Doug Mason

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Posts by Doug Mason

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  30

  When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed references

  by GoUnion in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  this topic has been covered extensively but i just wanted relate what hapopenes with this subject and my elder father.

  he called me up one day to check in on me he always asks if i'm going to msettings and i always tell him no im not.

  well this time he wanted to know why i didn't trust the g.b.

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  Doug Mason

  I have material on the neo-Babylonian chronology at: http://www.jwstudies.com/babylonian_captivity.html

  My interest began when I read the "chronology" article in the WTS's book "Aid to bible Understanding". When I checked their sources, I found that the sources were being misquoted and misrepresented. This included their gross misrepresentation of the Adad-Guppi Stele as discussed by Pritchard in Ancient Near Eastern Texts (ANET); there were several other examples.

  The WTS continues its misquotation of sources, a recent example is discussed at: http://www.jwstudies.com/The_June_2012_Awake_Citation_of_Ephraim_Stern.pdf

  Another recent example is presented at: http://www.jwstudies.com/Response_from_John_Steele.pdf

  Also: http://www.jwstudies.com/Soncino_commentary_on_Ezekiel.pdf

  Something a lot more technical: http://www.jwstudies.com/539_BCE_and_an_astronomical_tablet.pdf

  You might find some information helpful: http://www.jwstudies.com/Insight_s_reliance_on_secular_sources.pdf

  The WTS tried to make out that in his book "Crime of Claudius Ptolemy", R R Newton supported its cause. Newton wrote that one person was in contact with him, but enquiries revealed that this person was an active JW. But even then Newton's book does not support the WTS: http://www.jwstudies.com/Newton_Crime_Ptolemy.pdf

  Information from the WTS supports the accepted ("secular") chronology: http://www.jwstudies.com/WTS_support_for_the_Babylonian_king-list.pdf (6 pages)

  Also see: http://www.jwstudies.com/Why_historians_know_Babylon_fell_in_539_BCE.pdf

  The WTS does NOT start its "70 years" from the date of Jerusalem's destruction. It starts its count from the moment that exiles went into Egypt. It says that this took place just two months after Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. They do this because they say that the land needed to be absolutely and totally depopulated before the count could begin. HOWEVER, with all of the events that took place between the destruction and the exile into Egypt could not have taken place within such a short period, as I show at: http://www.jwstudies.com/Did_Jews_exit_after_two_months.pdf

  You and your father will find my email address on these items. You can both be confident that I never divulge confidences, so much so that I would not even tell either of you what the other has communicated with me.

  Finally, there is a most serious manner in which the WTS deliberately misquotes its sources, and this is in the area of the medical use of blood: http://www.jwstudies.com/Handling_Medical_Evidence.pdf

  Doug
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  13

  I know this sounds gross

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  there is a medical procedure known as: fecal microbiota transplantation (or transfusion).. has the watchtower society identified whether blood is possibly transfused through this process?

  if it has, what is its verdict?

  if it has not investigated this medical procedure, why hasn't it?.

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  Doug Mason

  I presume the product could easily contain whole blood, and this is a transfusion process. Has the WTS openly objected to this process, which is a procedure that is medically accepted and administered - that has save many lives and influenced various serious ailments with some patients.

  I shall need to research this. My questions include the timing of its modern application, as compared to the timing of the WTS's start of opposing the tranfsusion of blood (relaxed somewhat in recent times), and if it was an ancient medical practice.

  If you get the chance, watch "Life On Us, Part 2: Superhuman". (Try YouTube - at a cost.) Part 1 is also amazing, about the animals and stuff that live on our skin.

  Doug
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  13

  I know this sounds gross

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  there is a medical procedure known as: fecal microbiota transplantation (or transfusion).. has the watchtower society identified whether blood is possibly transfused through this process?

  if it has, what is its verdict?

  if it has not investigated this medical procedure, why hasn't it?.

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  Doug Mason

  There is a medical procedure known as: fecal microbiota transplantation (or transfusion).

  Has the Watchtower Society identified whether blood is possibly transfused through this process? If it has, what is its verdict? If it has not investigated this medical procedure, why hasn't it?

  Was James, he of "First Century Governing Body" fame, aware of this medical procedure, just as he was aware of the medical transfusion of parts of blood?

  Doug
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  20

  John 1:1-18

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i spent a couple of hours trying to work out the poetic structure of john 1:1-18. i have made my first rough draft available as a word document so that others can amend it for themselves.

  the text i used is from the niv.

  it will be interesting to see the poetic structures produced by analyses of other translations.. http://www.jwstudies.com/chiasms_of_john_1_vv_1_to_18.docx.

