Basic Bible and Religious Vocabulary the Watchtower Never Teaches

by CalebInFloroda 62 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • CalebInFloroda
    CalebInFloroda

    Pretty interesting that most of us who know at least some of these words also admit we didn't learn them at all when under the dark shadows of the Watchtower. I know that I was truly ignorant.

    Here are the first five words and their definitions. The first is probably the most important of all the words on the list.

    1. Liturgy

    If it were not for Jewish and Catholic/Orthodox liturgy, there would be no Bible--that is how important this word is.

    The "liturgy" consists of the formal acts of worship of these religions, including their ritual and (most important of all) the materials they read and sang from. In Temple and later synagogue liturgy the worship sessions were based on a yearly calendar marking out the historical experiences of Israel, reading from ancient texts that described the events from what is now known as Torah and the other writings of the Hebrew Scriptures. Their official book of hymns and prayers were collected as the Psalms.

    When Christians began their worship services, these were based on the only ones they knew, namely the Jewish synagogue service. Along with readings from the Hebrew Scriptures the Christians added readings from the apostles. Christians adopted the Jewish collection of Psalms as their official hymnal and prayer book.

    When the question of settling the New Testament canon arose, Church authorities made their final call based on what the majority of churches read in liturgy. Judaism's Hebrew Bible is also developed from this model based on liturgy. If you ever wondered why the Bible doesn't have a detailed explanation of how to hold a worship service, it is because the canons grew out of the worship services themselves: liturgy.

    To this day you can tell which religions are historically and legitimately connected to the past because they are "liturgical"--following a yearly or three year cycle in which to read the canon of texts in formal proclamation which acts as the theme for the service of the day. By the late 20th century this fact became so profoundly understood that most Protestant churches adapted the Roman Catholic liturgical reading cycle and calendar for holy days. To this day the official prayer book of Catholics is the Psalms, which are prayed daily on a rotating cycle of weeks by clergy and layperson alike.

    Litrugy is responsible for the canon that the JWs cherish.

    2. Exegesis

    Everyone's got their interpretation of Scripture, right? But not everyone can supply "exegesis." That's because exegesis is a critical interpretation of Scripture, based on critical methods of analysis and examination. An exegesis of Scripture works much like a scientific theory. You can examine exegesis, test it, and see if it produces the same results to verify it. Like science theory exegesis is generally accepted critical Bible theory, validated and tested. The word seems to be getting around however and people on the Internet are beginning to apply it to all types of Bible and personal interpretation, but that isn't what true exegesis is.

    The Watchtower doesn't employ critical methods or approves of their being subjected to them since it requires the step of independent validation. As such no exegesis comes from the religion of the JWs.

    3. Psalter

    As mentioned above, the official hymns and prayers of both Judaism and liturgical Christianity are the Psalms. As such they often get printed alone in a collection designed for prayer and chanting use, known as "Psalters." They generally contain a liturgical calendar (what day to pray, sing or chant a particular psalm), as well as contain material such as lists and stories of saints. Psalters ancient and modern confirm the canonization of the psalms and help in assuring accuracy in translation.

    Of course the religion of the JWs does not employ a Psalter. They read the Psalms as if they are dry texts meant to be examined and use a "song book" of non-inspired songs. It is also against Watchtower rules to use and repeat written prayers in JW worship even though this is how the Psalms have been employed for centuries.

    4. Doublet

    The Watchtower often states that it is an ancient Hebrew technique to write a story and then repeat it again. This is, like so much they teach, very wrong.

    Ever wonder why there are two creation stories or why one story of Noah has him bring pairs of animals into the ark and another has him bringing seven pairs each of every species? What you are reading is called a "doublet."

    Doublets are signs that the Bible books were composed of various traditions, sometimes conflicting ones, and that redactors of the text could not decide which was the true one. So both were placed side-by-side in the narrative flow. There are even "triplets" and "quadruplets" in some texts. Scholars see in these the editorial process that shaped the Bible.

