opusdei1972

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Posts by opusdei1972

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  57

  Was the Biblical Canon Directed by God?

  by Chris Tann in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  this is a question a sincere christian may agonize over after learning that some books of the bible were rejected by certain early christian groups,while other books that did not make the canon were accepted.

  also,when one realizes that so called inspired writers of the greek scriptures quote from apocrypha,that most christians reject today,one wonders if these writings that include these quotes should even be in the bible.. it is true that when it comes to the christian greek scriptures the canon has been closed for many centuries.

  also, these books have been accepted by christians ever since the second,perhaps first,century.

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  opusdei1972

  I am just finishing an article in Spanish on the issue of how the Society relies in the NT canon. I have shown how the Society depends on early "apostates" to "confirm" the authenticity of the NT books. For instance, The Society quotes the "Athanasius canon of the IV century". But, was not him the champion of the Nicaea's word "homoousius", which equals the Son with the Father?........Also, interestingly, the Society quotes Saint Jerome to "show" that the Gospel of Matthew was written in Hebrew, and this is its argument to defend the inclusion of the Tetragramaton in the NT of the NWT. But, contradictorily, the Society accused negatively the church father Papias for using a non canonical book, The Gospel of the Hebrews. This shows that the Watchtower writer ignored that the Gospel of the Hebrews was that "version" of Matthew, which was considered "the original one", by many, as reported by Jerome. Furthermore, many of the quotations from that version, shows that it differs from the Greek version of Mathew which now many scholars now that it was not written by Matthew. So, if the Society holds that the original of Matthew was that which Jerome knew, the Society would have to admit that Jehovah preserved a forgery instead of the "original one".

  For instance, The Gospel of the Hebrews uses the Hebrew version of Hosea 11:1 as the Gospel of Matthew does, but I strongly doubt that the Gospel of the Hebrews could use Isaiah 7:14 (in Hebrew) so as to show that Emanuel would born of a virgin.
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  14

  Did Josephus believe in Jesus as The Christ?

  by opusdei1972 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  here is the questioned josephus' text :.

  now, there was about this time jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful worksa teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure.

  he drew over to him both many of the jews, and many of the gentiles.

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  opusdei1972

  I found that the other version is the 10th-century Arabic version in which the questioned phrase appears as "he was believed to be Christ". So, if we have two different versions, we know that someone was a dishonest scribe like were many in first four centuries.
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  14

  Did Josephus believe in Jesus as The Christ?

  by opusdei1972 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  here is the questioned josephus' text :.

  now, there was about this time jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful worksa teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure.

  he drew over to him both many of the jews, and many of the gentiles.

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  opusdei1972

  Here is the questioned Josephus' text :

  “Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works—a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.”— Josephus —The Complete Works, translated by William Whiston.

  The Watchtower 3/15 2013, says the following about the above text:

  Josephus was not a Christian author. He was a Jewish historian; hence, much of the controversy centers on the designation of Jesus as being “the Christ.” On analysis, Bardet asserted that this title corresponds “in every respect to the Greek usage of employing the [definite] article for the names of people.” Bardet added that from a Judeo-Christian perspective, “not only is the use of the term Christos by Josephus not an impossibility” but it is a clue that “critics have in general been greatly wrong to overlook.”

  Could it be that the text was embellished by a later forger imitating Josephus ’ style? Drawing on historical and textual evidence, Bardet concluded that such an imitation would be almost miraculous. It would require a forger with “a talent for imitation hardly without equal in all antiquity,” in other words, one who was “as Josephan as Josephus .”

  So why all the fuss? Identifying the heart of the problem, Bardet specified that “there are doubts about the Testimonium—in contrast with the majority of ancient texts—simply because questions have been raised about the Testimonium.” He goes on to say that the positions adopted over the centuries are based more on “ulterior motives” than on deductive analysis of the text, which leans heavily in favor of its authenticity................Of course, Jehovah’s Witnesses have even more convincing reason for accepting Jesus as the Christ—that found in the Bible itself.

