Posts by Doug Mason

53

Bible comes alive if we look for meaning behind the symbols it uses

by Ireneus in

bible contains too much human thinking presented as though from god, thus much of its information brings dishonor to god.. yet it contains great beneficial truths behind the symbols it uses.

let us take the only two cases of miracles jesus performed without any request from anybody which would show the very purpose of his ministry:.

1) jesus healed a woman who “was bent over and could not straighten up at all.” (luke 13:11-13).

Doug Mason

Irenaeus,

When you say "Bible", which Canon do you mean?

Doug

31

Jesus tempted by Satan, real or just a vision.

by pleaseresearch in

not with their shunning policy.

me and my brother seldom communicate sadly, but no way would we go anywhere for fear of being seen with an inactive jw for over 10 years.. https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/watchtower-simplified-march-2016/questions-from-readers/.

from the website:.

Doug Mason

The "Satan" of Job is not the "Satanas" of the New Testament. The individual in Job is a "son of God" carrying out activities under Yahweh's permission.

The purpose of the Book of Job was to create an explanation for the sorry state of "God's people", laying the blame away from Yahweh. Their very recent (6th century BCE) experiences coupled with their very recent surge of Monotheism created the issue of Theodicy, which the Book of Job addresses in the concepts of their day.

I suspect it is likely there is a soteriological intent with the story of Satan's temptation of Christ. I will research further but my initial thoughts include:

The intention of the writers (40 to 60 years after the setting of the story) might simply be wanting to show the authority of their ancient written documents.

Secondly, they might be saying that if you are tempted in these ways, this is how you are to respond.

I am probably way off the mark, but it is at least a starting point.

In other words, rather than asking only what did they write, I want to know why they wrote.

If someone offered you the world (winning the lottery; becoming POTUS; etc.) how would you respond? Is that what these writers were posing? And then setting up Christ as the model respondent.

Just assuming at this stage.

Doug

31

Jesus tempted by Satan, real or just a vision.

by pleaseresearch in

not with their shunning policy.

me and my brother seldom communicate sadly, but no way would we go anywhere for fear of being seen with an inactive jw for over 10 years.. https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/watchtower-simplified-march-2016/questions-from-readers/.

from the website:.

Doug Mason

Am I correct in thinking that it was "holy spirit" who/that drove Jesus into the wilderness so that Jesus would be tempted?

If that were so, then the satan was simply carrying out a "holy" mission.

Why did these people write these stories? What was their objective at the time they wrote these?

How does the nature of the early account (Mark) compare with the stories as they were developed over time (Matthew -> John -> Luke)?

Doug

2

The names of spirits

by Doug Mason in

gradually, i am editing my study on "satan".. here is one edited chapter:.

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

doug.

Doug Mason

Thank you Phizzy,

My desire is to make people think, not to make anyone agree with me. I provide only bits and pieces of ideas, which are covered so well in the books and resources that I cite. I want people to read and study these -- and to cone to their own conclusions.

Using Goodrick and Kohlenberger's "Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance" I used an Excel spreadsheet to show graphically the frequency of the Greek words related to Beelzeboul, demons; diabolos, and satanas in Paul, Gospels, Pseudo-Paul, and Revelation.

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

I have incorporated these into the initial document (pages 12, 13):

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

Doug

20

Satan temping Eve. Had she not ate

by pleaseresearch in

being the loving god that he is :).

how do you imagine this playing out.

let's say eve didn't eat and so we didn't fall into sin.. what do you think god would have done with satan and his demons?.

Doug Mason

Hi Smiddy 3,

Justin Martyr is the earliest who equated Snake with Satan and he was born in 100 CE.

The apocryphal Apocalypse of Moses is dated by some to as early his time, with some dating it as late as 300 CE.

The Eden story is religious fiction, written for religious political purposes. Not unique. Researching the subject tells us about the people at the time, and it warns us how we should respond to people who promote such material and thinking. Supernatural superstition for the superstitious.

Doug

20

Satan temping Eve. Had she not ate

by pleaseresearch in

being the loving god that he is :).

how do you imagine this playing out.

let's say eve didn't eat and so we didn't fall into sin.. what do you think god would have done with satan and his demons?.

