I used to work as a Bookseller at Half Price Books & Music for 5 years in the Religion & Philosophy sections.
I shelved that book many times and have read most of it.
As far as I know, only apologists find fault with Finklestein and his books.
Tamperers with history have a lot to gain and Israel has paid the price over and over again for their claims.
Posts by Terry
-
27What went WRONG with the Great Pyramid teachings of Isaac Newton, Piazzi Smyth, Pastor C.T. Russel
by Terry inpyramidology .
of isaac newton, piazzi smyth, pastor c.t.
russell:)what went wrong?let’s keep our investigation simple!where and how was the obsession with the great pyramid begun?
-
-
Terry
-
27
What went WRONG with the Great Pyramid teachings of Isaac Newton, Piazzi Smyth, Pastor C.T. Russel
by Terry inpyramidology .
of isaac newton, piazzi smyth, pastor c.t.
russell:)what went wrong?let’s keep our investigation simple!where and how was the obsession with the great pyramid begun?
-
-
Terry
As far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong), there is zero archaeological or paleontological evidence of the
Jews as Slaves scenario in Egypt.
Wiki page: -
27
What went WRONG with the Great Pyramid teachings of Isaac Newton, Piazzi Smyth, Pastor C.T. Russel
by Terry inpyramidology .
of isaac newton, piazzi smyth, pastor c.t.
russell:)what went wrong?let’s keep our investigation simple!where and how was the obsession with the great pyramid begun?
-
-
Terry
For me, speaking only for myself, the most glaring flaw in a genuine GOD as Supreme Being
(as told in scripture) is his low intellect approach to maintenance.of humans.
Instead of a direct communication telling everybody EXACTLY what they should know, there is
way too much reliance on a silly, roundabout, open to re-interpretation game of hide-the-cheese.
Imagine going to your doctor for medicine or a diagnosis and he examine you and hands you a photo of the Great Pyramid and tells you, "It's in here." -
27
What went WRONG with the Great Pyramid teachings of Isaac Newton, Piazzi Smyth, Pastor C.T. Russel
by Terry inpyramidology .
of isaac newton, piazzi smyth, pastor c.t.
russell:)what went wrong?let’s keep our investigation simple!where and how was the obsession with the great pyramid begun?
-
-
Terry
I'd go so far as to say this. The last twenty or thirty JW's I've spoken to don't know 90 per cent of the cringe-worthy history of their own religion.
WT and the GB have gone out of their way to sanitize themselves.
The policy of destroying old "literature" is especially noteworthy. Hillary Clinton would be proud. -
4
consciencious objection.
by zeb init seems in some countries brothers subject to military call-up can accept non military service instead but in others as in korea they regularly go to jail.. are they offered alternative service in korea ?.
in the book "i wept by the rivers of babylon" by terry walstrom, the author gives clear insights into the ever changing wts opinions on this matter at least in the us.. can anyone enlighten me.. please?.
.
-
-
Terry
WatchTower reasoning is a self-contradiction. They sometimes give reasons but they're not reasonable.
The organization is a kind of BRAND and the devotion of its members when it comes to persecution
is exploitation as advertising.
Now that I'm much older and the internet exists for purposes of research, I see my previous vulnerability.
Nobody in my congregation gave me proper advice or apprised me of my legal rights as such.
The Overseer and assistant (today it would be presiding Elders, I suppose) took me back into
the back room (library) and carefully cautioned me NOT to say to any law enforcement or legal authority
that I had been given ANY counsel at ALL by them. I was to emphasize I had reached my conclusion on my own. In other words, "Theocratic strategy" otherwise known as lying your ass off.
In 1967, unbeknownst to me, many provisions of the law were open whereby I could have been given alternate service without prosecution. I wrongly believed it was a cut and dried inevitability I would be sentenced to prison no matter what.
To refuse to comply is what makes the JW legally without foundation and open to prosecution.
Those Elders deliberately instructed me to refuse and that was definitely illegal. (Also, immoral.)
To spend two years working in a civilian hospital helping people should be a privilege and a natural Christian action in contrast to wasting away in prison. It makes little sense to appear so unreasonable before a Judge and bull-headed defiance only enrages authorities.
The fact of the matter is this: the law did not require Conscientious Objectors to even believe in God at all!
The C.O. only needed to have firmly held convictions to become exempt from prosecution AS LONG AS the C.O. complied by working in an ALTERNATE venue named by the Federal Authorities (which, I remind you, we are in "subjection" to according to Romans 13.)
From the G.B. point of view (the only POV which matters) it's much to be preferred that young JW boys make an example of themselves as extremely conscience driven and willing to be "martyrs" in a kind of spectacular proof that we have the only true religion.
Holier than Thou is the correct expression, I would declare.
I was only 20 years old and not legally an adult. I was sentenced as a Youth Offender. My sentence was one year longer than the adult sentence maximum. (Adult offenders: up to 5 years, Youth Offenders: up to 6 years.)
Judge Leo Brewster, District Judge, gave me an INDETERMINATE sentence of "from 6 months to 6 years" depending entirely on the prison parole board (which convened every 6 months.)
