by careful 95 Replies latest members private
How did the OP come by this new book?
A Google Search for the book comes up empty apart from a recent addition to Furuli's Wikipedia article, which in turn seems to be in response to this thread's appearance.
The email address to obtain the e-book seems fairly generic rather than specific to a publishing company.
You need to spend 10 Euro's to buy the book from the publishing company...it comes with a password to download and a password to open.
notsurewheretogo:
You need to spend 10 Euro's to buy the book from the publishing company...it comes with a password to download and a password to open.
I didn't ask how to get it. I wanted to know how it was initially 'discovered'. The existence of an obscure email address isn't particularly good advertising, so presumably the OP came across it some other way.
Jeffro, you're right. Someone privately send me the info and addy, but it's hardly secret stuff now. The reddit thread has drawn far more comments than this JWD post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/gpncxn/rolf_furuli_phd_probably_norways_most_respected/
Furuli used to have a website for his own publishing house awatu, but he took it down some time back. I do not know why.
From comments at reddit, Lloyd Evans/John Cedars has now gotten hold of this, so it will be broadcast heavily soon, naturally with the book addy provided. Give it a few more days and it should show up on a google search.
Fink: These leaders of the WTS should have been shunned and warned about by true Christians.
Exactly!
I was baptized in 1984, before this significant change.
Once—after expressing disbelief in one or the GB’s many dubious doctrinal changes—a fellow elder tried to “remind” me that I was dedicated to serve “Jehovah and his organization.”
Instead, I reminded him that I was only dedicated to Jehovah and that he better get his facts straight before he tries to bully his fellow believers into blind, unthinking disobedience to a group of fallible human leaders!
From jwfacts, Changing Baptism Arrangement:
In 1985, a significant change was introduced. In total disregard to Biblical guidance, and Watchtower's previous comments, it became a requirement for the baptismal candidate to announce their desire to become associated with an Organization.
OP Thanks for posting the screenshots and info.
Since then I've purchased the book, and one of my Norwegian friends is in contact with Furuli and chatting with him about several subjects. He seems receptive to discussion. Whether we cover this on Watchtower in Focus is up for discussion right now. Definitely an interesting subject, as Furuli was a noteworthy JW in Norway who ascended to Norway's main district overseer, according to his own account.
And slimboy, we don't have "coffers" at JW Survey. I purchase from my own resources. :-)
I wonder if the book will be good for someone in with a foot out. I think you have to be a wts connoisseur to appriciate it, all the spiritual food quotations included 🤭🧐
In case this hasn't been posted yet...
I think it might be useful to map out areas where Furuli agrees with current Watchtower teachings, in his new book, and where he disagrees, because it perhaps represents a more limited disagreement than some may anticipate, yet it contains some surprising contours.
I have not read every page of the book but I have read significant parts of it. If I have made some mistakes I would appreciate correction.
Areas of agreement with Watchtower:
1. The Bible is inspired
2. The Genesis account is accurate and compatible with science
3. A universal flood occurred 4400 years ago
4. Preaching is a requirement of true religion and JWs meet this
5. True religion does not get involved in politics or voting and JWs meet this
6. There are two hopes for Christians, one heavenly, and one earthly
7. The heavenly calling is limited to 144,000 (slight wriggle room here? Emphasis on limited number)
8. Jehovah and Jesus are two separate individuals
9. The divine name originally occurred in the New Testament
10. The Bible forbids accepting blood transfusion
11. Jesus was installed as king of God’s kingdom in 1914 and will soon crush the nations
12. Daniel 4 prophetically pictures the “times of the gentiles” described in Luke
