Posts by Doug Mason

12

Sign Of The Times by Carl Jonsson - Want to Borrow

by AnonVet in

i have read both of franz' books and am almost done carl jonsson's first book.

i was able to get this material as .pdf and read for free.. i hate to sound cheap, but i cannot find the sign of the times in .pdf.. does anybody have a link to it?

or can i borrow your copy and mail it back when done?.

Doug Mason

Do you mean "The Sign of the Last Days When?" (1987) by Carl Olof Jonsson and Wolfgang Herbst?

Doug

4

Seeking Source material

by Doug Mason in

i am calling on the combined scholarship of this site to help me with my research..

under the subheading of “who selected the canon?”, pages 27-28 of the watchtower of april 1, 2010 quotes professor oskar skarsaune and professor kenneth berding..

the watchtower writes:.

The pyramids and rutherford.......

by atomant in

lve been researching the early days of the jw"s and found some very damning information which needs to be discussed at length.according to my research it is claimed that early founders used the pyramids to work out important biblical dates that are now dates set in stone according to the beliefs of the sect and can not be changed as it would rock the very foundation upon which their beliefs are built.l was hoping for somone with a precise understanding to please elaborate whether this is true or not.

Doug Mason

Russell borrowed everything. The ideas surrounding the dimensions of the pyramids originated with Piazzi Smyth, a British Israelite and astronomer-royal for Scotland. Email me and I can send you a copy of his 1880 book. For Russell' reliance on Smyth, see page 11 at:

http://jwstudies.com/Changed_MD_and_SS_words.pdf

Russell employed dimensions called "pyramid inches". When his dates failed, the pyramids stretched in the sun and the dimensions changed. See pages 11 and 12 of Shadduck's "Seven Thunders of Millennial Dawn". Rutherford lost a huge number of followers when he dropped the pyramids.

The books by John and Morton Edgar provide an insight into the significance seen in the pyramids. The brothers openly acknowledge Russell.

Doug

4

Seeking Source material

by Doug Mason in

i am calling on the combined scholarship of this site to help me with my research..

under the subheading of “who selected the canon?”, pages 27-28 of the watchtower of april 1, 2010 quotes professor oskar skarsaune and professor kenneth berding..

the watchtower writes:.

Doug Mason

I am calling on the combined scholarship of this site to help me with my research.

Under the subheading of “Who Selected the Canon?”, pages 27-28 of The Watchtower of April 1, 2010 quotes Professor Oskar Skarsaune and Professor Kenneth Berding.

The Watchtower writes:

“Professor of Church History Oskar Skarsaune states: “Which writings that were to be included in the New Testament, and which were not, was never decided upon by any church council or by any single person ... The criteria were quite open and very sensible: Writings from the first century C.E. that were regarded as written by apostles or by their fellow workers were regarded as reliable. Other writings, letters, or ‘gospels’ that were written later were not included ... This process was essentially completed a long time before Constantine and a long time before his church of power had been established. It was the church of martyrs, not the church of power, that gave us the New Testament.”

I need to know four things regarding this quotation:

(1) Where does the quotation come from? The Watchtower article provides no attribution. I have already asked the Professor and he replied that he could have written it but he cannot locate it in his Norwegian or English books or articles. He commented “Interesting!”

(2) What are the words which are omitted from the quotation? My suspicions are always raised when the Watch Tower Society resorts to this tactic.

(3) What is the complete context of the quotation?

(4) What are the overall positions taken by the article?

Professor Oskar Skarsaune’s views on canonization are available at Chapter 14 of his book, “In The Shadow of the Temple: Jewish Influences on Early Christianity”.

So, can you help solve the questions I pose?

-----------

The Watchtower magazine then writes:

“Ken Berding, an associate professor whose field of study is the Christian Greek Scriptures, gives this comment about how the canon emerged: 'The church did not establish a canon of its choosing; it is more proper to speak of the church recognizing the books that Christians had always considered to be an authoritative Word from God.' ”

Once again, The Watchtower magazine fails to provide its source. But for your information, the article by Kenneth Berding is available online at:

http://www.talbot.edu/sundoulos/spring-2007/lead-article/

The sentence cited by The Watchtower appears in the article’s Summary, which reads:

“The teachings of the Lord and his apostles were considered self-authenticating and authoritative from the days they were first spoken/written. As the apostles died off, orthodox Christians continued to use the writings of the apostles as authoritative. Such Christians recognized a distinction between the writings of the apostolic circle and later Christians who wrote edifying material. The church did not establish a canon of its choosing; it is more proper to speak of the church recognizing the books that Christians had always considered to be an authoritative Word from God.”

Note Berding's emphases with the use of italics.

A key expression in Berding's article that The Watchtower carefully does not provide is: “self-authenticating”. The Watch Tower Society wishes to make it appear as if their first-century counterparts were responsible for making the decisions. The article by Kenneth Berding shows that the Watch Tower Society's position is untenable.

