The NEW "Bible Teach" book

Oubliette

TheTruthBR has posted links for this and several other of the new publications.

As an educator, I am very interested in where the society is heading with their alleged "Bible education" program.

So for fun I ran the first three paragraphs of chapter one through a readability indexing calculator.

The results were unsurprising. These opening paragraphs had an average score of 5th grade level (based on US standards, which are not exactly the highest on the planet).

What this clearly means is not a RAISING of the standards for academic rigor in JW-land, but a LOWERING of the bar. This is indicative of a deliberate dumbing down of the religion. The WT's target reading ability is a full three grade levels below the average reading ability of the general public. They're deliberately aiming at 11 year old children!

Really shameful!

Note the description of the scoring results below:

Grade Levels

A grade level (based on the USA education system) is equivalent to the number of years of education a person has had. A score of around 10-12 is roughly the reading level on completion of high school. Text to be read by the general public should aim for a grade level of around 8.

Readability Formula Grade
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 4
Gunning-Fog Score 6
Coleman-Liau Index 8.5
SMOG Index 4.1
Automated Readability Index 3.8
Average Grade Level 5.3

bohm

For the Europeans, 5th grade in the US school system corresponds to 10-11 year olds, lol.

Oubliette: What site did you use? It might be fun to rip the entire text and calculate it's score.

Oubliette

Bohm: readability indexing calculator

You only need to use a random sample of 100 words of text, using complete sentences of course.

rege brazzy

WHAT ABOUT THE MEETING PROGRAM????

rege brazzy

PROGRAM SYNOPSIS ?

stillin

I have a friend who is a friendly return visit for a brother. Nice guy. Too nice to tell the brother to leave him alone. Anyhow, he told me yesterday that he had read the brochure that the Witness gave him this week and that what surprised him was that it doesn't actually SAY anything. It's just mush. He said that there used to be a message or something you could sink your teeth into. Not any more.

Barrold Bonds

This book isn't the new Bible Teach book. It's not replacing it. It's the same material dumbed down for those with limited reading ability and people who are otherwise just dumb. Seems like it does the job.

It's very telling that the WT CONSTANTLY is releasing new books to target this group. Gee I wonder why.

Pete Zahut

Either the individuals writing this material have diminished reading and comprehensive abilities or they are trying to make sure that the message is simple enough for anyone to read and understand. The trouble is, once you get past that point, there isn't any intellectual stimulation in the form of discussion or reading, to be found among the general population or in the literature of JW's.

Barrold Bonds

Here's the relevant part from the letter sent to congs.

"Teach Us Book: The first provision is a new 224-page publication entitled What Can the Bible Teach Us? It is based on the book What Does the Bible Really Teach? The Teach Us book does not replace the Bible Teach book. Rather, it will be useful when studying with individuals who need to have the truth presented in a simpler manner. "

So it's really not surprising at all that the book is aimed at a low reading level.

Oubliette

Pete: Either the individuals writing this material have diminished reading and comprehensive abilities or they are trying to make sure that the message is simple enough for anyone to read and understand.

It's actually not that easy to write clearly and consistently at a specific level of reading ability. This suggests the your second hypothesis. Although I disagree with the "for anyone" piece. This writing suggests a deliberate targeting of people with limited reading ability and/or limited intelligence.

They are clearly NOT interested in appealing to anyone of above average intellect or academic ability. I believe that this is because they are very much aware that anyone in either of those groups just will not be interested in the religion, their belief or false promises.

Those that are stuck in the cult but that are reasonably intelligent are almost always held captive by the thread of being shunned by their entire family and alleged friends.

Let's review: It's a cult!

The NEW "Bible Teach" book

Grade Levels

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