I think that one expert who's opinion is appropriate to the subject at hand is Robert Wilson Ph.D., D.D.. Dr. Wilson was one of the preemminent scholars of the early twentieth century and an ardent foe of "higher Criticism", the basis for what Leolaia asserts as fact. He was uniquely positioned to dispute the speculations of the higher critics because he was an expert of all the ancient languages which bear on the subject of when the Bible books were composed. He also had access to the great body of writtings archeologists discovered during the 19th and early 20th centuries in Egyptian, Urgharitic, Aramaic&Syriac, and more. Dr. Wilson refuted a long time ago many of the same arguments still used by modern higher critics. The following essay by Wilson, with an interductory foreword by Phillip Howard, outlines many valid reasons to question question Leo's assertions.
Is The Higher Criticism Scholarly?
This appendix contains parts of an address given by Dr. Wilson on what he considered the standard for being an expert and his appraoch to investigation.
Index
This was one man that whose crtiques of higher criticism can't just be written-off. He knew the source material better than many modern experts.
Forscher
Forscher
JoinedPosts by Forscher
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When was genesis compiled?
by IP_SEC in.
the book is probably a compilation of folk stories, several different hebrew traditions, and adaptations of the legends of neighboring societies.
around what year was genesis probably compiled?.
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Forscher
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Why did the JW's Shun my mother at her funeral?
by DaveNwisconsin inmy mom had died on december 9, 2005. she had been loyal to that religion for 35 years.
she had been in a nursing home for the last two years.
some of the old ladies would come and mom would still write a letter to a "not at home" once and awhile.
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Forscher
Sorry for your loss Dave.
Mary already noted it, but I think the key is in your statement:
We thought about having a private funeral so as to not deal with the witnesses but chose to have a wake service one day, then the next day a funeral at my Catholic church.
JW's can get into big trouble if they show up at a church for just about any reason. Being at the Catholic service would be considered by many Bodies of Elders as participation in false religious rites, a shunning offense. It all depends on the attitude of the local Body of Elders.
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Upcoming expedition to the 'Holy' land.
by Franz inmyself and a number of other scholars i've met on the internet have decided to pool our money and expertise and undertake a fact-finding mission to the 'so called' holy land.
as i've stated previously, we strongly feel that phenomena discussed in the bible, especially ezekiels wheel were indeed interplanetary craft, driven by lord's from beyond our star system.
based on descriptions, we believe these may have been nuclear as a primary power source and we expect to find strong evidence in the desert of past nuclear activity.
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Forscher
Trinitites are a form of tektites found at the site of the trinity blast site in Nevada. You can find more information at:
Forscher's post on Tektites and Trinitites.
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Something significant changed in the WTS in 1984... but what was it???
by Elsewhere inlooking at this chart i can't help but notice that pre-1984 the growth statistics were extremely erratic.
then, all of the sudden in 1984 the growth statistics calmed down and have ever since fallowed a much more stable trend.
it's almost a straight line after 1984.. so what happened?
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Forscher
In 1985, they started using the new baptismal vows at the assemblies. While that wouldn't seem to be earthshattering, one has to wonder if some folks listen to those vows at the assemblies before they get to the point of making the committment themselves and start questioning the propriety of making a vow to an organization. Its a thought since that is the only thing I can think of that happened around that time.
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Writing academic/scholarly papers
by Lady Lee inthis might be very boring for most people but some who were denied the opportunity to get a post-secondary education might find it an interesting perspective on what defines "scholarly" and "academic" work.. the question concerning the scholarship of the wts has come up a few times.
i took one university religion course and had to write a couple of papers.
the title of the course was "on death and dying".
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Forscher
Great essay Lady Lee.
When I went to college and then to unsiversity, I had to use the formats accepted by several different academic disciplines (Humanities [MLA], History [Annotated Bibliography], Anthropology [a modified APA]) and master the one apropriate to my own, the APA. So I know what you are talking about. Of course my experience is fairly typical of college students as you made quite clear.The way the WTS treats true academic and scholarly works is illegal and unethical. It certainly isn't academic or scholarly.