-----------

Doug

24

The Olivet Discourse

by biblexaminer in

i'm interested in hearing someone explain the olivet discourse.. note, there's much discussion on other sites, but so far, i've not heard an explanation of the entire discourse in a way that is logical, in full harmony and complete.. some feel that they have figured out one piece or another.

however, when inconsistencies are highlighted, the discussion ends.

some make outlandish claims.. i know that the watchtower version is so much refuse.

Doug Mason

I offer you my suggestion of the chiastic structure of the context as well as of the parallel discourses in Mark and Luke.

Remember that Matthew 24 is part of the larger context running from Matthew 23 to 25. The material was compiled following the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, where many were saying this marked the End of the Ages. The writers, however were saying that they were not to be taken in by deceivers who were pointing to these wars, etc. as portents. Matthew 23 starts with the temple and that focus continues in Chapter 24.

You will find my suggested Chiasms at:

http://jwstudies.com/chiasms_at_Matt24__Mark13__Luke21.pdf

The central or turning point of a chiams points to the focus of purpose of the passage. In this case, the main message relates to escaping (Matth 24:13-14 and 15-16)

Doug

8

Imagine

by Doug Mason in

mary gives birth to a girl..

jesus shares the lead in his ministry with a woman..

half of jesus leading disciples and half of his apostles are women..

Doug Mason

Imagine …

Islam managed and controlled by women.

The call is: “Allah is Great Mother”.

Men wear the hijab while women’s faces are uncovered.

Teachers in Islamic schools are women.

Shariah law is designed and administered by women.

Mohammed is a woman.

Imagine the peace when all people have rejected supernatural superstition.

Doug

8

Imagine

by Doug Mason in

mary gives birth to a girl..

jesus shares the lead in his ministry with a woman..

half of jesus leading disciples and half of his apostles are women..

Doug Mason

oppostate,

John Lennon's words are either a hymn or an international anthem.

Doug

8

Imagine

by Doug Mason in

mary gives birth to a girl..

jesus shares the lead in his ministry with a woman..

half of jesus leading disciples and half of his apostles are women..

Doug Mason

Mary gives birth to a girl.

Jesus shares the lead in his ministry with a woman.

Half of Jesus’ leading disciples and half of his Apostles are women.

Jesus addresses God as “Heavenly Mother”.

The bulk of New Testament documents are written by a woman named Pauline.

Half of the Rabbis throughout history are women.

A woman holds a position on the Watch Tower’s Governing Body.

A woman becomes the Pope.

Half of the Watch Tower’s Governing Body are women.

Christians remove sexist and misogynist expressions from their Holy Scriptures.

Adam comes from Eve’s rib.

Trinitarians believe in Mother, Daughter, and her Holy Spirit.

God becomes an atheist.

Doug

13

Was Jesus a hypocrite?

by James Mixon in

jesus spoke of loving your enemy, matt.5:43, luke 6:26, but look what is said in.

mark 16:51,16 "go preach but who ever does not believe his ass will be set on fire".. i don't think that is good news.

hell if that is love, what the hell is hate.

Doug Mason

James,

These three Gospels - Mark, Matthew, and then Luke - were written by different people at different times for different readerships for very different purposes.

No NT writer, including these, either saw or heard Jesus. They relied on the traditions that were passed on in their respective communities.

So it should not be any surprise that they disagreed with one another.

The initial Christians were not documenters (probably not literate). They fully expected the Coming and God's Kingdom to take place shortly, so why write? Even Jesus - who shared their expectations - did not write anything.

The earliest NT record comes from Paul, and he does not describe Jesus' life or his words. He too expected Jesus to "come" during his lifetime, and his letters address short-term local issues based on the final days of Jesus' life.

The Gospels started to emerge after Paul's death, after the destruction of Jerusalem. "Luke" was not even a Jew, His Gospel is as unreliable as his book of Acts.

An interesting direction of research would be to study scholarly works that seek to determine which of the words ascribed to Jesus were likely genuinely uttered by him. I have seen estimates that 25% can be considered as genuine.

Doug

7

The mythical meaning of the “Lord’s Supper” was revealed to Paul by Christ, not by any man

by Doug Mason in

the following is from: christian beginnings, geza vermes pages 91, 92, 98.

paul inherited from his predecessors a second great cult practice, the communal meal, referred to as the breaking of the bread as well as thanksgiving or eucharist in greek.

as in the case of baptism, paul supplied a new meaning to the community meal and turned it into an imitation and repetition of the lords supper.

Doug Mason

half banana,

I touch only briefly on Paul's Hellenism on pages 76-77 of my Study, "The Babylonian Exile shaped the future" (mentioned in the above Thread: : http://www.jwstudies.com/The_Babylonian_Exile_shaped_the_future.pdf). As I write in my Study, I skip across a lake of deep, moving waters, barely touching the surface.

I am very tempted to flesh out your idea on Paul's non-Jewish influences, so I would appreciate any scholarly references. I already have Maccoboy's book and another whose name is just outside the reach of my memory,

Take Paul out of the NT (and those writings by his adherents) and very very little is left. And Paul had no idea he was writing Scripture - his focus lay with the imminent Coming and Kingdom of God.

Doug