13. This period of 2520 years runs from 607 BCE to 1914 CE
14. The seventy weeks of Daniel 9 began in 455 BCE
15. Watchtower interpretations of the 1260, 1290, 1335, and 2300 prophetic days in Daniel “fit very well” into the history of JWs but there remains “possibility” of error
16. The earth will not been destroyed but will be inhabited by faithful humans
17. Watchtower is correct in the new understanding that the “evil slave” is hypothetical
18. The original elder arrangement in 1971 was correct (but has been undermined)
19. The author has learned theocratic truths from teachers that he would not have found alone
20. Furuli denies the charge that the GB has instructed elders to cover up abuse, calling it a wrong allegation
21. Furuli believes JWs to be sincere, including the GB, and has ”never seen any hypocrisy among other Witnesses”
Disagreements with Watchtower:
1. Yahweh is linguistically impossible as an original form of the divine name and the evidence favours Yehowa
2. Furuli personally agrees with the GB that primary components of blood count as blood but argues they should not enforce this definition on others
3. Watchtower is wrong to argue that a Jesus’ contemporaries did not fully understand the prophecy of the seventy weeks
4. The fulfilment of the “faithful slave” is future when Jesus arrives in power to judge
5. The Governing Body of today are thus not the “faithful slave”
6. The new Watchtower teaching that the parable of the “sheep and the goats” is future is correct, but this also means the parable of the “faithful slave” is future
7. There was no Governing Body in 1919 and hence they were not appointed as the “faithful slave” then
8. The “faithful slave” illustration applies during the Great Tribulation and refers to faithful believers
9. Watchtower literature does not provide spiritual food at the “proper time” in this parable
10. There is no group of Christians appointed by Jesus to provide correct interpretation for all Christians during Christ’s presence
11. There was no Governing Body in the first century
12. There was no functioning Governing Body among JWs until 1971, because decisions were made by Watchtower presidents
13. There is no basis in the Bible for a modern Governing Body of Christians worldwide
14. The Holy Spirit directed early Christians not a human group of leaders governing other Christians
15. The command in Acts 15 was from the Holy Spirit not a Governing Body of men
16. The Holy Spirit directs the preaching work not a human organisation
17. The Governing Body has been elevated and venerated in recent decades in an unbiblical way
18. Local elders should appoint elders, not the branch or circuit overseer
19. Talks should not be scripted by Watchtower but freedom allowed
20. Knorr and a Franz behaved as “lesser ones” in personal interactions whereas current Governing Body are dictatorial
21. Governing Body should be a “coordinating body” not a ruling body with unlimited power
22. The Governing Body followed a concerted plan to centralise all money and disregarded long-standing JW principles “not to solicit funds”
23. Governing Body illegitimately took over control of Kingdom Halls
24. Longtime servants have been treated unkindly by centralised Watchtower power
25. The Governing Body uses a tithe like system for soliciting funds and charges for use of assembly halls and in other ways exercise financial overreach
26. The Watchtower has grown into a hierarchical structure like the Catholic Church when it should be theocratic and non hierarchical independent congregations
27. Watchtower is wrong to stigmatise higher education and has adversely affected many lives as a result
28. If Lösch or Splane railed against higher education in his local congregation he would call a meeting to have them removed as elders
29. Watchtower uses sources out of context to denigrate higher education
30. No elder should pressure anyone not to pursue education
31. Only evil persons should be disfellowshipped not just for breaking man made rules
32. There should be a higher threshold for disfellowshipping than mistakes or instances of sin (this section is not clear to me exactly what the recommendation is. No disfellowshipping for sexual immorality, or a higher threshold?)