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  Doug Mason

  Thank you Bobcat,

  I used that site to create for myself a searchable PDF.

  It brings up another thought: given the way in which, at ch 21:31, the John Gospel returns to its opening, I wonder if it would be possible to create a multi-level chiastic analysis of the whole Gospel. Not right now for me, unless someone has done it already. I'll have a look at the commentary on by Leon Morris that I have, but I seriously doubt it. Neither do I think that Spong looks at the chiasms in his consideration of the Gospel. I will have to look some other time.

  Doug
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  20

  John 1:1-18

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i spent a couple of hours trying to work out the poetic structure of john 1:1-18. i have made my first rough draft available as a word document so that others can amend it for themselves.

  the text i used is from the niv.

  it will be interesting to see the poetic structures produced by analyses of other translations.. http://www.jwstudies.com/chiasms_of_john_1_vv_1_to_18.docx.

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  Doug Mason

  Bobcat,

  I located that book and it certainly provides an exhaustive analysis. Thanks,

  Doug
• 
  20

  John 1:1-18

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i spent a couple of hours trying to work out the poetic structure of john 1:1-18. i have made my first rough draft available as a word document so that others can amend it for themselves.

  the text i used is from the niv.

  it will be interesting to see the poetic structures produced by analyses of other translations.. http://www.jwstudies.com/chiasms_of_john_1_vv_1_to_18.docx.

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  Doug Mason

  Villagegirl,

  I found the Orthodox Jewish Bible at:

  http://www.afii.org/OJB.pdf

  where it is possible to download the complete book.

  This is a bit bewildering at the moment. Obviously this requires some research.

  Thanks,

  Doug
• 
  20

  John 1:1-18

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i spent a couple of hours trying to work out the poetic structure of john 1:1-18. i have made my first rough draft available as a word document so that others can amend it for themselves.

  the text i used is from the niv.

  it will be interesting to see the poetic structures produced by analyses of other translations.. http://www.jwstudies.com/chiasms_of_john_1_vv_1_to_18.docx.

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  Doug Mason

  Bobcat,

  Thank you for that find. I will have a very close look at it.

  People like you are a great resource and help.

  Doug
• 
  20

  John 1:1-18

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i spent a couple of hours trying to work out the poetic structure of john 1:1-18. i have made my first rough draft available as a word document so that others can amend it for themselves.

  the text i used is from the niv.

  it will be interesting to see the poetic structures produced by analyses of other translations.. http://www.jwstudies.com/chiasms_of_john_1_vv_1_to_18.docx.

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  Doug Mason

  Villagegirl,

  That Orthodox Jewish Bible is most interesting! I will have to look into it. Especially as it uses the Divine Name (Hashem). And the way that it references the Hebrew Bible - Isaiah, Genesis and Psalms; have you looked at these references they give?

  Wow, that is a most fascinating find.

  Doug
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  28

  need advice

  by search4truth in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my spouse felt a need to tell to elders about me reading apostate websites and speaking against wt stuff , so they'll probably try to readjust my apostate thinking any time soon.

  my spuse never see me reading anything but, during our arguments i did't keep my mouth shut and she knows that i had to read it somwhere and it wasn't jw.org.

  could this get my in the trouble if my spose is the only witness and never spoke to another person about this stuff ?

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  Doug Mason

  Is it possible that an elder is put in a bind if they are told something? And if that elder took no action, does that elder put himself at risk? If that is so, that forces the elder to act, knowing the effects on him if he does not toe the party line.

  It sounds as if North Korea could learn a thing or two from the Watch Tower Society.

  Doug
• 
  17

  "Aren't you going the wrong way at this stage of your life?"

  by donny in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  that was a question posed to me by a friend who just recently discovered my switch from one who used to have a belief in god to one that has a lack thereof.. they stated "most people i know, including your truly, were not much interested in closely following the tenants of the faith we were brought up in when we were in the prime of our young adulthood.

  you on the other hand, were much more zealous back then and now have pretty much left it all behind.

  surely it is not because you are not sowing your oats at this time.".

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  Doug Mason

  Excellent Donny!

  I am now 73 and I am comforted with the thought that when I die, which by the law of averages cannot be in the distant future, that I shall return to the non-conscious state that I came from. At peace. Death thus has no fear for me. Religion works on fear, saying that you have a problem and we have the only cure.

  For many people, religion provides them with comfort and meaning in a threatening world that is out of control. People generally look for patterns and when there is none, they blame it on their God punishing those who have strayed. The ancients had their multiple Gods, each assigned a task.

  But the reality is that chaos is the norm. Everything is random. The only constant is variation.

  Whether God exists or not is God's problem, not mine.

  Doug