    Unlike the JWs who claim this is "just the way the ancient Hebrew wrote," it is actually more telling that the ancients wrote in a linear and logical fashion and were so respectful of their traditional heritage that they dare not exclude stories on the basis of contradictory details. So eventually all stories found their way beside other traditions. This even shows that it is very likely that the authors and editors didn't see the material as a literal narrative, otherwise they would never have allowed doublets.

    5. Shem Ha-M'forash

    Also known as the Shem Ha-Meyuhad, the Shem Ha-M'forash is the Jewish expression for what you proabably know as...the Tetragrammaton.
  • CalebInFloroda
    CalebInFloroda

    @John Aquila

    Regarding your question about Ecclesiasticus, since I am going down the list right now, but pausing after each five to all people to digest it all, I can only quote the Wicked Witch of the West:

    "All in good time, my pretty. All in good time."

  • John Aquila
    John Aquila
    I can only quote the Wicked Witch of the West:

    "All in good time, my pretty. All in good time."

    Lol, it took a while to get that, I thought it was some type of revelation.

  • CalebInFloroda
    CalebInFloroda

    And the list continues...

    6. Hasmonean

    I never understood how the Watchtower would admit that Jesus celebrated the Festival of Lights (Chanukkah) but still teach that it was wrong to observe holidays. Chanukkah is not a holy day from the Mosaic Law but came from later history, observing the rededication of the Temple after Hellenists attempted to turn it into a heathen place of worship.

    It was the Maccabees or the "Hasmonean" dynasty that rose to power due to this family being central to these liberating events. The descendants of the ruling House of David are said to have partially returned to Jerusalem by this time with some refusing to return from their settled placed of Seferad (Spain) once the Hasmoneans became the ruling class.

    The events of the Maccabean period are preserved in 1 Maccabees with general religious interpretations and teaching that stem from this era found in the other books of Maccabees. The Hasmonean dynasty ruled amid Seleucid intrigue between circa 140 through 116 B.C.E.

    7. Proto-Masoretic

    Hebrew Bible texts produced by copyists before the Masoretes of the Common Era are called "proto-Masoretic." The Dead Sea Scrolls are proto-Masoretic.

    8. Divine Office

    The official daily prayers of the Catholic Church, divided into five to seven times to pray marking the hours of the day such as sunrise, noon, sunset, etc., is known as the Divine Office. It consists of praying the Psalms over a period of four weeks until each of the Psalms has been prayed at least once. Selected readings from the Old and New Testsment as well as from the Church Fathers, Saints, and doctors of the Church are included.

    Known today as "The Liturgy of the Hours," it is based on the ancient Jewish practice of praying at select times sanctifying the day. Psalters were created as the basis for both liturgical practices and is generally viewed as the prayer of the people, clergy and lay persons, rabbis and people.

    Canonization of Scripture was intended mainly for liturgical purposes, and most people through the centuries have had their only exposure to the Scriptural tradition through such liturgy.

    Catholics who pray the Divine Office will read more Scripture in a day than Witnesses read in a week, maybe a month.

    9. Lectionary

    The readings used for Christian worship such as in a Mass are divided into readings prepared according to days on the Litrugical Calendar. This collection of readings is known as a "Lectionary." More people in history have been exposed to Scripture from Lectionary readings than from reading directly from a Bible.

    Personal Bible ownership was not a common phenomenon until the 19th century.

    10. Nova Vulgata

    The Nova Vulgata (a.k.a. Neo-Vulgate) is the current critically developed Latin translation of the Scriptures employed by the Roman Catholic Church. Published in 1979 it replaced the Vulgate as the official Latin text.

    The Watchtower often makes mistakes in discussing the Latin text, confusing quotes and stats between the Vulgate and the Neo-Vulgate.

  • CalebInFloroda
    CalebInFloroda

    And because you've all been so patient, here's the rest:

    11. Sacramentality

    The belief that something physical can impart a charism or grace from G-d. The shadow of Peter (Acts 5.15) and the miraculous events that came from cloths taken from Paul (Acts 19.12) and even the resurrection of a dead body that merely touched the bones of the dead prophet Elisha (2 Kings 13.21)are Biblical examples of sacramentality.

