Maximus

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Posts by Maximus

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  81

  Nourishment for the Spirit

  by Maximus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my observation is that persons who 1) heal/adjust the most rapidly from their jw experience and 2) seem to have the most joy in life are those who read, read, read, in pursuit of what i call nourishment for the spirit.

  i've really enjoy the pithy aphorisms you use here, which suggests you've distilled some wisdom from somewhere.

  i'm going to ask your help in this thread.

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  Maximus

  Tuchman is another of those who just knock my socks off with their perceptive scholarship. Orwell is awesome.

  Had a private post about Herman Hesse's "Siddhartha." Hope the poster will pick up on this on the board.

  Maximus
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  81

  Nourishment for the Spirit

  by Maximus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my observation is that persons who 1) heal/adjust the most rapidly from their jw experience and 2) seem to have the most joy in life are those who read, read, read, in pursuit of what i call nourishment for the spirit.

  i've really enjoy the pithy aphorisms you use here, which suggests you've distilled some wisdom from somewhere.

  i'm going to ask your help in this thread.

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  Maximus

  Having been contemporaneous to what Ray writes about, over many decades, I have the vantage point of personal, up-close experience and information. He's written truthfully at great personal price. Completely factual.

  Jim Penton's "Apocalypse Delayed" was the mental turning point for me. I needed the analytical viewpoint of a trained scholar who put the organization in thoughtful perspective. His predictions have proved to be true. I love this man for what he is and what he stands for.

  M
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  81

  Nourishment for the Spirit

  by Maximus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my observation is that persons who 1) heal/adjust the most rapidly from their jw experience and 2) seem to have the most joy in life are those who read, read, read, in pursuit of what i call nourishment for the spirit.

  i've really enjoy the pithy aphorisms you use here, which suggests you've distilled some wisdom from somewhere.

  i'm going to ask your help in this thread.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
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  Maximus

  My observation is that persons who 1) heal/adjust the most rapidly from their JW experience and 2) seem to have the most joy in life are those who read, read, read, in pursuit of what I call nourishment for the spirit.

  I've really enjoy the pithy aphorisms you use here, which suggests you've distilled some wisdom from somewhere.

  I'm going to ask your help in this thread. What book or books have you read that have really enlightened or intrigued you? And could you comment on what you gleaned from them? A long list of names and titles is easy; kernels of truth are more rare. Aim for the latter.

  I’m regularly asked to recommend books that provide solid Biblical scholarship, especially in view of our JW disenchantment. I'm going to start with this short list:

  "An Introduction to New Testament Christology," by Raymond Edward Brown. Paulist Press, 1994. In paperback for less than ten dollars. After reading it, persons invariably write me that this introduction to excellence in scholarship was a memorable experience, both Christians and agnostics. Stuff that's there but you never noticed. You won't want to tolerate a lesser level; he raises the bar high.

  Brown's "Introduction to the New Testament," part of the Anchor Bible Reference Library series, is an excellent introduction to the Greek Scriptures. I marveled at his massively detailed works "Birth of the Messiah" and "Death of the Messiah." The depth of his thinking was vastly superior to what I had been exposed to in the top levels of the organization. I met this preeminent scholar just before his death, and I found him to be as humble as he was brilliant. Refreshing.

  For the Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures I highly recommend "Understanding the Old Testament," by Bernhard W. Anderson and Darr. Make sure you get the new Abridged Fourth Edition; Prentice-Hall, 1998. Lets the text speak for itself but lets the chips fall where they may, with archaeological findings, contributions of sociology, Near East culture, and so on. Lots of exhibits and pictures.

  Lawrence Boadt has written "Reading the Old Testament, an Introduction," Paulist Press, 1984 or later edition. Particularly illuminating about the way Israel’s religious experience was translated into written records.

  A real treat is "The Torah, a Modern Commentary," by W. Gunter Plaut, Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1981. Lots of insight into origins, thought processes, culture. I think I'll post some material from his preface, which I found to be the best insight into why a non-literal understanding of the Pentateuch is the keystone of Jewish scholarship today.

  Really heavy duty is "Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture," by Brevard S. Childs, Professor of Old Testament, Yale University, School of Divinity. Fortress Press, 1979 or later editions.

  Now. What has helped you? What have you enjoyed. Book,author. His/her thoughts. Doesn't have to be religious, just upbuilding or enlightening.

  In an attempt to be positive as well as helpful,

  Maximus
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  2

  Who was Taz' father?

  by sf in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was doing a search on archibald d. russell and this is what i came upon:.

  < http://www.newnetizen.com/globalelite/bloodlines/russellbloodline.htm.

  any merit here?

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  Maximus

  Total fabrication.

  Period.

  Red herring.

  Believe anything you want, but there are many of us who know the persons named. Plays right into the hands of the Society and it makes solid researchers look suspect too.

  Might be fun to ask JT who Lee Waters is.

  Maximus
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  11

  Need Assistance re Judge R

  by Maximus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just received a telephone call from a non-jw close friend who does not post on the board.

  for some time he has been writing a very detailed biography of judge rutherford that will be meticulously documented.

  he's spent many weeks visiting the judge's roots in missouri and elsewhere, with very informative results.

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  Maximus

  Thanks for the private posts,
  and especially to waiting,
  who nailed it for me.

  Max
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  11

  Need Assistance re Judge R

  by Maximus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just received a telephone call from a non-jw close friend who does not post on the board.

  for some time he has been writing a very detailed biography of judge rutherford that will be meticulously documented.

  he's spent many weeks visiting the judge's roots in missouri and elsewhere, with very informative results.

