Basic Bible and Religious Vocabulary the Watchtower Never Teaches

by CalebInFloroda 62 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Phizzy

  It could be that Caleb is using the term catholic in its sense of universal, rather than an "ism".

  Certainly it seems that the christians started two or more decades before Paul's Epistles, and it seems as though there were several factions or groups, and several differing kinds of christian belief, even in these early days, yet it was the start of a movement which became worldwide or "catholic" with a small "c".

  Calebs main point in his post above is a shocker to JW's who have never considered it, that the faith came first, long before their Bible.
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  kepler

  Interesting discussion on the 20 notions, to which I can not really add that much.

  But along the same lines, I would like to suggest a 21st and 22nd. And I don't mean to close the topic at that number if anyone would want to add a 23rd, 24th or n. But here goes:

  A hypothesis is either the origin of a theory or pursuit of the consequences of exploring it results in one, maybe more. Considering that so much of JW and Evangelistic application of the Bible is prophetic in an emphatic sense ( e.g., chunking the VHF/UHF digital channels and listening for a moment to TV evangelists or reading a WT), then it might be worth while to reflect on the fact that prophesies or predictions are based on hypotheses either of reading a text or observing nature. In nature, if we were to watch the sun and moon change position for a number of years against the background of fixed stars, we could either come up with hypotheses or theories and predict an eclipse, We could have a hypothesis that the they would collide ( sun and moon equal size at equal distance) or one will pass in front of the other ( sun behind moon or moon behind sun). When one or the other occurs, certain hypotheses are eliminated and we are also no longer dealing with predictions ( prophecies) because the event has come to pass.

  So, where am I leading with all this:

  21, The Documentary Hypothesis.

  22. Post dated or ex eventu descriptions

  On this last one a hint and citation: Isaiah 14:22:23 which figured prominently in the "What the Bible Really Teaches" pamphlet that I was asked to study. I did. So far as I could tell, the event happened all right, but it was during Isaiah's lifetime, undertaken by Sennacherib, a hundred and fifty years before the era in which I was supposed to believe it had happed ( via Cyrus) and had not.
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  TheWonderofYou

  I like this thread,

  paradisebeauty: The name "catolic" was used much earlier

  wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_term_%22Catholic%22

  The earliest recorded evidence of the use of the term "Catholic Church" is the Letter to the Smyrnaeans that Ignatius of Antioch wrote in about 107 to Christians in Smyrna. Exhorting Christians to remain closely united with their bishop, he wrote: "Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church."[11][12][13]
  
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  CalebInFloroda

  To help people understand what I mean (and yes, most of you are correct), I am referring to non-Gnostic Christianity, which went by the Greek self-description of KATHOLICOS, which means "universal; all-inclusive." It describes the movement which eventually split into Western and Eastern parts, the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church.

  That is why I described it originally with the "Catholicism/Orthodoxy" label, and I was speaking of what grew into this movement. I will be careful not to do that in the context of this board in the future because for a moment I forgot that some words can mean different things to exJWs. My bad!
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  FayeDunaway

  Very nice thread Caleb. I was going to add eschatology to your list but you added it later! I never heard that term as a witness, which is ironic, because witnesses are so obsessed with end-times!

  Regarding the hope of living on earth after heaven, it's definitely not just catholic and fringe religions who believe this. My mainline Protestant church teaches this.
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  CalebInFloroda

  @paradisebeauty

  You are correct. "Roman" Catholicism began when it was recognized as the official state religion.

  But the term "Catholic" goes back to the year 108 C.E. when Ignatius coined it to counter the Gnostic threat. Gnosticism teaches that salvific truth comes only to a select group of enlightened persons (and those they deign to teach in their ways). "Catholic" Christianity by comparison teaches that salvation is open to all, despite position in life, and that revelation or enlightenment is not limited to a select few.
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  CalebInFloroda

  @FayeDunaway

  Oh yes. I know of several Pentecostal movements for example who look forward to a restored earth.
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  CalebInFloroda

  @kepler

  Those are good ones too. I am sure we can all add to the list things that are quite basic but vital to fundamental study of Scripture and religion in general. I think it would be good if we just kept adding to the list and marking the definition down so that others still in the JW religion can see that there exists a marked difference between what they learn and the reality of what is real study and research.
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  FayeDunaway

  I am SO not Pentecostal.
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  CalebInFloroda

  Don't worry, FayeDunaway. I was just making an example.