    The formal acts of Holy Communion, Baptism, Reconciliation, etc. in the Catholic Church are known as “the Sacraments” because Catholics believe these acts or objects used in the acts impart similar graces or charisms.

    12. Relic

    A memento or corpse (or even parts of one) of a saint or martyr esteemed and venerated because of the association with said person. The veneration stems from a belief in sacramentality (see no. 11 above).

    13. Sola Scriptura

    The Protestant Christian doctrine that the Bible is the supreme authority in all matters of doctrine and practice (faith).

    It should be noted that neither Judaism nor Catholicism/Orthodox Christianity can adopt this belief since their religious systems were alive and well before the Biblical texts were written and the canon defined. The liturgy of these religions actually helped settled the questions regarding inspiration and canonicity, and authorities from these groups set the canon.

    In light of this “sola scriptura” is actually a logistical paradox as it requires accepting a canon based not on Biblical authority but shaped by the Magisterium and patriarchal heads of Catholicism and Orthodoxy, not to mention century upon century of Jewish tradition.

    13. The difference between "everlasting life" and "eternal life"

    The Jehovah’s Witnesses tend to use the phrase “everlasting life” due to the belief that G-d experiences the unfolding of time and history as we do.

    However both Judaism and Christianity view G-d as the creator of the space-time continuum, and as such G-d is not subject to the confines of either space or time. The type of life experienced by G-d in Judeo-Christian theology is “eternal” meaning one that is not affected by time with its “beginning, middle, and end.” In this theological paradigm G-d has no beginning because G-d is eternal and thus incapable of having a beginning or end.

    While JWs see “everlasting life” as the hope held out in Scripture, it is actually “eternal life” or life with G-d, be it in Heaven or on an earthly plane. (Compare John 17.3 where the NWT uses “everlasting life” but the NRSV uses “eternal life.”) Whereas the JW definition is based on the belief that G-d is obsessed with time and time-prophecies and is thus subject to time, Judeo-Christianity sees G-d as transcending time.

    “Everlasting life” is a self-centered definition whereas as “eternal life” is one based on being with G-d and enjoying life as G-d does. “Everlasting life” is about having life without death whereas “eternal life” is “sharing in the divine nature” as mentioned in 2 Peter 1.4

    14. Temporal

    Existence in the time-space continuum. It should be noted that Jews and Christians believed time and space have always been relative in that these are not experienced on the plane in which G-d dwells. The opposite of the “temporal” plane is “eternity.”

    JWs, while not believing G-d exists in the physical universe, still believe that G-d exists on the temporal plane.

    15. The Divine Comedy

    I once had a friend who believed that Dante’s Inferno was a painting hanging in an art museum. I have discovered that many JWs have similar beliefs about Dante’s Inferno.

    The idea of demons and devils tormenting people in a hell of never-ending fire are imaginative fictions which come mainly from a poem by Dante Alighieri (died 1321), known as “The Divine Comedy.” These images are caricatures loosely based on Catholic doctrine, but not Catholic doctrine per se.

    While it is true that Catholics did their part in creating horrific descriptions of the pains of hell, most of the fodder used by the Watchtower against the Catholic doctrine is actually based on the caricatures found in the Inferno as described by Dante in this poem. Catholic doctrine does not teach that the hellfire is literal fire (well, at least not anymore), but JW literature often portrays this as the popular belief among Catholics. In this the Watchtower is about 7 centuries behind in the times.

    16. Illumination

    The art of lavishly decorating and illustrated pages of Bibles and other religious books, usually by turning the actual letters of the text into the art itself. Illustrative drop caps and the addition of gold leaf is an earmark of these works of devotion, often found these days only in museums.

    However the latest illuminated manuscript is the St. John’s Bible which has reproduced the entire text of the NRSV and is currently available in whole or in part for purchase.

    17. Explain the difference between "uncial" and "cursive"

    Greek manuscripts were originally written in all capitals or “uncials.” A “cursive” Greek text is that which you would find in an interlinear Greek Bible which has both capital and lower case Greek type.

