How many other congregations would have two kingdom halls, I wonder?
Bill.
Bungi Bill
JoinedPosts by Bungi Bill
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35
KINGDOM HALL IN SHANNON NEW ZEALAND LIES TIDY BUT EMPTY?!!
by steve2 inthere's a kingdom hall in shannon, a small rural town in manawatu, new zealand, 16 kms from the nearest town, foxton, and about 30 kms from palmerston north city (population around 80,000).
jws used to go on about how fast they were growing in new zealand that even a small town like shannon (population little more than 1,000) has its very own kingdom hall.
in the late 70s, the local jws worked hard to build a brand new kingdom hall and i was among the happy throngs when it was dedicated.
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96
The New World Translation Quote from an Elder
by howdidtihappen inyou've probably heard this before, but at a meeting last night the elder called the nwt the "rolls royce" of bibles.
i'm new to the jw bs (and as soon as i can break away, will do so.
) but do they also believe they have a superior bible to anyone elses outside the religion?
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Bungi Bill
"biases reflected in translation are more an indication of human limitations , than it is of dishonesty."
The academic credentials of the NWT Translation Committee are very unimpressive - almost to the point of being non existent. However, it would seem that F.W. Franz and his co-workers largely got it right, despite themselves!
Most of the more contentious passages of scripture in the New World Translation are more the result of doctrinal bias than they are of incompetence. (And contentious pieces of scripture do exist in the NWT - take John 1:1, for example. Expect a violent response if the NWT's translation of that text is shown to anyone of a more fundamentalist Christian denomination!)
It is true that most translations of the Bible to contain doctrinal bias of some sort. However, given the WTS's record of deceit and manipulation, I am not so sure that their bible translation contains "less doctrinal bias than most." (And before anybody jumps down my throat about "how many bible translations are you familiar with," when I first undertook to sit down and read the whole thing from cover to cover, it was the New English translation that I used.)
Furthermore, all translations of the Bible are made from what are only copies of the original Hebrew or Greek texts. These, too, can differ one from the other. The moral of the story is that, when reading any translation of the Bible, you need to be mindful of (i) any doctrinal bias its translators harbored, and (ii) which Hebrew and Greek texts it was translated from.
Bill
PS: Early in my time with the JWs, you used to frequently be assured at people's doors that "you have to read the King James version of the bible to properly understand it." The King James translation, too, though, contains errors - and not just of the doctrinal bias kind. For example, in one verse, it talks about unicorns as being real creatures!
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26
Compilation of the bible and the NWT translation source.
by trailerfitter inhi,, i have a curious question about when the bible was actually compiled.
from what i understand it was actually compiled under emperor constantines request in the 4th century ad.
this was the nicene creed.. i also am aware that there quite a few books that were considered for inclusion but weren't.
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Bungi Bill
Certainly, the academic credentials of the NWT Translation Committee are unimpressive! However, most of its controversial renderings are more to do with doctrinal bias, rather than linguistic incompetence (see Samuel Haas, as quoted above):
- In other words, F.W. Franz & Co. got it largely right, despite themselves!
This, though, is not peculiar to just the New World Translation. To a greater or lesser degree, doctrinal bias influences the rendering of certain bible texts in practically all translations of the scriptures. (For example, the Catholic Church's Jerusalem Bible places an extra slant on the bible texts that deal with the roles entrusted to Peter).
When using any translation of the Bible, caution needs to be exercised - keeping in mind both what texts it was translated from, and what doctrinal background its translators had.
Bill.
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67
Sept. 15th WT - Burdened with Earning a Living? Here! Have MORE Burdens !
by flipper inas if the other sept. 15th wt thread i started weren't controlling enough - in another study article titled " run ..... that you may attain it " were you aware that just eating and wearing clothes on your body - might be a " stumbling block " to you ?
in a prior article on pg.
12 , paragraph 6 the wt society sets up what they are trying to get across by stating, " people of the world tend to seek personal interests first as " men of this system of things, whose share is this life.
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Bungi Bill
During my formative years, I was an avid reader of everything that this lot printed - unfortunately.
