Doug Mason

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Posts by Doug Mason

• 
  27

  The "Christian Greek Scriptures"

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  from 1950 to 2013, the watchtower and bible tract society has been releasing its new world translation of the scriptures.. my study considers the christian greek scriptures (new testament).. http://www.jwstudies.com/why_does_wts_accept_christendoms_scriptures.pdf.

  i have also provided the pictures that i created for the study.. http://www.jwstudies.com/pix_for_study_wts_accepts_scriptures.pdf.

  please accept the fact that i have no idea whether colours clash or if they match.

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  Doug Mason

  Hi Earnest,

  Always feel free to chat by email, if you wish. I never break confidences. So if you need a sounding-board (I wish I had one), I am available. We do not need to agree - it would be a strange world if there was a clone of me - but that does not mean we cannot help one another in a positive manner.

  Regarding "cherry-picking": I cited one source who said that everyone uses a "canon within the Canon". All do that; just look at the different focuses on an SDA site as against a JW site. Same Bible, diferent focuses.

  I fixed my silly boo-boo at page 21. Thanks.

  At page 26, I cite the WTS as saying that the decision on the canon was reached "by the direction of God's holy spirit - the same spirit that inspired the writings". That is the context of my comment that this same spirit was incapable of preventing God's Holy Name being expunged.

  I guess the theme in my mind is the attacks made by the WTS against "Christianity" yet at the same time it fully accepts their writings as authoritative. It's like saying I do not agree with the Muslim religion but I accept the Qu'ran as my sacred religious guide.

  I am pleased to see someone who thinks for themself. That's great!

  BTW: I found that animation. Go to this site and sit on it; the pic develops each 5 seconds or so:

  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Wars-of-the-Tetrarchy.gif

  Doug
• 
  27

  The "Christian Greek Scriptures"

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  from 1950 to 2013, the watchtower and bible tract society has been releasing its new world translation of the scriptures.. my study considers the christian greek scriptures (new testament).. http://www.jwstudies.com/why_does_wts_accept_christendoms_scriptures.pdf.

  i have also provided the pictures that i created for the study.. http://www.jwstudies.com/pix_for_study_wts_accepts_scriptures.pdf.

  please accept the fact that i have no idea whether colours clash or if they match.

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  Doug Mason

  Thanks Earnest,

  Each time I went through the editing process, I picked things up, so I will not be at all surprised that I have still missed some things.

  My main aim, as I set out at the start, is to make people do their own research and to own their own conclusions. I simply want to provide a trigger.

  Yes, I could have expanded on Constantine, and that could be a subject people should pursue. I saw an excellent online animation which illustrated the wars fought by Constantine and his conflict with Lucinius but I can't locate the URL. Nor did I did not want to enter into the area of Emperor versus Augustus or the regional conflicts between those Generals and other such matters. There had to be a cutting off point where the context becomes too much of a distraction and not directly relevant to the overall subject.

  Constantine came from the Spanish Court which was Trinitarian; if I give the impression that it was he who forced that decision on the Christian Church, I apologise. The decision was made by a successor of his - Athanasius (381) - but even then he had to convene in 383 another Council. Even after that the matter needed to be enforced in the Western part of the Church, in which Ambrose played the major role. From memory, Ambrose became a Bishop before he was baptised, much to the chagrin of certain Church fathers.

  I agree that it would be nigh impossible for the church today to amend its NT Canon. Some Bible scholars say that this is one of the biggest problems facing today's Church. Administrators and managers would be totally distraught at the turmoil this would cause in the pews.

  Not that the NT Canon is universally accepted throughout the Church, and scholars do toy with the idea. But just as the mass of the proto-orthodox (Pauline) Church of the 2nd century (the WTS's apostate church) slowly arrived at its decision, that mass decision would prevail today - and Bible scholars recognise this. My argument is that the body which originally decided on the Canon did not represent to views of all of Christianity at the time. It took hundreds of years of arguing. One that continues and should continue.

