Doug Mason

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Posts by Doug Mason

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  36

  Watchtower August 2020 Are they introducing new light?

  by Listener in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the latest watchtower is now out and they make this statement -.

  7 during the thousand year rule of christ, all of jehovah’s earthly children will have to make changes to please him.

  so all of them will have true fellow feeling as they help the resurrected ones to combat sinful tendencies and to live by jehovah’s standards.

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  Doug Mason

  Did someone expect rationality to come from supernatural superstition?
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  16

  Rear cover of: “Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Secular World: from the 1870s to the Present”

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  “jehovah’s witnesses and the secular world: from the 1870s to the present” (histories of the sacred and secular), zoe knox.

  palgrave macmillan.

  isbn 978-1-137-39604-4. .

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  Doug Mason

  In her book, Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Secular World, Zoe Knox incorrectly writes that Russell and Rutherford believed the Coming of Christ took place in 1914. They actually placed the Coming (Parousia) in 1874.

  This is my Critique of that passage in Knox’s book.

  https://jwstudies.com/CRITIQUE_OF__JEHOVAH_S_WITNESSES_AND_THE_SECULAR_WORLD___PAGES_32-33__BY_ZOE_KNOX.pdf
  
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  16

  Rear cover of: “Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Secular World: from the 1870s to the Present”

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  “jehovah’s witnesses and the secular world: from the 1870s to the present” (histories of the sacred and secular), zoe knox.

  palgrave macmillan.

  isbn 978-1-137-39604-4. .

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  Doug Mason

  Hi Scholar,

  I am most interested to know that Zoe Knox might be working on Russell and his cohorts. I hope she will be more accurate than some of the details she presents in this book.

  She presents her specialist expertise at:

  https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/history/people/staff-pages/zknox

  It is interesting to think how the totalitarian Watchtower operates with totalitarian states such as Russia. It creates fascinating situations as they rub up against one another.

  All the best,

  Doug
  
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  16

  Rear cover of: “Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Secular World: from the 1870s to the Present”

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  “jehovah’s witnesses and the secular world: from the 1870s to the present” (histories of the sacred and secular), zoe knox.

  palgrave macmillan.

  isbn 978-1-137-39604-4. .

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  Doug Mason

  To be fair to Zoe Knox, the following shows the scope of her book.

  =================

  This book examines how Jehovah’s Witnesses have challenged the jurisdictions of modern states and influenced understandings of religious tolerance and freedom of worship worldwide. Their influence is all the more remarkable given that they aim to remain aloof from the world. This detachment differs markedly from many other religious organisations. … The Watch Tower Society is remarkably insular. Whilst it engages with the secular state through courts of law, this is to a narrow end, namely opposing attempts to inhibit the public ministry of Witnesses. They have unintentionally championed the rights of a wide range of other religious minorities around the world. The Society has long acknowledged the broader impact of its legal advocacy but has never presented this as a motivation for legal challenges.

  In addition to how and why Jehovah’s Witnesses have come into conflict with governmental authorities, this book also explores the ways in which the secular world has shaped the organisation. Like other religious groups, the Society has had to respond to new technologies, secular ideologies, and geopolitical configurations to avoid obsolescence. Its interpretation of scripture has altered along with worldly developments, which has in turn led to new policies, some of which have posed novel challenges to governments. Since 1971, the Society’s doctrines have emanated from the Governing Body, a group of men based at the world headquarters. Between seven and eighteen men have served on the Governing Body at any one time. The Body has determined policies and procedures that shape the behaviour of Witnesses worldwide. This includes public conduct, such as deportment when manning information stalls, and intimate acts, such as the sexual positions permitted between husband and wife. These behavioural guidelines sometimes shift: sexual relations within marriage are now regarded as a matter of individual conscience, for example.

  More generally, the rapid pace of the modern world has challenged it to adapt to ever-changing conditions, just as it has the leadership of other Christian churches. The theological foundations of even the best known of the Society’s doctrines have not been investigated by historians, nor has the evolving position of the Governing Body on these issues. (Knox, 5-6)
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  16

  Rear cover of: “Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Secular World: from the 1870s to the Present”

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  “jehovah’s witnesses and the secular world: from the 1870s to the present” (histories of the sacred and secular), zoe knox.

  palgrave macmillan.

  isbn 978-1-137-39604-4. .

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  Doug Mason

  Yes, Vienne, I thoroughly agree with you.

  Doug
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  16

  Rear cover of: “Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Secular World: from the 1870s to the Present”

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  “jehovah’s witnesses and the secular world: from the 1870s to the present” (histories of the sacred and secular), zoe knox.

  palgrave macmillan.

  isbn 978-1-137-39604-4. .

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  Doug Mason

  This passage at page 32 of her book concerns me:

  "Russell taught that Jesus returned to rule the Earth invisibly in 1914. Rutherford reaffirmed that it was indeed a watershed year marking the invisible presence of Christ in a speech in February 1918" (She gives no references for these statements.)

