Posts by Doug Mason

37

"The Watchtower's Achilles' Heel"

by Doug Mason in

if reasoning with a jehovahs witness on the watchtower societys interpretations of the kingdom of god, parousia, the cross, blood, and so on is unlikely to break the wtss mental stranglehold, what then is its achilles heel?.

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

doug.

Doug Mason

yadda,

I guess my eureka moment came some years ago when I realised that the Bible is a piece of ancient literature, not the word of God. This enabled me to look at it from outside, to enquire about the community and its culture at the time each piece was written.

Each item was written for the immediate community using their concepts and idioms.

The victor writes the history, and this is true of any literature - it is a mistake to think that the Bible should be read literally - I suggest an investigation into Jewish mysticism (kabbalah) and numerology will show that. Even the Gospels are structured literature, not literal verbatim accounts.

Even to the most recent centuries, few people could read and even fewer could write. This was so for the ancient Hebrews: writing as a form of communication was limited to the small number of scribes of the upper class. Even king Josiah had to have the scroll read to him. The vast majority, the powerful People of the Land in particular, viewed written communications with suspicion (Jer 8:8). Thus when we read their writings we are seeing only one point of view: the Hebrew writings are often tainted by the scribes at Jerusalem whose desire was to have all high places destroyed (which were permitted under Mosaic Law) and have all worship centred in their city with their god, Yahweh. Little of their opponents' voices is clearly found, inasmuch as they were amalgamated during the Persian period into the form we now have.

Another issue that needs to be faced is: Who decided which books would make up the sacred Scriptures? What were their motives? Their criteria? Did they make mistkaes? Were they biased? - with the books of the NT the evidence is quite clear. So the study of the canonisation process comes to the fore.

Doug

37

"The Watchtower's Achilles' Heel"

by Doug Mason in

if reasoning with a jehovahs witness on the watchtower societys interpretations of the kingdom of god, parousia, the cross, blood, and so on is unlikely to break the wtss mental stranglehold, what then is its achilles heel?.

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

doug.

Doug Mason

NeveraJW,

Thanks. I shall fix.

Doug

37

"The Watchtower's Achilles' Heel"

by Doug Mason in

if reasoning with a jehovahs witness on the watchtower societys interpretations of the kingdom of god, parousia, the cross, blood, and so on is unlikely to break the wtss mental stranglehold, what then is its achilles heel?.

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

doug.

Doug Mason

Captain O,

Have you tried another browser (Firefox, etc.)?

If you still have problems, email me. You should find my address at: http://www.jwstudies.com/contact_me.html (provided your browser likes me!).

If that does not help, let me know here.

Doug

37

"The Watchtower's Achilles' Heel"

by Doug Mason in

if reasoning with a jehovahs witness on the watchtower societys interpretations of the kingdom of god, parousia, the cross, blood, and so on is unlikely to break the wtss mental stranglehold, what then is its achilles heel?.

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

doug.

Doug Mason

Julia,

My background is not as useful as the window washers, who make life safer: I only taught basic electronics, telecommunications, and the theory and practice of hand soldering in that industry, as well as a technical writer.

My advantage over those who studied formal theology is that my mind has not become beholden to the ideas of a single stream of belief. I enjoy being confronted by challenging books written by thought-provoking authors. And then challenging myself.

I do not want anyone to agree with everything I write; rather, I want people to challenge themselves, without fear, and to develop their own positions - and allow others to have theirs. The WTS does not allow its followers that luxury (and it is not confined to them).

Doug

37

"The Watchtower's Achilles' Heel"

by Doug Mason in

if reasoning with a jehovahs witness on the watchtower societys interpretations of the kingdom of god, parousia, the cross, blood, and so on is unlikely to break the wtss mental stranglehold, what then is its achilles heel?.

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

doug.

Doug Mason

Shanagirl,

I had a few reasons for selecting those backgrounds. They are stimulating, do not conform to WTS stylistic, and they are the product of mathematical precision. In the basic Mandelbrot figure, the image is repeated regardless of how many times it is magnified. Mentally challenging.

Search the www for Mandelbrot, (including images).

Doug

37

"The Watchtower's Achilles' Heel"

by Doug Mason in

if reasoning with a jehovahs witness on the watchtower societys interpretations of the kingdom of god, parousia, the cross, blood, and so on is unlikely to break the wtss mental stranglehold, what then is its achilles heel?.

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

doug.

Doug Mason

Hi Julia,

I am a graduate of the University of Hard Knocks from the Faculty of Life (coming up for my 73rd bday).