  I don't think that one would need to be "as Josephan as Josephus" to interpolate the phrase : "AUTOS HN O XRISTOS" (He was the Christ). On the other hand, If I remember well, I knew about another version in a manuscript which says "He was called the Christ". Doesn't it?......Whatever, I can believe that Josephus wrote about James, but, I don't buy that he wrote that Jesus was the Christ.
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  16

  Finally, Anointedjw Names Some Names

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  https://www.anointedjw.org/apostasy_in_fenway.html.

  not names of the anointed jws but names of elders and a location.. .

  are we getting hints that this thing has legs?.

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  opusdei1972

  All christians are apostates between themselves, because if someone wants to follow some verse of the Bible, he will contradict another. Of course, the two christian classes is a Rutherford's invention established in 1935.
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  23

  Can a religion claim: “Only we have the truth”?

  by Kalos in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  truth is self-evident (things like: the whole is greater than its part ....).. truth is always right (things like: caring for the accident victim helplessly bleeding on the road ....).. claiming: only we have the truth is like claiming: only my university is useful.

  history shows that many school/college drop-outs have made significant contributions to the society like many those who completed their education!

  and on the contrary, many school/college drop-outs have made significant damage to the society like some of those who completed their education!

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  opusdei1972

  You may say that something is true if you can prove its truthfulness. For instance, religions based on the Bible can't comunicate truth, because the Bible itself propagates many lies.
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  71

  Watchtower encouraging members to go and preach in Israel

  by wannaexit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  an odd letter was read at last nights' meeting.

  it was in regards to a special campaign for next year arranged by the governing body to go and preach in israel.

  the call is going out to anybody that speaks hebrew and english.

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  opusdei1972

  Jewish don't want the Christian message. They reject the fundation of the New Testament:

  http://outreachjudaism.org/original-sin/
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  8

  1914

  by berrygerry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've been writing october 1, 1914 as today's date - multiple times.. i guess tomorrow is really branded into my brain.

  (anyone else been caught doing this?).

  what will the annoucement be tomorrow at bethel?.

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  opusdei1972

  .....Oh, yeah, I think they will say: "The Gentile Times have ended 100 years ago, their kings still have their day".
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  8

  1914

  by berrygerry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've been writing october 1, 1914 as today's date - multiple times.. i guess tomorrow is really branded into my brain.

  (anyone else been caught doing this?).

  what will the annoucement be tomorrow at bethel?.

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  opusdei1972

  100 years ago, another false prophecy was not fulfilled.
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  64

  What christians don't want to admit

  by opusdei1972 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  when i left the wt organization, i continued to believe in the bible, so i wanted to confirm and refine, as much as possible, my faith that the true god is in the bible.

  so i began to discuss with skilled christians, who were also ex-witnesses.

  but i was surprised when some of them tried to relax my fundamentalist position on the literalness of the genesis account.

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  opusdei1972

  jgnat It is hard to believe that a God who created us can not intervene due to weakness. Indeed, those who are atheists have good arguments for their position. Of course, I prefer other hypothesis, but we end up always in spectulations . This is why people like the Witnesses are very scared about "independent thinking", because they would discover that all their prepared "answers" to explain God and life are weak, so they would be like us, knowing nothing about the afterlife (if even there is one).
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  64

  What christians don't want to admit

  by opusdei1972 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  when i left the wt organization, i continued to believe in the bible, so i wanted to confirm and refine, as much as possible, my faith that the true god is in the bible.

  so i began to discuss with skilled christians, who were also ex-witnesses.

  but i was surprised when some of them tried to relax my fundamentalist position on the literalness of the genesis account.

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  opusdei1972

  jgnat --The bible isn't God. This is where those who insist on an inerrant bible to bolster their faith in God get in trouble. Prove the bible fallible, and down goes God, too.

  I agree with you: The errancy of the Bible does not prove that God does not exist, it only proves that God is not responsible for what is written there.

  However, there are other arguments in which atheists base their disbelief. And I see that I can't give an answer. For instance, if God created us to enjoy this world, why does He permit biological illness? Why does he permit that a natural disaster can destroy an entire population in a region? So, if God created us, it seems clear that He is not worried about our fleshy life.....So, Does he want our worship?...It seems that He is absent in many aspects.