Just read one of them 'apocryphal books'

by sd-7 25 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  sd-7

  Dudes. Dudettes. Apostates and loyalists alike. How goes it? 'It' being your well-being.

  I just read the Book of Tobit. I'd heard a few mentions by the Society of 'the apocryphal book of Tobit'. But from what I recall, it didn't say the stuff I was expecting. I thought there was some mention of the Underworld that was out of line with JW doctrine. I did see a mention of the Underworld, but the context clearly indicates that it would easily match with the JW definition of Hades. I was just curious because I realized that hey, now I can read whatever the frak I want to read.

  But it certainly brought up some interesting thoughts. There was a mention of a Raphael, presumably one of the seven angels who appears before God (from an old Awake! article, I guess that would mean he was an archangel, since supposedly Catholics believe there are seven of them). And the demon who kills the husbands of this woman Sarah--boy, can you imagine the Watchtower articles that would come out if the Borg accepted these books? Might be pretty interesting. Maybe this Sarah had something from a garage sale, right?

  Anyway, I get the feeling I was probably misled as to the contents of Tobit. But whatever. I was just pointing out something.

  Well...moved out on me own now, so at least I'm king of the castle at last. But...I'm marryin' into the Borg, so...I have to fake it. For like, the rest of my life. Should be fun. Or I'll have a psychotic episode. One of the two.

  Cult identity kicking in: Oh, gosh! I'm on an APOSTATE SITE!!!! Get away from me, you deceitful, satanic workers of lawlessness! Rather than listening to and feeding from the poisoned, pornographic table of demonic, twisted apostates, true Christians serve the only true God, Jehovah, and stay loyal to his ever-progressive organization. Why have you people drawn away from the living God to promote lies against his people? Do you recognize that holy spirit is clearly directed our preaching work? Do you not see that we alone have restored Jehovah's name to its proper place in the Bible? Are you that ungrateful for the spiritual food Jehovah provides through his faithful and discreet slave and its Governing Body? Your faithless, wicked actions speak for themselves. I repudiate all association with those who choose to feed on satanic propaganda found on the Internet.

  Reverting back to true identity: See? It's that easy. Flip a switch. Now I see why Communists could infiltrate the Borg so easily. Faking it isn't that hard as long as people trust you. And you can stomach the idiocy. (sigh) Well, fire away, folks!

  SD-7
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  PSacramento

  Next one you can try is 1Enoch, nice reading that will put lots of what you read in Revelation in an interesting light.
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  Meeting Junkie No More

  Great post, sd-7! I'm mostly an apostate but have to flip the switch every so often, when dealing with family, or visitors from the hall...(not too often) but yeah, I hear you. It can be done, but it's taxing in its own way.

  I enjoyed the Gospel of Barnabas.
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  jonathan dough

  Wisdom and Sirach
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  Leolaia

  *** w94 4/1 p. 29 “Turn Down the False Stories” ***
  
  The world of Paul’s day was full of such stories. An example is the apocryphal book of Tobit, probably written over two hundred years before Paul’s time. This story tells of Tobit, a pious Jew, who is blinded when the dung of a bird falls into his eyes. Later, he sends his son, Tobias, to collect a debt. On the way, at an angel’s direction, Tobias secures the heart, liver, and gall of a fish. Next he encounters a widow who, though married seven times, remains a virgin because each husband was killed by an evil spirit on the wedding night. At the angel’s prompting, Tobias marries her and drives away the demon by burning the heart and liver of the fish. With the gall of the fish, Tobias later restores his father’s sight.
  
  Clearly, this tale is not truthful. Apart from its fanciful nature and its appeal to superstition, it contains error. For example, the account says that Tobit witnessed both the revolt of the northern tribes and the deportation of Israelites to Nineveh, events in Israel’s history that were separated by 257 years. Yet, the story says that Tobit was 112 years old at the time of his death.—Tobit 1:4, 11; 14:1, The Jerusalem Bible.

  The accepted canon contains stories that are just as fanciful and historically problematic as this one. The only reason why the Society emphasizes these things is that Tobit is not part of the accepted canon. If it happened to be part of the Bible, the Society would treat the story as evidence of miracles, and the apparent contradiction would be handwaved away in a QFR.
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  sir82

  Clearly, this tale is not truthful. Apart from its fanciful nature and its appeal to superstition, it contains error.

  You just gotta love the chutzpah of the WTS!

  The above 2 sentences could just as easily be applied to:

  -- Noah & the flood

  -- Balaam & the talking donkey

  -- Jonah & the "big fish"

  -- Joshua & the sun standing still

  ...or any of dozens of others Bible stories accepted as literally true by the WTS.
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  jamiebowers

  Glad to see you back on the board, SD-7. Congrats on getting your own place. Is it the one we talked about?

  I'm afraid your heart is too big and too true to fake it for very long. Are you certain there isn't another way to go?
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  jonathan dough

  The Catholic church acknowledge Tobit to be folklore but containing valuable lessons.
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  sd-7

  Fascinating to read, though. What was really surprising was the Book of Enoch--Jude QUOTED from it! And if Jude quoted from it yet it's an apocryphal book, doesn't that mean Jude should be regarded as apocryphal, too? Or else Enoch must be accepted...and the Society's mental gymnastics must commence at an accelerated rate!

  Jamie, thanks. I know my path is a fool's errand at best, a suicide mission at worst. My idealism will probably destroy this relationship just because my mind refuses to be caged again. But I'd rather try and fail than to give her up now and forever.

  Misinformation about any non-WTS-approved religious books/scriptures is common among JWs. My mom believed the Book of Mormon was about Jesus' childhood. Uh, no. Don't know where she got that from. Yes, I've read it myself. It ain't about that at all.

  Anyway, thanks, Jamie. Need to write to you soon.

  SD-7
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  sd-7

  Oh--Jamie, no, it's a different place I got, much better. The other folks were scamming us. Got to fight to get back the deposit...we'll talk later.

  SD-7