Posts by Half banana

18

The Divine Son of God, God Incarnate, Lord, Redeemer, and Saviour of the World

by Doug Mason in

before jesus was born or even if he had never existed—another human being was already proclaimed son of god and, indeed, god incarnate within the same first common-era century and within the same mediterranean world.

in fact, almost all the sacred terms and solemn titles that we might think of as christian creations or even pauline inventions were already associated with caesar augustus, the first undisputed ruler of the roman empire, from 31 bce to 14 ce.. augustus was divine, son of god, god, and god from god.

he was lord, liberator, redeemer, and savior of the world—not just of italy or the mediterranean, mind you, but of the entire inhabited earth.

Half banana

I agree Helena, Constantine’s mother, played an important role in the establishment of the Roman church and hence modern beliefs, especially in setting the RC trend for relic worship.

The key to the establishment of Christianity was not Constantine’s interest in faith, religion or morality, for an emperor perforce had neither faith nor much in the way of moral scruples to start with, nor was it the doctrinal correctness of Helena’s brand of the Jesus cult which appealed to him but instead it was his banal superstition in trusting that her religion would bring him luck... in the form of military success.

It is essential to recognise that religion for the Romans and Greeks had been one of obligation to the gods, piety was something demonstrated by public and domestic observance of the rituals, it was not a matter of faith or morality. Superstition played an important routine part of the lives of the ancients whatever status they had.

Constantine had the morality of a hungry tiger; he may have had a soft spot for mum but had his son murdered and his wife forced into a bath of boiling water. As far as religion went, he despaired at the bishops who obdurately wrangled over 'true' doctrine, a concept apparently alien to the emperor. Constantine saw them only as an impediment to his political ambitions for an unchallenged faction-free universal state religion and wanted to bang their heads together. Only then would it become an instrument for unity and consequently for the strengthening of his imperial hand. (qv DG Kousoulas, The Life and Times of Constantine the Great 2007)

This ideal of pure worship in the mother church had been achieved through a deliberate syncretism or fusing of all pagan belief into the catholic or universal faith and subsequent enforcement made it a Roman’s obligation to worship in the state prescribed manner and simultaneously it denied any rights to the former religious groups which included the destruction of all available texts relating to them. Catholic orthodoxy ruled!

The origins of modern Christianity might therefore be (rather too briefly) summarised as: the syncretizing of all beliefs, pagan and mystical, by imperial power, promoting it as the state religious cult and then proscribing all others... and all of this done for the sake of political power, superstition and family sentiment.

18

The Divine Son of God, God Incarnate, Lord, Redeemer, and Saviour of the World

by Doug Mason in

before jesus was born or even if he had never existed—another human being was already proclaimed son of god and, indeed, god incarnate within the same first common-era century and within the same mediterranean world.

in fact, almost all the sacred terms and solemn titles that we might think of as christian creations or even pauline inventions were already associated with caesar augustus, the first undisputed ruler of the roman empire, from 31 bce to 14 ce.. augustus was divine, son of god, god, and god from god.

he was lord, liberator, redeemer, and savior of the world—not just of italy or the mediterranean, mind you, but of the entire inhabited earth.

Half banana

As of course do the GB members at Watchtower HQ...albeit a seven headed monarch!

(would that make it a septarchy?)

18

The Divine Son of God, God Incarnate, Lord, Redeemer, and Saviour of the World

by Doug Mason in

before jesus was born or even if he had never existed—another human being was already proclaimed son of god and, indeed, god incarnate within the same first common-era century and within the same mediterranean world.

in fact, almost all the sacred terms and solemn titles that we might think of as christian creations or even pauline inventions were already associated with caesar augustus, the first undisputed ruler of the roman empire, from 31 bce to 14 ce.. augustus was divine, son of god, god, and god from god.

he was lord, liberator, redeemer, and savior of the world—not just of italy or the mediterranean, mind you, but of the entire inhabited earth.

Half banana

Augustus was larded with these messianic accolades and it makes me think how the Bible often represents a crystallization of what must have amounted to popular 'gossip' or what we might today call urban myths.

There had been a long standing conventional view found in all peoples of the classical world including marginal people like the Jews; that a ruler blessed by the gods would rule in glory and bring peace. It was everyone's dream. The Roman Emperor Augustus whilst not entirely benign did achieve something along these lines for the people under his rule between 27 BCE and CE 14.

Augustus was actually a modest man who also had a good sense of humour, a characteristic which was and is distinctly lacking in all earnest saviours! For example he was fond of the homely phrase, "quicker than you can cook asparagus". (As mentioned in the book I have just bought: Chronicle of the Roman Emperors by Chris Scarle.)

Considering the enormous disparity in power between the patricians and the plebs, any information coming from the rulers would have been god-like to the illiterate. This notion of Augustus with the glorifying of his birth, his divinity and his rule would become a template for all "god given" leaders. This idea served the interests of Mithraism and later in the fourth century in the deliberate fusion of catholic pagan belief, it was applied to Jesus with the establishment of Imperial Christianity under Constantine.

