Correct me if I am wrong but I think elitists tend to think they are better than everyone else.
Is that what I meant?
Finally
by Old Goat 19 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Old Goat
No, not what you meant. Do they think they're better than anyone else? I don't get that from the book or from interacting with the authors. They're professionals. They teach history, write history. Would you have them repeat the mistakes of others just to be polite? Correcting a mistake does not mean they think they're superior.
What I see in their book is a research standard few meet when dealing with Russell and similar topics. The level of accuracy is astounding. I taught history for years. There are few writers on Witness related topics that come close to Schulz and de Vienne. An adiquate vocabulary does not mean one is elitist. It means they're educated.
Dr. de Vienne writes in her introduction (both authors wrote introductory essays):
Theologically I’m a skeptical believer. I approach historical research in the same way, which means I question everything including commonly believed “facts.” Many of those proved absolutely true. Some proved false. As you explore this first volume of A Separate Identity you will encounter the familiar and the new.
The men and women in this story, long dead though they are, produced an emotional response. I came to like some of them. Some of them are remarkably distasteful, mean spirited and delusional. No historian writes an impartial history. But we have written to the full measure of our ability an accurate one. Despite our best efforts, we have probably made some errors of fact. We hope not, but given the depth and complexity of this research – and the newness of some of it – it seems inevitable that we got something wrong. It won’t hurt my feelings if someone points out a flaw, but I expect proof, not mere opinion. I expect critics to be as competent as we are, and I hold them to the same standards of historical research we manifest here.
I've read the book three times. This is a subject that I know well. I became a Witness in the late 1940s, and I started researching Witness and Bible Student history in 1955 when a Watchtower series on Witness history was published. I am left with some questions, but I haven't found anything I see as inaccurate. All my questions concern things that are probably unknowable.
I read a lot of history. Many history books are boring. This one held my interest on two grounds. I think it's well written. And I'm interested in the subject matter. I don't see it as 'elitist,' but they're writing with a vocabluarly that is familiar to me. Most things written about Russell are excrementious. (yes, i just called them that.) It's refreshing to have someone write with a dedication to accuracy.
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scary21
Marked. Sounds like something I will want to add to my library. Thanks
Sherry
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being without name
I've just ordered the e-version.
From what you've said, I expect it to be perfectly researched, error-free and well set-out.
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Old Goat
they have an ebook version? not as far as i know. did you order the nelson barbour book instead?
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Old Goat
A quick check shows only a print version of A Seperate Identity. Their earlier book, Nelson Barbour: The Millennium's Forgotten Prophet, is available as an ebook.
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being without name
Received my copy.
Shame about the cover - the bottom header has been chopped off. There appears to be a lot of white space and the Index is in Volume Two! The chapter headings are not correctly formatted, but apart from this, all looks good. Now to read it.......
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Old Goat
de vienne posted about the problems. they seem to be fixed except for the cover.
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EdenOne
Can someone please provide a link for the e-book version (when and if it becomes available) ?
Eden
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Quendi
An unvarnished version of the history of the Watchtower Society's earliest days is sorely needed. Not for the converted rank-and-file Witness who wouldn't touch the book with a ten-foot pole, but for us refugees and others who are interested in how this movement evolved from its relatively simple beginnings in post-Civil War America into the Orwellian monolith it is today. For me, it would amply confirm my decision to never set foot in a Kingdom Hall or otherwise to have anything to do with Jehovah's Witnesses again. I am not looking for reasons to hate the WTS. Rather I think that knowing how my ignorance of its founders' histories enabled me to be so completely deceived. That can serve as a good warning about involvement in other movements, be they secular or religious, that are not honest about their origins and motives. Thanks for sharing this. I am looking forward to reading a copy for myself.
Quendi