This is especially scary to a 20 year old!
Why?
The uncertainty!
Being at the mercy and whim of 4 strangers who may well be prejudiced against you is terrifying.
You can't kiss their ass or you are a pathetic sell-out.
I was stone cold when it came to that. Pissed off, really.
After 3 parole denials - I softened my demeanor without compromising. However, I made it clear that it made no sense at all to me to be punished for being conscientious!
Where is the logic of expecting me to REFORM when that reform would mean denying my deeply held beliefs?
I think I was finally able to get that one point across. I was sentenced in 1967 and began serving my indeterminate sentence. I was paroled in 1969. I spent my 20th, 21st, 22nd years in Federal prison.
I was sexually assaulted while praying for help to Jehovah. (**Spoiler Alert**) There was no help!
I never received a single letter or card from my congregation or members.
My best JW friend only visited me 2 times.
My mom and step-dad visited me regularly.
My JW girlfriend and I were engaged to be married and she began dating about six months after I went inside.
My "Brothers" outside pounced.
When I was finally paroled and attended my very first Kingdom Hall meeting in 3 years - not a single JW asked me how it was in prison! This amazed me.
Zero curiosity? Wow!
One Brother called my stint in prison "JW college." That hurt my feelings.
I wasn't inside the Kingdom Hall even 5 minutes before the presiding Elder came to me with a Full Time Pioneer application form -ALL FILLED OUT, and he handed me a pen to sign.
Another kind of coercion! His son was Pioneering and needed somebody to keep him company.
I felt used. Duh.
Anyway ...
All that is a long, long time ago.
I wasted some of the best years of my life. That's all I can see it comes down to being: LOSS. -
27
What went WRONG with the Great Pyramid teachings of Isaac Newton, Piazzi Smyth, Pastor C.T. Russel
by Terry inpyramidology .
of isaac newton, piazzi smyth, pastor c.t.
russell:)what went wrong?let’s keep our investigation simple!where and how was the obsession with the great pyramid begun?
-
-
Terry
Russell "fudged" the figures in reprints of Studies in the Scriptures in the latter years and that , to me, is proof enough of his intentions.
This is a religion of gimmicks which outlived its mythos after the advent of the internet. -
39
ExElder Friend Had To Go To His Former Kingdom Hall and this what he told me!
by minimus inhe was the secretary before he resigned years ago.
he has a business that kept him involved with the kingdom hall.
the hall was sold to another church.
-
-
Terry
Most old filing cabinets have alternate means of opening.
-
2
A Play: ALLITERATION (Pastor Russell and his alien hallucination)
by Terry inalliteration (a play by t.e.walstrom)setting: at a manor house somewhere in england.
the year is 1909.lord jack clayton’s servant has finished serving and clearing away the evening meal.
two men are engaged in what appears to be a convivial conversation.
-
-
-
27
What went WRONG with the Great Pyramid teachings of Isaac Newton, Piazzi Smyth, Pastor C.T. Russel
by Terry inpyramidology .
of isaac newton, piazzi smyth, pastor c.t.
russell:)what went wrong?let’s keep our investigation simple!where and how was the obsession with the great pyramid begun?
-
-
Terry
PYRAMIDOLOGY
of Isaac Newton, Piazzi Smyth, Pastor C.T. Russell:)
WHAT WENT WRONG?
Let’s keep our investigation simple!
WHERE and HOW was the obsession with THE GREAT PYRAMID begun?
(Historical Fact)
THE TALLEST manmade structure in the world for four thousand years was the Great Pyramid in Egypt.
How impressive is that? Pretty damn interesting!
1. Oxford astronomy professor John Greaves (1602–1652), journeyed to Egypt in 1638 to make measurements of the pyramid. His findings were published in his Pyramidographia (1646)
2. Additional measurements made by French engineers during Napoleon's expedition in Egypt, were studied by John Taylor (1781–1864). Taylor claimed that the measurements indicated that the ancients had used a unit of measure about 1/1000 greater than a modern British inch. This is the origin of what became known as THE PYRAMID INCH or sacred cubit.3. Sir Isaac Newton accepted the human frame as the basis of all ancient measurements and attempted to estimate the length of the sacred cubit based on the lengths of the parts for the body.
Now we have connected our dots and drawn lines toward an investigation of the Great Pyramid fraud. It was based on certain assumptions and analogies in good faith by reasonable, credible, well-educated men of science. There intended no fraud at all. So, how did Pyramidology become the corrupt source of pseudoscience and religious malpractice? Read on!
We start with Tools of measurement and strategies used by pre-scientific thinkers.
In ancient times the easiest way to measure things was to use the most convenient "tools" available that anybody could afford to own: your OWN BODY PARTS!
How so?We all have something at the end of our leg we call a (FOOT.)
We have the length from our elbow to the tip of our middle finger. (CUBIT.)
The distance between your nose and outstretched arm to the tip of your finger would be a (YARD.)
