for newbies, who was carl olof jonsson?
he was a jw in sweden who was challenged by a householder in the 1960s, who pointed out to him that secular history books don’t agree with watchtower that jerusalem was destroyed in 607 bce, but instead place the event 20 years later.
the reason the date is important is because it is the starting date for jw chronology which leads to 1914 as the end of the gentile times, and the beginning of the last days, as jws understand it.
'scholar':
It has been estimated that the first day of the year might have come any time from the middle of March to the middle of June in middle Babylonian times
This is obviously wrong, because the Babylonian calendar had no mechanism or purpose for years of only 11 months (or 10 if starting from June).
for newbies, who was carl olof jonsson?
he was a jw in sweden who was challenged by a householder in the 1960s, who pointed out to him that secular history books don’t agree with watchtower that jerusalem was destroyed in 607 bce, but instead place the event 20 years later.
the reason the date is important is because it is the starting date for jw chronology which leads to 1914 as the end of the gentile times, and the beginning of the last days, as jws understand it.
😂 The sound of desperation as ‘scholar’s’ cognitive dissonance gnaws at him. Newton’s claims about Ptolemy’s supposed unreliability, including when the new year started, aren’t widely accepted. And your cherry picked source is made redundant by Parker and Dubberstein’s tables anyway.
Worse still (for you), the solstice definitely occurred on 29 June, in 568BCE and 588BCE. VAT 4956 places it on exactly the right day in 568BCE, irrespective of whether it was observed or calculated. The Watch Tower Society’s alternative nonsense requires the solstice on a date that is impossible, for which the solstice could neither be observed nor calculated.
for newbies, who was carl olof jonsson?
he was a jw in sweden who was challenged by a householder in the 1960s, who pointed out to him that secular history books don’t agree with watchtower that jerusalem was destroyed in 607 bce, but instead place the event 20 years later.
the reason the date is important is because it is the starting date for jw chronology which leads to 1914 as the end of the gentile times, and the beginning of the last days, as jws understand it.
‘scholar’:
At this stage, this is only your own personal opinion for WT critics have no mention of this which perhaps is quite telling as to whether this observation has any significance. The said scholar will solve this matter in due course as this is what scholar does.
Not a single part of that is true. 😂
A cursory web search shows that https://aperimentis.wordpress.com/2018/02/08/vat4956/ from a few years ago also indicates that the solstice date is a problem for the JW mangling of the chronology.
for newbies, who was carl olof jonsson?
he was a jw in sweden who was challenged by a householder in the 1960s, who pointed out to him that secular history books don’t agree with watchtower that jerusalem was destroyed in 607 bce, but instead place the event 20 years later.
the reason the date is important is because it is the starting date for jw chronology which leads to 1914 as the end of the gentile times, and the beginning of the last days, as jws understand it.
‘scholar’:
somewhat bemused that this matter has escaped the attention of critics such as COJ.
It’s unlikely that it escaped his attention, but as he was responding to the claims made in the Watchtower articles, and those articles avoid mentioning the solstice, it was possibly out of scope. But a Google search finds that the correct date of the solstice has indeed been mentioned previously. In any case, the issue with the solstice exists independent of any tedious fallacious arguments from authority or incredulity.
for newbies, who was carl olof jonsson?
he was a jw in sweden who was challenged by a householder in the 1960s, who pointed out to him that secular history books don’t agree with watchtower that jerusalem was destroyed in 607 bce, but instead place the event 20 years later.
the reason the date is important is because it is the starting date for jw chronology which leads to 1914 as the end of the gentile times, and the beginning of the last days, as jws understand it.
‘scholar’:
The matter of the solstice mentioned in 9 Simanu is yet to be resolved which is a question not only for WT scholars but also for its critics.
