Doug Mason

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Posts by Doug Mason

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  11

  Chapter 3 of "What does the Bible Really Teach?"

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i do not know if this is of use to anyone, but i thought i would share it anyway.. i prepared a personal analysis of chapter 3 from the wts book, what does the bible really teach?, and i have made it available at:.

  http://www.jwstudies.com/bible_teach__chapter_3.pdf .

  in the first part, i made notes against scans of each page.. following those pages, i insert the words of each scripture being cited, and at times i include verses from the immediate context.

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  Doug Mason

  I do not know if this is of use to anyone, but I thought I would share it anyway.

  I prepared a personal analysis of Chapter 3 from the WTS book, “What Does the Bible Really Teach?”, and I have made it available at:

  http://www.jwstudies.com/Bible_Teach__chapter_3.pdf

  In the first part, I made notes against scans of each page.

  Following those pages, I insert the words of each Scripture being cited, and at times I include verses from the immediate context. I also add a few comments.

  Please remember that are simply personal study notes.

  Doug
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  12

  The Joy of the coming "Thousand Years"

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i understand that only the twenty million jws will survive this imminent armageddon.

  since the worlds population is about seven billion, this means that each jw man, woman and youth will be left to locate and bury 350 corpses killed at armageddon.. .

  these survivors will spend the rest of the following one thousand years teaching the wtss kingdom to resurrected people who previously never had the opportunity.

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  Doug Mason

  I understand that only the twenty million JWs will survive this imminent Armageddon. Since the world’s population is about seven billion, this means that each JW man, woman and youth will be left to locate and bury 350 corpses killed at Armageddon.
  
  These survivors will spend the rest of the following one thousand years teaching the WTS’s Kingdom to resurrected people who previously never had the opportunity. The WTS teachings reach few of the world’s seven thousand million people, and there are those who lived before anyone had the opportunity to know about Jehovah’s Witnesses. So I assume that seven thousand million people will be given this opportunity during the remainder of that thousand year period.
  
  These survivors of Armageddon will look forward to their visitation program and book studies with every newly resurrected person.
  
  Let us assume that God resurrects one million people every single day. One million on the first day, followed by another million the next, relentlessly on and on, on and on, all over the world, people of all ages and throughout history.
  
  Little wonder JWs look forward to this “new heavens and new earth”. Imagine the surprise and delight on the faces of these newly resurrected as they are visited again and again over several weeks learning this good news! And all the time, every day God is graciously resurrecting an extra million people for the JWs to visit.
  
  At this rate of resurrections of one million a day – taking place in China, India, the Andes, Siberia, remote islands, Sahara, and the like, it will take only 20 years to get the people resurrected.
  
  What joy and pleasure for the disciples of the Watchtower Society as they visit these extra million each day and arrange their new weekly Book Studies as well as continue with their existing studies.
  
  Then they will have the joy of knowing they have judged rightly which people, young and old, who will be killed off again. Auschwitz never knew anything like it.
  
  How many trees will they needed for all the books? How many electricity plants just to power the printing presses!
  
  And think of the great technological skills these JWs will bring to this new earth as they operate the infrastructure systems needed for these billions of people, and also for killing them. No wonder everyone is happy and smiling.
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  18

  The Anti-Type of ancient Israel! Can we learn who?

  by wannabe in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  {matthew 25:41} {revelation 20:7-10}.

  "{genesis 28:10-14 asv} three times jehovah made the same promise, so we can be absolutely certain those promises will be carried out to the letter, because the god who made those promises himself, because there was no one greater than he, stepped in with an oath, and put his own guarantee on them as paul will now explain:.

  18 so god has given both his promise and his oath.

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  Doug Mason

  Just shows you what you can do when you jump all over different books, written at different times by different people, to their own separate communities.

  Reminds me of the person who said, start from "Judas hanged himself" and then jump to "Go and do likewise".

  Do you know when Chronicles was written and for whom it was intended, and the objective of the writer/author? And then with each of the other books you cite? Do you know whether each writer was consciously referring to all of those other writers?

  You might find page 2 of my short piece handy:

  http://www.jwstudies.com/knight_jump_hermeneutic.pdf

  Doug
• 
  37

  What did Jesus mean by "this generation"?

