Posts by Doug Mason

29

What is your understanding of the terms "Ransom" and "Redeem"?

by Doug Mason in

with respect to christ being the "redeemer" and of having "paid the ransom", i would like to know:.

(1) what is your technical understanding of each term?.

(2) what is the watchtower's understanding of each term?.

Doug Mason

David Jay,

I appreciate your insights.

As you point out, many Christians view salvation in terms of a judicial, legal model. It is my understanding that this Model does not hold for the Orthodox Churches.

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Yes, while Jesus was a Jew, as were all of the writers, the theories that are bandied about today were drawn up while the gentile Christians marked an increasingly separate pathway from the Jews and incorporated their philosophies and philosophical modes of thinking.

We can, however, identify places in Paul's writings, himself a jew, where he incorporates contemporary Greek ideas.

It is so ironic that Christianity employs Jewish writings and worships a Jew.

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Be proud that you are a Jew. My dad's father was named Abraham; his father was Mosche (Moses); and his father was Yitzhak (Isaac). I never knew any of them but going by their names and by the record of Grandfather Abraham's life, I am certain they were good religious Jews. On the other hand, my maternal grandparents were way out atheist, secular Jews.

The Nazis were not interested in such differences.

No, I have absolutely no experience with Judaism.

Doug

29

What is your understanding of the terms "Ransom" and "Redeem"?

by Doug Mason in

with respect to christ being the "redeemer" and of having "paid the ransom", i would like to know:.

(1) what is your technical understanding of each term?.

(2) what is the watchtower's understanding of each term?.

Doug Mason

Sykvia,

I enjoy your open thinking.

I balk at the idea that Jesus pre-existed. I have problems conceiving that a "spirit being" could enter into Mary's fertilised egg. I have problems understanding what emerged from Mary. Did Jesus have a spirit living inside him? Was he only an apparent human? What and who died?

If Jesus were to slip into town, what would he think of Christianity?

Doug

29

What is your understanding of the terms "Ransom" and "Redeem"?

by Doug Mason in

with respect to christ being the "redeemer" and of having "paid the ransom", i would like to know:.

(1) what is your technical understanding of each term?.

(2) what is the watchtower's understanding of each term?.

Doug Mason

Thanks for your thoughts, which I am taking on board.

I suppose that even though the subject of "Ransom" is fundamental to the Watchtower, for the majority of JWs it becomes a non-issue, since the WTS limits the term and its benefits to its "144,000 Anointed" (Christs).

As I go back over your posts, I gain the idea that you see "Ransom" and "Redeeem" in terms of the cosmic stage (Adam, creation, etc.) and not in terms of any personal meaning.

Do people thus hold to the idea of "Original Sin" and that this is what Jesus' death addressed?

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If I want to "redeem" something from a pawnbroker, my payment to him releases my possession and I re-own it. If someone is kidnapped and held for ransom, then I pay ransom money to the person holding the captive. If these were valid models, they would suggest to me that Satan is the recipient of the payment. Of course we are spealing here of a different culture at a different time, so what did these terms mean to them?

I suggest that Paul is relevant here, inasmuch as he conflated varying Hebraic streams and then mixed into them contemporary Greek concepts. I am, however, ignorant of their ideas, but Paul was aware and was affected by them.

Greek philosophy had an even greater influence on the later Church Fathers as they tried to come to grips with the loose ends left by Paul.

So if Christ's death and resurrection has any personal meaning, what is it? Why did God have to employ Judas, the priests and the Romans before he is able to love and forgive?

Doug

29

What is your understanding of the terms "Ransom" and "Redeem"?

by Doug Mason in

with respect to christ being the "redeemer" and of having "paid the ransom", i would like to know:.

(1) what is your technical understanding of each term?.

(2) what is the watchtower's understanding of each term?.

Doug Mason

Hi Sylvia,

I presume by "I do not believe this teaching" that you are confining that comment to the Watchtower's attitude concerning Adam and Eve.

While I appreciate your poetry, it does not address my question, inasmuch it simply asserts that: "He paid the price with his own life". To whom was the payment made? If God demanded it, what does that say about God?

I hesitatingly suggest that your understanding is known as "The Penal-substitution Theory", also as the Judicial (Juridical) Model of salvation. This idea is derived from Bishop Anselm of the 11th century which was then modified during the Reformation.

This judicial model is typical of the Catholic/Protestant tradition and I suggest that your Orthodox friends (Greek - Russian, etc. - the Eastern Churches) could find that idea strange.

For a description of the various Atonement models:

http://www.theopedia.com/atonement-of-christ

Doug

29

What is your understanding of the terms "Ransom" and "Redeem"?

by Doug Mason in

with respect to christ being the "redeemer" and of having "paid the ransom", i would like to know:.

(1) what is your technical understanding of each term?.

(2) what is the watchtower's understanding of each term?.

Doug Mason

Vidqun,

Thank you for that source, which I managed to locate. The context of your first citation continues with the following, to which your final sentence refers.