  There is no mention of the importance of the organisation's appointment by Jehovah God and Jesus Christ in 1919.

  The sole reference to 1874 is: "[Barbour] convinced Russell that Christ had returned invisibly in 1874".

  She correctly recognises Russell's support for Zionism (page 229)

  I did not see her acknowledge that Russell was the Society's second President.

  I only downloaded the book last night so there is much more to digest..

  Doug
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  16

  Rear cover of: “Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Secular World: from the 1870s to the Present”

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  “jehovah’s witnesses and the secular world: from the 1870s to the present” (histories of the sacred and secular), zoe knox.

  palgrave macmillan.

  isbn 978-1-137-39604-4. .

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  Doug Mason

  Thanks for the information Slimboyfat. I have downloaded the interview copy it to my computer.

  I will attempt to contact the author as she is mistaken on matters concerning Russell and also Rutherford. I have located her contact details.

  In her acknowledgements, she write: "By far my greatest debt of gratitude is to George Chryssides". I would appreciate any information regarding him.

  Thanks, Doug
• 
  16

  Rear cover of: “Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Secular World: from the 1870s to the Present”

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  “jehovah’s witnesses and the secular world: from the 1870s to the present” (histories of the sacred and secular), zoe knox.

  palgrave macmillan.

  isbn 978-1-137-39604-4. .

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  Doug Mason

  “Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Secular World: from the 1870s to the Present” (Histories of the Sacred and Secular), Zoe Knox. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-39604-4.

  https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137396044

  'Zoe Knox offers an ambitious study of Jehovah's Witnesses from Malawi to the Soviet Union. This balanced examination of how minority faiths interact with modern states and societies is a valuable contribution to scholarship on religious tolerance and freedom of conscience, and a must-read for scholars of this religious community.'

  —Emily B. Baran, Assistant Professor at Middle Tennessee State University, USA, and author of Dissent on the Margins: How Soviet Jehovah's Witnesses Defied Communism and Lived to Preach About It

  'For the past few decades, the landmark books on Jehovah's Witnesses have largely been written by ex-members. Zoe Knox's impartial, scholarly, and rigorous account of the Watch Tower organisation comes as a welcome contrast, providing useful and illuminating analysis of the Society's position on several key themes.'

  —George D. Chryssides, Honorary Research Fellow at York St John University, UK, and author of Historical Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses and Jehovah's Witnesses: Continuity and Change

  This book examines the historic tensions between Jehovah's Witnesses and government authorities, civic organisations, established churches and the broader public. Witnesses originated in the 1870s as small, loose-knit groups calling themselves Bible Students. Today, there are some eight million Witnesses worldwide, all actively engaged in evangelism under the direction of the Watch Tower Society. The author analyses issues that have brought them global visibility and even notoriety, including political neutrality, public ministry, blood transfusion, and anti-ecumenism. It also explores anti-Witness discourse, from media portrayals of the community as marginal and exotic to the anti-cult movement. Focusing on varied historical, ideological and national contexts, the book argues that Witnesses have had a defining influence on conceptions of religious tolerance in the modern world.

  Zoe Knox is Associate Professor of Modern Russian History at the University of Leicester, UK.
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  17

  1 Corinthians 15:26

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  you will die.

  i will die.

  those who have gone before us, the great and the small, the powerful and the weak, have shared the common fate of dying.

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  Doug Mason

  You will die. I will die. Those who have gone before us, the great and the small, the powerful and the weak, have shared the common fate of dying. As sentient animals, we are sensitive to the reality that we will die.

  Religions of all persuasions are obsessed with death, including Apostle Paul. His reasoning helped him cope with death. He associated Salvation with the death of Yeshua the Anointed One. He saw Death as a ruling power, as an enemy to be defeated (1 Corinthians 15:26). The death of one will institute the defeat of Death.

  Those who cannot accept the reality of their own inevitable death cling onto religion, whether an Egyptian Pharaoh, a Hindu, Buddhist, a Mormon, Islamist, Jew, Christian, or any other.

  Religions’ promises of living on after death and the promise of life eternal attract and control those who are incapable of coping with the thought of their inevitable fate.

  Although religions fail the test of reality, they provide comfort to the vulnerable. An illusion, nevertheless.

  Doug
• 
  14

  The Great Crowd Fallacy

  by Vanderhoven7 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the great crowd of other sheep witnesses allegedly first began forming early on in the 20th century.

  rutherford was totally unaware of this crowds existence until 1935. it was revealed to him in 1932 that the great crowd members were heaven-bound.

  then light flashed from heaven in 1935 showing that this group was an earthly class.

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  Doug Mason

  According to my rusty memory, the Book of Revelations says that the 144,000 are on earth -- that's why they need to be protected -- while the Great Crowd is before the throne (up in the sky?)

  Doug