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by purplesofa 23 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  cameo-d

  Purps...

  Wouldn't it have had to be immaculate conception if the following is true?

  A scene at Karnak shows Rameses II in triumph supervising the castration of his captives. By the side, heaps of genitals that have been cut off are piled up. Isaiah, speaking prophetically for Yehouah, promises this fate to the offspring of Hezekiah the king:

  And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. Isaiah 39:7

  If this prophecy was fulfilled, then Jesus could not have been in the princely line of David, and if not, Isaiah was a false prophet. Castration of enemies is described nastily in the romance of Saul and David too:

  And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son in law: and the days were not expired. Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men, and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king’s son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife. 1 Samuel 18:25

  Perhaps mentioning the castration as bringing foreskins softens the horror of it for Christians and Jews who think it is just some sort of obligatory circumcision. The Philistines were killed and their genitals were brought back as proof of the deed and as vulgar trophies

  I haven't tracked down the geneology to determine if these assumptions are correct. Maybe someone else knows.
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  aligot ripounsous

  Purps, having been a catholic for about 25 years, brought up in confessional schools, etc, I seem to remember that the immaculate conception is referring to Mary herself, not to Jesus' birth, i.e. the Church teaches that only a perfect woman could have given birth to a god, so she is believed to have been born without the original sin, and in the same vein, it is taught that she never died, because death is corruption and she can't have been corrupted, that's why they celebrate Assumption of Mary on Aug 15th that is, her transfer to heaven before death, a bit like what the WTS teaches about Enoch.

  This is not related to the very question you raise in your thread but, since I've no real valid opinion to express on the latter, this is my small take.
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  Alpaca

  Purps,

  Another interesting book that really helped me was Karen Armstrong's "A History of God."

  She is a fascinating author and she has been interviewed a number of times on NPR so my guess is that the interviews are archived on the site.

  You might like to check it out.

  All the best,

  Alex
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  Sad emo

  Hi purps, as aligot wrote above, the Immaculate Conception isn't to be confused with the virgin birth.

  However on a slightly topic-related tangent, Islam taught the Immaculate Conception as doctrine well before Roman Catholicism did! (and the fact that Islam was present in southern Europe for a few centuries until it was driven out might suggest that Saint Bernadette may have actually heard of the phrase 'Immaculate Conception' after all )