oops, sorry, I guess I can't copy/ paste from my notepad.
I'll try again:
Where did the Pharisees come from? http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/455129/Pharisee
The Pharisees emerged as a distinct group... around 165 - 160 BC... a party of laymen and scribes in contradistinction to the:
The Sadducces, the party of the high priesthood.... they refused to accept any precept as binding unless it was based directly on the Tora, i.e., the Written Law
The Pharisees, on the other hand, believedthat the Law that God gave to Moses was twofold., consisting of the writtenLaw, and the Oral Law, i.e. the teachings of hte prophets and the oraltraditions of the Jewish people.
Pharisees harmonized the teachings of the Torah with their own ideas or found their own ideas suggessted or impled in it.
They interpreted the Law according to it's spirit; when in the course of time a law had been outgrown, or superseded by changing conditions, they gave it a new and more acceptable meaning, seeking scriptural support for their actions through a ramified system of hermeneutics.
It was due to this progressive tendency of the Pharisees that their interpretation of the torah continued to develop, and has remained a living force in Judaism.
Hermeneutics: broadly, is the art of text interpretation (wikipedia)
Who is associated dwith Hermeneutics? Martin Heidegger, a German philosopher, known for his existential thinking.
So, here we go:
Pharisee: harmonizes his teachings to fit their own ideas.
They used "hermeneutics"
That's like the existentialist: Heidegger
1874 wasn't Armageddon, that didn't work... oh, that was his "invisible presence"
Let's make 1914 Armageddon now.
That didn't work out, let's make 1914 his "invisible presence"
Woe! let's make a generation that has to 15 years of age in 1914 to be a part of the whole thing...
Wait! Now they just have to be born in 1914!
Ohhh!!! We get it now!... It's OVERLAPPING generations...
Do you wonder why you feel like the WTBTS is a bunch of Pharisees?
"Progressige Tendency" Past truth present truth brighter light..
"They gave it a new and more acceptable meaning, seeking scriptural support for their actions thru a ramified system of hermeneutics"
(Whew! had to re-type the whole thing! If anyone can delete my post above... please do, thx)