  I hope you do not think I was "cherry-picking". To the contrary, I feel that I took a big paint brush approach. I did not intend to interpret any verses

  I would like you to take up the cudgel and write a study on the subject - but please do not start with the premise that the Bible is the "Word of God" or that you are trying to defend some kind of "message".

  Thanks,

  Doug
• 
  17

  The Truth No one Wants To Hear

  by maccauk11 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the truth about messiah and what he acheived in the 1st century is something millions of believers in christ refuse to accept namely the historical record of things all fulfilled in that momentous 1st century.it is rejected because the -isms, man made doctrines, theologies, false teachings etc etc that abound since then and so millions have allowed themselves to be brainwashed,conditioned into.

  the reality is so simple if one lets messiah remain with his intent and meaning.

  but if we change his own words, we become divided.

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  Doug Mason

  Please tell me what you think of what I wrote at:

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

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

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

  Doug
• 
  27

  The "Christian Greek Scriptures"

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  from 1950 to 2013, the watchtower and bible tract society has been releasing its new world translation of the scriptures.. my study considers the christian greek scriptures (new testament).. http://www.jwstudies.com/why_does_wts_accept_christendoms_scriptures.pdf.

  i have also provided the pictures that i created for the study.. http://www.jwstudies.com/pix_for_study_wts_accepts_scriptures.pdf.

  please accept the fact that i have no idea whether colours clash or if they match.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Doug Mason

  From 1950 to 2013, The Watchtower and Bible Tract Society has been releasing its New World Translation of the Scriptures.

  My Study considers the Christian Greek Scriptures (“New Testament”).

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

  I have also provided the pictures that I created for the Study.

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

  Please accept the fact that I have no idea whether colours “clash” or if they “match”. They must have taught it at school on the day I was absent.

  Doug
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  35

  2013 Publisher Statistics now available from 2014 Yearbook.

  by jwfacts in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the 2014 yearbook is out, and i have scanned the publisher figures into a more readable format at 2013 service year report.

  i have updated some of the graphs at http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/statistics.php and will do the rest tonight.

  there are no real surprises, with very similar results as during the last couple of years.

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  Doug Mason

  Is it possible to link dollars (income) against JW population?

  Is there a stat on the number of publications printed per year?

  Doug
• 
  16

  Why does the WT insist that the first five books of the bible were written by Moses?

  by marmot in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  any biblical scholar worth his salt will tell you otherwise, and it's not as if this is a new concept.

  as early as the 1700s people were noticing that the first books of the bible had numerous authors.

  tell that to an elder, though, and you'll be booted for apostasy faster than you can say spanish inquisition.

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  Doug Mason

  Read "Who Wrote the Bible?" by Richard Elliott Friedman.

  As a sample from his book: http://www.jwstudies.com/Two_Flood_Stories.pdf

  The exodus, Moses, Aaron, and Adam are fictitious creations by religious parties.

  Doug
• 
  108

  "Jehovah ALWAYS had/used an organization". How would you reply?

  by EdenOne in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in a recent meeting with elders, an argument was used to the effect that jehovah has always [= throughout history] used, or operated through, an organization; therefore, the wts must be that organization today, since god must be using one.

  naturally, i know what arguments i've used to counter that argument.

  but i'm interested in hearing yours.

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  Doug Mason

  The words that you read in the OT were produced by people desiring to establish and entrench their religious authority. These people they invented - Adam, Moses, Aaron, and so on were employed for religious purposes.

  For example, one group of religionists held up Moses as their exemplar, whereas another group held up Aaron. Hence when each wrote their myth about the exodus, for example, they wrote it so that their hero had the upper hand. Only in the 5th century were these separate accounts woven into the composite form we see today.

  While the stories started to be written about the 8th century BCE (some 400 years after the Moses event) but the majority was written and recreated during the 6th century BCE neo-Babylonian captivity. You can easily see the power play between the religious party and the royal household when the former passes jusgment on the latter.

  Religion is always about power, about control, about manipulating minds. The WTS employs heavy-handed tactics; one could surmise the reasons, perhaps the current crop of leaders owe much to the influence of Rutherford. I suggest that the Elders act the way they do because they are fully aware of the consequences should they fail to toe the line in meting out sanctions and judgment.