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  Maximus

  No way you could have picked up on it. Of course he could not reveal his true feelings in the book.

  Mac was a very happy, amiable, good-natured man with a charismatic personality that lasted till his death. Marvelous story-teller.

  Neither did Art Worsley in the Watchtower article on his life. He despised Knorr, but that would certainly not be in print.

  Maximus
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  11

  Need Assistance re Judge R

  by Maximus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just received a telephone call from a non-jw close friend who does not post on the board.

  for some time he has been writing a very detailed biography of judge rutherford that will be meticulously documented.

  he's spent many weeks visiting the judge's roots in missouri and elsewhere, with very informative results.

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  Maximus

  Thanks, T. Was aware of this one. It would have been late May or early June.

  Please let me tell you how much I appreciated a visit to your site several weeks ago. Most insightful ...

  Maximus
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  11

  Need Assistance re Judge R

  by Maximus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just received a telephone call from a non-jw close friend who does not post on the board.

  for some time he has been writing a very detailed biography of judge rutherford that will be meticulously documented.

  he's spent many weeks visiting the judge's roots in missouri and elsewhere, with very informative results.

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  Maximus

  Apologies ...
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  9

  Who paid for Beth-Sarim?

  by VM44 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i had asked this question in the chatroom, "who contributed the funds for rutherford's.

  san diego house known as beth-sarim?".

  (i also asked this question in maximus' thread, "need assistance re judge r").

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  Maximus

  See my response to your question in the other thread.

  Van Amburgh may have said no Watch Tower funds were used. Maybe it was Watchtower funds. Or a plain old slush fund. They still know how to conceal money even today.

  When I distressedly mentioned to Fred Franz that the Kingdom Ministry had indeed espoused the 1975 thing, he said the Society had NEVER said that. I pressed him repeatedly. Here's the km article, Brother Franz. "The Society has NEVER ..."

  I finally got it. The km was, of course, a product of the U.S. branch and published by the Watchtower Society of New York. The Watch Tower Society (mother) had never published anything that specific!

  Here's a note of interest as well. If you read the publications there were plenty of hints that the resurrection of the princes doctrine had been changed as early as 1945. But not stated publicly until 1950 at Yankee Stadium.

  Folks not following Freddie gasped as they looked around the stadium, thinking he had said the "princes" were among their midst.

  Really comical when you think about it.

  Max
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  11

  Need Assistance re Judge R

  by Maximus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just received a telephone call from a non-jw close friend who does not post on the board.

  for some time he has been writing a very detailed biography of judge rutherford that will be meticulously documented.

  he's spent many weeks visiting the judge's roots in missouri and elsewhere, with very informative results.

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  2. 
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  Maximus

  Dr. Edmond C. Gruss wrote a well documented book entitled
  "Jehovah's Witnesses--Their Monuments to False Prophecy"

  Published 1997 by Witness, Inc., Box 597, Clayton CA 94517

  Has about 100 pages of pertinent deed photocopies, including the proposed Beth-Shan property. Excellent source material. Solid source material on the Judge's alcoholism, particularly post-1925 disappointment and subsequent drunken behavior.

  Just a brief comment: Bonnie and Bill Heath ("secretaries") purchased what was to become Beth-Sarim. Grant deed and quit claim deeds signed in the presence of Hayden C. Covington. No one believed it was their money.

  On 15 February 1939 the Heaths ("of 124 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn") gave a grant deed to Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society for property to be added to that deeded from Robert Martin (factory overseer at Brooklyn) to Rutherford for life, and for "The Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society"--ampersand and two words ALWAYS referring to the Pennsylvania corporation.

  "TO HAVE AND TO HOLD IN TRUST
  however for the following purposes to-wit:

  "For the use and benefit of J. F. Rutherford, the President of said Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society for and during the period of his life on earth and to be under his control and management during that period,

  "and for ever for Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Gideon, Barak, Joseph or any and all of them who are particuly [sic] named and identified at the eleventh chapter of Hebrew in the bible,which is the word of God. [sic] "

  "... God, according to His promise, will at a very early date resurrect said men as perfect human creatures and that the Lord will make them the visible princes or rulers in the earth ... these men will soon be back on earth."

  An astonishing document, really, along with the other deeds and stuff. Solid book.

  Beth-Sarim truly was/is a monument to false prophecy.

  I can personally confirm some items that have been published. Fred Franz told me personally, "The old boy was actually buried in the back yard slope below [possibly he said "near"] the house." Was that another reason he and Knorr did not attend the "burial"? It was his task to lay out the ancient worthies theology of Beth-Sarim, which he dutifully did.

  That's bringing back memories. Shortly after "Faith on the March," I talked to the aging A. H. MacMillan about Beth-Sarim, and I spoke of my own elevated pulse rate as a boy when shown what I thought to be an enormous door: "David will probably live in that room!" He flat-out stated that the whole idea was to "get the unpredictable Rutherford out of Brooklyn." His reference was to an irrational drunk whom he was obliged to respect as "the Lord's anointed." Mac made no bones about his disdain for the Judge's behavior.

  Wonder how Dr. Chang feels about that? And I wonder about how the ancient worthy princes would have decided the pecking order for bathroom privileges.

  Farkel? Where are you when I need you.

  Maximus

  Seriously, if you have some specific question I've missed, VM, let me know.