Posts by Island Man

23

NWT departure from greek meaning

by aintenoughwiskey in

the new jw library app includes the kingdom interlinear.

just by looking up the scriptures at the meeting when i went, revealed the following "departures" from the other translations:.

rev 5:10 "over the earth" vs "upon the earth".

Island Man

"which leaves the question of why the word of God got these Christians executed. It can only be because they were speaking about it, can't it?"

No, there are clearly other possibilities apart from speaking about the bible or speaking about God. It could also be becaue of:

~ obeying the word of God above and in defiance of what the government or apostate religious authorities say.

~ translating the word of God to make it available to all, in defiance of apostate church authorities.

So given that these other possibilities exist, it is wrong to take a very vague verse that simply says "the word of God" and make it very specific to "speaking about God" when that is only one of several possible reasons as to why they were killed for "the word of God".

When a bible verse is vague or lacking in detail and multiple specific interpretations are possible, the translator should preserve the verse's vagueness and leave it up to the reader to discern the multiple possible specific meanings. It is in my opinion, dishonest to mislead trusting bible readers into thinking the bible says something specific when it really does not.

A faithful translator sticks as closely as possible to the text and should not inject his personal speculations or explanations into the text. Who is he to correct the word of God? Did God make a mistake by not causing the inspired writers to be more specific? Did God appoint the translator to edit his word for him? Is the translator inspired? Contrast the great care that scribes took in copying the scriptures letter by letter, with the liberties that Watchtower and other sloppy translators are taking with the text. What Watchtower and others are doing is clearly wrong.

23

NWT departure from greek meaning

by aintenoughwiskey in

the new jw library app includes the kingdom interlinear.

just by looking up the scriptures at the meeting when i went, revealed the following "departures" from the other translations:.

rev 5:10 "over the earth" vs "upon the earth".

Island Man

1. Compare the NWT's rendering of Hebrews 4:12 and Revelation 6:9 with Revelation 20:4.

Hebrews 4:12 and Revelation 20:4 accurately translates a Greek phrase as "the word of God". But for some strange reason, the same Greek phrase used at Revelation 20:4 is rendered as "speaking about God". There is definitely something wrong or at the very least, suspiciously inconsistent, with their translation of this Greek phrase in Revelation 20:4. "speaking about God" is clearly not the same as "the word of God". Can you imagine Hebrews 4:12 being rendered as: "for the speaking about God is alive and exerts power..."? "Speaking about God" is telling of an action. "The word of God" is telling of an object - a noun. They are not the same.

2. The NWT's rendering of Matthew 24:39 says that the people of Noah's day "took no note". But the Greek actually says that they "did not know".

From the context, it is clear that Jesus was actually drawing a comparison between people not knowing the day of his presence and the people of Noah's day not knowing in advance the day of the flood. Watchtower evidently translates it as "they took no note" to insinuate that the people were not paying heed to the signs of the times nor to Noah's preaching. But that is clearly not the point that Jesus was making as he was expanding on the point of no one knowing the day of his presence. (Matthew 24:36) Also, there is another Greek word that pertains to taking note. So both the Greek word and the context disagrees with the rendering "they took no note".

3. The NWT's rendering of 2 Peter 2:11 spuriously adds the phrase "not doing so out of respect for Jehovah". That entire phrase cannot be found in the Greek text!

4. The NWT's rendering of Romans 14:8 is corrupt. It replaces kurios ("Lord") with "Jehovah". But what is said in the very next verse (Romans 14:9) makes it very clear that "kurios" referenced in at Romans 14:8 is Jesus and not Jehovah.

Also in the same chapter, their rendering of verse 6 seems questionable to me. In the NWT, Paul speaks of "Jehovah" and "God" as if these are two different persons.

"He who observes the day observes it to Jehovah. Also, he who eats, eats to Jehovah, for he gives thanks to God; and he who does not eat does not eat to Jehovah, and yet gives thanks to God."

Why would Paul be using "Jehovah" and "God" in such an awkward way as if speaking about two different people, rather than more naturally using only one of these together with the pronoun "him", like so:

"He who observes the day observes it to Jehovah. Also, he who eats, eats to Jehovah, for he gives thanks to him; and he who does not eat does not eat to Jehovah, and yet gives thanks to him."