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  by looking at every occasion that jesus used the expression "this generation", it is possible to work out what he meant.. i have listed these occasions, along with some questions, at:.

  http://www.jwstudies.com/this_generation.pdf.

  i am interested to know what you think.. doug.

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  Doug Mason

  I know that all posters here are very familiar with Matthew 24, so there is no need to reproduce it in full here.
  
  I suggest that you do print it out (or copy it into a word processing program) and then mark out which words you believe refer to the destruction of the Temple and to the end of the Jewish Age, and then mark out which words refer to some future event.
  
  Then look to see if the reasoning flows consistently or jumps back and forth, depending on preconceptions. By that, I mean was Jesus (or the writers of “Matthew”) mistaken about the imminence of a physical Coming? Were they equating the future downfall of the Jewish “Age” (which is the subject of the original question) with this future Coming? (One must note the repeated references to the false Christs who were thick on the ground at that time.) Were they equating the downfall of the temple with Jesus' Coming?
  
  It is my belief, and we must each be fully convinced in our own minds and I fully allow others to have their views, that the context of this “great distress” relates solely to the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem. And for me, Jesus’ reference to his immediate “generation” confirms that view.
  
  Mt 24:1 attention to its buildings. Mt 24:2 “Do you see all these things?” … every one will be thrown down.” Mt 24:3 … sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
  
  Mt 24:4 … “Watch out” … Mt 24:6 You will hear … Mt 24:9 “Then you will be handed over … Mt 24:10 At that time … Mt 24:13 stands firm to the end will be saved. Mt 24:14 … kingdom will be preached … then the end will come. Mt 24:15 “you see standing in the holy place … Mt 24:16 those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. … Mt 24:19 dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! z …
  
  Mt 24:21 “For then there will be great distress, … Mt 24:23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. …
  
  Mt 24:29 “Immediately after the distress of those days “ ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ Mt 24:30 “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky … Mt 24:34 this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Doug
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  13

  Some people who were important to Russell

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i have compiled a file that comprises pen-pictures of about twelve people mentioned by charles taze russell in his publications.

  they either influenced russell, worked alongside him, or were influenced by him.

  from their pages, they bring us a better understanding of that intense period.. http://www.jwstudies.com/people_important_to_russell.pdf.

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  Doug Mason

  cameo-d,

  Interesting question. I know that many many (30?) years ago, I heard of some brothers (siblings??) who went under the name "Witnesses of Jehovah" supposedly up in the Dandenongs and they were claiming they "had something over the Watchtower". I never found out more than that. (Sounds a bit like the SDAs and the Standish brothers.)

  I guess you are not speaking of Henninges here in Melbourne. I see from their web site that they are now meeting near me. ("Christian Bible Students Melbourne"; CBSM). And there were of course the Bereans ("Frank and Ernest") who, from memory were here in Kew.

  I found the State Library in Melbourne a great resource. That's where I located (in the 1970s) the books and magazines by Henninges. It might be possible to access the library by email. http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/

  But none of these were "no name", so I'm not much help to you. Have you asked Bruce Price? There's a picture of Bruce (actually E B Price) at http://www.eastward.edu.au/news/2006archive.asp

  I wonder if the Australian Government's archive might provide clues? http://naa.gov.au I notice that by searching with the word "Jehovah" it brings up over 130 records. This might be a happy hunting ground for some researcher. The summaries look tantalising.

  Doug
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  13

  Some people who were important to Russell

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i have compiled a file that comprises pen-pictures of about twelve people mentioned by charles taze russell in his publications.

  they either influenced russell, worked alongside him, or were influenced by him.

  from their pages, they bring us a better understanding of that intense period.. http://www.jwstudies.com/people_important_to_russell.pdf.

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  Doug Mason

  slimboyfat,

  I see that Tony Wills' book is available at Lulu.

  http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/a-people-for-his-name/8304643

  Doug
• 
  13

  Some people who were important to Russell

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i have compiled a file that comprises pen-pictures of about twelve people mentioned by charles taze russell in his publications.

  they either influenced russell, worked alongside him, or were influenced by him.

  from their pages, they bring us a better understanding of that intense period.. http://www.jwstudies.com/people_important_to_russell.pdf.

