Posts by Doug Mason

38

The Books That Redefined C.T. Russell's Beliefs

by Maat13 in

according to wt history, as a youth/young man, ct russell was unsatisfied with a number of explanations he was taught about the bible.

as a result he went on a quest to 'study' the bible himself.

ultimately this led to an organization that now requires its members to read bible aids to help them understand the bible.

Doug Mason

Maat,

I suggest that the people with the greatest influence were Rutherford and Fred Franz. The former ditched much of Russell's ideas (1874, pyramidology, etc) while the ideas that Rutherford introduced (1914, "Jehovah's Witnesses", etc.) shaped the organisation. Franz built on Rutherford's framework. Rutherford was "crash-through". Knorr was a businessman.

The WTS therefore looks at Russell through the lens of his successors. The reality is that Russell was a product of his time - the 19th century US prophetic speculators.

It is worth noting that there are innumerable splinter groups which owe their origin to Russell. He would not recognise the current Watchtower Society as having succeeded him.

Doug

38

The Books That Redefined C.T. Russell's Beliefs

by Maat13 in

according to wt history, as a youth/young man, ct russell was unsatisfied with a number of explanations he was taught about the bible.

as a result he went on a quest to 'study' the bible himself.

ultimately this led to an organization that now requires its members to read bible aids to help them understand the bible.

Doug Mason

Hi Maat,

I can only provide a pen-picture of people who influenced CTR. My compilation, including the WTS's first President (not CTR) is available at:

http://www.jwstudies.com/People_important_to_Russell1.pdf

For comprehensive studies see the two books by Schulz and de Vienne: "Nelson Barbour: The Millennium's Forgotten Prophet", and "A Separate Identity: Organizational Identity Among Readers of Zion’s Watch Tower: 1870-1887"

Doug

7

A FUNDAMENTALIST changes his mind (how very rare!) Intellectual honesty at work

by Terry in

from professor bart ehrman's blog: fundamentalists and the variants in our manuscripts20.

jun.

first, our friends among the fundamentalists and conservative evangelicals.

Doug Mason

Hi Terry,

I highly recommend the book: "A High View of Scripture? The Authority of the Bible and the Formation of the New Testament Canon", by Craig D. Allert.

It is written with the fundamentalist position clearly in view.

Doug

18

A question for the Trolley & Cosmopolitan Witnesses

by The Searcher in

ask them why not one scripture states that christians were instructed to be "witnesses of jehovah".. when they get flustered and tongue-tied because they cannot cite a single verse from matthew to revelation to back up their scripturally false "designer label", inform them that there are at least 30 scriptures which clearly show show that christians are to be witnesses for christ, not god!.

(isaiah 62:2) and you will be called by a new name, which jehovahs own mouth will designate.. (acts 11:26) ..........in antioch that the disciples were by divine providence called christians.. .

(matthew 10:18) ....before governors and kings for my sake, for a witness to them and the nations.. (mark 13:9) .......be put on the stand before governors and kings for my sake, for a witness to them.. (acts 1:8) ...........you will be witnesses of me in jerusalem, in all judea and samaria...... (john 1:15) john bore witness about him,.

Doug Mason

This focus on "Jehovah" results from the thought bubble in the 1930s by the Judge, Mr Rutherford, when he invented the title "Jehovah's Witnesses".

In doing so, Rutherford mistakenly used the word invented a few centuries previously by the Roman Catholic Church, so that not one JW calls on, uses or knows anything but this concocted word: Jehovah.

The context of "you are my witnesses says YHWH" at Isaiah 43:10, shows that it is being used derogatively: the people had witnessed (seen) the power of YHWH yet they had chosen to forsake him, and that was the reason for their parlous state, the captives of Babylon.

(As a footnote to this passage at Isaiah 43, note that this was written during the Babylonian Captivity, some 200 years after Isaiah lived and died.)

Doug

8

The power of thought

by Doug Mason in

i find it so interesting to see the intensity that results from intangible thoughts.

no one living today has any personal direct experience with the people who wrote and rewrote the jews' and christians' scriptures.

all that people have is in their imagination, yet they will demand that others have the identical mental model.. people are prepared to fight and argue over ideas, to the point of torture and murder.

Doug Mason

Terry,

I like what you have written!

Today, those who do read the Bible use it as an instrument to "prove" that their thoughts are correct, which was the reason those writings were produced in the first place.

Opinions based upon opinions, thoughts based on thoughts written by invisible people. Then these opinions drive actions, sometimes for good, sometimes in ways that harm mentally, physically, socially.

Doug

8

The power of thought

by Doug Mason in

i find it so interesting to see the intensity that results from intangible thoughts.

no one living today has any personal direct experience with the people who wrote and rewrote the jews' and christians' scriptures.

all that people have is in their imagination, yet they will demand that others have the identical mental model.. people are prepared to fight and argue over ideas, to the point of torture and murder.

