Would you agree that when JW's say they have The Truth, really they just have "an artificial limb?"

by Theocratic Sedition 1 Replies latest jw friends

  • Theocratic Sedition
    Theocratic Sedition

    I was reading Arthur Schopenhauer and came across this gem as follows,

    "Truth that has been merely learned adheres to us like an artificial limb, a false tooth, a waxen nose, or at best like one made out of another’s flesh; Truth which is acquired by thinking for oneself is like a natural member: it alone really belongs to us. Here we touch upon the difference between the thinking man and the mere man of learning. Therefore the intellectual acquirements of the man who thinks for himself are like a fine painting that stands out full of life, that has its light and shade correct, the tone sustained, and perfect harmony of colour. The intellectual attainments of the merely learned man, on the contrary, resemble a big palette covered with every colour, at most systematically arranged, but without harmony, relation, and meaning."

    He died before the Bible Students came into fruition and was long gone before JW's came onto the scene, but dang if that quote doesn't apply to modern day JW's!!!!!

  • tec
    tec

    I think learned implies... having thought and investigated for oneself. We all tend to learn from what others teach, or what experience teaches, as well as from what we can see and reason for ourselves. The trick is not learning truth from someone who also does not know truth.

    Mere acceptance of something though (such as because it is tradition or because that is what is accepted by the majority)... I think that falls into the artificial limb analogy. That might be what the author originally meant anyway, but as language changes and evolves, so do meanings of words and phrases.

    peace,

    tammy

Share this

Google+
Pinterest
Reddit