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  Doug Mason

  slimboyfat,

  I have not seen that book by Doug Harris. After he wrote his early study on the use of "Jehovah" in the NT he commented to me that he wished he had read my study first. If he was able to make use of any of my information, I am pleased it was of use to him. (That was about 20 years ago.) I had difficulty finding resources when I wrote that, and it was in the days of writing letters (remember them?) and visiting libraries (remember them too?)

  You can find Doug Harris at www.reachout.org

  I would not be surprised at anything relative to CTR and Zionsim. We only need see the title of his magazine, apart from his overtures to the Jews. CTR fully expected the true Christian believers (his crew) to be taken from the earth before 1914 in order for the Zionists to take full and unencumbered control of the earth at that time, thus ushering in an unprecedented time of peace. (1914 - "by which time men will have learned to be still".)

  I have a soft copy of 1967 A People for his Name (Timothy White). Is that the same as the book you are referring to? It's about 95 meg. I will see if I can find where I got it, otherwise I could mail you a CD.

  Doug
• 
  13

  Some people who were important to Russell

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i have compiled a file that comprises pen-pictures of about twelve people mentioned by charles taze russell in his publications.

  they either influenced russell, worked alongside him, or were influenced by him.

  from their pages, they bring us a better understanding of that intense period.. http://www.jwstudies.com/people_important_to_russell.pdf.

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  Doug Mason

  slimboyfat,

  I have no idea, sorry.

  When I did a "Google" with:

  Russell Zionist Rothschild

  any number of responses came up, but I did not know if any is reliable or verifiable, or whether they simply fed off one another.

  Doug
• 
  12

  Paul's Letters came first and the Gospel response was a refutation

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  if you pick up your bible and look at the order of the books in the new testament you'll find that the gospels come before paul's letters.. this might casually indicate to the unaware that the gospel writers actually wrote before paul.

  paul's letters containing paul's remarkable theology came first.

  (chronologically).

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• 

  Doug Mason

  Terry,

  I sincerely hope you have read all of the book that the following comes from.

  Doug
  -------------

  Since Paul died in 64 C.E., we need to recognize that all of Paul's authentic letters were written prior to this crucial seventieth year. This means that the epistles known as 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Romans, Philippians, and Philemon are for certain placed prior to 70 CE. Colossians and Ephesians, which are debated as Pauline originals, could also be placed on the far side of 70, even if their actual Pauline authorship is finally denied. This dating, however, would not be universally saluted.

  The only gospel in existence prior to 70 is believed to be Mark. It is generally dated in a range from 64 to 72, with consensus falling in the year 69 or 70, or just prior to the cataclysmic events of that seventieth year.

  There is a strong, but neither universally recognized nor even an in-the-majority, tradition that the epistle to the Hebrews might also be a pre-70 literary work; but if so, that would complete the list of New Testament writings that arguably could be placed on the calendar prior to the year 70 CE.

  The other three Gospels (Matthew, Luke, and John), the pseudo Pauline epistles (1 and 2 Timothy and Titus), the General Epistles (1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, and 3 John, Jude, and James), the Book of Acts, and the Book of Revelation are all quite clearly post-70 literary works. Each of these books in some way reveals, however, that it was written under the impact of the events of that crucial year.

  “Liberating the Gospels: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes”, (chapter: “How these Jewish books became Gentile captives”), page 40, John Shelby Spong.
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  13

  Some people who were important to Russell

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i have compiled a file that comprises pen-pictures of about twelve people mentioned by charles taze russell in his publications.

  they either influenced russell, worked alongside him, or were influenced by him.

  from their pages, they bring us a better understanding of that intense period.. http://www.jwstudies.com/people_important_to_russell.pdf.

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• 

  Doug Mason

  cameo-d,

  If you are looking for common denominators, I suggest they might include:

  People thinking they can calculate the date of Christ's Coming.

  Jumping around the Bible, using it as a (flat) chess board and super-gluing unrelated verses. (Knight-jump "exegesis" - like the horse in chess that jumps from a black square to a white one, ignoring all obstacles in between.)

  Thinking that Bible writers were writing of the reader's times.

  Using the current newspapers to interpret Scripture ("Turkey" during the 19th century, for example).

  People wanting to feel secure of the future.

  Thinking that the only way to solve today's problems requires divine intervention.

  Suckers taken in by good oratory.

  Ignoring the fact that throughout history, every prediction has failed - and thus people keep repeating those mistakes.

  Others can probably think of more.

  Doug