So I believe Paul was in fact using "Kurios" to refer to Jesus and God to refer to Jehovah. But Watchtower foolishly renders Kurios as "Jehovah" and making Paul out to be an awkward writer instead realizing that he's in fact refering to two different people - Jesus and Jehovah.

49

Terminology the Society Hates?

by toweragent in

in my most recent talk, i got counseled for using some terms that were not prefered.

for example i said "new testament" rather than "the christian greek scriptures".

i also used the term "gospel", but even worse, i made reference to the "synoptic gospels" and the "gnostic gospel".. i guess i never thought of it before, but when i looked at the societies information on the matter they always say things like, "the so-called new testament..." or "the so-called synoptic gospels..." why with all the "so-called?".

Island Man

Don't wish someone 'good luck'.

49

Terminology the Society Hates?

by toweragent in

in my most recent talk, i got counseled for using some terms that were not prefered.

for example i said "new testament" rather than "the christian greek scriptures".

i also used the term "gospel", but even worse, i made reference to the "synoptic gospels" and the "gnostic gospel".. i guess i never thought of it before, but when i looked at the societies information on the matter they always say things like, "the so-called new testament..." or "the so-called synoptic gospels..." why with all the "so-called?".

Island Man

They hate the word 'church',
when used of the kingdom hall.
But it truly is such -
dictionary certified and all.
And don't say JWs have a 'clergy',
despite the definition's matching the governing body.

They are not 'creationists',
despite believing in creation.
What deceitful redefinitionists!
Will this Watchtower stupidity ever be done?

207

Is the AGM today?

by hamsterbait in

jw
friends

anybody going or who can give us the noolite hot from the gb a$$?.

.

Island Man

I have heard my close relatives who are dyed in the wool JWs speaking about the 10 hour basic pioneering. It seems like it may be true.

40

Letter Re: JW Broadcasting

by pixel in

re: jw broadcasting.

dear brothers:.

we are writing to inform you of an exciting initiative that was announced on october 4,.

Island Man

Is that letter for real, or is that just a spoof you made up? Because that last paragraph . . .

We have also contracted with an outside company, Roku , to make it possible to view JW
Broadcasting on a normal television by means of Roku streaming players, including the Roku 1,
Roku 2, Roku 3, and the Roku Streaming Stick. These products can be purchased online or at
retail stores.

. . . screams of sacrilegious commercialization. Why is Jehovah's Organization (TM) having a contract with a worldly company and even advertising them to JWs in a letter sent to congregations? I can see Jesus making a whip to beat the members of the GB while saying: 'Stop making my Father's house into a market for Roku!'

10

The Resurrection Hope - Does It Help or Slow Down Grieving?

by usualusername in

jw
friends

i think the resurrection hope really really messes up people.. .

at some funerals i have not seen a tear shed.. .

could grieving be interpreted as a lack of faith?.

Island Man

Here's a link to a very interesting interview Eric (JWstruggle) recently had with an "unbaptized apostate". You can fast-forward to 20:25 where she talks about how odd it is that her JW bible teacher didn't seem to grieve the death of her daughter:

http://vimeo.com/107781994

9

'Wales This Week - Witness to the Truth'. News Documentary on JW child abuse in UK, Broadcast on Monday, 29 September 2014.

by Island Man in

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiyw0bgwks8.

.

Island Man

You're both welcome.

9

Angry! Witnesses and North Korea any point you make is spam and trashed!

by Witness 007 in

Island Man

As far as JWs are concerned, any information that is critical of JWs or the Watchtower, is just a load of apostate lies. They prejudicially dismiss all critical information as false without even investigating it. They even consider it a sin to independently investigate any claims by apostates.

35

The Blatant SEXISM of Watchtower!

by Island Man in

from my yahoo answers question here: .

"the bible says of deborah: "now deborah, a prophetess, the wife of lappidoth, was judging israel at that time.

5 she used to sit under the palm tree of deborah between ramah and bethel in the hill country of ephraim; and the sons of israel came up to her for judgment.

Island Man

Did anyone attending the meeting try to comment on paragraph 12 to mention that Deborah was a judge? stuckinarut2?