Posts by Doug Mason

57

The real identity of the F&DS revealed...any news yet?

by Aussie Oz in

recently barbara posted the update on the unthank case and mentioned that more would be revealed soon on the real identity of the faithful slave.. has it been revealed yet?

have i missed it?.

been looking, hoping!.

Doug Mason

As I understand the situation, the FDS is the 144,000 Anointed Ones.

The GB is the visible representative of the FDS, and it is the GB's responsibility to govern and teach the FDS.

That is the way I understood the GB interprets Matt 24:45. I cover this in:

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

The judge might not be aware that the WTS has a religious body within its membership who take a religious vow of service and poverty. This has been used by the WTS in legal presentations in other jurisdictions (therefore legal precedence applies), which then has the potential to tarnish them with the brush that taints other religious bodies. What did the GB have to hide? Did it not want it to be known they are paying millions in compensation to victims of sexual abuse?

Doug

85

Good to study JW past .... New "Writing Archives" under direction of the Writing Committee

by wannabefree in

yes friends, it is important to understand your rich spiritual heritage as jehovah's witnesses, and so you don't have to look at old publications on your own or refer to worldly sources, the organization is pleased to select for you the history as we want you to have it and you can get it in your current watchtower.. from january 15, 2012 watchtower pg 31-32. the governing body is keenly interested in.

our theocratic history.

in commenting on the.

Doug Mason

I have saved them some trouble. All they need do is reproduce what I make available to them at:

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

I hereby provide them with the rights to reproduce that material, provided they do not amend anything on it.

I hope they remember to mention the real past, including 1874, 1878, 1925 and 1975.

I am sure others can provide them with their own suggestions.

Doug

73

C.O. Jonsson's response to Watchtower's latest 607 articles

by wannabefree in

http://kristenfrihet.se/vtsvar/vtsvar1.pdf.

(thanks to augustin for bringing this to our attention in another thread.

).

Doug Mason

diamondiiz,

You ask: "Is it possible that Furuli contributed to writing or actually wrote both of the articles himself for wts?".

There can be little doubt that his fingerprints are all over these articles, although his words likely would have been edited in accordance with house style.

I do not know whether he considers himself to be one of the Anointed 144,000 , but I suggest that it would not be uncommon for members of the "Other Sheep" class to write the Watchtower's articles.

Nevertheless, the GB, individually and collectively must take full responsibility for anything that is written on behalf of the organisation.

Doug

21

Critique of the October 1 Watchtower article"When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed?"

by Doug Mason in

my critique of the october 1, 2011 watchtower article "when was ancient jerusalem destroyed?

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

i am looking forward to hearing of correction or omissions.. please note that this is a large file (almost 7 meg) which takes a while to download and a while to format in a web browser.. the design of the critique allows a single major topic to be individually printed, so that those pages may be handed to an apologist for the watchtower society.

Doug Mason

Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts.

I would be certain the Writing Department is aware of the document by now, so it will be interesting to see if they address those issues that were omitted from their articles. Two of these are:

-- how can they prove the year that the first exiles dedicated the temple altar? (Can they do this without resorting to the Babylonian tablets that they reject?)

-- how can they prove the year that the Jews entered Egypt after murdering Gedaliah.

Remember, they have an obsession at the year Jerusalem was destroyed, but they do not start their 70 years with that event.

Of course, there are many other issues, but these are two issues they can start with.

Doug

53

VAT 4956 - Comparison Of The Lunar Three Time Intervals For Years 568/7 BCE and 588/7 BCE

by AnnOMaly in

vat 4956 - comparison of the lunar three time intervals for years 568/7 b.c.e.

the online sky view cafe (svc) and the cartes du ciel* (cdc) astronomy programs have been used for these results.. observer's location: babylon, 32 33' n / 44 24' e.. sr = sunrise; ss = sunset; mr = moonrise; ms = moonset.. .

svc's range of difference between its results and that of the text, when a time interval could be taken, is 1.75 to 6.5. average difference 3.5.. cdc's range of difference between its results and that of the text, when a time interval could be taken, is 0.75 to 8.5. average difference 4. .

Doug Mason

Ann,

I know this question is slightly off-topic, but you have just mentioned the Watchtower article's rejection of "some sort of clock. Such measurements were not reliable".

What was the "reliable" method of measuring that the Watchtower article DOES accept?

It's one thing for the WT to criticise the use of clocks but they failed to explain the method they accept. Can you help?

