Posts by Doug Mason

16

Changed or Misprinted?

by iamwhoiam in

so..who here has examples of where the society printed something in a book or magazine...and then when a newer version of the book or bound volume came out...they changed what they wrote to cover up a mistake or to further a doctrinal change?.

Doug Mason

None of Russell’s predictions came to pass, so words in his books were altered and they continued to sell them.

Today, Witnesses are told that 1914 was a year “marked” by Russell, but they are not told that Russell expected an outbreak of enduring PEACE with 1914, under the auspices of Zionism. Hence the magazine was called "Zion's Watch Tower".

The followng file provides key alterations they made to Russell’s books “Millennial Dawn” [MD], subsequently renamed “Studies in the Scriptures” [SS]. The initial title reflected Russell’s teaching that the Millennium had already dawned.

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

None of of CTR's dates is accepted today.

Very little, if anything, of the teachings when the WTS was "appointed" in 1919 is acceptable today.

In the 1920s, Rutherford got rid of the pyramids for proving dates, and lost the majority of his followers as a result.

etc., etc.

Doug

10

Biblical definitions of marriage

by ParadiseCircus in

so marriage is currently the topic du jour in the tms and this meme's got me thinking about the bible and marriage:.

but when i bring this up with dubs they say that 'jehovah tolerated this so that the israelites could shore up the numbers; it wasn't necessarily sanctioned by him'.

can i get some help with a rebuttal?

Doug Mason

I know that I am somewhat off-topic, but I feel some relevance.

What right does one group -- Christians/Jews -- have to impose their views on to non-believers? If a Christian interprets marriage as only between a man and a woman, then that limitation relates to their own convictions. But that does not mean everyone else has to be obedient to a Christian's viewpoint.

Is there any proof that children of a man/woman relationship are always better cared for?

Why should the partners of a homosexual or lesbian relationship have less legal rights?

Likewise for the children of such a family. Why should they have lesser legal rights and protections?

Doug

1

Critique of Oct WT on "When was Jerusalem Destroyed?" -- in Spanish

by Doug Mason in

the spanish translation of my critique of the october 2011 watchtower article, "when was ancient jerualem destroyed, part 1" is available at:.

http://www.jwstudies.com/critica_1_de_cuando_fue_destruida_la_antigua_jerusalen.pdf.

the following is the spanish description:.

Doug Mason

The Spanish translation of my Critique of the October 2011 Watchtower article, "When Was Ancient Jerualem Destroyed, Part 1" is available at:

http://www.jwstudies.com/Critica_1_de_Cuando_fue_Destruida_la_Antigua_Jerusalen.pdf

The following is the Spanish description:

Documentada refutacin al artculo de La Atalaya del 1 de Octubre 2011, usando una extensa documentacin que prueba que no existen bases para dudar de la fecha establecida por eruditos modernos en la datacin de la cada de Jerusal é n antigua en 587/6 AC. Adems se demuestra cmo el artculo en cuestin es un mero intento de desacreditacin de fuentes vlidas, usando descontextualizacin y tergiversacin por motivos corporativos.

Doug

9

what do u think of ACTS 15?

by xtreemlyconfused17 in

(please pardon my english quotes from the bible.

i'm trying to translate from swahili, i cant find my english bible lol).

so i had my bible study yesterday and my teacher came with an elder.

Doug Mason

When you read Paul's account of his meeting with the Jerusalem leadership, you get a very different picture to that which is given in Acts.

Paul, who was based at Antioch, had little regard for those Judaising persons. He reported that all he was told at the meeting was to care for the poor. Further, his attitude towards food was completely at odds to the position taken in the report in Acts.

How can Paul's report be so totally different to the Acts account? It's very simple really. The book Acts of the Apostles (there was a number of writings called Acts) was the creation of a writer who lived some 40 years after Paul died, and is generally recognised as religious fiction. Its accounts of Paul's travels, for example, do not accord with Paul's record. Several supposedly historical events are incorrect.

In Acts, the writer told stories of how he thought things should have been, rather than what actually happened.

