Off the top of my head, I can't think of a specific publication that says "the truth" but it seems to be a term the rank and file use regularly.
???
Who came up with the phrase TTATT? When?
by dazed but not confused 44 Replies latest social current
-
-
dazed but not confused
Wasn't there a "The Truth" book? Like the Knowledge book?
-
Gypsy Sam
Yes, I don't know the exact year for the JW publication. Joy Castro's book "The Truth" I was based on it, as it was the study book when she was growing up. Incidentally, her book is a great read, if you haven't already checked it out. She wasn't baptized so I didn't feel too guilty reading her book first, when I was learning TTATT last year.
-
Nathan Natas
I think it was an old Jesuit Priest, Dean-o Martin-o, in 1467.
-
Apognophos
I was reading documents from 1917 the other day written by Rutherford and others that referred to the religion as "the Truth". I see uses of the term in Zion's Watch Tower from 1879 onward. But really, any numbers of believers would have used this expression over the years, because it's found in the Bible. See 2 Tim. 2:18 and 2 John 1:1 for two clear examples of referring to Christianity as "the truth".
As for "the truth about the truth", I can only really search the Internet for old records of the phrase, which isn't a precise way of tracing word origin and history, but perhaps it serves well enough for our purpose. My findings are that this is an expression first used by non-Witnesses, such as in the post-modern philosophy book The Truth about the Truth by Walt Anderson, copyright 1995.
In a JW context, the oldest hit on "the truth about the truth" that I can find is the post by Scorpion here on 2/16/01: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/2729/1/Grounds-for-Disfellowshipping. A close second is Moridin advertising his site by that name here on 2/18/01: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/2760/1/Need-Some-Help (we know it had that name based on his post here: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/2829/1/Newsletter). When you think about it, it's a fairly obvious play on words, so I doubt either of them were the first or the 100th to use it.
Now, finding the oldest occurrence of "TTATT" was a bit trickier, but so far it looks like it's here: http://www.jwstruggle.com/2011/10/finding-serenity-and-enduring-in-our-struggle-after-learning-the-truth-about-the-truth-ttatt/. Any older references are welcome if they can be found.
-
slimboyfat
I've been reading this forum since shortly after it began, and I don't remember the phrase being used years ago. I reckon TTATT is a relatively new expression, within the last couple of years. I am not terribly fond of it.
A favourite expression in the early years of this forum was The Borg. As a Star Trek fan that description of the Watchtower appealed to me.
-
slimboyfat
There was also a lot of allusion to the Matrix and taking the blue pill while remaining in the dubs or taking the red pill and waking up to reality.
-
dazed but not confused
Thanks Apognophos for the research. I kind of figured it was an evolved phrase.
Slim – I'm not particularly fond of the phrase either but it is affective getting the point across. I do like Borg. I’m a Star Trek TNG fan. Assimilate or die. “Resistance is futile.” It’s a fitting phrase.
Matrix too… RED pill BLUE pill is very fitting…. Down the rabbit hole…
-
joe134cd
I think it was ray franz
-
jgnat
It evolved somewhere in the past two years while I was living in the mountains.