Posts by Doug Mason

45

About the ten plagues in Egypt

by runForever in

alot of people are saying god is cruel for killing the firstborns and animals and people in the ten plagues.

but didn't god achieve his goal of making nations and people be in fear of him?.

Doug Mason

runForever,

I have seen it suggested that the name of Mary given to Jesus' mother reflects the name Miriam.

Doug

45

About the ten plagues in Egypt

by runForever in

alot of people are saying god is cruel for killing the firstborns and animals and people in the ten plagues.

but didn't god achieve his goal of making nations and people be in fear of him?.

Doug Mason

40 years wandering in the desert and not one archaeological evidence.

The Torah is a compilation of writings from a number of (competing) sources. No writer was present at either creation myth, tower of Babel, the flood myth, stories concering Abram, and such. These were influenced by the Jews' encounters with neo-Babylonia during the Captivity.

Deuteronomy was likely freshly written when it was discovered and read to King Josiah. The name 'Moses' sounds similar to the name of a certain Pharoah.

As with the WTS, religions revisit and recreate history for propaganda purposes.

Doug

50

What were the calculations used to arrive at the 1874 date of Christ's return?

by Zoos in

we all know the calculations used by the wt to arrive at 1914. fall of babylon in 607 (false year), gentile times, no zero year, ta-da, 1914.. what did they use before that?

i know it wasn't russell who came up with it - he just adopted it.

i'm just curious what they had to explain away when they made the transition.. .

Doug Mason

Russell used pyramids and Leviticus 26 for his dates and "2520 years". I am not certain when Daniel 4 came into play. When Russell's dates failed, the WTS amended his dimensions for the pyramids (they stretched in the sun!) and they kept selling his books.

Russell was adamant that Jerusalem was destroyed in 606 BCE, with Babylon falling in 538 BCE. The changes to 607 and 539 coincided with the publication in 1942 of Parker and Dubberstein's study on Babylonian Chronology; it was the same year that Rutherford died.

Russell taught that 1874 marked the "parousia" which was to be followed by 40 years of the "Time of Trouble", which would end in 1914 with the outbreak of unprecedented peace under Zionism. (Hence the two-fold title of his magazine). See the above 1892 Watchtower quotation provided by ADCMS.

Russell was aware of the controversy over his 606 date for the destruction of Jerusalem but was not prepared to budge. If there was to be any change, he was prepared to consider shifting his end date to 1915.

Doug

4

If God is perfect, why is there a universe?

by Coded Logic in

looking for any weaknesses in my arguments.

i put them together not to show that the conclusions are true but rather to prove that the first premise in each of them (used by religious people) is incoherent with the rest of their beliefs.

please feel free to point out what you think works or doesn't work and why.

Doug Mason

When people think logically, this proves that God exists.

When people do not think logically this proves that God does not exist.

Doug

45

About the ten plagues in Egypt

by runForever in

alot of people are saying god is cruel for killing the firstborns and animals and people in the ten plagues.

but didn't god achieve his goal of making nations and people be in fear of him?.

Doug Mason

Moses is a myth. He never existed. The exodus from Egypt never happened.

Doug

Matthew 23-24

by Doug Mason in

matthews apocalypse at chapters 24 and 25 needs to be read in the context of the previous chapter.. although we do not know the names of the gospels authors, they make it plain that they were jews who despised the pharisees and the burdens they had added through the temple services.

while the writers of the gospel were scrupulous in requiring obedience to the letter of the scriptures (matt.

5:17-18), they rejected the traditions that had been overlaid by the priestly class, as matthew 23 reveals.. .. the scribes and the pharisees have seated themselves in the seat of moses.

Doug Mason

Matthew’s “apocalypse” at chapters 24 and 25 needs to be read in the context of the previous Chapter.

Although we do not know the names of the Gospel’s authors, they make it plain that they were Jews who despised the Pharisees and the burdens they had added through the temple services. While the writers of the Gospel were scrupulous in requiring obedience to the letter of the Scriptures (Matt. 5:17-18), they rejected the traditions that had been overlaid by the priestly class, as Matthew 23 reveals.