The solstice on 9 Simanu in Nebuchadnezzar’s 37th year corresponds to 29 June 568 BCE, exactly as expected and completely correct. Well that was easy. Quite a conundrum for the JW version though. 😂
for newbies, who was carl olof jonsson?
he was a jw in sweden who was challenged by a householder in the 1960s, who pointed out to him that secular history books don’t agree with watchtower that jerusalem was destroyed in 607 bce, but instead place the event 20 years later.
the reason the date is important is because it is the starting date for jw chronology which leads to 1914 as the end of the gentile times, and the beginning of the last days, as jws understand it.
‘scholar’:
Thank you and now the said scholar can pursue the issue with the expert, Dr. Rolf Furuli
If your favourite apostate says the solstice occurred on 9 July, he’s simply wrong. And if he says VAT 4956 must be an elaborate fake, he’s veering into conspiritard territory, and also invalidating his own efforts to make it appear consistent with 588 BCE.
for newbies, who was carl olof jonsson?
he was a jw in sweden who was challenged by a householder in the 1960s, who pointed out to him that secular history books don’t agree with watchtower that jerusalem was destroyed in 607 bce, but instead place the event 20 years later.
the reason the date is important is because it is the starting date for jw chronology which leads to 1914 as the end of the gentile times, and the beginning of the last days, as jws understand it.
‘scholar’:
A nice summary of your position but WT scholars have shown that the lunar eclipse described in VAT 4956, 3 Simanu according to the Julian calendar would be 15 July 588 BC and that the New Year would have begun 2/3 May. The solstice 9th Simanu mentioned in the tablet is dated six days earlier thus would be 9 July 588 BC. No doubt much debate about this new research with continuing controversy but WT scholars are quite relaxed and comfortable about such controversies and so is the said scholar.
It’s not merely ‘my position’. 🙄 And it’s 15 Simanu, not 3, which can literally never be 15 July in any year of the neo-Babylonian period, for the same reasons that Nisan can never begin in May and the solstice can never be in July. So much for “WT scholars”. The only option for the JW position, despite their 2011 claim that researchers found it consistent with 588BCE, is to claim VAT 4956 ‘must be all wrong after all’. 🤦♂️
for newbies, who was carl olof jonsson?
he was a jw in sweden who was challenged by a householder in the 1960s, who pointed out to him that secular history books don’t agree with watchtower that jerusalem was destroyed in 607 bce, but instead place the event 20 years later.
the reason the date is important is because it is the starting date for jw chronology which leads to 1914 as the end of the gentile times, and the beginning of the last days, as jws understand it.
Fisherman:
I asked what authenticates Vat 4956.
What authenticates the claim that anonymous “researchers” supposedly analysed the lunar positions in VAT 4956 and found them consistent with 588BCE (which they aren’t)? 🤣
for newbies, who was carl olof jonsson?
he was a jw in sweden who was challenged by a householder in the 1960s, who pointed out to him that secular history books don’t agree with watchtower that jerusalem was destroyed in 607 bce, but instead place the event 20 years later.
the reason the date is important is because it is the starting date for jw chronology which leads to 1914 as the end of the gentile times, and the beginning of the last days, as jws understand it.
‘scholar’:
What a fascinating conundrum you have posited for now we have a lunar eclipse dated 15 July 588 BC and the solstice on the 9th of the 3rd month which is believed to be on 29th June 588 BC?
What we actually have is an eclipse on 5 July 568 BCE but that is asserted by JWs to have occurred on 15 July 588 BCE (which is impossible because Simanu never starts in July), and a summer solstice 6 days earlier which necessarily occurred within a day of 29 June regardless of the chosen year anywhere during the neo-Babylonian period, once again showing the JW interpretation to be impossible. All of the events, as well as the required intercalary month preceding Nisan, perfectly fit 568 BCE.
Let the Furuli spin begin. 😂
for newbies, who was carl olof jonsson?
he was a jw in sweden who was challenged by a householder in the 1960s, who pointed out to him that secular history books don’t agree with watchtower that jerusalem was destroyed in 607 bce, but instead place the event 20 years later.
the reason the date is important is because it is the starting date for jw chronology which leads to 1914 as the end of the gentile times, and the beginning of the last days, as jws understand it.
🤦♂️ It was 29 June. And of course 9 July remains physically impossible.
