Posts by HowTheBibleWasCreated

31

If only someone had kicked my a$$.. (This is post is not for theists)

by HowTheBibleWasCreated in

i think back on the 30+ years of bs as well as my fading almost a decade and even now being low key in person to hopefully save my nieces from the wt.

i'm a wreck in some ways.

i'm other days i'm stable however when it comes to theism i depart quickly and with anger!

To answer the question put earlier yes the books topic is pretty much how the Bible was created from a minimalistic point of view of both the late 19th and recent scholarship.. The title likely will be something like "If the foundations be shaken."
As I have said I doubt if most JWs would get out just by reading the book because it will cover every chapter and section of the bible and several relevant apocryphal books. However it might instill doubts as they cannot deny the scholarly or texts from other cultures that the bible draws from
Ex. Balaam was likely historical but he lived much later and never had a talking donkey.
Another example is that right now I'm dealing with the main portion of the Book of Job and have some interesting conclusions regarding Behemoth and Apis in Egyptian mythology that will leave a believer in a literal text reeling.
However once the doubts of a JW reaches the tipping point the book is meant to fill the void of where the book came from so that the arguments that JWs use such as the Is: 40:22 verse or Daniels prophecies etc fall apart quickly.
I will devote a section at the end to why evolution is true. I will not however address the idea of an afterlife since that is beyond the scope of the book and I don't even consider it a supernatural question but a scientific one.

31

If only someone had kicked my a$$.. (This is post is not for theists)

by HowTheBibleWasCreated in

i think back on the 30+ years of bs as well as my fading almost a decade and even now being low key in person to hopefully save my nieces from the wt.

i'm a wreck in some ways.

i'm other days i'm stable however when it comes to theism i depart quickly and with anger!

HowTheBibleWasCreated

The point of this post was twofold. For those that say I need to talk to someone about anger the post was a strong vent . I don't have any ex-jws nearby (And with Covid would it make a difference?) also since my wife is a jw I don't exactly have freedom to speak openly about this issue often. And as stated I need to be somewhat below the radar to be a helping hand if ever the time comes.

The second point of the post was answered by a few posters:

dubstepped: That is possible that I would have had a persecution complex but as stated the 'if only..' does not mean being angry in person. There is a balance between showing a person that their beliefs are wrong but also not starting a persecution complex. I also beg to differ a little about waking up. It was reading the bible and comparing it to archeology and other texts that called into question my beliefs. It took over 30 years to do that. The point i'm making was that if someone had shown me the same material earlier I would have gotten out sooner. Yes obviously this post is angry and I wouldn't try to deconstruct someone's indoctrination by that method. However stand back and saying "I respect that." I find completely insane. lol

Waton: You have hit it spot on. That is exactly what I am attempting to do. While I doubt the issues I will bring up in the book will get someone out right away I have no doubt that it will plant major seeds of doubt which might just help them later. Also once they realize they have been lied to then I hope my book will help to deconstruct any lingering questions.

jhine: You didn't read the title! :P

Yes you are an adult and as such have the right to believe in god in whatever religion. However what of a child? See the point? I'm sure you are not in a strong cult such as JWs however the same type of innocent zeal you have to o to church on Sunday morning instead of watching tv is the same type of zeal that a Muslim man will use to make his wife wear clothes from head to toe or for a monk to beat themselves to suffer what Christ did etc. How would you like to be an Amish child that wakes up in their teens? Shunned by all they have ever known and unable to function in modern society?

And I appreciate your being blunt in your post thank you.

Bethelite: Who else can i blame? I was born without beliefs and instead of learning about the world in a healthy way me and billions of other people have been told by their parents or religious leaders that it's my way or the highway. I never saw any outside info to challenge my beliefs until later in life because even though workmates or schoolmates knew I was a witness they never had the guts to say: "Hey let me show you something." That's the underlining philosophy behind this post. That it's time to come out and do what we can even if it might be somewhat out of the so-called respectable norms.

FatFreak: I'm assuming your comment is a joke lol. However seriously the physical abuse in JW and other religions upon children is a sad state. While today it is vastly different then when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s when screams of children filled the Kingdom Hall it is still done by the odd JW or by many other groups under the famous Proverbs 23:13: Do not withhold discipline from the child; If you swat him with a reed-like rod [applied with godly wisdom], he will not die.(Amplified Version) I should point out that their are many faith groups that are horrible in this regard and one only needs to look up on the internet the words: Religion and child discipline to find this out.