There was a deep division between the Pauline party based at Antioch and the Petrine party based at Jerusalem (see "Crisis of Conscience" -- I cannot remember the page number). (The reference from Galatians by Fernando provides a great insight into that sharp division.) So read Acts keeping in mind the internal politics at the time and the points each group was trying to make.

Doug

7

looking for aPDF of the 1977 blood booklet

by wha happened? in

anyone have it handy?

if so let me know and i will pm my email addy.

Doug Mason

My critique of that booklet, which I wrote in the late 1980s, is available at:

http://www.jwstudies.com/The_Watchtowers_Handling_of_Blood_Revision_2.pdf

Doug

18

Analysis of the Book of Daniel

by Londo111 in

i had hoped one or two others were about to start a thread on the book of daniel, springing off from the nwt conversation, but alas, nobody has yet.

therefore, i thought i'd start one--i hope that was not too presumptuous of me.

personally, i have nothing meaty to contribute to this thread, only questions and gut feelings.

Doug Mason

Londo,

My study on Daniel 9 (the 70 heptads") is available at:

http://www.jwstudies.com/Critique_of_GM_on_Daniel_9.pdf

Do not assume that time periods mentioned in Daniel 9 relate to the ministry and death of Jesus Christ.

Doug

10

Ancient Israelites were the original JWs!

by serenitynow! in

so sayeth the f&ds on page 26 of the 2/2012 wt.

under the title "why does god have an organization?

" it says "god chose the israelites to be his witnesses.

Doug Mason

Ucantnome,

I agree with you. Isaiah 43:10 was written at the time of the Babylonian Captivity, and the people were being told that they had witnessed YHWH yet they had failed him.

Because they had done so despite having witnessed him, the nation was being punished and indeed it was YHWH's intention to destroy them (Isa 43:28 -- read the whole context).

Doug

1

need an update on end of the world date

by cptkirk in

think we had september 2011, then it was dec 21, 2011....i'm trying to get ahead of the game here....so what is the next date after dec 2011?

dec 2012?

the masonic capstone at the denver airport says we should open it in the year 2094...wow you better go tell them to open it sooner..

Doug Mason

If you search the www, you should be able to find when the sun is expected to burn up and explode, engulfing this world in the process. I don't remember the figure, but it would be in the billions of years, I expect.

Enjoy this life and before you leave, know that you have made a positive contribution.

Doug

69

How did Jesus and his apostles make money?

by sabastious in

jesus and his apostles were once found eating other people's wheat yield.

however the law in question was reported to be the sabbath; so it must not have been considered stealing?.

regardless, how did they earn money?

Doug Mason

“Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.” (Luke 8:2-3, NIV)

5

A little help please - Question regarding the first Canon

by Joey Jo-Jo in

i am confused, so was it constantine who created the first canon or was it athanasius throught constantine, or was it just athanasius before constantine?.

Doug Mason

Joey Jo-Jo.

I recommend three books that provide excellent descriptions of the events of those first four centuries. I presume you will be able to read details online about these books:

“JESUS WARS: How Four Patriarchs, Three Queens, and Two Emperors Decided What Christians Would Believe for the Next 1500 Years” by Philip Jenkins (The Fifth-Century Political Battles That Forever Changed What the Church Teaches About the Son of God.)

“AD 381: HERETICS, PAGANS AND THE CHRISTIAN STATE” by Charles Freeman. ( In AD 381, Theodosius, emperor of the eastern Roman empire, issued a decree in which all of his subjects were required to subscribe to a belief in the Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This edict defined Christian orthodoxy and brought to an end a lively and wide ranging debate about the nature of the Godhead; all other interpretations were now declared heretical. Moreover, for the first time in a thousand years of Greco-Roman civilisation, free thought was unambiguously suppressed.)

“A NEW HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY” by Charles Freeman. ( Freeman shows that there was a host of competing Christianities, many of which had as much claim to authenticity as those that eventually dominated. The imposition of ‘correct belief and an institutional framework that enforced orthodoxy were both consolidating and stifling. Uncovering the church’s relationships with Judaism, Gnosticism, Greek philosophy and Greco-Roman society, Freeman offers dramatic new accounts of Paul, the resurrection, and the church fathers and emperors.)

Doug