Doug Mason

I find it so interesting to see the intensity that results from intangible thoughts. No one living today has any personal direct experience with the people who wrote and rewrote the Jews' and Christians' Scriptures. All that people have is in their imagination, yet they will demand that others have the identical mental model.

People are prepared to fight and argue over ideas, to the point of torture and murder. People are prepared to subject themselves to the thoughts of people, most often men, who beguile and control the minds and behaviours of large numbers.

My argument is always with the religious leadership, the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, never with any individual Witness. Each can believe what they wish to, provided they do so willingly, freely, and with complete knowledge of all relevant facts. What each does is their own responsibility and their right. I wish to be able to live out my life in accord with my mental model so I must extend that right to all others.

Consider that amazingly tolerant humanitarian, Cyrus, the victor of Babylon and contrast him with that religious zealot, the authoritarian Ezra. Not that I met them personally - just thoughts in my mind.

Doug

26

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream--The Death of His Dynasty

by Tiresias in

following my departure from the jehovah's witnesses, i have done my own research using preterism as a primary lens.

i would like to share my understanding of daniel chapter 2:.

31 "you looked, o king, and there before you stood a large statuean enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance.

Doug Mason

Chapters 2, 3 and 4 form a composite story, with the purpose of showing that all human authority comes from (Israel's) God. It starts with a 4-part idol, which Nebuchadnezzar makes a single part, with his gold continuing forever. The dream story is an instrument for arriving at the conclusion that God is fully in control.

The book of Daniel is composed of several traditions (note the different languages employed). It was produced in the 2nd century BCE as a means for strengthening the Jews whose existence was again under threat. The myths and fables did not raise suspicion by the Jews' tormentors under Antiochus Epiphanes but the Jews, with their mysticism, were aided through the belief that they too would survive, just as their forebears had against Babylon.

It is likely that the story tellers used the 10-year withdrawal of Nabonidus and his apparent illness, rewriting it for their own purposes, creating the dream sequence that now forms Chapter 4.

They expected that the coming Kingdom would strike their oppressors, just as the stone had struck at the foundation of the idol and hence would bring about the destruction of their oppressors, whether Babylon, Persia, or Greece.

Doug

5

Anyone have a scan of WT Feb 1938 Edition with a Title "Should they Marry"?

by Matt_fs in

can't seem to find online, wondering if anyone has access to it?.

.

thank you in advance.

Doug Mason

Matt,

I cannot see the article in the February issue. However, the November 1, 1938 has this section:

SHOULD THEY MARRY NOW?
4 If in obedience to the divine command the Jonadabs or great multitude will marry and rear children after Armageddon, would it not be Scripturally proper for them to begin doing so immediately before Armageddon? and should the Jonadabs now be encouraged to marry and rear children? No, is the answer, supported by the Scriptures. Referring now to the prophetic drama or picture made in the day of the deluge, note that Noah’s three sons and their wives did not have or rear any children before or during the flood, and not until after the flood (etc)" - page 323

If you email me, I could provide you with scans of the pages.

http://www.jwstudies.com/contact_me.html

Doug

36

Where Will Jesus Come When He Comes?

by Cold Steel in

according to both christian and jewish eschatology, the messiah will come to jerusalem, where he will deliver the jews from hostile nations "round about.

"since the jehovah's witnesses and other adventists don't believe his coming will be literally fulfilled, but figuratively fulfilled, they simply believe he will return to the earth, where he will slay the wicked and the righteous will be caught up to meet him in the air.. first we have a christian declaration:.

and when [jesus] had spoken these things, while [the apostles] beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

Doug Mason

Jesus expected a "son of man" would come with rewards while he was on earth, to his own generation, some of whom would not taste death. He explained to his contemporary disciples how they had to prepare themselves.

Paul taught that the Coming would take place in his own lifetime - "we who are still alive".

The Revelator ends the NT with the teaching that the Coming was "soon" - not centuries later.

In each age, people have calculated that the Coming was imminent.

The lesson that history teaches is that people do not learn the lesson that history teaches.

Doug

26

Jesus as a Ransom for Humans or not

by fulltimestudent in

i have not got an answer (theoretical or not) to the above question.. but the main text book (introducing the new testament- its literature and theology - achtemeier, green and thompson) for my study unit (early christian literature and thought) in the assigned reading for today's lecture on the gospel of john, has a section on the ransom.

it says (p. 237): one of the few passages that explicitly speaks of jesus dying for others is mark 10:45:.

"for even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.. .

Doug Mason

Who wants to live forever? No children? Everyone the same age - forever and ever and ever?

What will happen when this galaxy collides with its neighbour?

Is the fear of death the motivation?

Doug