Posts by kepler

11

Translators left without guidance!?

by anointed1 in

if good news is to be preached in all nations, translation becomes a must, and translating is as important as original writing.

hence logically speaking, god should ensure that translation of the bible is done with utmost care.

but evidence suggests that god showed no interest in translation.. here is one example of luke 23:43. this is very significant in view of the importance of the subject:.

kepler

Anointed 1,

Suggest that you look at some of the discussions we had on this board several years back. This passage was a particularly significant one for me. It sealed my fate.

WDK

39

Is the year 2020 the new prediction for Armageddon?

by Disassociated Lady 2 in

i have had a conversation this evening with a jw friend i have known since childhood.

he is of the opinion that armageddon will have come and gone within the next 5 years.

are the jws now pinpointing 2020 as the supposed year?

---------------------------------------

@ James Mixon...

Didn't you know?

Even if an apostate tells the truth, it - by definition - becomes a lie, simply by virtue of having been told by an apostate.

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

Kepler: OK. They are right.

5

If the Faithful and Discreet Slave is Biblically based, shouldn't its term of indenture be long over?

by kepler in

well, we start out with a parable which in the kjv reads "well done, o good and faithful servant", corrected to be a slave and one of significant authority akin to the "fisherman" or the shepherd.

moreover it is collective.

and it didn't know it was discrete until after attorney moyle was told by rutherford that he talked too much.

If someone has been on this "board" for several years, of course, the fact that there is governing board of so-called faithful and discreet slaves is irrelevant. But not to people knocking on doors or about to jump ship to join up with them ( of which I was neither myself).

The idea that a slave labors interminably is foreign to Judaean law. It is more in keeping with Roman, Babylonian, Assyrian and (yes) pre-Civil War American laws. Granted, there are organizations that will use terms such as a Servant of the servants of God, but they are of Roman origin. The notion that the Governing Board is citing Biblical precedent or scripture in the form of a parable about a faithful slave for an interminable claim to authority is in contradiction to the notion of service or slavery in Judean society as described by Exodus and Deuteronomy. For that matter Genesis. It's term limited. Other interpretations are literally pagan.

Anyone going door to door in behalf of such leadership is being made a fool.

5

If the Faithful and Discreet Slave is Biblically based, shouldn't its term of indenture be long over?

by kepler in

well, we start out with a parable which in the kjv reads "well done, o good and faithful servant", corrected to be a slave and one of significant authority akin to the "fisherman" or the shepherd.

moreover it is collective.

and it didn't know it was discrete until after attorney moyle was told by rutherford that he talked too much.

kepler

Let me be more clear:

Exodus 21:2

"If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment."

They're done, if the parable ever applied to them at all.

5

If the Faithful and Discreet Slave is Biblically based, shouldn't its term of indenture be long over?

by kepler in

well, we start out with a parable which in the kjv reads "well done, o good and faithful servant", corrected to be a slave and one of significant authority akin to the "fisherman" or the shepherd.

moreover it is collective.

and it didn't know it was discrete until after attorney moyle was told by rutherford that he talked too much.

kepler

Well, we start out with a parable which in the KJV reads "Well done, O good and faithful servant", corrected to be a Slave and one of significant authority akin to the "Fisherman" or the Shepherd. Moreover it is collective. And it didn't know it was Discrete until after attorney Moyle was told by Rutherford that he talked too much. Moyle resigned and Rutherford gave no recommendation, firing him ex post facto. But the point being, service ended. Now what about this Biblical GB-FDS? No matter how you look at it, it's been more than 7 years.

9

Catholic Approach to Scripture: How It Made Me Leave the Jehovah's Witnesses

by Hernandez in

indoctrinated into all things watchtower, i once believed the bible was true history, that evolution was false and evil, and that the bible could be trusted to be reliable when it touched on science issues.

then i got introduced to the official catholic bible translation of u.s. catholics, the new american bible revised edition (or nabre--not to be confused with the protestant nasv or new american standard version) and things changed.

i was shocked to learn that the nabre teaches.... the creation and flood stories of genesis are jewish adaptations of mesopotamian heathen creation-flood mythology, not history.

kepler

Hernandez,

Thanks for the survey.

I might add that historical problems with Catholicism are obvious - just as there are with Protestantism. If you can't believe there are any comparisons, check out Ireland or witch trials. But even as late as this day, I still notice that Evangelical Protestantism in the guides of Biblical prophecy attempts to equate Catholicism with the diabolic or beasts of Revelation. Thankfully, it is not reciprocated.