Doug Mason

I have provided some material showing that Satan was not in the Eden story:

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

Doug

20

Satan temping Eve. Had she not ate

by pleaseresearch in

being the loving god that he is :).

how do you imagine this playing out.

let's say eve didn't eat and so we didn't fall into sin.. what do you think god would have done with satan and his demons?.

Doug Mason

Whatever made you think that Satan was involved in the Eden story?

The Bible says Snake was the deceiver. The idea that Snake was Satan in disguise was a 2nd century CE creation of Justin Martyr (born 100 CE).

In Eve’s account in the apocryphal Apocalypse of Moses of her encounter in Eden with the Snake, she says that Satan, who is like an angel, seduced Snake and offered to talk through the Snake on his behalf.

Doug

2

The names of spirits

by Doug Mason in

gradually, i am editing my study on "satan".. here is one edited chapter:.

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

doug.

Doug Mason

Gradually, I am editing my Study on "Satan".

Here is one edited Chapter:

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

Doug

12

Relative rates of mental illness

by Doug Mason in

a report produced 50 years ago by a psychiatrist at a west australian mental health facility ("asylum"l reported that the mental illness rate among jws was 3 times the norm of society.

other similar studies at the time concluded the rate was much higher.. i wrote to the psychiatrist at the time, asking whether the wts attracted people who were already susceptible to mental illness or if the situation was created after the person became a jw.

he responded that they did not know.. being myopically focused on the wts at the time, but more importantly belonging to an alternative eschatological apocalyptic body at the time, i did not think more broadly.. i think that today i would like to know:.

Doug Mason

A report produced 50 years ago by a psychiatrist at a West Australian mental health facility ("asylum"l reported that the mental illness rate among JWs was 3 times the norm of Society. Other similar studies at the time concluded the rate was much higher.

I wrote to the psychiatrist at the time, asking whether the WTS attracted people who were already susceptible to mental illness or if the situation was created after the person became a JW. He responded that they did not know.

Being myopically focused on the WTS at the time, but more importantly belonging to an alternative eschatological apocalyptic body at the time, I did not think more broadly.

I think that today I would like to know:

1. How does the mental illness rate among JWs compare with the rate among other eschatological apocalyptic groups?

2. Similarly, what are the comparable mental illness rates among other groups, e.g. Fundamentalists (Christian, Muslim, etc.); Pentecostals.

3. How do these compare with the mental rate among secular groupings?

I cannot say, but my gut feel is that the answer to my original question is:

1. Insecure people, (is "unbalanced" a valid expression?) are attracted to the atmosphere of the positive solution being offered. And the solution is imminent.

2. Once "inside" their inner doubts are added to because these do not align with the positive behaviour that is apparent in others.

3. The threatening messages of imminent doom, of a powerful demanding God only adds to their previous insecurity.

Does my hypothesis align with the large dropouts, especially from "born-in" children?

Doug

7

John 1:1—a concept blindly copied from other cultures

by Ireneus in

john 1:1 is the adaptation from other cultures where it is taught that we are all gods.

if expanded, john 1:1 would read like this: “in the beginning there was only god and he created the universe out of himself.

that means you are made out of god and you are a part of god, hence you are god just as much as jesus was.

Doug Mason

An interesting observation, Venus, and one with several explanations.

One view would be that the firebrand "end is upon us" John the Baptist either felt disillusioned that his expectations had not been met, and he simply needed confirmation, especially as his cousin Yeshua (Joshua aka Jesus) was also expecting the imminent divine intervention.

Another view would be that Luke was denigrating the party that was following The Baptist, therefore the authors of Luke (writing about 60 years after said event) created this passage in order to belittle The Baptist's followers.

We see that method employed by the writers of John's Gospel (20:24 ff) when they denigrated the followers of Thomas (John 20:24ff). The Gospel of Thomas had been circulating for decades before the John Gospel was created.

These writers were astute and highly political (in religious terms). Each party wrote in order to promote their own ideology and at the same time to argue against the views of others. Hence we are exposed only to the views of a writer and we have to infer what their opponents were saying. This is true, not only of the Canonised writings but also of later writers, such as the Church Fathers.

Doug