Posts by Doug Mason

27

The "Christian Greek Scriptures"

by Doug Mason in

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.

Doug Mason

kepler,

Great! Thank you for your work and contribution.

I see Daniel as being written in 164 BCE as a means of strengthening the resolve of that Jewish community who were being persecuted. "Daniel in the Lions' Den" would have a certain meaning for them at that time.

It is impossible to apply Daniel 9 to Jesus; the NT does not attempt it and no Christian of the first two centuries made that association either. See pages 14ff of my Study:

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

The Gospels do not tell us how long Jesus' ministry lasted.

It is such a great pity that people read the Bible through Western eyes, that they ignore the contemporary situation which brought about the creation of a writing, but even more importantly how the text kept being changed as it was interpreted and reinterpreted. That is the material we read today. People thus need to be aware of Jewish thinking, Kabbalistic ideas, the role of the Mishna, and so on. People are so familiar with the writings of Paul that they fail to see his mysticism (significance of baptism; wine and bread of the eucharist; etc. Take Paul's inventions away and you are left with a very different Christianity - the Gospel Jesus).

The contemporary situation at the time of Jesus provides a significant backdrop. That is where the discoveries of the (presumably Gnostic) scrolls in 1947 play a key role. Did Jesus belong to the Nazarene Sect?

Two books on my bookshelf are waiting for me to investigate and they could prove interesting:

"The Jewish Apocalyptic Heritage in Early Christianity", edited by James C. VanderKam and William Adler.

"Communities of the Last Days: The Dead Sea Scrolls, the New Testament & the Story of Israel", by C. Marvin Pate.

You are touching on my temptation to work on a Study that shows the serious doubts scholars have with the book of Acts (of the "Apostles"). You sorely tempt me, as there is so much information available.

Maybe someone could write the story of the difficulties that Revelation had getting into the NT. Eschatologists (SDAs, JWs, etc) read it through a microscope, dissecting every word and interpreting it through prejudiced eyes. I would like to see a Study that looks at it from 3 paces back - the immediate contexts (political, cultural, religious, geographical, etc.); analysis of the other Apocalyptic writings (and movements) of the time (particularly Jewish); its (mis)alignment with the Gospels and Paul's writings; the picture of God compared with that given by the Gospel writers and by Paul; why they expected it all to play out "very soon"; and so on.

There is still so much to learn and discover. The WTS beats a single note on a drum with a single drumstick, keeping the minds of JWs in a strait-jacket.

Doug

27

The "Christian Greek Scriptures"

by Doug Mason in

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.

Doug Mason

Page 11: I have fixed my inaccurate OCR scan of one sentence so that it reads:

"The issue was given focus by one Marcion, who was born on the shores of the Black Sea about AD 100 and who came to Rome in about 139."

The passage comes from page 43 of the book by Freeman.

Doug

27

The "Christian Greek Scriptures"

by Doug Mason in

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.

Doug Mason

eeyeuse2beadub,

Power politics. And it started out that way, where people preyed on fears and superstitions. Remember that only a small percentage of people could read and even fewer could write. Whcih tells you a lot about Paul's background. (Fishermen such as Jesus' followers, would not be able to write in their own language - Aramaic - let alone in the polished Greek such as those letters falsely attributed to Peter.)

Since people were illiterate (no point Jesus writing anything), they were totally dependent on those who could. Hence they did not trust the use of the pen (note the attitude of the people at Jeremiah 8:8).

Break free! Smell the flowers, marvel at nature.

Doug

27

The "Christian Greek Scriptures"

by Doug Mason in

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.

Doug Mason

Athanasius,

I located just one place where I wrote "Athanasius" where I should have written "Theodosius" - page 2. Where there any others?

I have uploaded the file with the correction, and noted it at the bottom of the Contents.

Thank you so much for your sharp eyes and knowledge.

Doug

27

The "Christian Greek Scriptures"

by Doug Mason in

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.

Doug Mason

Athanasius,

You are absolutely correct.

I will check right through it again, to make sure I have fixed it.

Doug

27

The "Christian Greek Scriptures"

by Doug Mason in

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

35

2013 Publisher Statistics now available from 2014 Yearbook.

by jwfacts in

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.

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