But we are supposed to be "un-lettered and ordinary" anyway. Is supposed to be highly desirable.
lol
More of What the Watchtower Didn't Teach You
by CalebInFloroda 27 Replies latest watchtower bible
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Mephis
As a JW, I could answer no.10, and 3 of the 4 languages of no.1 and the second part of no.8. Excellent way to make a point for anyone willing to engage in a bit of thinking. My own realisation about how little I did know was triggered by having a relationship with a Church of England ordinand who would regularly take my 'bible knowledge' to pieces whenever I challenged her. She had the patience of the saint, thank goodness! -
CalebInFloroda
I just learned moments ago that I won’t be able to add the answers later tonight as planned, so I am posting them now. I have tried to provide the most up-to-date information and stay as nominal as possible (as there is always room for a little disagreement here and there in some of the details).
The answers are not meant to reflect my personal convictions, however, so keep that in mind if you find something you strongly disagree with (but feel free to post the alternative or additional information).
And here are the answers:
1. The Bible was written in four languages. Name all four and the two books which were both written using two.
The books of the Bible are written in ancient forms of Hebrew and Aramaic, Koine Greek, and Jewish (Septuagint) Greek.
There are two books in the canon that are composed in two of the four languages: Daniel, which is written in Hebrew with Aramaic sections transliterated via Hebrew characters, and Luke, which is written in Koine Greek but stylistically lapses into Jewish Septuagint Greek from Luke 1.5 through the end of Luke chapter 2. This is the Infancy Narrative, and the author of Luke does this to make this part of his gospel read as if it were directly taken from or part of the Old Testament.
2. Explain how Mary Jones changed history regarding the Bible.
Ever see that illustration by the Jehovah’s Witnesses of first-century Christians preaching door-to-door with scrolls of Scripture to read to others? Or ever heard the preaching of the Good News throughout history described by the Witnesses in similar fashion? It’s an awesome scene to imagine, but it is only the product of imagination.
While some did own their own individual copy of Scripture, mass numbers owning a personal copy of the Bible is a modern phenomenon that owes its existence to a Welsh girl by the name of Mary Jones (1784-1864). Though brought up in a Methodist household, Mary, like most Christians up until her day, did not own a copy of the Bible. Unless you were rich or had access to your church on a regular basis, you could not read the Bible. There were just not enough copies to go around because they were so expensive to produce (not to mention the fact that illiteracy was the rule of thumb for many folk).
But Mary loved the Scriptures each time she heard them preached or taught, and this little girl wanted nothing more than her own Bible. At age 8, Mary became a Christian, and she took advantage of all the education on reading made available to her. She began saving her pennies until she could afford a Bible of her very own (which, again, was costly due to the difficulty involved in producing them). When Mary had enough money, she walked barefoot, 25 miles to the nearest town that sold them, only to end up dismayed and literally in tears when she learned that the Bible she wanted was no longer available.
While a Welsh Bible was eventually found for Mary, her story attracted the attention of Christian men in her area and inspired them to create the first non-profit organization in the world dedicated to the production and distribution of Bibles at cost or less in order that all persons of any class could own one. The organization, the first of its kind, was called the Religious Tract Society (founded in 1799), beginning the era where many followed suit to ensure that people anywhere in the world could own a copy of the Holy Scriptures.
While the first actual tract society was created in 1782, the Deutsche Christentumsgesellschaft, it was developed to create literature to “combat” atheism. The London Religious Tract Society was the first to realize that there was a need to publish Bibles in more than just English or Latin (or other major languages) and that affordable (or even free) editions were necessary. This would lead to the development of other Bible societies around the world, with the Religious Tract Society eventually changing its name to the British and Foreign Bible Society.
3. Place these New Testament canticles in order of their use during thei day by Christians, and state which book, chapter, and verse in which they appear: The Magnificat, the Nunc Dimittis, the Benedictus.
Inherited from the Jewish style of sanctifying the hours of the day by means of prayer, Christians began to do the same, borrowing words from texts which (often due to their use as prayer) would eventually make up the Christian canon.
Of the most important used to mark the day (outside of the Pater Noster) are those used to mark Morning, Evening, and Night prayers. Those said upon rising (Morning Prayer) end with a recitation of the Benedictus from Luke 1.68-80, with sundown (Evening Prayer) concluding with the Magnificat from Luke 1.46-55, and prayers before retiring adding the Nunc Dimittis found at Luke 2.29-32.
Catholics, Anglicans, and others often recite these canticles as part of their official daily ritual of formal prayer and have been doing so for probably as long as there have been Christians. The very preservation of these canticles for inclusion in the New Testament may even, in some cases, be due to this ancient daily practice.
