In the year 2003 (w03 5/15 pp. 27-29) The Watchtower analyzed the heretical views of Tatian, a christian of the second century, in an article entitled "Tatian—Apologist or Heretic?". Let's read some portions:
Consider, however, Tatian’s writing entitled On Perfection According to the Doctrine of the Savior. In this work he attributes matrimony to the Devil. Claiming that individuals would be tying their flesh to the perishable world through marriage, Tatian strongly condemns it.
Nevertheless, as far as I know, Joseph Rutherford forbidden marriage too, though he could have some affairs:
"...should the Jonadabs[the great crowd] now be encouraged to marry and rear children? No, is the answer, supported by the Scriptures......" (The Watchtower, November 1, 1938; "Fill the Earth", page 323)
Now let's go back to the Watchtower's article on Tatian (w03 5/15 pp. 27-29):
It appears that about 166 C.E., after the death of Justin Martyr, Tatian either founded or associated with an ascetic sect called the Encratites. Its adherents emphasized strict self-control and mastery of one’s body. They practiced an asceticism requiring abstinence from wine, marriage, and possessions.
A Lesson to Be Learned
Why did Tatian deviate so far from the Scriptures? Did he become “a forgetful hearer”? (James 1:23-25) Did Tatian fail to turn down false stories and thereby fall prey to human philosophy? (Colossians 2:8; 1 Timothy 4:7) Since the errors he subscribed to were so great, could some mental aberration be suspected?
Whatever the case, Tatian’s writings and example provide a glimpse of the religious climate of his day. They demonstrate how damaging the influence of worldly philosophy can be. May we take to heart the apostle Paul’s warning to turn away “from the empty speeches that violate what is holy and from the contradictions of the falsely called ‘knowledge.’”—1 Timothy 6:20.
Ok, so, according to the Watchtower, Tatian became an apostate after associating with an ascetic sect. It seems that the Watchtower knew this information from the second century church father Irenaeus , who said:
those who are called Encratites (self-controlled) preached against marriage.....They deny, too, the salvation of him who was first created. It is but lately, however, that this opinion has been invented among them. A certain man named Tatian first introduced the blasphemy. He was a hearer of Justin's, and as long as he continued with him he expressed no such views; but after his martyrdom he separated from the Church, and, excited and puffed up by the thought of being a teacher, as if he were superior to others, he composed his own peculiar type of doctrine. ("Against Heresies", Book I, Chapter 28)
Note that, according to Irenaeus, Tatian introduced the "blasphemous" view that Adam would not be saved by Christ's ransom. But is this not what Jehovah's Witnesses preach in their literature?.
On the other hand, the Watchtower has used a work of Tatian in order to defend the four Gospels:
Early in the history of Christianity, critics argued that the Gospels contradicted one another and thus their accounts could not be trusted. The Syrian writer Tatian (about 110-180 C.E.) came to the defense of the Gospels. He felt that any apparent contradictions would disappear if the Gospels were skillfully harmonized and blended into one account instead of four.
Tatian set about preparing such a harmony. It is not known whether his original was in Greek or in Syriac. Whatever the case, about 170 C.E., Tatian completed his work, known as the Diatessaron, a Greek word meaning “through [the] four.” Why should you be interested in this noninspired composition?
In the 19th century, critics began to promote the view that none of the Gospels were written before the middle of the second century C.E.; hence, they could have little historical value. Ancient manuscripts of the Diatessaron discovered since then, however, provide definitive evidence that the four Gospels—and only the four—were already well-known and accepted as a collection by the middle of the second century C.E.
Discovery of the Diatessaron and commentaries on it in Arabic, Armenian, Greek, and Latin led Bible scholar Sir Frederic Kenyon to write: “These discoveries finally disposed of any doubt as to what the Diatessaron was, and proved that by about A.D. 170 the four canonical Gospels held an undisputed pre-eminence over all other narratives of our Saviour’s life.” (w10 3/1 pp. 8-11, "Why You Can Trust the Biblical Gospels")
So, Interestingly, the Watchtower needs "heretical" christians to have evidences in favor to the four Gospels. Thus, it seems that the Christian God used apostates in the second century to defend the New Testament.
"TatianJW Apologist or a Heretic Witness?"
by opusdei1972 7 Replies latest watchtower bible
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opusdei1972
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designs
Saint Paul was a little herniated....
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lurkernomore
This just keeps getting better...!!! One of many great examples i've seen on here to show they use the same material to denounce on the one hand and then to build their case on the other. The same is true of their 607 BCE doctrine...... bloody hypocrites!!!
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NAVYTOWN
Once again, the BIBLE is the root of the problem!!! It's a 2000+ year old collection of fantasies from the writers' fevered imaginations. It's time we took back our personal responsibility for our lives instead of slavishly living according to some ancient Middle Eastern scribblings. Just stop reading the Bible and pay absolutely no attention to it. It's now the year 2014, not the first century. Come up to present time and live NOW, not in the past!!
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opusdei1972
The Bible is the source of the problem when we avoid to learn how unbiased scholars have disentangled some of its contradictions. We have to admit that the Bible is a set of books with different authors with different agendas. There is no god behind the books of the Bible.
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Splash
Tatian turned apostate. Therefore he gains the usual label from the WT of being mentally diseased
*** w03 5/15 p. 29 Tatian—Apologist or Heretic? ***
Why did Tatian deviate so far from the Scriptures? Did he become “a forgetful hearer”? (James 1:23-25) Did Tatian fail to turn down false stories and thereby fall prey to human philosophy? (Colossians 2:8; 1 Timothy 4:7) Since the errors he subscribed to were so great, could some mental aberration be suspected?Splash
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Phizzy
Well spotted Opus, and very interesting. This phrase by the WT stood out to me as an example of a half-truth :
" provide definitive evidence that the four Gospels—and only the four—were already well-known and accepted as a collection by the middle of the second century C.E."
Yes, they were well known, and the four have been found together (fragments of), but of course that does not prove that only four were accepted, especially by earlier christians, presumably less likely to accept dodgy gospels than those who came later.
JW/WT use a Bible Canon collected together and approved by those they would call Apostates, the New World Translation is therefore an Apostate Bible.
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Vidiot
opsudei1972 - "The Watchtower analyzed the heretical views of Tatian, a christian of the second century, in an article entitled 'Tatian—Apologist or Heretic?'."
"Apologist or Heretic?" Seriously???
Talk about one-sided.
It's like J. Jonah Jameson writing the headline "Spider-Man: Threat or Menace?"