Thanks,

Doug

26

Victoria, Australia: Report on Sept. 13th hearing involving Steven Unthank

by AndersonsInfo in

i received the following information from the xjw in australia who agreed to keep us all informed of whatever takes place at court hearings that involve steven unthank and the five watch tower entities that were recently criminally charged in victoria, australia.. .

this is the report for the hearing held on september 13, 2011.. .

barbara.

Doug Mason

This is an area I am not across. I don't understand the reason the WTS would not permit background checks on JWs who are in charge of children? What do they know? Are they protecting certain individuals?

Have I misunderstood the situation?

Doug

53

VAT 4956 - Comparison Of The Lunar Three Time Intervals For Years 568/7 BCE and 588/7 BCE

by AnnOMaly in

vat 4956 - comparison of the lunar three time intervals for years 568/7 b.c.e.

the online sky view cafe (svc) and the cartes du ciel* (cdc) astronomy programs have been used for these results.. observer's location: babylon, 32 33' n / 44 24' e.. sr = sunrise; ss = sunset; mr = moonrise; ms = moonset.. .

svc's range of difference between its results and that of the text, when a time interval could be taken, is 1.75 to 6.5. average difference 3.5.. cdc's range of difference between its results and that of the text, when a time interval could be taken, is 0.75 to 8.5. average difference 4. .

Doug Mason

Alleymom!

Absolutely brilliant!

Magnificent!

Doug

40

Question about 607/587

by drewcoul in

i am not an expert on this issue.

i have read and re-read information about it, but i guess i am somewhat dense when it comes to this topic.. my question is simple: the watchtower suggests that they believe the bible is the unerring word or god.

that it must be believed above anything else.

Doug Mason

The WTS do not start their Seventy Years with the destruction of Jerusalem. That is a distraction. The WTS start the Seventy Years with the exodus of Jews into Egypt, following the murder of Governor Gedaliah. This is the event that they date at 607 BCE.

The WTS completely ignores the fact that the Bible does not say these Jews went into Egypt in the same year that Jerusalem was destroyed. Indeed, it is impossible for all of the events that took place during the period from Jerusalem’s destruction until those Jews went into Egypt to have been completed within 2 months. It is more probable the Jews entered Egypt 4 years after Jerusalem was destroyed, linking that uprising against Gedaliah to Nebuchadnezzar returning and taking more captives from the land during his 23rd year.

While it focuses on the 539 BCE date for the Fall of Babylon, the WTS’s critical date is 537 BCE for the assembling of the first Exiles at the temple site at Jerusalem. There is no Biblical or other information to prove this date is correct. For that reason, scholars provide alternate dates, but no one really knows. It’s a subjective guess.

Likewise with 1914 CE. The WTS makes a lot of noise and fuss about its views on 1914 CE but the critical date for them is 1919 CE when, according to the WTS, God anointed them as his sole voice upon earth, the true representative of God’s kingdom, his government. That, once again, is a purely a subjective opinion.

Doug.

55

VAT 4956 Astronomical Observations

by VM44 in

starting a new thread to discuss the astronomical observations recorded in vat 4956..

Doug Mason

Alleymom,

Looking at the www, I drew up these parameters for Babylon, Iraq (not that I have applied these figures anywhere):

Latitude: 33 degrees, 32 minutes 27 seconds

Longitude: 44 degrees 25 minutes 27 seconds

Elevation: 27 meters

Time Zone: + 3 hours (no daylight savings time)

Doug

8

Question about "The Kingdom"

by TimothyT in

we have just come back from our second visit to the baptist church.

again, it was fabulous.

since being disfellowshipped, i have only wanted two things: a place to be accepted and a place where i can have good upbuilding bible instruction and discussion.

Doug Mason

The topic of The Kingdom of God is of fundamental importance to the NT writers. Jesus spoke more about it than on any other subject. Perhaps a good start is to study Matthew 13, where the kingdom is said to be a person in action - sowing (not reaping), planting good seed, searching, fishing.

The kingdom is dynamic activity, and who is that person doing these things? God.

The Kingdom is past, present and future, because it is the Kingdom of God, it is not the kingdom of humans. The early English meaning of "kingdom" is "kingship", or rulership, which means it is the rulership of and by God. The ekklesia is not the kingdom, but is a product of the kingdom's activity.

You will have much eye-opening enjoyment as you research this topic. I have several challenging books on the subject on my bookshelves.

Doug