Londo111,

Ditto.

Found the New Jerusalem Bible eventually, but too late to do anything about the domestic crisis of circa 2009. But since then, almost every time one of these scriptural controversies come up, I look at its text and annotations, compare it with a Greek NT or a Hebrew TaNaKh. It might not result in a definitive answer of how or why things are as they are, but it does give further understanding.

I

11

The Jewish Temple(s) In Egypt. (Circa 5th Century BCE)

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

the web address on the above sketch is misleading as the sketch (it seems) was included originally, in a article in a peer reviewed archaeological journal by a stephen rosenberg.. there is little doubt that the temple was genuine and it demonstrates that the ot stories about the role of egypt in the formation of judaism do not tell the truth about the complete relationship between israel and the egyptian empire.. we know that this temple on elephantine island was genuine.

some papyrus correspondence has survived .

there is also another (claimed) jewish temple that an archaelogical team explored last century, but the precise location has been lost.. more on the above temple tomorrow..

kepler

Mephis,

Not sure that I'm following you. My understanding here is that there is a Jewish temple ( i.e., a facility for religious observances ) located on the Upper NIle on Elephantine Island and that there are archeological remains or documents associated with it. This facility was for Judeans located there. Some of the inhabitants were supposedly Judean soldiers in garrisons of the Persian Empire. The Persian empire moved into Egypt during the reign of Cambyses.

Now a request "to rebuild the temple": Are you referring to the Jerusalem Temple or a structure on the Egyptian Upper Nile at Elephantine Island?

11

The Jewish Temple(s) In Egypt. (Circa 5th Century BCE)

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

the web address on the above sketch is misleading as the sketch (it seems) was included originally, in a article in a peer reviewed archaeological journal by a stephen rosenberg.. there is little doubt that the temple was genuine and it demonstrates that the ot stories about the role of egypt in the formation of judaism do not tell the truth about the complete relationship between israel and the egyptian empire.. we know that this temple on elephantine island was genuine.

some papyrus correspondence has survived .

there is also another (claimed) jewish temple that an archaelogical team explored last century, but the precise location has been lost.. more on the above temple tomorrow..

kepler

It should be noted that the Aramaic documents found on Elephantine Island are connected to the Persian occupation of Egypt. To quote the Wikipedia

"Though some fragments on papyrus are much older, the largest number of papyri are written in Aramaic, the lingua franca of the Persian Empire, and document the Jewish community among soldiers stationed at Elephantine under Persian rule, 495–399 BCE"

Egypt came under Persian rule during the reign of Cambyses,starting around 530 BC and Darius I, who reigned until 486 BC, expanded the frontiers west into Libya and up the Nile river. Since the Persian garrison did not show up until after 500 BC, what Jewish community preceded them is a matter of conjecture..

I'd say that there is as much or more of a story in how the Persian Empire affected Judean beilefs versus the Egyptian influence.

2

John 20: 24-29 In the NWT it says the same as elsewhere. Dissonance somewhere?

by kepler in

thomas the apostle's name came up in conversation today, ostensibly about his travels to india.

i was originally wondering about the documentation for these journeys from whatever sources - and then reviewed what he had said or done in the gospels or acts.

thomas appears in the gospel of john and sources at least as early as the 3rd century describe him as a missionary to india.

kepler

Sir82,

Thank you.

Seems rather re-miss though that they did not mention John eighth chapter 58th verse.

I had to write it out because there is an edit feature that deleted first time.

Kepler

2

John 20: 24-29 In the NWT it says the same as elsewhere. Dissonance somewhere?

by kepler in

thomas the apostle's name came up in conversation today, ostensibly about his travels to india.

i was originally wondering about the documentation for these journeys from whatever sources - and then reviewed what he had said or done in the gospels or acts.

thomas appears in the gospel of john and sources at least as early as the 3rd century describe him as a missionary to india.

kepler

Thomas the Apostle's name came up in conversation today, ostensibly about his travels to India. I was originally wondering about the documentation for these journeys from whatever sources - and then reviewed what he had said or done in the Gospels or Acts. Thomas appears in the Gospel of John and sources at least as early as the 3rd century describe him as a missionary to India. But what struck my attention is a review of the end of John in chapter 20 where Christ reappears to a group of disciples with the sceptical Thomas among them (24 to 29). Having examined the marks of the nails in Christ's hands, Thomas exclaims, "My Lord and my God!" Since there has been so much Trinitarian vs. Aryan debate in the Christian community since, not to mention the reasoning of the JW movement, howdoes this near final episode in John fit into the picture?