33. Causing divisions is not a proper ground for disfellowshipping
34. There are only 11 grounds for disfellowshipping and they are exhaustively listed in 1 Cor 6:9, 10; Titus 3:10, 11; and 1 John 3:12
35. The Governing Body should not pry into married sex
36. Governing Body rules on disfellowshipping for homosexual pornography display arbitrariness and inconsistency
37. Loose conduct and greediness, however defined, are not legitimate grounds for disfellowshipping
38. Associating with disfellowshipped people, and dating if “not free to marry”, are not legitimate grounds for disfellowshipping
39. Thousands have been unjustly disfellowshipped by the Governing Body
40. “Gross uncleanness” is an illegitimate construct of the Governing Body used to disfellowship people
41. Someone who leaves JWs should not be shunned, just as those who become JWs should not be shunned by their family (my comment: this is such a statement of the bleeding obvious that I am always amazed that Watchtower get away with this)
42. Disfellowshipping on the basis of human commands goes beyond what is written and is unscriptural
43. The Governing Body were wrong to downgrade use of anti types in their interpretation of scripture
44. Detailed understanding of Bible languages is necessary to understand the Bible
45. Most Christians appropriately rely on those who have gained knowledge of Bible languages to relay information accurately
46. Reliance on the Watchtower for spiritual food should be relative not absolute
47. Learning Bible truths should be an interactive process not dictatorial
48. The original NWT was accurate and promoted interactive learning and the 2013 revision distorts the Bible’s message
49. The current Governing Body has wrongly elevated meditation on scripture over deep scriptural study
50. The 2013 revision was wrong to abandon the general rule of using one word for each biblical word to allow concordance type comparison
51. Abandoning anti type interpretation of scripture has robbed most of the Bible of its deeper meaning
52. The Governing Body now use an allegorical or subjective interpretation of scripture that results in them to importing their own views into the text
53. Watchtower is wrong to claim that reading anti types in scripture distracts from moral or practical lessons
54. Although the Governing Body has disavowed use of anti types in reading scripture they still employ the method without acknowledging it when it suits them
55. The Watchtower was wrong to demote the “cities of refuge” as prophetic pattern
56. Same with Song of Solomon—most of the book is spiritually meaningless under new interpretive regime
57. Same goes for Leviticus and prophetic patterns of festivals, and the jubilees, and other examples
58. Furuli argues the 49,000 years jubilee interpretation is possible and implies Watchtower were wrong to abandon it (!)
59. Belief in prophetic patterns is necessary to believe in the restored earth promised in scripture
60. The Watchtower is wrong to change their mind about the “locusts” of Joel being servings of God, and their mistake is due to their faulty “allegorical” rather than “prophetic types” approach to scripture (Furuli devotes a lot of space devoted to this point)
61. The new Pure Worship book is not a proper discussion of the Bible text of Ezekiel, but a series of meditations on what the text “reminds” the Governing Body of
62. The GB was wrong to drop unfaithful Jerusalem and its destruction as a type for Christendom
63. The new Pure Worship book at times implies that Ezekiel is indeed a prophetic type without saying so, causing confusion and faulty Bible reading
64. The book arbitrarily singles out chapter 9 as prophetic, violating their own new stated principle of only accepting overtly stated biblical prophetic parallels
65. Ignoring prophetic details in scripture robs it of meaning
66. If Jerusalem is not a prophetic typed Of things to come it removes this basis of hope for restoration
67. The GB body now interprets most of the OT has having moral rather than prophetic significance and this is a major error in interpretation
68. Abandonment of prophetic types has reduced dozens of Watchtower books and countless Watchtower articles to meaningless fiction
69. The argument that attention span is lower these days is no excuse for downgrading proper Bible study and deep prophetic interpretation
70. The new 2013 revision of the NWT lost important subtleties and reflects a flawed view of the divine text
71. The 2013 NWT was wrong to abandon standard translations for words such as soul
72. In 2013 the new version erased the careful rendering of tenses in the original NWT
73. The 2013 NWT wrongly replaces “memorial tombs” with “tombs” in various places, undermining Bible teaching
74. The GB were wrong to change John 17:3 from “taking in knowledge” to “coming to know”
75. The revisers of the 2013 NWT do not understand the force of Greek grammar employed
76. The new revisers were wrong to use “forever” instead of “time indefinite”
77. Furuli disagrees with the new rendering of Jeremiah 25:9 (but the logic of how and why is still mysterious to me after a couple of readings)
78. The idea that the name Jehovah comes from the verb “to be” is “pure speculation” (my comment: it was Fred Franz who came up with this one, not the current GB)
79. The organisation now is the opposite to 1972 because of its revised view of the Bible and the centralisation of power and money by the Governing Body
80. Even those who work at headquarters are afraid of making positive suggestions
81. The organisation has been led astray by the GB just as the nation of Israel was led astray by various kings
82. The truth should not be hidden for the sake of the reputation of the organisation
Judging by the points where he agrees with the WT he is not very bright.
