God job on that post Sab. Just another weird thought process, misapplication of scripture to produce controlled disciples & martyrs for the faith. The whole blood doctrine has Fred Franz weird mindset behind it.
Think About It
Jehovah's Witnesses Blood Doctrine Refutation
by sabastious 19 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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TD
According to Acts it was Simon (ins't Simon Peter?) who created the decree presented by James:
Verse 14 is reference back to verses 7 & 8 in the same chapter.
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GrandmaJones
btt
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sabastious
The whole blood doctrine has Fred Franz weird mindset behind it.
I'd like to hear reasoning behind this. Most of my WT leader research has centered around JF Rutherford, I forgoet that he was not the only influence.
-Sab
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sabastious
Indeed, but the point was that it was SO vital that no one botherd to mention it every again, in any of their personal letters.
I was encouraged by the account in Acts 15. It sounded like reasonable people trying to do the best they could to figure out a viable solution to a problem. These are humans. The fact that the Witnesses use this scripture as a baseline for a religious doctrine shows their complete misunderstanding of the Bible. They think it is the literal word of God and the way they handle Acts 15 is a perfect example of why the Bible should not be taking as the literal word of God.
If God intended for the Bible to be his literal word he wouldn't have had men write it. He would have done something similar to what he did with Moses and the 10 commandments.
The Bible has flaws, lets face it. But instead of hiding under the covers in denial of these flaws and try to "explain them away" we should embrace it's imperfections and use it to ground the Bible itself. A major reason why many don't understand or put time into the Bible is likely because it intimidates them. If many feel this way, it is probably because of this rubish about it being the literal word of God. If you are thinking God is talking to you when you read it and you don't understand that might make you feel even worse.
The Bible needs to be humanized, especially in Organizations like the Watchtower.
-Sab
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TD
Sab,
Some of it is inference. Fredrick Franz had a very distinctive writing style and some of the very earliest articles appear to have been written him. Some of it is based on informal interviews as well
Of course other people obviously had to be involved too. You might find this article interesting:
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undercover
If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent.
There is a whole lot more evidence of Jesus message countering the Blood Policy, I didn't want to write a book
You don't have to...it's already written for you.
Using Jesus words and example as recorded in the Bible one can show that the Christian principle as set forth by Jesus allows a bending, if not outright breaking of the law in order to save a soul or life. As he said, "Who will be the man among you that has one sheep and, if this falls into a pit on the sabbath, will not get hold of it and lift it out? All considered, of how much more worth is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do a fine thing on the sabbath.” Jesus words and deeds trumps the Mosaic principle that the WTS continues to hold to.
Matthew 12:1-13
1 At that season Jesus went through the grainfields on the sabbath. His disciples got hungry and started to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 At seeing this the Pharisees said to him: “Look! Your disciples are doing what it is not lawful to do on the sabbath.” 3 He said to them: “Have YOU not read what David did when he and the men with him got hungry? 4 How he entered into the house of God and they ate the loaves of presentation, something that it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him, but for the priests only? 5 Or, have YOU not read in the Law that on the sabbaths the priests in the temple treat the sabbath as not sacred and continue guiltless? 6 But I tell YOU that something greater than the temple is here. 7 However, if YOU had understood what this means, ‘I want mercy, and not sacrifice,’ YOU would not have condemned the guiltless ones. 8 For Lord of the sabbath is what the Son of man is.”
9 After departing from that place he went into their synagogue; 10 and, look! a man with a withered hand! So they asked him, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath?” that they might get an accusation against him. 11 He said to them: “Who will be the man among YOU that has one sheep and, if this falls into a pit on the sabbath, will not get hold of it and lift it out? 12 All considered, of how much more worth is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do a fine thing on the sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man: “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored sound like the other hand.
Mark 2:23-3:5
23 Now it happened that he was proceeding through the grainfields on the sabbath, and his disciples started to make their way plucking the heads of grain. 24 So the Pharisees went saying to him: “Look here! Why are they doing on the sabbath what is not lawful?” 25 But he said to them: “Have YOU never once read what David did when he fell in need and got hungry, he and the men with him? 26 How he entered into the house of God, in the account about A·bi´a·thar the chief priest, and ate the loaves of presentation, which it is not lawful for anybody to eat except the priests, and he gave some also to the men who were with him?” 27 So he went on to say to them: “The sabbath came into existence for the sake of man, and not man for the sake of the sabbath; 28 hence the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath.”
1 Once again he entered into a synagogue, and a man was there with a dried-up hand. 2 So they were watching him closely to see whether he would cure the man on the sabbath, in order that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand: “Get up [and come] to the center.” 4 Next he said to them: “Is it lawful on the sabbath to do a good deed or to do a bad deed, to save or to kill a soul?” But they kept silent. 5 And after looking around upon them with indignation, being thoroughly grieved at the insensibility of their hearts, he said to the man: “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
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sabastious
1 At that season Jesus went through the grainfields on the sabbath. His disciples got hungry and started to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 At seeing this the Pharisees said to him: “Look! Your disciples are doing what it is not lawful to do on the sabbath.” 3 He said to them: “Have YOU not read what David did when he and the men with him got hungry? 4 How he entered into the house of God and they ate the loaves of presentation, something that it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him, but for the priests only? 5 Or, have YOU not read in the Law that on the sabbaths the priests in the temple treat the sabbath as not sacred and continue guiltless? 6 But I tell YOU that something greater than the temple is here. 7 However, if YOU had understood what this means, ‘I want mercy, and not sacrifice,’ YOU would not have condemned the guiltless ones. 8 For Lord of the sabbath is what the Son of man is.”
Thanks undercover for this scripture. It really shows the core of Jesus' message. Following the letter of the law to the point of sacrificing your own child is not what Jesus wants. If someone were to do this they have missed the point to a grave fault.
-Sab
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TD
In this case, "Following the letter of the law" means thoroughly bleeding a carcass before you butcher it.
The prohibitions regarding blood are not stated in terms that could mean anything more than that. There is no such thing as abstinence from a physical object
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sabastious
In this case, "Following the letter of the law" means thoroughly bleeding a carcass before you butcher it.
This is a very simple way to put it and I agree. Yet the Witnesses have turned this simple law into a scandal of epic proportions and sadly, many have died as a result.
-Sab