From smaller increments we could use the width of our own thumb. (INCH)
Ingenious, clever, and simple. It was called a RULE OF THUMB for this reason.
The King's body parts using HIS proprietary measurements and making them the fixed STANDARD by which all other things would conform is the reason why the measuring stick is called A RULER. (King = Ruler, Duh!)
(Q’s voice: “Now, pay attention Double 0 seven…”)
Don’t be too quick to admire what appears to be reasoning based on *“1st principles.”
*“reasoning from first principles,” the idea is to break down complicated problems into basic elements and then reassemble them from the ground up. It’s one of the best ways to learn to think for yourself, unlock your creative potential, and move from linear to non-linear results.
The difference between reasoning by first principles and reasoning by analogy is like the difference between being a chef and being a cook. If the cook lost the recipe, he’d be screwed. The chef, on the other hand, understands the flavor profiles and combinations at such a fundamental level that he doesn’t even use a recipe. He has real knowledge as opposed to know-how.
_____
First off - reasoning by ANALOGY is a kind of copycat analysis.
Early efforts to invent an airplane were based on an analogy of the flight of birds. Years wasted, fortunes lost, bodily injury served to teach a hard lesson:
The flapping of wings just wasn’t going to work!
_________________
If at first you don’t succeed --- keep on sucking till you do succeed!
__________________
FIRST PRINCIPLE REASONING
Start with reality: start with what is True rather than using intuition analogy.
Sir Isaac Newton was a brilliant scientist who gave us modern PHYSICS.
He was a curious man of intellect. His gravitas and reputation was beyond question.
He did have one gaping flaw, however!
He accepted THE HOLY BIBLE as an inerrant source of Divine Wisdom.
A chain of Logic is only as strong as the weakest link.
Sir Isaac Newton became obsessed with the study of Solomon’s Temple.
Newton used Greaves’s measurements of the Great Pyramid and systematically compared them with measurements given by ancient sources such as Herodotus, et al.
(Newton’s private studies were published after his death and became a hot item!)
(False) PREMISE
Newton accepted that the human frame was the basis of all ancient measurements. Man, as created, was perfect. All of man’s buildings were measured by man’s body parts. The Great Pyramid -if God’s inspired message in stone - could be deciphered using knowledge of the exact key: the sacred cubit (Pyramid inch.)
(file:///home/chronos/u-6a71d1d98f06c35db6ea47d2b49e74eadb0c047d/MyFiles/Downloads/Morrison2010_Article_TheBodyTheTempleAndTheNewtonia.pdf)
________
One false conclusion after another were each built on the FIRST faulty assumption.
One scholar after another accepted the Authority before them.
Who would dare argue with Sir Isaac Newton?
Martin Gardner noted:It was not until 1859 that Pyramidology was born. This was the year that John Taylor, an eccentric partner in a London publishing firm, issued his The Great Pyramid: Why was it Built? And Who Built it? ... Taylor never visited the Pyramid, but the more he studied its structure, the more he became convinced that its architect was not an Egyptian, but an Israelite acting under divine orders. Perhaps it was Noah himself.
Adopting Joseph Seiss's designation that the Great Pyramid of Giza was "the Bible in stone" Pastor C.T. Russell taught that it played a special part in God's plan during the "last days'' basing his interpretation on Isaiah 19:19-20 which says - "In that day shall there be an altar (pile of stones) to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar (Hebrew matstebah, or monument) at the border thereof to the Lord. And it shall be for a sign, and for a witness unto the Lord of Hosts in the land of Egypt."
_______________________________
THE WATCHTOWER magazine, 05/15/1925, page 148:“The great Pyramid of Egypt, standing as a silent and manimate
witness of the Lord, is a messenger; and its testimony speaks
with great eloquence concerning the divine plan (Isaiah 19:19)”
C.T. Russell jumped on the Pyramid bandwagon and his teachings were maintained
Until 1928 when successor J.F.Rutherford flipped the script - calling it of demonic origin.
________________
Peer Amid Inches (of speculative) Calculations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzX80jmoEgA&ab_channel=SabineHossenfelder -
28
I miss old posters!
by Biahi inblondie, flipper, shirley w, where are you?
did this site get too republican for you?
i just take those threads with a grain of salt..
-
-
Terry
I've been here since 2006 and I've seen em come and go.
I've started well over 1000 topics and made far more posts.
It becomes too familiar. The same questions, topics, arguments, rebuttals, etc.
I miss the personalities of Golden Age crowd :)
Some of us died off, too. It's to be expected.
The switchover from regular JW-dom to TV GB superstars was the most dramatic change I've seen.
I lived through the 1975 debacle and that incident was a hatchet to the jugular.
But JW's are always convert-fresh up to a point.
The renegades, apostates, and disenfranchised waves of humanity reach the shores of Jehovahs-witness.com eventually.
A HEALTHY mind wakes up and moves on. Count it as progress when folks disappear.
I hardly ever post actual JW-related topics anymore. I'm here socially.
DON'T FORGET you have a monumentally valuable archive here. Just click on your favorite names and the entire history of their topics and post is still available.