As for the words: "Holding onto all that rage can't be good for you mentally or physically." I agree but perhaps it is anger that drives me to do something rather then nothing. I could sit back and watch millions of more people (mainly children) lose their freedom of thought or possibly their life from JWs or any group that places the delusions on them usually from childhood. (Very few JWs are recruited by carts or door to door nowadays)

But I don't want to sit back. I am well aware that millions will end up indoctrinated anyway... but just maybe a few can be helped if I have a hand screeched out.

31

If only someone had kicked my a$$.. (This is post is not for theists)

by HowTheBibleWasCreated in

i think back on the 30+ years of bs as well as my fading almost a decade and even now being low key in person to hopefully save my nieces from the wt.

i'm a wreck in some ways.

i'm other days i'm stable however when it comes to theism i depart quickly and with anger!

HowTheBibleWasCreated

I think back on the 30+ years of bs as well as my fading almost a decade and even now being low key in person to hopefully save my nieces from the WT. I'm a wreck in some ways. I'm other days I'm stable however when it comes to theism I depart quickly and with anger!

I wish someone when I was younger either at the door or school or work had the guts to say. "YOUR WRONG!" "YOU ARE A FOOL".... ETC

The fact is not a single person did challenge my beliefs? Where were they?.. Being respectful? If that is the case I hate them!

If only I had been exposed years or decades earlier!

Edit_ If this post sounds angry it's rightfully so. This is the guilt and shame a person duped by theism for more them 30+ years feels. It's no joke to us. It's real betrayal. Any y first reaction is to my own kids however with my own kids worry not at all. By the next decade they will know everything I do. I worry for the thousands still in. The ones that like me needed the BOOT but some moron that wanted to help them was too 'nice'.

I have checked the laws of my county the US and other countries. Most do not protect religion from challenge or disrespect. In fact the Canadian Charter and the US Bill of Right separate religion (Usually Christianity) and State). As such I'm appalled and anger every day that in many places like the southern US or Islamic countries that religion is not held back by government from indoctrination of children.

See I freely support an adults to believe what they want in their own house .But the minute they start enforcing (And with JW this is done by sparking) then is ends NOW!

This is the 21st century when I have no doubt that memory upload, fusion reactors, European life with happen in this century BUT.....

Not if when bend over backward to religious people. And let me say many posters on here are religious much to my amazement. If only Someone had kicked my a$$ years ago. It will not happen again.

The gloves are off! I will no see another child fucked up by their parents that worship ancient deities.

Yes before I release my book I intend to 'make waves'

16

Cain and Abel...Who recorded this tragic event?

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

3 the day came when cain brought a gift of the fruit of the ground to the lord.

4 but abel brought a gift of the first-born of his flocks and of the fat parts.

the lord showed favor to abel and his gift.

HowTheBibleWasCreated

1. It's a myth

2. It is meant to counter Genesis chapter 5.

3. It's based on a Greek myth (Atreus and Thyestes)

20

The violent "My book of bible stories" not for kids!

by Witness 007 in

i once left a copy with the kids of my return visit.

the next time i came she returned it to me saying it was discusting and not something kids should be reading.

i was shocked since i learnt to read using this book.

HowTheBibleWasCreated

The bible story book demeans women also. In story ,3 dealing with the creation of Adam it's phrased. "Jehovah took dust from the ground and made a PERFECT BODY. A MANS BODY"

5

another Mormon similarity

by neat blue dog in

i have said to many people that a person will come to be better informed regarding what's happening in the world today by reading the book of mormon than all the magazines and newspapers combined.. - ezra benson, lds president.

it has been said that the four parts (of the photo drama) are worth more than a year in college.. - charles russell, wt president.

the motives and results are the same: look at in-house information first and foremost, and distrust other sources..

HowTheBibleWasCreated

I think the book of Mormon is a good read. It's actually f***ing hilarious. It is however very racist.

Mormons themselves are going more mainstream. Their shunning is not as extreme as JWs. Scientology and Amish are the worst.

10

The Marcionite Hypothesis

by HowTheBibleWasCreated in

i'm still working on the hebrew bible for my book but looking ahead most of my research had fallen into place as i take month off from research., when it come to the nt most people accept what is commonly called markian priority.

this common theory says that mark was written in 70 ad and then a saying gospel of jesus called q was combined with this to make matthew and luke sometimes around 100 ad.

john as later.

HowTheBibleWasCreated

Drearyweather

The reference you are quoting is Antiquities of the Jews (Book 20, Chapter 9, 1) :
."...the sanhedrim of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James..."

But wait... look at the REST!"