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The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the seat of Moses. (Matt. 23:2)

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! (Matt. 23:13)

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! (Matt. 23:15)

Woe to you, blind guides, (Matt. 23:16)

Fools and blind ones! (Matt. 23:17)

Blind ones! (Matt. 23:19)

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! (Matt. 23:23)

Blind guides. (Matt. 23:24)

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! (Matt. 23:25)

Blind Pharisee. (Matt. 23:26)

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you resemble whitewashed graves. (Matt. 23:27)

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! (Matt. 23:29)

You are sons of those who murdered the prophets. (Matt. 23:31)

Serpents, offspring of vipers. (Matt. 23:33)

May come upon you all the righteous blood spilled on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered. (Matt. 23:35)

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The Gospel writers declared that the full force of God’s revenge would fall upon the people of their time.

Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. (Matt. 23:36)

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These Gospel writers had no sympathy for Jerusalem or for its temple that the Romans had demolished. God had already abandoned it.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the killer of the prophets and stoner of those sent to her. … Look! Your house is abandoned. (Matt. 23:37, 38)

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This rejection of the temple and all that it stood for is symbolised by Jesus’ action of “departing from the temple”. Even so, the disciples were still impressed by the appearance of the physical structures.

As Jesus was departing from the temple, his disciples approached to show him the buildings of the temple. (Matt. 24:1)

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Without any sympathy for the fate of the buildings, the Gospel’s authors described the actions taken by the Romans when they sacked the city and demolished the temple.

In response he said to them: “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, by no means will a stone be left here upon a stone and not be thrown down.” While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately, saying: “Tell us, when will these things be?” (Matt. 24:2-3)

Of course, the Gospel writers knew the answer, having witnessed the destruction.

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Building on the many apocalypses circulating at the time, the Gospel writers stitched their own to the story of the temple’s destruction, fully anticipating that the final outcome would take place in their own time.

This generation will by no means pass away until all these things happen. (Matt. 24:34)

28

WT Library

by MsTruthSeeker2014 in

does anyone have the link to dl the wt library?

i was looking for some mag from the 1900s and see that the jw org site only goes back to 2000.

Doug Mason

Newly Enlightened,

Yes, I have those 1928 Messengers (July/August), but as a PDF not as individual images. It's 36.4 MB.

I am not certain how to provide the Dropbox link, but here goes:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sgns6m8z2l9pp2q/1928_Messenger.pdf?dl=0

I also have a PDF for the July 25/26 1931 Messenger (12 pages, 17.3 MB). Can you pick it up with:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rycg89379ffmm93/1931_Messenger.pdf?dl=0

Doug

28

WT Library

by MsTruthSeeker2014 in

does anyone have the link to dl the wt library?

i was looking for some mag from the 1900s and see that the jw org site only goes back to 2000.

Doug Mason

Newly Enlightened,

Do you plan to make "The Messanger" available?

Unfortunately, the file I have is a humungous 443 meg, with 713 pages covering 1927 to 1946. Do you have "The Messenger" available in a more convenient form?

Doug

16

My problem with Original Sin

by leftbelow in

i found this quote in a book i was reading and it struck me this is why original sin is a problem for me.. damnation is the start of your morality, destruction is its purpose, means and end.

your code begins by damning man as evil, then demands that he practice a good which it defines as impossible for him to practice.

it demands, as his first proof of virtue, that he accept his own depravity without proof.

Doug Mason

Sparky1,

Explain to me why this is speaking of Original Sin.

Also, how do you know who wrote it? And if he was guilty of Original Sin, how can we believe what he wrote? (Reminds me of the man who said: "I always tell lies". Was he telling the truth when he said that?)

Doug

28

WT Library

by MsTruthSeeker2014 in

does anyone have the link to dl the wt library?

i was looking for some mag from the 1900s and see that the jw org site only goes back to 2000.

Doug Mason

Newly Enlightened,

I think that I am correct in saying that the file named as:

06_12 Consolation (1).pdf under "1940 Consolation"

should be renamed as

06_26 Consolation.pdf

Apologies if I am wrong.

Doug