  Paranoia from top to bottom.

  Doug
• 
  108

  "Jehovah ALWAYS had/used an organization". How would you reply?

  by EdenOne in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in a recent meeting with elders, an argument was used to the effect that jehovah has always [= throughout history] used, or operated through, an organization; therefore, the wts must be that organization today, since god must be using one.

  naturally, i know what arguments i've used to counter that argument.

  but i'm interested in hearing yours.

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  Doug Mason

  Because Paul expected the "Coming" to occur almost immediately, he never wrote about structure or organisation. However, towards the end of the first century, people were trying to manage the situation and hence they wrote letters such as what are known as the Pastoral Epistles (for obvious reasons) - Timothy and Titus being prime examples. In these letters, fraudently stated as having been written by Paul, the anonymous writers set out instructions for positions within the hierarchy - Bishops, Elders, and such. Whereas Paul wrote that since the Parousia was imminent, it would be better if people did not marry, at the end of the century, decades after Paul's death, the Pastoral Epistle says that the Leader had to have a wife. Paul wrote that men and women were equal before God but a mysoginist organiser writing at the end of the first century contradicted Paul.

  In the second century (about 180 CE), one of the problems confronting the early Church were people who said they were receiving communications directly from God - they did not need the Church hierarchy. These opponents of the descendants of Paul ("proto-orthodox") included people such as Marcion and Montanus. They posed an enormous problem for the Bishops and other Church leaders. Indeed, the Marcionites outnumbered these proto-orthodox. This threat to the Bishops started the move to decide which writings would be considered as sacred Scripture. In this way, they could resolve problems by referencing these documents. Naturally, the writings the Bishops chose were those writings that could be used to support them. Imagine what Christianity would look like if Paul's (genuine) writings were removed, along with those of his supporters.

  After a few more centuries passed, this structured Church, authorised by the Roman Emperors, achieved an almost universal acceptance of their writings as the New Testament.

  The writings of their opponents, including those of the Jerusalem Church described in Acts, are lost.

  Wherever you look at the Christian Church through history and today, you will see structure, management, control. The decisions made by that early Christian sect and its Roman spopnsors shaped the destiny of Western Europe.

  Doug
• 
  32

  Undeclared changes to the 2013 NWT

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  in the following from the 2013 edition of the nwt, the watchtower society indicates that when it released its initial 1950 edition, it considered the greek text provided by westcott and hort as its master text.

  as a result of these additional masters, the wts made some undeclared changes to the 2013 nwt.

  it does not list these changes or give any explanations.. greek text: in the late 19th century, scholars b. f. westcott and f.j.a.

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  Doug Mason

  Thanks for your comments and help.

  I see no problem in bringing the English language into a more modern sense.

  I might be a bit cynical and suggest that the purpose of this 2013 edition is more to do with the pages that precede Genesis. They are a "guide" to any JW who might be tempted to read the Bible outside the texts referenced by the WTS (its "canon within a Canon").

  These verses that are listed as omitted do not appear in many other modern translations nor do they appear in the Westcott & Hort or in the Nestle-Aland. So the comments about the omitted verses at pages 1729-1730 are probably addressed to people familiar with the King James Version. There is a voice on the www which decries the WH, favouring the textus receptus.

  Thus, when we ignore their comments about these omitted verses, all we are left with is the vague "some other wording has been adjusted". I am slightly under-impressed.

  Doug
• 
  32

  Undeclared changes to the 2013 NWT

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  in the following from the 2013 edition of the nwt, the watchtower society indicates that when it released its initial 1950 edition, it considered the greek text provided by westcott and hort as its master text.

  as a result of these additional masters, the wts made some undeclared changes to the 2013 nwt.

  it does not list these changes or give any explanations.. greek text: in the late 19th century, scholars b. f. westcott and f.j.a.

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  Doug Mason

  Oubliette,

  Everything that the WTS accepts comes from Christendom's scholars, such as the list of books that make up the NT and the contents of the Greek text.

  Doug