WT says oldest portion of Bible predates all other religious writings.

by InterestedOne 23 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  steve2

  The Watchtower has a hard-won, well-earned reputation for consistent dumbed-down scholastic dishonesty. A general maxim when reading their publications is this:

  If the Watchtower declares something to be a fact it has a high probability of not being a fact at all.

  The reader needs to put aside the paint-by-numbers publications and do an independent search. The reader may occasionally be astonished to find that an independent search establishes that the WTS was made an accurate claim after all. But one swallow does not make spring. It won't happen very often at all - but when it does, you will need to be sitting down securely on a solid chair and possibly have some smelling salts close at hand.
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  thetrueone

  History of religious texts

  The oldest known religious texts are Pyramid texts of Ancient Egypt that date to 2400-2300 BCE. The earliest form of the Phoenician alphabet found to date is the inscription on the sarcophagus of King Ahiram of Byblos . ( The Sumerian Temple Hymns [1] ). The Epic of Gilgamesh from Sumeria is also one of the earliest literary works dating to 2150-2000 BCE, that includes various mythological figures. The Rigveda of Hinduism is proposed to have been composed between 1700–1100 BCE [2] making it possibly the world's oldest religious text still in use. The oldest portions of the ZoroastrianAvesta are believed to have been transmitted orally for centuries before they found written form, and although widely differing dates for Gathic Avestan (the language of the oldest texts) have been proposed, scholarly consensus floats at around 1000 BCE. [citation needed]

  The majority of scholars agree that the Torah 's composition took place over centuries. [3] From the late 19th century there was a general consensus around the documentary hypothesis , which suggests that the five books were created c.450 BCE by combining four originally independent sources, known as the Jahwist , or J (about 900 BCE), the Elohist , or E (about 800 BCE), the Deuteronomist , or D, (about 600 BCE), and the Priestly source , or P (about 500 BC). [4]

  The first scripture printed for wide distribution to the masses was The Diamond Sutra , a Buddhist scripture, and is the earliest recorded example of a dated printed text, bearing the Chinese calendar date for 11 May 868 CE. [5]
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  thetrueone

  The WTS is once again expressing a deliberate self supporting lie.

  By doing so they've were able to mentally capture individuals with their own self supporting propaganda.

  What religion doesn't do this mind you.
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  Jack C.

  Ask an elder why there are images of an ark of the covenant epicted all over the Egyptian pyramids complete with the carrying poles and angels on top. A little research into Egyptian theology shows that this chest was part of a covenant with one of their deitys (I think Osirus) and was called the "Ark of the Contract". Judaism is probably the most eclectic religion to have ever existed. (Eclectic: borrowing ideas from other religions) Even the idea of monotheism was probably borrowed from Egyption theology when Akinaten established it as the state religion in the 13th century BCE.