Doug, have you read A Short History of Christianity by JM Robertson? For me it was revelatory. JM Robertson was a journalist, writer and Liberal Member of Parliament who had become a freethinker at an early age after hearing a lecture by Charles Bradlaugh. Later he worked for Bradlaugh who was also an MP and pioneer humanist. No doubt it was this association which enabled his access to the firebrand literature which is source material in his "Short history". I cannot recommend Roberson's approach to the subject more highly, it has the historian's sensibility of what actually happened and when and also the sociologist's instinct for what people actually believed and why they did what they did.

Everyone who wants to know the truth about the origins of Christianity should read it as a primer.

...And I agree, the early Church Fathers do not represent fact, instead they push the partisan Roman Catholic orthodoxy.

9

WTBTS / GBoJW elevating status of their literature

by Nicholaus Kopernicus in

the following is a brief examination of one disturbing paragraph in the august 2016 study watchtower - "do you see the need to make spiritual progress?"11.

what spiritual qualities can we work to develop, and why are they important?

11 develop spiritual qualities.

Half banana

It should become better known that Jehovah's Witnesses are not students of the Bible. They are simply students of the Watchtower's interpretations of the Bible.

Having said that, what serious student of anything would only look at the surface of things? Would a geologist only consider the surface geology? Would a doctor only look at the patient's skin? Would a structural engineer just look at the nuts and bolts of his structure?

By deliberately avoiding academic investigation of the origins of the Bible texts, the WTBTS has followed the path of the Roman Catholic Church and decided that the Biblical canon is sacred and along with Watchtower literature that; these are all we ever need to read.

This thinking is so shallow and logically flawed.

48

Jehovah protects his people. Did he ever protect you?

by TimeBandit in

jw
friends

hello forum.

i started this topic because i had been thinking recently about a story that i had heard many times in different congregations over the years.

kind of a jw urban legend if you will.

Half banana

Total fantasy... like everything to do with JWs and their org-------------------- Big J can do nothing, he never does anything, never has done anything, least of all protect people from harm.

Jehovah is a completely childish superstition.

32

Life of Brian

by berrygerry in

i was a younger dub at the time of this release, and stopped watching this movie near its beginning, when john cleese was stoned with the huge rock for saying jehovah.. this was despite having been (and continuing to be) a major john cleese (and monty python) fan.. any fans of this film?.

Half banana

The world is a better place because of The Life of Brian.

Are there fans here from North America or is it a UK thing?

36

DOOM and LUXURY : the Watchtower Elite prepares for the GREAT TRIBULATION

by TerryWalstrom in

boondoggles and preppers watchtower style!

a religion of doom and luxury!.

in 1866, the times of london wrote:.

Half banana

I wonder if the Welsh Assembly have funds to give to organisations prepared to translate their material into the Welsh language? This is what money grabbing organisations would be interested in...

To my knowledge, and I would happily be corrected, all Welsh speakers also speak English. So why bother?

To translate religious propaganda into a virtually dead language is a waste of effort. To translate the useless rubbish from the columns of the Watchtower which nobody reads except those who do it out of misplaced duty into a language which nobody needs to speak........................ is bonkers!

36

How long can this cult remain with only kids becoming members?

by Crazyguy in

it's become clear that very few from outside the religion are joining anymore.

if only the kids of the people that are already in are the one replacing the members as they die off and 50% let's say of the kids leave then how long can they realistically last before the downturn becomes obvious?.

Half banana

@ Crazy guy,It is premature to declare that all is lost for the JW org but indeed it looks like the publisher increase is now done through breeding new JWs and not from field service.

Calling from door to door is now so unpopular that even the men at the top must be acknowledging it. Carts are not what they were hyped to be and the art of avoiding calling on people has developed in such a way that it's still possible to do next to nothing and technically call it reporting time. Of course there are those who are awake who in good conscience count time they didn't do.

The whole ritual of being a JW is becoming a hollow show of outward conformity but inner resistance...may it increase enormously!

My big hope is that the GB will realise that the Watchtower has had its day and that the internet and free information has won.

I hope that this will translate into acceptance that it is over and that the Watchtower will morph into a social club with the bar for joining lowered. Those with a flicker of intelligence will flee from its mindless paranoia.

6

Evolution is a Fact #33 - A Tale about Tails

by cofty in

humans are classified as apes.. apes don't have tails.. except when they do.. we used to have tails.

i don't mean "we" as a species; i mean you and i as individuals.

we all had tails.. embryologists divide the development of a human embryo into 23 "carnegie stages" based on multiple physical features.

Half banana

Thanks for info Cofty.

There is never found irrefutable evidence for direct and independent creation.

Your subject of tails in primates is a solid evidence for us being placed on the evolutionary continuum. Even in the improbable event of an example found of a creature which had no connection to the phylogenetic tree; it would still not invalidate the truthfulness of evolution.

There is simply no sensible evidence for an invisible being making all things, it is just silly puerile thinking distorted by religious programming.

67

EdenOne, Mrs. Eden & Son: DISASSOCIATED!

by EdenOne in

great news!.

we are free!.

as of the 9th of june, me and my dear wife mrs. eden handed over our letters of disassociation at bethel in portugal, thus making official our departure from the jehovah's witnesses.

Half banana

Well done Eden, the whole (close) family free...what a joy!