I really liked both Commentary on the Letter of James and Choosing the Best Way of Life.
Incidentally, Choosing the Best Way of Life was written by Reinhard Lengtat, not Ed Dunlap.
zoiks inspired this thread when he mentioned this book elsewhere.. i have read other threads on this forum about it, but i always enjoy the fresh insight on here.. commentary on the letter of james was always my favorite book from wtbs, partly because i love the book of james, but also because it was one of the books that dealt with more practical christian living than constant wt doctrine.. i mentioned to a number of people that i loved that book, and got a few comments of "well, you know that book was written by an apostate.".
it didnt take me long to do a little math - that book came out i believe in 1979/1980, right around the time of the great purge.
how could someone write such an excellent book and then be branded an apostate just a few months later???.
in the april 15, 2010 wt study article that contains the new interpretation on the generation quagmire...hurgmm..hurgmm ...teaching.
there is a box titled are you keeping up with increased light?
one particular article sparked my interest, the one titled: in which courtyard does the great crowd serve?
The naos itself is specifically stated to be in Heaven in Rev. 11:19; 14:17; and 15:5. The "Great Crowd" is in the naos (en to nao) according to Rev. 7:15.
Even if the word naos could be construed as including the courtyards (though it does not), those same courtyards would be necessarily in Heaven -- emphatically NOT on Earth. The beauty of the cited scriptures is that they make an absolute definition of what the naos includes or does not include immaterial: the naos itself is in Heaven -- all of it.
Ergo, the "Great Crowd" serves in Heaven.
from jw.org, here is the new definition of the generation from the april 15, 2010 watchtower.. .
article: holy spirits role in the outworking of jehovahs purpose.
13 third, holy spirit is at work in bringing bible.
Oh, boy. Here we go again...
The "Anointed" were not in existence when the words were spoken (pre-Pentecost), and thus could scarcely be the "this generation" about which Jesus spoke... And, in fact, the WatchTower Society specifically precluded their current understanding in the "Question from Readers" back in November 1995:
*** w95 11/1 pp. 30-31 Questions From ReadersWhen Jesus used “generation” for the last time, he was on the Mount of Olives with four apostles. (Mark 13:3)
Those men, who were not yet anointed with spirit nor part of a Christian congregation, certainly did not constitute either a “generation” or a race of people.
And in 1997:
*** w97 6/1 28 Questions From Readers ***
Many scriptures confirm that Jesus did not use “generation” with regard to some small or distinct group, meaning only the Jewish leaders or only his loyal disciples.
And in 1999:
*** w99 5/1 10-12 "These Things Must Take Place" ***
So when, on the Mount of Olives, he again spoke of “this generation,” he evidently did not mean the entire race of Jews throughout history; nor did he mean his followers, even though they were “a chosen race.” (1 Peter 2:9) Neither was Jesus saying that “this generation ” is a period of time.
in a recent watchtower, the paradise earth doctrine and its "uniqueness" to jehovah's witnesses is discussed.
i don't have a scan available at the moment but i may be able to obtain one.. .
what i wanted to bring your attention to is the paragraph discussing the bible students' teaching of a "paradise earth" under pastor russell's leadership.
glenster writes:
Rutherford's big 1917 figure, 411,840,000, nearly a third of the world's
population at the time, considering the much smaller number of his followers and
how soon he kept saying the worldly system would end, must refer to what those
on Earth who followed Russell/Rutherford would grow to be eventually.
*******************************************************
The earlier Watch Tower Society teaching was that the two heavenly classes (i.e. 144 000 ["Messiah class"] and the "Great Company") were being gathered simultaneously since 33 C.E. Rutherford anticipated ("prophecied") that the "Great Company" would ascend to heaven in 1921.