    18. Terse

    Hebrew words have layered meanings, which is what the word “terse” means. For instance, Genesis 1.1 that is traditionally rendered as “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” actually reads “when God created the heavens and earth.” The “in the beginning” part comes from the terse meaning that “bereshit” the first word of Genesis has. The terse meanings are “starting at the peak, as if at the tip of a mountain, at the outset, the beginning,” even though the words “in the beginning” aren’t really there.

    19. Explain the importance the book of Ecclesiasticus played in Christian history

    Yes, “Ecclesiasticus,” the book from the Apocrypha and not “Ecclesiastes” the book supposedly written by Solomon.

    Generally referred to today as the Book of Sirach or Ben Sira, it was known as “Liber Ecclesiasticus,” meaning “Church Book,” appended to some Greek and Latin manuscripts because of the extensive use the early Christian church made of this book in presenting moral teaching to catechumens and the faithful in general.

    While most Christians never owned their own personal Bibles until the 19th century, the Wisdom of Ben sera was often the only text actually exposed to the earliest Christians. It introduced Gentile Christians to Jewish wisdom and manners which helped to make both groups more at ease with one another as they joined in early Christian days.

    20. Explain difference between a Bible "translation" vs. "version"

    None.

    I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard a JW spout the idiotic statement: “The New World Translation is different from other Bibles because it’s a translation and not a version.” I knew enough back then to argue this point every time I heard it or the other: “Translations are better than versions.”

    The words are merely synonyms. Bible translations come in various versions, such as the NWT, the NRSV, the NIV, the KJV, the NABRE, the NJPS, etc.

    It made me so aggravated to hear this over and over, from the platform, from elders, from publishers out in the field teaching others. It was one of those things that kept me from falling asleep and drinking the Kool-Aid 100% while I was there among the other Kingdom Hall heads.

  • John Aquila
    John Aquila

    Hey Caleb, thanks for this information, I can sure use it.

    BTW I want to go back to Kansas now.

  • paradisebeauty
    paradisebeauty

    Caleb,

    love your posts! Thank you for this info.

    On religious vocabulary. I recently realised the true christian hope is the heavenly one. And that the ones going to heaven will come back on earth when Jesus does and will reign / administer the earth for 1000 years under Jesus' Kingship.

    I think those people will be somehow transformed and have a "glorified" body. A body similar to the one Jesus had after resurrection.

    I find it difficul to express my new found beliefs. JW's vocabulary does not include so many words and expressions for the heavenly hope, for what happens to peple baptised with the holy spirit ...

    I know there are denominations who believe what I do now, I suppose I'll have to start reading their materials to find my words.

  • CalebInFloroda
    CalebInFloroda

    @paradisebeauty

    Here's some new vocabulary for you.

    You are describing a form of "premillennialism," and the "glorified" body hope is the general and traditional view of the "resurrection" accepted by Catholics, Orthodox, and most Protestants.

    A few points may differ between individuals regarding the 1000-year reign among premillennialists and those who embrace traditional Christian resurrection, but you are definitely in the ballpark of mainstream theology where there are actual terms and fields of study embracing your particular "eschatology."

  • John Aquila
    John Aquila
    Caleb, I know you showed us that the Catholics officially teach a New Earth which I wasn't aware of, but do the Protestants officially teach a New Earth as well? In other words do they take the Lords prayer literally, "Thy Kingdom Come thy will be done on "Earth" as it is in Heaven?
  • Phizzy
    Phizzy

    Thanks again Caleb, most instructive. Just one small quibble, based I must say on hearsay and supposition rather than solid evidence.

    The JW contention that the NWT was a Translation has been disputed by some Posters on here and elsewhere. It is fairly certain that Frederick Franz had no scholarly knowledge of the original languages of sufficient calibre as to be able to translate. Rumour has it that he used a collection of other translations, and dictionaries and commentaries etc before deciding on his version.

    He was not as far as we know eclipsed by anyone of greater ability on the Translation Committee.

    This would mean that the NWT was not in fact a Translation, but more akin to a Paraphrase.

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