by Eyebrow2 33 Replies latest watchtower bible
Oh, yes, I love the Bible. I especially like the book of Romans because now all the promises Jesus gives is for me, not just a group of old guys up in Brooklyn.
When my mother (JW) saw I was reading the NIV she almost camed unglued. I guess that's a good version to start with.
Read with an open heart and mind and the Holy Spirit will shine the light of understanding on the pages.
Eyebrow I too am reading the bible. I never did as a witness. I actually do read it with some friends ever so often but not planned. It is an eye opener when you read it as a stand alone book without any other aids. To me now it is very clear that our only commands are to love God alone and others as ourself. Using the bible in that context really makes for a better person in my book. pc
i read the bible, but not as "god's word". i mainly read it because there are so man inconsistencies to find. and it's great to show those to my witness friends and family.
i always read it when i was in, highlighting appropriate verses and making margin notes, memorizing book names, order, chronology, etc. then i really began dissecting it when i was out, looking for inconsistencies, which weren't hard to find. then i got tired of that and bought myself a gigantic expen$ive bible...one with lots of beautiful pictures and gilt pages..'cause i always thought the austere NWTs didn't do justice to such a divine work. i never read it now but it's pretty to look at sometimes, and great for making pressed flowers...
Two of the best translations, IMO, are Today's English Version, published by the American Bible Society, and The Living New Testament (paraphrased), by Tyndale House Publishers.
Bought them both at garage sales for about a buck each.
It's is eye-opening to read these modern translations. All the JW "buzzwords" are missing and you can concentrate on what's being said. Amazingly, it sounds NOTHING like what we were taught for so many years. The WTS clearly had an agenda in printing its own translation. Reading these versions, it's obvious that the dub teachings are convoluted. Every ex-witness should read at least some of the new testament in a different version than the NWT. It won't take much to convince you we were seriously misled.
Try reading the bible without the preconceived idea that it's the word of god.
I did that and only made it a couple of chapters into Genesis and decided it makes as much sense as the average fairy tale.
Read it for a class at my school, "The Bible as Literature". It was fun. Especially since there were some older people who sat in on the class. To hear their perspective, versus that of the rest of us 20 somethings was interesting.
It was also neat to finally sit down with people of obviously different religious backgrounds - not just JW's repeating the same exact things they all said the last time we read a certain passage.
Personally reading it in a clinical fashion with a focus on it's literary elements was facinating--and actually fun (Yeah I'm an English nerd).
I know that kind of focus wouldn't be for everyone on this board since a lot of people still hold that it's spiritually inspired (I'm not so sure myself), just as it wasn't for everyone in the class. Sacred texts do funny things to people.
Anyway--my suggestion would be that if you can somehow start a local club or meet with people face to face for that real interation while you discuss your reading would be most benificial and eye opening. It was for me at least.
Something gets lost in an on-line discussion.
I have read some of it.
Amazing, when you read it without WTS influence, how much different it is.
Have you re-read the bible since leaving the Kingdom Hall?
Started to but once my mind was free from WT indoctrination,,I started to notice contradictions,,so I worked on clearing these up before reading the bible on a regular basis. When I found enough proof that the bible was just ancient myths my bible reading pretty much came to a stand still.
In a word, no.
But sometimes, when I feel the need to load up for cocktail parties, I will take one of those scripture snippets that JWs throw around all the time and do a little reading. I like to read the whole chapter, sometimes the chapter preceeding and following. Then I go read a commentary or two. It is amazing how different they read when you are looking for your own conclusions/impressions - sometimes I infer the exact opposite of what I was taught.
