Doug Mason

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Posts by Doug Mason

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  40

  Why is the Watchtower petrified by Higher Criticism?

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  what is it about higher criticism that petrifies the watchtower?

  what are they trying to hide?.

  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/higher%20criticism.

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  Doug Mason

  Knowsnothing,

  You will find excellent descriptions at:

  http://www.theopedia.com/Biblical_criticism

  "biblical criticism simply refers to the scholarly approach of studying, evaluating and critically assessing the Bible as literature in order to understand it better."

  "Literary Criticism is primarily concerned with the Bible's literary forms, structures and themes. How does it function to accomplish its purpose? This involves identifying the type and use of the various literary genre such as narrative, poetic, apocalyptic, oratorical, wisdom, epistolary, etc. It includes evaluating the language of a text, looking at the words and their various meanings or shades of meaning and the patterns of meaning ranging from phrases to sentences, paragraphs, chapters, and sections. To analyze these, it is often necessary to examine the grammar of the original language, which includes the arrangement of words and how their forms are changed (inflection or accidence)."

  Doug
• 
  40

  Why is the Watchtower petrified by Higher Criticism?

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  what is it about higher criticism that petrifies the watchtower?

  what are they trying to hide?.

  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/higher%20criticism.

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  Doug Mason

  What is it about Higher Criticism that petrifies the Watchtower? What are they trying to hide?

  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/higher%20criticism

  Why are they opposed to Lower Criticism? Or are they?

  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lower+criticism

  Doug
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  26

  The June 2012 citation of Ephraim Stern

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  page 14 of the awake!

  of june 2012 cites ephraim stern.. .

  his book, archaeology of the land of the bible: the assyrian, babylonian, and persian periods (732-332 b.c.e.

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  Doug Mason

  Firstly, I thank all of you for your kind support.

  I want to thank Justitia Themis for pointing me to those most interesting words from the WTS' book, Live With Jehovah's Day in Mind .

  And now a big "thank you" to Ann and to Atlantis for providing me the pages from that WTS book.

  Because of your help, I have updated the file to include words from Live With Jehovah's Day in Mind .

  Doug
• 
  26

  The June 2012 citation of Ephraim Stern

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  page 14 of the awake!

  of june 2012 cites ephraim stern.. .

  his book, archaeology of the land of the bible: the assyrian, babylonian, and persian periods (732-332 b.c.e.

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  Doug Mason

  Justitia Themis,

  Are you able to provide a scan of that para or page?

  Thanks,

  Doug
• 
  26

  The June 2012 citation of Ephraim Stern

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  page 14 of the awake!

  of june 2012 cites ephraim stern.. .

  his book, archaeology of the land of the bible: the assyrian, babylonian, and persian periods (732-332 b.c.e.

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  Doug Mason

  I have updated the file to include additional information.

  Doug
• 
  26

  The June 2012 citation of Ephraim Stern

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  page 14 of the awake!

  of june 2012 cites ephraim stern.. .

  his book, archaeology of the land of the bible: the assyrian, babylonian, and persian periods (732-332 b.c.e.

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  Doug Mason

  Page 14 of the “Awake!” of June 2012 cites Ephraim Stern.
  
  His book, “Archaeology of the Land of the Bible: The Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Periods (732-332 B.C.E.), Vol. II” shows that his position is totally at odds with the position held by “Awake!”.

  http://www.jwstudies.com/The_June_2012_Awake_Citation_of_Ephraim_Stern.pdf

  Doug
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  28

  May Awake--New 8-Part Series on Bible Prophecy--My Analysis of Part 1

  by Cadellin in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible
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  Doug Mason

  Firstly, there is the need to determine who wrote a each passage in question, when, and their reason for writing (religious politics, etc.)

  There is little doubt that the Israelites were the hill-dwelling Canaanites, and it is likely they were always there, rather than as a result of being given a "promised land". The stories they wrote were intended to shore up their claim to authority and legitimacy, rather than being a literal record of exactly what happened. In other words, the stories were created histories, in which past events were written solely with the intent of influencing the times in which they were living. Propaganda, if you like.

  For example, which of the writers was actually present to record what happened during "Creation"? And why does each Creation story (P account and the J account) contradict one another? Because each group of writers was using parables to push their point to their own community.

  Writing as a form of communication did not come into vogue until several centuries after the Exodus/Moses event, and was rejected by many elements of the nation during the 8th to 5th centuries, when much of the Scriptures were written. Writing was confined to a sector of the elite class, scribes who were likely associated with the royal household.

  I suppose the WT will point to Isaiah "predicting" Cyrus, conveniently ignoring the fact that a lot of Isaiah was written during and after the Neo-Babylonian period, some 200 years after Isaiah lived and died.

  Analyse the Bible as you would any other piece of literature. Unless you still believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy.

  Doug
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  31

  Scholastic Dishonesty - June 2012 Awake - Jewish Exile Timeline

  by Ultimate Reality in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the june 2012 awake has another article on the exile of the jews by the babylonians.

  once again the wt quotes dishonestly.. .

  from page 14:.

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  Doug Mason

  A search of Stern’s book, “Archaeology of the Land of the Bible: The Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Periods (732-332 B.C.E.), Vol. 2” (which can be done online at Amazon) shows that his position is totally at odds with the position held by “Awake!”.

  A comprehensive presentation of current scholarly views is provided in the freely available review of Oded Lipschitts’ book, “Rise and Fall of Jerusalem”. See, for example:

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

  Doug
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  16

  Changed or Misprinted?

  by iamwhoiam in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  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?.

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  Doug Mason

  The masthead of the magazine originally said "Zion's Watchtower" since it was preparing the way for the setting up of Zionism with the introduction of peace in 1914.

  The other part of the magazine's masthead announce "Herald of Christ's Presence" since CTR was announcing that the Parousia had already taken place in 1874.

  Doug
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  16

  Changed or Misprinted?

  by iamwhoiam in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  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?.

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  Doug Mason

  Hi Larry,

  I think I am correct in saying they do not list the other 1963 book, "All Scripture Ispired ...". Didn't they released an "updated" version?

  Weren't there two versions of "Let God be True"?

  What about "Aid to Bible Understanding"? Is that listed?

  Doug