Actually, it is not illegal, however, it is true that it is very unethical not to attribute the material they use as well as being very disrespectful. Considering the attitude of the WTBTS, it is not very surprising.
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Upcoming expedition to the 'Holy' land.
by Franz inmyself and a number of other scholars i've met on the internet have decided to pool our money and expertise and undertake a fact-finding mission to the 'so called' holy land.
as i've stated previously, we strongly feel that phenomena discussed in the bible, especially ezekiels wheel were indeed interplanetary craft, driven by lord's from beyond our star system.
based on descriptions, we believe these may have been nuclear as a primary power source and we expect to find strong evidence in the desert of past nuclear activity.
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Forscher
While your up there, see if you can get access to Mt. Carmel and see if you can find any trinitite. That would certainly be interesting and might very well be evidence which supporst your thesis. That is assuming the mountain currently called by that name is the same one which had that name in antiquity.
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Two Number 4s, and a large Cup of...
by RichieRich ina family in my congregation, who has recently fallen on some hard times, just had some hard times fall on them.
last saturday, a very large tree fell right square on their house.
no one was harmed, but it definitely hurt their wallets.
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Forscher
Your DA man Ritchie!!
That's the way to go. Don't wait around on the elders to pull their thumbs out of their A###S and decide whether folks can help or not. That was the way my wife and I did things while we were in. It made us both friends and enemies (you can guess who the enemies were). But it sure made us feel good!
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I think christianity is a peaceful religion........
by kid-A inquotes from the the american taliban.
ann coulter .
"we should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to christianity.
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Forscher
Dori.
I think you and your friends are making the mistake of confusing Christianity with institutional Christianity. Nowhere in the the Bible will you find Jesus telling his followers to go out and torture or kill those they disagree with. However, institutional religions almost always do that to others! Buddhists follow a man who taught values much like those Jesus taught, but look at the history in lands where Buddhism became the state religion.
After Ieyasu Tokugawa became the Shogun of Japan, he tossed the Catholic missionaries out of Japan and massacred Christians by the thousand. In just one episode Christians were tossed over a cliff by the hundreds to their deaths in the boiling water of a hotspring! And that is just one example among many. Are you going to infer from that that Buddhism is evil? Isn't that pretty much what is going on here with Chritianity?
The problem is with institutional religions. They tend to turn their backs on the teachings of their founders in the name of control and power. The pictures from the Catholic inquisition demonstrate that. But then, most Catholics I've known tell me that the traditions of the Church are more important than scripture, at least they are honest about it. And that's the point! Institutional religions like the Catholics, the Witnesses, certain Evangelicals, Buddhists in some lands, all institutionalised groups put the institutional need for power and control ahead of the founders they pay lip-service to. That is the whole problem in a nutshell!
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Assembly Hall Intermission Music
by JH in.
remember that dull kingdom music.
what music are you thinking about that would have been more appropriate?
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Forscher
How about I Stand Alone by Godsmack?
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By way of an apology...
by Tez into all jwd posters that i have felt go overboard with your bitterness toward the borg!
see below a copy of part of my letter to my son (he posts on here when he gets chance to).
i now fully understand your anger and your desire to try and get jw's out of this blood guilty cult.
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Forscher
Bitterness, not really. A bit of catharsis is in order so that one may move on. Otherwise one would internalize things and become really bitter! I've made no secret of the fact I was kicked around pretty much from day one after I took the dip. I endured it. But the straw that broke the camel's back was what I considered worship of the organization which became so open and obvious from the platform as time went by. That, added to the legalism that burdens most people while letting others off the hook for hurting their fellows, was what finally did the trick. I gave the organization more chances than it deserved!
I don't want to be bitter, so I let bits and pieces out. As for those who see it as their mission to get others out, I understand the sense of betrayal that moves many of them to do it. I also understand the sense of love which moves others to the same end. Each one has his own reasons!
No apology needed, We know what it is like.
Forscher