Doug

37

"The Watchtower's Achilles' Heel"

by Doug Mason in

if reasoning with a jehovahs witness on the watchtower societys interpretations of the kingdom of god, parousia, the cross, blood, and so on is unlikely to break the wtss mental stranglehold, what then is its achilles heel?.

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

doug.

Doug Mason

Ding,

Thank you for your thoughts.

I do not disagree with you. On my first page, I tried to point out that JWs are confronted at the thought of being cut off from friends and family. I also said that JWs accept whatever the GB says because of who the GB claims to be, regardless of what it is saying. The GB demands total unquestioning loyalty to whatever is the current Truth. Usually with propaganda, lies are continually repeated until they are accepted as truth.

In my short piece, I say that the claim of "who the GB claims to be" is built on a suspect foundation, and people have to ask themselves whether they are going to entrust their lives and the lives of their loved ones to the totalitarian vagaries of that group of men. That is a decision each person needs to make: is the GB's claim to have the same authority as the body at Acts 15 founded on solid unshakeable grounds? I say that the GB rests on the flimsiest foundation.

I am fully aware of the challenges posed by my Study. I deliberately kept it focused, but many issues flow from it. As I wrote before, at Acts 15, James - the leader of the Jerusalem party (of Jews) - is said to have declared that blood was off-limits. However, when Paul was writing a few years after going to see James in Jerusalem, Paul insisted that followers had to "share" or "participate" in Jesus' blood. (1 Cor 10:16) In John's gospel, when Jesus said the same thing (not at any "Last Supper") many Jews were so affronted at the thought of drinking blood that they stopped associating with Jesus. But, according to John, Jesus commanded it.

We know that Paul initiated the "Last Supper" story - he explicitly says it came to him from a vision, therefore not from a human source - so we need to see it in the context of his opposition to the Jerusalem party. Paul's spread his ideas to the world; Jerusalem (under James, not Peter) was little more than a Jewish outcrop. The bulk of the NT comes from Paul and his disciples.

As "Cha Ching" says, I am interested in stimulating minds. I am not asking people to agree with all that I say, but if I help open up thinking and people then make up their own minds and are prepared to investigate with courage, then I am content.

Doug

37

"The Watchtower's Achilles' Heel"

by Doug Mason in

if reasoning with a jehovahs witness on the watchtower societys interpretations of the kingdom of god, parousia, the cross, blood, and so on is unlikely to break the wtss mental stranglehold, what then is its achilles heel?.

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

doug.

Doug Mason

prologos,

There are, as you rightly point out, many other elephants. As you say, questions are therefore raised about the accuracy or otherwise of other accounts in Acts. I only hinted at these when I commented on the biased objectives of the writers of Acts.

I shall think further on addressing the broader issue. With this Study, of course, I needed to confine the scope.

Have you read the other books of Acts that were circulating at the same time but did not make it into the NT canon?

I am not aware of any unity between Antioch and Jerusalem at any stage. I don't recall the page number, but "Crisis of Conscience" recalls a speech by Fred Franz about the Antioch and Jerusalem; there used to be a recording of that speech "somewhere" on YouTube. I have transcripts of parts of that speech on my computer which I could email you.

I see nothing in Paul's genuine writings that suggests any unity with Jerusalem. At one stage I was tempted to show that while the Acts 15 decree wrote about staying away from blood, Paul insisted that his followers drink Jesus' blood (1 Corinthians 11:23ff). And he said that he received that instruction directly (in a vision) from Jesus - thereby bypassing Jerusalem.

In a direct answer to your question regarding Stephen and Paul's involvement - let's say there is doubt. Another example is the differences between the missionary journeys and the accounts of them as given by Paul. Many Bible scholars disregard Acts.

The GB's claim to fame fades without Acts.

Doug

37

"The Watchtower's Achilles' Heel"

by Doug Mason in

if reasoning with a jehovahs witness on the watchtower societys interpretations of the kingdom of god, parousia, the cross, blood, and so on is unlikely to break the wtss mental stranglehold, what then is its achilles heel?.

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

doug.

Doug Mason

EdenOne,

Thank you for your assessment.

If you wish, let me know where I have problems.

Doug

37

"The Watchtower's Achilles' Heel"

by Doug Mason in

if reasoning with a jehovahs witness on the watchtower societys interpretations of the kingdom of god, parousia, the cross, blood, and so on is unlikely to break the wtss mental stranglehold, what then is its achilles heel?.

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

doug.

Doug Mason

If reasoning with a Jehovah’s Witness on the Watchtower Society’s interpretations of the Kingdom of God, Parousia, the Cross, Blood, and so on is unlikely to break the WTS’s mental stranglehold, what then is its “Achilles’ Heel”?

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

Doug