4. Which book of the New Testament did Martin Luther want removed from the New Testament canon?
The Letter of James was believed by Luther to contradict the Letter to the Romans and Luther’s own theology of “salvation by grace alone.” Therefore Luther pushed to have it removed from the Lutheran canon, but to no avail.
His softening of his views would eventually lay the ground work for bringing an end to the doctrinal schism on salvation between the Catholic and Lutheran Churches with adoption by both groups of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in 1999.
5. What is the Christian equivalent of parashot?
The Christian equivalent of Jewish parashot is a pericope. They are formal divisions of Scripture set for reading on specific liturgical dates for religious services.
In Christianity, pericopes are usually preserved together as a Lectionary and often have incipits added to ensure proper setting for each pericope.
6. The Jewish canonization at the Council of Jamnia is historical or hypothetical? Explain.
The Council of Jamnia was a hypothetical example first introduced by Jewish historian Heinrich Graetz in 1871. It appears to have been popularized as fact mainly by its use as anti-Catholic propaganda by some non-Catholic Christian groups wishing to discredit the use of the Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha by “papists.” Whatever the reason for its elevation to “historical” status, the theory has been largely discredited since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
7. Historically speaking, which books were more popular among early Christians? The Protoevangelium of James and the Shepherd of Hermas or 2 Peter and the Revelation to John?
The Proteoevangelium of James and the Shepherd of Hermas appear to have enjoyed wide circulation among Christians before the canonization process took place. Once the canon was closed in the 4th century, 2 Peter and Revelation were among the least recognized and most unheard of among all the books selected.
8. The Apocrypha came to be widely removed from Christian Bibles, when? Shortly after the Reformation began or shortly before the incorporation of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society?
It was just shortly before the incorporation of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society that the Apocrypha came to be widely removed from Christian Bibles.
Prior to this, Protestants followed the procedure developed by reformer Myles Coverdale (1488-1569) of keeping the “Catholic books” as part of Bibles, but consolidating them into a marked off section between the Old and New Testaments.
However around 1825 a controversy over allowing this section to be printed and distributed arose among members of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Members who disagreed and left developed their own societies and thus it became more and more popular to produce Bibles originally with an Apocrypha section (such as the King James Version) without it.
This has since reversed itself after the discovery of the Qumran scrolls with new "ecumenical" versions, such as the NRSV, containing all books from all recognized canons.
9. Hebrews 1.10-12 quotes Psalm 102.26-28 according to the proto-Masoretic text. What name appears in verse 26 in the proto-Masoretic Hebrew script?
The name that appears in Psalm 102.26, in the proto-Masoretic text, is the Name of God, YHWH. It was dropped by the Masoretic tradition in the 7th century CE, maybe even as a response to its use by Christians in the Letter to the Hebrews since, as quoted, it directly identifies Jesus of Nazareth with the Creator.
This is how the text reads in Greek at Hebrew 1.10: “At the beginning, O LORD, you established the earth…” When the New World Translation was first published, one of the so-called “J” manuscripts was noted as carrying on the proto-Masoretic tradition by keeping the Tetragrammaton in this spot, though it never appeared in any edition of the NWT’s main text.
10. The earliest copies of the Septuagint did not have the Tetragrammaton in them. What appeared instead?
The earliest had merely a space, and some after that a dot. It appears that the Tetragrammaton was experimented for a brief time after that, but the substitution of the Greek word KYRIOS became the norm. Remember, the Septuagint was translated by Jews for Jews, so one has to take into consideration that viewing the name as holy, the Jews were looking for a way to appropriately transfer and handle it in another language to keep from dishonoring it. Neither leaving a space, a dot, or using the Tetragrammaton was considered acceptable, so they finally decided up on the Greek substitute instead.
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FayeDunaway
Thank you Caleb, so interesting! -
jhine
Thanks Caleb for furthering our education .
Jan
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Phizzy
May I add my thanks too Caleb, and long may you continue to educate us !
On the interesting point you make about Hebrews quoting Psalms, and YHWH appearing there, surely this is one of the very strong instances where the WT should insert "Jehovah" using their argument for inserting it elsewhere, namely that it appears in the Septuagint and would have been read by, and in the mind of, the writer of Hebrews.
And yet, because of their peculiar Theology/Christology they do not do so, how dishonest can you get ?
They insist that when they have established a rule for Translation they stick to it, but here, as no doubt elsewhere the lie is evident.
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CalebInFloroda
You are welcome.
While we all have different convictions and may think quite differently on lots of different subjects, I hope the one thing I can add is enough support in your corner to know at least one thing for sure: that leaving the confines of the dark and dusty Watchtower was the smartest thing any of us here have ever done.
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FayeDunaway
Amen!!