Whereupon Albinus complied with what they said, and wrote in anger to Ananus, and threatened that he would bring him to punishment for what he had done; on which king Agrippa took the high priesthood from him, when he had ruled but three months, and made Jesus, the son of Damneus, high priest"

Jesus the high priest is mentioned two more times after.
What was the title of the high priest? Christos (anointed) (Read the LXX of Leviticus and Chritos shows up every time Aaron is called the anointed)

10

The Marcionite Hypothesis

by HowTheBibleWasCreated in

i'm still working on the hebrew bible for my book but looking ahead most of my research had fallen into place as i take month off from research., when it come to the nt most people accept what is commonly called markian priority.

this common theory says that mark was written in 70 ad and then a saying gospel of jesus called q was combined with this to make matthew and luke sometimes around 100 ad.

john as later.

HowTheBibleWasCreated

Regarding your statement about Paul: Dr. Habermas states the Scholars, (atheist and believer alive are virtually unanimous in accepting 6 -7 of Paul's books in the NT as genuine.

Do you dispute this claim? What evidence do you have to contradict this claim by Dr. Habermas?>>>>

-The first question is no I don't dispute that many consider the 7 letters of Paul as authentic. This movement is currently spearheaded by Bart Ehrman it seems. The fact is that in the late 19th century a school known today as the 'Copenhagen School"

They theorized the ideas in my above post almost 150 years ago however sadly the 20th century locked scholars into a system of biblical scholarship that accepted the Pauline Epistles are authentic.

There are numerous reasons this is being requisitioned today. Staring with the obvious being that no manuscript or reference exists attesting to the letter until Marcion. Paul if we assume Acts is true would have been so famous that Josephus would have mentioned him. He didn't. He didn't mention jesus either but that's another issue.

As for Jesus being set hundreds of years earlier or decades earlier or later let me introduce you so some guys:

Jesus ben Pandira. A wonder-worker during the reign of Alexander Jannaeus (106-79 BC), one of the most ruthless of the Maccabean kings. Imprudently, this Jesus launched into a career of end-time prophecy and agitation which upset the king. He met his own premature end-time by being hung on a tree – and on the eve of a Passover. Scholars have speculated this Jesus founded the Essene sect.

Jesus ben Saphat. In the insurrection of 68AD that wrought havoc in Galilee, this Jesus had led the rebels in Tiberias ("the leader of a seditious tumult of mariners and poor people" – Josephus, Life 12.66). When the city was about to fall to Vespasian’s legionaries he fled north to Tarichea on the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus ben Gamala. During 68/69 AD this Jesus was a leader of the ‘peace party’ in the civil war wrecking Judaea. From the walls of Jerusalem he had remonstrated with the besieging Idumeans (led by ‘James and John, sons of Susa’). It did him no good. When the Idumeans breached the walls he was put to death and his body thrown to the dogs and carrion birds.

Jesus ben Thebuth. A priest who, in the final capitulation of the upper city in 69AD, saved his own skin by surrendering the treasures of the Temple, which included two holy candlesticks, goblets of pure gold, sacred curtains and robes of the high priests. The booty figured prominently in the Triumph held for Vespasian and his son Titus.

And the best case for a historical Jesus is this amusing one:

Jesus ben Ananias. Beginning in 62AD, this Jesus had caused disquiet in Jerusalem with a non-stop doom-laden mantra of ‘Woe to the city’. He prophesied rather vaguely:

"A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the holy house, a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice against the whole people."
– Josephus, Wars 6.3.

Sorry but there is no evidence for Jesus or even Paul (Except maybe a memory of Simon the magician)

The Marcionite community is the first texts that be have people complaining and quoting. As for Hebrews and Revelation those books might indeed date early because both are heavy in not only Gnosticism but a cosmic Christ. (Revelation actually describe the Jewish War and Hebrews refers to a cosmic event ((Likely the eclipse of 59))

5

Are the Canadian and US Kingdom Ministries different?

by HowTheBibleWasCreated in

i was cleaning out some old photos etc.

from my mother's stuff and landed on a small box containing 1980-2000 km.

my first thought was to toss it.

HowTheBibleWasCreated

I was cleaning out some old photos etc. from my mother's stuff and landed on a small box containing 1980-2000 KM. My first thought was to toss it. (My mother won't know or care.) As I examined them it brought back memories as the 80's kms are in a totally different style then the discontinued ones a few years ago. So many boring memories being a young child staring at these monthly KMs and playing word games in my head because the meetings were so boring for a child.

That being said the KM info is on JW website back to 1970 but they are USA. So my question is are the Canadian and US Kingdom Ministries different?

19

It's Never Been Easier to Quit Being a JW!

by Simon in

jw
friends

just don't click that zoom button ....

HowTheBibleWasCreated

I was PIMO for years. Now I'm not sure where I stand. I'm not DFed or DAed or plan to be. However I have never been on zoom or plan to be. Never plan to return. (Unless a funeral or something) Yes This trend to Zoom is easier then ever.