Who really is the Faithful and Discreet Slave?

by Godlyman 349 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Disillusioned JW

  To those of you who spend a lot of time trying to understand the Bible better, including trying to figure out from the Bible who the faithful and discreet is, I recommend that you spend some time trying to find out if perhaps the Bible is not inspired by a God (any god), and if perhaps Jehovah/Yahweh God doesn't even exist. I say that because I spent a great deal of time studying the Bible in order to get a more accurate understanding of the Scriptures, while delaying extensive studying of scientific literature on evolution and while completely delaying the study of atheistic literature that promotes atheistic naturalism as a powerful truth. Had I both studied extensively the pro-evolution literature and had I studied the pro-atheism/naturalism literature much earlier in my life I would have saved a lot of time. That is because I eventually discovered that Jehovah/Yahweh God is not real.

  If I am right that Jehovah/Yahweh God is not real (I am extremely confident he is not real), then there is no value (or nearly no value) in knowing whom Jesus and/or the writer of the biblical gospel book called "Matthew" meant by the term "faithful and discreet slave", other than possibly helping a person to decide if she/he should cease being a JW. Please think about that.
  
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  peacefulpete

  It's maybe odd but I actually enjoy digging in the writings of the Bible far more now. When I was "in" there actually was a self imposed resistance to "disproof. I couldn't enjoy reading anything but literature from the WT, however carefully reading that soon became unsatisfying. Jewish and Christian history is a fascinating study filled with puzzles and complexity once you aren't desperately needing to preserve a statis quo.
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  Jeffro

  ‘scholar’:

  The Bible describes in detail by means of history and prophecy of the Jewish Exile which the major Exilic scholar -Rainer Albertz describes it as' catastrophic'. Further, Lamentations in the OT describes it also in great detail.

  😂 This is the level of ‘rigour’ I’ve come to expect from ‘scholar’. A good old ‘bait and switch’. The fact that the Jews were exiled at all is uncontested, and you are an academically dishonest fool for trying to conflate the fact that it happened with an unsupported duration. 🤦‍♂️ The Bible never mentions a 70 year exile.
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  Beth Sarim

  ''The Bible never mentions a 70 year exile.''

  Good observation.

  Come to think about it,,,it doesn't!!
  
  
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  scholar

  Jeffro

  This is the level of ‘rigour’ I’ve come to expect from ‘scholar’. A good old ‘bait and switch’. The fact that the Jews were exiled at all is uncontested, and you are an academically dishonest fool for trying to conflate the fact that it happened with an unsupported duration. 🤦‍♂️ The Bible never mentions a 70 year exile.

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  Absolute nonsense. Scholars do accept the reality of the Jewish Exile which is usually believed to be that biblical period of 70 years but there are others and in particular, Carl Jonsson and others of his ilk, who in his thesis omits any mention or reference to that Exile which absence demolishes his thesis. The academic rigour of which Jeffro knows nought demands the recognition of the Jewish Exile in compiling a history of the Late Judean period and any scheme of chronology related to that period.

  scholar JW
  
  
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  scholar

  Beth Sarim

  The Bible never mentions a 70 year exile.''

  ---

  Just read the OT and any decent reference work to prove that there was indeed a Jewish exile of 70 years duration during which period the Jews were deported and lived in Babylon.

  scholar JW
  
  
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  peacefulpete

  seventy schmeventy.

  "Seventy years, the reckoning of it's destruction which He had inscribed, the merciful God Marduke, as soon as his heart had calmed down, reversed the order (of the sign) and ordered it's resettlement after eleven years." Babylonian Inscription of Esarhaddon

  In the old thread above I argue that the number 70 was meant and understood by ancient Semitic people as symbolic of a generation and not a literal number. How much bandwidth has been wasted on this pointless argument.
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  Fisherman

  to prove that there was indeed a Jewish exile of 70 years

  Scholar

  Do you think there was anything at all Jesus could have done to convince the Jewish leaders besides telling them that they were right and he was wrong? In a Court of law, you might be able to convince a judge or a jury but not an advocate even if he knows the truth. An advocate does not consider evidence or proof and change his position. He wants to win. You need to convince the Court.
  
  
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  peacefulpete

  An advocate does not consider evidence or proof and change his position. He wants to win. You need to convince the Court.

  After the hundreds of posts in this thread a reader will make their determination as to who are those guilty of not considering evidence and who are, in contrast, letting the first/second century context and clues provided in text itself interpret the passages.
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  waton

  food in due season. The F&DS of 1919 has, overlappingly been projecting the feeding to 2075. Armageddon is due then.