Just FYI, I've started a new thread on the subject of doing this by computer. That way we'll get a precise and complete list of changes.
Apognophos
JoinedPosts by Apognophos
-
28
New Revised NWT Inspection Project
by dontplaceliterature inanyone here interested in splitting up the new bible by books to compare it to the old one and see if there are any significant changes they are hiding in there that weren't announced at the annual meeting today?
it'll be available for dl from jw.org on monday....
-
-
-
223
Comprehensive NWT Comparison Project (calling all technically skilled members)
by Apognophos inis anyone aware if this project is already being done by someone?
if not, perhaps we can brainstorm how to go about this, now that the pdf for the revised nwt is out.
a couple initial impressions:.
-
-
Apognophos
Is anyone aware if this project is already being done by someone? If not, perhaps we can brainstorm how to go about this, now that the PDF for the revised NWT is out. A couple initial impressions:
- I'm not aware of a decent program for extracting text from these PDFs. One that I tried yields the text from left-to-right from the left text column, across the cross-reference column in the middle, to the right column, so this is not useful.
- One can copy and paste the text from a PDF viewer into a rich-text editor and then save the content as RTF. The RTF will contain markup like:
\fs18 24 And so he drove the man out and posted at the east of the gar- den of E
\f1 \uc0\u56319 \u56329
\f0 den
\fs10 \up4 n
\fs18 \up0 the cherubs
\fs10 \up4 o
\fs18 \up0 and the flaming blade of a sword that was turning itself continually to guard the way to the tree of life.This markup can be processed, the lines for cross-reference letters removed, the words hyphenated for line breaks restored to one piece, and the special character sequences for quotes and apostrophes replaced with quotes and apostrophes.
- Numerous changes will be of the nature of repetitive substitutions like changing "has declared" to "said" or "proceeded to assault" to "assaulted". We'll probably want a way to group changes so that we can sift the more interesting ones from the chaff, since the majority of changes will represent simplified grammar.
Before I go about trying to do this, I wanted to see if anyone has any better ideas or experience in this sort of thing.
-
9
Okay, it's a Gray (even more simplified) Bible- Moving Along
by OnTheWayOut inthis forum dissects everything from watchtower.
the annual general meeting was one of those things.
of course i get that wild speculations would come out.
-
-
Apognophos
I agree that the event was a letdown compared to some of the bigger expectations on this forum. I recall at least one poster telling us that an inside source told him there was something bigger than a new Bible coming. Guess not. But I escaped the hype when I stopped reading the thread(s), because I knew I would find out the facts soon enough.
So for me, as someone who was not laboring under heightened expectations, this is not a "moving along" event, this is a big deal. Really, I can't imagine how I personally would not want to know, still being an active Witness, what changes were made to the book my life is supposed to revolve around (and I will be starting a new thread on this subject shortly which you definitely won't want to read, OTWO).
And those who are just recently out, or who have always been concerned with the scholarly (or "scholarly") aspects of the religion, and the Bible they use as the basis for their beliefs, are naturally going to want to analyze this under a microscope. A single word can make a big difference, as zound's example shows. At the very least, I think you can appreciate the expression "Know thine enemy".
-
29
Watchtower Farms Cemetery
by Gorbatchov indid someone post this already?.
the list of the watchtower farms cementery.... http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gsr&gscid=2403939.
gorby.
-
-
Apognophos
I didn't know any of them well enough to contribute an epitaph. What strikes me, going down the list and picking out the well-known names, is how darn long practically every one of them lived -- many to around 90-100 years. They well exceeded Moses' "70 or 80" years, almost as if they were determined to live long enough to see the new system, and yet their end still came before The End came. Rather poignant.
-
25
A bit of gossip.
by chrisuk ini just thought i'd share this; my mom has dinner with her jw friend on tuesdays and apparently the jw wasn't in a very good mood today... the reason for this as she told my mom is because she wasn't invited to the agm.
she's been a jw for 25 years, doesn't pioneer, but is very dedicated to the cause.
she also explained to my mom that 2 other sisters one of whom is 80 yrs old and has been a jw all her life wasn't invited either.
-
-
Apognophos
In fact, unbaptized adult publishers were also invited in the U.S. I agree that it's strange.