Forty days after Christ's resurrection Hisascension occurred. This confirms the hope of
the Church's glorification forty years (a year for a day) after the awakening of the sleeping saints
in the Spring of 1878. The seven days before the Deluge may represent seven years, from 1914 to
1921, in the midst of which "week of years" the last members of the Messiah pass beyond the
veil. The Great Company class shall be cut off at its end— the fact that we see the first half of this
week so distinctly marked would lead us to expect three and one-half years more of
witnessing by the Great Company class; for it seems to be the Heavenly Father's way to
accomplish His work by weeks and half weeks, from the very beginning of creation until now.
The Finished Mystery, p. 64
yesterday, my wife and i was going for a walk in the neighborhood.
she was carrying my niece and commenting on how heavy she is.
i told her that apparently her sister has to carry her child, diaper bag, and her things to the bus stop every morning.
DOCTRINES MORE OR LESS IMPORTANT
THERE are certain features of the doctrine of Christ which are fundamental and indispensable, and without which none would be recognized of the Lord as one of His followers. There are other features which would seem to be useful, helpful, blessed, but not fundamental--not essential to membership in the Body of Christ. The fundamentals have been enjoyed by good, saintly ones from the Day of Pentecost until now.
We, the same class now, have the same fundamentals, and are permitted to have other privileges, truths, "meat in due season," for our strengthening. These latter are not necessarily essential to our membership in the Body of Christ; otherwise our forefathers who did not have them would not have been members of Christ, and there would have been no Christ Body for centuries.
The fundamental theory of the Atonement is as follows:
(1) All men--all of Adam's children--are sinners.
(2) None can be reconciled to God without a Redeemer's sacrifice.
(3) Jesus came into the world to be that Sacrifice-- and later to apply that Ransom-price for the sins of the world.
(4) On the basis of faith in the Redeemer's work, the believer may consecrate himself to the Divine service, in acceptance of the Divine invitation, "Present your bodies a living sacrifice."
(5) So doing, the believer may--up to the time of the completion of the Elect number--exercise full assurance of faith that his sacrifice will be accepted of the Father; and that he will receive a share of the anointing of the Holy Spirit--the begetting.
(6) Such as meet these conditions are to be accepted as brethren in the highest sense of the term. This much would seem to have been always necessary, and more than this we believe is not necessary today. But if by reason of our favorable day we have more knowledge, we may also have corresponding trials, which our greater knowledge will offset.
Our advice to the Lord's dear people everywhere is that they put no yoke upon each other, beyond the fundamentals specified above--that otherwise they stand free, and leave each other free, and fellowship and agree as much as they can with each other.
Watch Tower, August 1913 (Reprints page 5284)
***************************************
But no earthly organization can grant a passport to heavenly glory. The most bigoted sectarian (aside from the Romanist) will not claim, even, that membership in his sect will secure heavenly glory. All are forced to admit that the true Church is the one whose record is kept in heaven, and not on earth. They deceive the people by claiming that it is needful to come to Christ through them--needful to become members of some sectarian body in order to become members of "the body of Christ," the true Church. On the contrary, the Lord, while he has not refused any who came to him through sectarianism, and has turned no true seeker away empty, tells us that we need no such hindrances, but could much better have come to him direct. He cries, "Come unto me"; "take my yoke upon you, and learn of me"; "my yoke is easy and my burden is light, and ye shall find rest to your souls." Would that we had given heed to his voice sooner. We would have avoided many of the heavy burdens of sectism, many of its bogs of despair, many of its doubting castles, its vanity fairs, its lions of worldly-mindedness, etc.
Thy Kingdom Come, p. 186,187
yesterday, my wife and i was going for a walk in the neighborhood.
she was carrying my niece and commenting on how heavy she is.
i told her that apparently her sister has to carry her child, diaper bag, and her things to the bus stop every morning.
Well, not exactly from the beginning...
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
Ques. Please let me know by what name you people call yourselves? What denomination?
