by Fernando 23 Replies latest watchtower bible
If may be sold bold and take the following liberties, dear Fernando (again, peace to you!)
"So... religionists might have "knowledge" about [Jesus], but they do not "know" him in a personal relationship ... religionists practice "Christless Christianity" and therefore do not speak of [Jesus] from the heart as did Paul: "my Lord" or "our Lord".
Amen... and amen, dear one.
Again, peace to you!
YOUR servant and fellow slave of Christ,
SA
@AGuest, enjoyed hearing about your "bootstrapping" prayer and the result. We all should do this more often. Sincerely surrender our ideas and will, and let God give us all the right answers and direction.
good comment there size
Thank you for the explanation Fernando.
It seems what you are saying is that the Watchtower is "Gnostic" because they CLAIM to have special knowledge. To me that is anything BUT Gnostic. False knowledge is no knowledge at all.
The Greek word "gnosis" does not simply mean "knowledge", it signifies personal experience. For instance, I KNOW my girlfriend (LOL) but I don't KNOW you, or Barack Obama either. I know OF him, but not personally. So the Greek word "gnosis" signified a personal knowledge of God, or more accurately, the DIVINE, which has nothing to do with any kind of knowledge that you can find written down in a book, magazine, or Internet website.
To people who don't know or believe in the possibility of gnosis, it would be written off as just another delusion. Those same people would have us believe that humanity has already reached its greatest potential, which is rather comical.
Fernando, you're working with a premise. The Bible is clear about religion. Once faith and all that good stuff had come into play, the authorities and structures came into place. Ergo, in Israel you have the priest class, the tribes, the king, judges, etc.
In Christianity, you have the Apostles, bishops, and ministerial servants? (I don't know another term for this) Religion and faith are interchangable. When many of the same faith gather together, one needs a way to control things so as to not get out of order. This is were the structures come in and, voila, religion! It is always the same progression. Faith inevitably leads to religion.
We can't clarify any of this without strong CONTEXT and proper FRAMING.
We are led to believe ONE MIND (God's) directed a result (Bible canon).
This idea has been tested throughout history and convincingly destroyed!
How?
No matter how intelligent a reader or how devout or honest there is total disagreement as to content, meaning, interpretation or orthodoxy.
A SINGLE MIND was NOT at work. There have been constant efforts to CREATE a singular effect, however. The "canon" was FORCED.
I'll give you an analogy.
There was a very popular Parlor Game in the early 1900's developed for amusement by Surrealists. One person started writing a story fragment on a piece of paper and then stopped, folded the paper leaving ONLY THE LAST SENTENCE exposed. The next person BEGAN writing a "blind" continuation from that point and stopped, folding the paper exposing only THEIR OWN last sentence. The next person and the next completed this story until it was large enough to exhaust creativity.
What was the result?
A BAFFLING, INTERESTING, THOUGHT-PROVOKING and non-directed (by a SINGLE intelligence) STORY that was read aloud!
Now, I ask you.....
think about this...
What if, many years later, historians found this large and mysterious story and tried to force a SINGLE interpretation on a SINGLE author as to
"meaning" and plot?
You can see the guesses would be wrong, but, plausible--depending on who read it and interpreted it.
I'm not saying the Bible is an Exquisite Corpse (the term for that Parlor Game) but, I'm saying they same literary PROBLEM faces the Bible.
The CONTEXT for understanding is a FALSE PREMISE from the get-go!
Go here and read this:
http://english.georgetown.edu/programs/undergraduate/honors/43663.html
Surrealism: “Pure psychic automatism by which it is intended to express, either verbally or in writing, the true function of thought. Thought dictated in the absence of all control exerted by reason, and outside all aesthetic or moral preoccupations.
Exquisite Corpse: Game of folded paper played by several people, who compose a sentence or drawing without anyone seeing the preceding collaboration or collaborations. The result is a collective work which, in theory, is free of the limitations we face as individuals. One person would draw the head, for example, while others sketched the upper body, lower body, etc. Together, the unique parts, make up an “exquisite truth” which could never be arrived at alone.
We need to remember that what we now call the bible was written over several centuries by completely unknown authors.
How could it possibly be consistent from the audience viewpoint?
We need to remember that what we now call the bible was written over several centuries by completely unknown authors.
How could it possibly be consistent from the audience viewpoint?
Together, the unique parts, make up an “exquisite truth” which could never be arrived at alone. (See above paragraph and link)
