puzzle, and we have the TRUTH...What you have is a bunch of free labor and printing presses. If people just woriied about not shunning those who are different, or think freely, knowing their neighbors and helping strangers, being generous, avoiding violence unless required by rules of self preservation, and standing up for their principles maybe it would seem more like in their minds that the Kingdom was already here. sorry for any typos
A JW apologist writes about VAT 4956
by VM44 34 Replies latest watchtower bible
-
-
AnnOMaly
Aww shucks, guys.
The Saturnian Cosmology page made me want to do some googling. It turns out that the JW apologist in the OP is none other than T-wit who blogged the above in 2006! That means the quote from the ' one who thoroughly studied VAT 4956' pre-dates 2006. The Saturnian link looks like it has mirrored a page from the old internet days. One thing's for sure: the 'thorough' student of VAT 4956 is not a JW. He favors 538 BCE as the year of repatriation and 608 BCE as Jerusalem's fall (I hasten to add that I think he means the 597 BCE deportation). Many (if not all) his objections to the evidence have long been refuted.
-
friendaroonie
Basically he is sayig that it is 1914 that proves 607BC correct and not the other way around. They start with the premise that 1914 is an absolute date.
-
Crazyguy
I think like others have mentioned just throw back all the evidence that VAT does not show the date they want and then back up your statemennt and proofs with all the other data that proves 587, when one takes it all into account its hard for anyone thats thinking clearly to deny the obvious.
-
steve2
No matter how long-winded and convoluted the pro-JW apologetics is, it cannot make "true" something that is false. Next.
-
Dagney
Go git em Ann!! xx
-
thomasaquinas
Yes I have to agree Ann you have quite an array of information collected.
I am not saying I agree with it all but thanks for the reminders.
I've talked with Furuli a few times and others who have studied these tablets in person.
There is a German professor doing an interesting take on them right now.
Oh how we strive for truth, or strive to disprove others truths.
It is required I guess.
-
Jeffro
I haven't read all the responses, but after reading the apologist's comments about VAT 4956, it's clear that it was written prior to the Watch Tower Society's 'new light' claiming that the tablet's indication of Nebuchadnezzar's 37th year is actually accurate. Instead, the apologist relies on Watch Tower claims from the 1970s that it's an 'unreliable copy' (the apologist cites his source as "the Watchtower", but it was actually the Awake! of 8 May 1972). See also here.
-
JakeM2012
http://kristenfrihet.se/kf2/review.htm
Carl Olof Jonnson himself weighs in on VAT4956
-
AnnOMaly
Hey thomasaquinas, have we crossed paths elsewhere?
There is a German professor doing an interesting take on them right now.
Interesting. Please tell me more.
------
There has been a faint bell tinkling in the deepest recesses of my memory, so I did some more googling. Although I could not find the mirrored page (about astronomical dating) anywhere else on the 'net, the only one I could see who believes the 70 years run from 608 to 538 BCE is on bric.uk.com.
"The 70 years punishment began not in the 19th year of Nebuchadnezzar but in his 8th year (2 Kings 24:12). The punishment and subjugation to Babylon began when Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin and 10,000 the 'cream' of the nation captive into exile in 608 BC ending 70 years later when the angel wrote on the wall prescribed the overthrow of the Babylonians by Cyrus in 538."
The author's name wasn't to be found anywhere but I knew I'd come across his stuff before. Anyway, long story short, it turns out to be the work of an ex-JW from the UK called John Denton who predicts that Armageddon will happen in 2033.