-
-
-
Apognophos
No problem, I saved all my wannabe posts in text files and then spammed the intended threads with them as soon as the board opened up again
-
76
The Jehovah's Witness religion has gone for good !!!
by snare&racket ini am not sure how you all feel as we all left at different times for different reasons.... but this new bible seems to have put some final nails into a coffin that was once my jw life.
the religion is so far and so different to the religion i grew up in that it has become something i feel no affiliation with anymore, no bond, no shared ideas or even sentimental views.
different teachings on when the end is coming.
-
-
Apognophos
While I appreciate the prose of the OP, and the nostalgic feelings it brought on, I largely disagree with the assertion that this is a 'totally different religion'. It's at least 95% the same as it was in the '80s or '90s. The core doctrine is precisely the same.
I see a few posters on here confusing modernization for "mainstreamization" or some other thing. So the Society has a web site. So they showed tablets on stage at the AGM. Big freaking deal! This just means they are playing catch-up with technology since they know the friends already embracing these things and they don't want to become outmoded. Let's not confuse JWs with the Amish. JWs used modern technology throughout the 1900s in preaching. This is nothing new.
If a JW elder from today had gone back in time and quizzed you on your beliefs in the '80s, you would have found yourselves in almost total agreement. One notable recent change is the narrowing of the identity of the F&DS from the anointed remnant to the Governing Body, but how much effect does that have on the day-to-day religion in terms of the conducting of meetings, the practice of field service, etc.? Absolutely none. Sorry, but this is making a mountain out of a molehill.
-
45
What's with all the JWs unleashing the hate!?
by Julia Orwell inmost of us here on jwn, while we can get a bit narky at times, can put forth intelligent arguments and sound observations.
sure we can get bogged down with our opinions, but generally we back up our opinions with examples and evidence, and if someone has a different opinion with examples and evidence, we accept that without recriminations.
that's what adults do.. so my question is, why in the last week or so, have a couple of posters claiming to be jws come onto this forum and berated, spewed hate and judgement, and in some cases verbally attacked members personally?
-
-
Apognophos
Come on, guys, why are you wasting your time replying to someone who is just jerking your chain? I would really expect some of you in particular to be way too smart to buy into this, as there are several indicators of satire in some of the newcomer's posts. Even if the person were genuine, you accomplish absolutely nothing by trying to reason with them, except the aforementioned wasting of your own time.
The only correct method to deal with a troll is to ignore him. Do not say a word to him. Do not acknowledge him. It doesn't matter if he addresses you by name. What harm can he do to you? "Sticks and stones", and all that.
-
9
"Faithful and Discreet Servant" Changes in RNWT (Matt 24)
by adamah ini see the wts has now removed the reference to jesus' rendering punishment of death by sword, when the master returns and finds the evil servant abusing the other slaves; they've sanitized the reading of matt 24:51 as this:.
51 "and he will punish him with the greatest severity and will assign him his place with the hypocrites.
there is where his weeping and the gnashing of his teeth will be.".
-
-
Apognophos
In all fairness, the brackets were another example of the old NWT's overly scrupulous renderings. Translators normally understand that they will need to rephrase things, and that literal word-for-word renderings are not necessarily good translations, thus most Bibles do not use brackets even when they take more liberties than the NWT does.
The removal of brackets that were previously there naturally feels like the GB is trying to cover over something, but the fact is that it's never been so simple to investigate the NWT's accuracy as to just look for the brackets; real study of commentaries and comparison of translations has always been required in order to recognize and understand the decisions made by the NWT Bible Committee, and that hasn't changed. The removed brackets could be considered in line with their stated goal of streamlining the text, as they created a visual interruption or distraction for the reader.
-
16
Genesis 3:6 - Is it correct or incorrect?
by bytheirworks inan examination of genesis 3:6.... .
in the 2013 nwt we read: "consequently, the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was something desirable to the eyes, yes, the tree was pleasing to look at.".
in the douay-rheims bible we read: "and the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold".
-
-
Apognophos
I agree that adamah's article on this subject was most interesting, and thankfully its statements about the NWT's mistranslation of the verse are still accurate since the new NWT still uses the Septuagint's erroneous version as its basis.