Ans. We are strictly unsectarian, and consequently recognize no sectarian name, believing with Paul, (read 1 Cor. 3:1-4) that where one saith I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, or I am a Baptist, or I a Methodist, etc., it is an evidence of carnality, and consequently in opposition to the Spirit of Christ. Did Paul or Apollos die for us? If so, let us call ourselves theirs. Were we baptized into the Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, or other denominational churches? If so, we are members of it, and should be properly recognized by those names. But if we were baptized into the one body or church of which Jesus is the one and only Head, then we are members in particular of his body, and the only name appropriate would be his; Scripturally called the "Church of Christ," "Christians," "Church of the first born," and such like general names. Again we would remark that ours is the only Scriptural basis of Christian union, viz.: We have no creed (fence) to bind us together or to keep others out of our company. The Bible is our only standard, and its teachings our only creed, and recognizing the progressive character of the unfolding of Scriptural truths, we are ready and prepared to add to or modify our creed (faith--belief) as we get increase of light from our Standard.
We are in fellowship with all Christians in whom we can recognize the Spirit of Christ, and especially with those who recognize the Bible as the only standard. We do not require, therefore, that all shall see, just as we do in order to be called Christians; realizing that growth in both grace and knowledge is a gradual process. Nor do we see reason to expect that any but the watchmen of Zion will "see eye to eye" (Isa. 52:8) until that which is perfect is come, when that which is in part shall be done away. (1 Cor. 13:10.)
If all Christians were to thus free themselves of prescribed creeds, and study the Word of God without denominational bias, truth and knowledge and real Christian fellowship and unity, would result. The Spirit of the Head would pervade the unfettered members of the body, and sectarian pride would vanish. Thus we believe, thus we practice, and thus we teach. It becomes our duty to denounce sectarianism and the God-dishonoring creeds of men which, while contradicting each other, unite in misrepresenting God's Word and character. Because these are bonds which hinder God's children from rendering him the homage due unto his name, hinder their knowing him, hinder their worshiping in spirit and in truth, and also hinder them from enjoying that joy and peace which their Father designed they should have. We "cry aloud and spare not."
Zion's Watch Tower, April 1882 (Reprints page 344)
in a recent watchtower, the paradise earth doctrine and its "uniqueness" to jehovah's witnesses is discussed.
i don't have a scan available at the moment but i may be able to obtain one.. .
what i wanted to bring your attention to is the paragraph discussing the bible students' teaching of a "paradise earth" under pastor russell's leadership.
The Watch Tower Society taught the following in the 1917 publication The Finished Mystery on page 103:
FM103
Was ten thousand times ten thousand, and
thousands of thousands
.— The number of theGreat Company will apparently exceed one
hundred millions. Num. 4:46-48 and Ex. 28:1
indicate but one priest to each 2,860 Levites,
which would make the number of the Great
Company approximate 411,840,000.— T118,
119; Dan. 7:10. 5:12
Personally, I consider nearly 412 000 000 more than a "few."
in coc, he is reported to have said, (quoting from memory, so i may be a little off) "we didn't come here to have you teach us, brother franz.
" from that remark, i gather he chaired the judicial committee?.
given his first name, i assume he's black.
Disclaimer: I have lived in Wisconsin the past 20 years.
Ray doesn't treat other races as inferior. However, assuming he did...
I incline to the belief that it is not more humiliating to be insulted by one's social inferior, but less humiliating -- because the insult can be dismissed quite easily on that basis alone.
in coc, he is reported to have said, (quoting from memory, so i may be a little off) "we didn't come here to have you teach us, brother franz.
" from that remark, i gather he chaired the judicial committee?.
given his first name, i assume he's black.
in another thread the question of whether or not the wt$ would "outright lie" was raised.. i happen to believe that they would in a heartbeat, although i agree that their preference is for sneaky misleading statements as opposed to outright lies.
regardless, here's a short list of some of what i consider incontrovertible evidence that yes, the wt$ would outright lie.. .
consider the following statements printed in the wt magazine:.
Stirring up increasing interest in them, Jehovah caused to be preached from 1918 onward the startling public message “Millions Now Living Will Never Die,” and in 1923 he provided the interpretation of “the parable of the sheep and the goats.”
-- Watchtower, Nov. 15, 1955, p. 698 § 36
(And yet Rutherford said he 'made an ass of himself' regarding that 1925 business...)