Doug

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The first expression of this group, or the fourth in the whole number, is “to bring in everlasting righteousness.” After the entire setting aside of sin must come a righteousness which shall never cease. That [Hebrew text] does not mean “happiness of the olden time” (Bertholdt, Rösch), nor “innocence of the former better times” (J. D. Michaelis), but “righteousness,” requires at present no further proof. Righteousness comes from heaven as the gift of God (Ps. lxxxv. 11-14; Isa. li. 5-8), rises as a sun upon them that fear God (Mal. iii. 20), and is here called everlasting, corresponding to the eternity of the Messianic kingdom (cf. ii. 44, vii. 18, 27). [Same Hebrew text] comprehends the internal and the external righteousness of the new heavens and the new earth, 2 Pet. iii. 13. This fourth expression forms the positive supplement of the first: in the place of the absolutely removed transgression is the perfected righteousness. (Biblical Commentary on The Old Testament, Keil And Delitzsch (1884), on Chap. IX. 24-27, page 343)

29

What is your understanding of the terms "Ransom" and "Redeem"?

by Doug Mason in

with respect to christ being the "redeemer" and of having "paid the ransom", i would like to know:.

(1) what is your technical understanding of each term?.

(2) what is the watchtower's understanding of each term?.

Doug Mason

Thank you for your help. I have saved them to my computer and I will work through them.

The early Church taught that Jesus "redeemed" humankind from Satan and similarly that the "Ransom" was a payment made to Satan in order to obtain the release of his captives. These understandings are no longer accepted.

So I wondered how people today and the Watchtower explained this payment of a "redemption" or of a "ransom". The latter is of course especially significant for the Watchtower and it has been the cause of major rifts in the past.

While it is helpful to access references such as dictionaries, I wonder whether people have thought through these personally. In other words, how I do "redeem" something and how do I pay a "ransom"? Are these the practices of 2000 years ago?

Doug

29

What is your understanding of the terms "Ransom" and "Redeem"?

by Doug Mason in

with respect to christ being the "redeemer" and of having "paid the ransom", i would like to know:.

(1) what is your technical understanding of each term?.

(2) what is the watchtower's understanding of each term?.

Doug Mason

With respect to Christ being the "Redeemer" and of having "paid the Ransom", I would like to know:

(1) What is your technical understanding of each term?

(2) What is the Watchtower's understanding of each term?

I am not looking for the list of verses that employ each term. I want to know how one "redeems" and how one "pays a ransom" and how Christ achieved these.

Thanks,

Doug

13

No atheist could possible hope to win an election in today's political climate, BUT.....

by James Mixon in

not taxing churches is taking as estimated $71 billion from our economy every year.

watching one of the late night talk show and the host mention how much dough we could have to help the poor if the churches were taxed.

i check to see and i b-damn, mormon church spends 7% of its annual income on charity, the average for churches are 29% to help the poor.

Doug Mason

Australia recently had a female atheist Prime Minister living in a de facto relationship.

49

Do religious people fear that their religion may be wrong???

by James Mixon in

because there are so many religions in the world and it is obvious that no matter what the truth is, a large population of people will be wrong about it.

we at one time believe we had the truth and 99% of the world population were in darkness, but i wonder about folks in other religions today.

speaking with a christian friend about this and he told me," that's for god to decide, i hope i'am serving god"...the sad thing about all of this if one die and still believe in his religion, he will never know he was in the wrong religion.

Doug Mason

Does God "save" on the basis of the accuracy of one theology, eschatology, and soteriologogy? If so, what is the pass mark?

Is God a Christian? Or does he apply a different set of questions for other religions? How does he cope with the variety of beliefs between religions and within any religion?

Or is it all a means for the minority to manage and massage the minds of the majority?

Doug

27

A chapter on The Trinity

by Doug Mason in

as i work my way through the history of judaeo-christian salvation, i have drafted a chapter on the trinity and early christology.

as before, i am seeking corrections, advice, and suggestions.. the chapter is available at: http://www.jwstudies.com/formative_christianity_s_christological_combats.pdf.

while preparing this chapter, i realised that i am not looking at the "evolution" of soteriology.

Doug Mason

irishdub,

The first person that comes to mind is Origen, who spoke about universal salvation, even for the Devil. If you want to explore his ideas further, try Googling with:

Exclusivist or universalist? Origen the 'wise steward of the word'

While I was out walking, I was thinking of you and your "keep me in your prayers, I'm a sinner".

I wonder if religion is providing you with inner peace or whether it is the cause of torment. The idea of "you are a sinner" is one element of a powerful model employed by the few to control the masses. They play on two fears --(1) a person's recognition of their inadequacies (join the clan!) and (2) the fear of the consequences when God either intervenes or one dies.

Their model then says: (1) you are lost to God and in danger of eternal damnation (2) We are the only people who can show you the way to solve this problem, so come and join in with us (3) You are continually reminded to go back to step #1 ("you are lost ... etc.").

I suggest to you that every morning, before you hop out of bed, you tell yourself - aloud, if possible: "I am not a sinner. I do not fear death. I will enjoy today and make every effort to make the world a better place".

Doug