Now, reading this extract from the Sept 15th WT serves as a reminder as to why so much of my life has been ####ed-up! (Naughty word that rhymes with "truck").
Also, a double standard becomes evident here. They go on about the virtues (even necessity?) of having nothing materially - yet when there is a kingdom hall to be built, still expect the R&F to come up with the money to pay for it.
Bill.
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27
Another 1975 coming soon
by fade_away ini heard some analysts on the news recently saying that at the rate the us is falling and china rising, it is expected that china will be the super power within the next 30 or 40 years.
if that happens then i guess there will be another mass exodus of jws from the wt despite what new light they come up with.
but if the witlesses are right then that means god must intervene and the great tribulation and armageddon is coming in less than 30 or 40 years.
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11
"All Scripture is inspired of God and Beneficial" .....
by smiddy indid you just take that scripture at face value ?
beleiving it to be so ?.
was" all scripture is inspired by god" written down at that one time ?
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Bungi Bill
There were differences in translation between the Septuagint version and the Hebrew text. Once such difference is in the translation of Jeremiah, Chapter 25.
In the Hebrew text, Judah is listed as only one of a number of Middle Eastern countries in servitude to Babylon. According to the Septuagint version, however, you would get the idea that Judah alone was placed in servitude - thus helping the WTS stand that the "seventy years" meant something other than just mere servitude.
Bill.
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61
Is There ANY Religion That You Would Feel Comfortable Being A Member Of?
by minimus ini know that most of us here despise the witness religion.
are you soured on all all religions?.
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Bungi Bill
While I always keep an open mind to such matters, I have seen nothing yet to dispell my extreme distrust of religion in any of its forms.
Bill.
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77
The J Dub Culture of Skirt-Wearing
by mummatron inthis is something that has always bothered me.
as a born-in jw i was raised as a little girl wearing skirts and dresses which is clearly quite normal in terms of gender-appropriate clothing.
however, the older i grew, the more i realised that all jw women and girls wore skirts to meetings and when out in fs, but would wear trousers in their everyday life.
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Bungi Bill
I can recall back about 1980 mention being made of this matter at the District Convention.
They phrased it as "what the community considers to be appropriate dress for wearing to church." Some supposed "fashion consultant" ( a person that I had never heard of before or since) was quoted as saying "pants suits are inappropriate for wearing in church." As if she was the Final Word!
I thought to myself at the time "You ought to see what comes and goes from the local Baptist Chruch down the road from our street!"
When, in the mid-1970s, a series of Watchtower articles came about how ones conscience alone should be the deciding matter as to choice of dress and grooming, some Australian congregations did allow women to wear pants suits. After a few years, though, the WTS seemed to feel that they were losing control over the R&F, and even those congrgations re-imposed the WTS Tulmud.
And yet, the JWs have the nerve to lambast "Christendom" for enforcing their own traditions!
Bill.
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57
CO begging for more MS's
by life is to short inthe co is at my husbands hall this week so i tied in to the meeting he was going on and on about how there are 140 elders in the circuit and only 80 something ms's.
of the elders 25 are over 75 years old.
of the ms's it was about 20 are over 75 years old.
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Bungi Bill
What a contrast to how it was in 1980s, when it seemed like all the brothers were clambering over each other to be appointed!
As to the stock market plunge being a dead-sure sign that "the end is just around the corner", I can recall 40 years ago being told almost the same thing; i.e. "the monetary system is only just holding together, and is about to go anytime now" - as was "This System".
Really something to get excited about!
Bill.
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102
How do you make a living?
by paulnotsaul insince most of us believed it was right around the corner, how many of you went to any secondary schools or training?
what do you do now to survive?
are you working or unemployed?
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Bungi Bill
Industrial electrician.
During the last ten years, I worked for a time as a Power Station Superintendent, and prior to that was Manager of an Electrical Supply Company (although, with my limited qualifications, I had to go to a Third World country in order to be considered for such a role).
These days, I am back on the tools - and thoroughly enjoying being there (the B/S that goes on in the office no longer holds much appeal to me!)
Bill.