Leaps of Logic

by FadeToBlack 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  leaving_quietly

  Wow... thanks for sharing this. I have been asking some elders fairly openly, and very tactfully... "do you think Paul meant his own letters when he penned 2 Tim 3:16,17 or do you think he had in mind just the Hebrew scriptures?" Invariably, they would pause, then say, "huh... never thought about it that way". Then go back to sleep.

  I've already begun asking some, "What, exactly, is God's word?" Of course, they say the Bible. Then I point them to John 1:1. Then I ask them again. I usually get the same reaction as above. Then, I say something to the effect of: Did Jesus teach that God's word was the Bible? Did Paul? Did Peter, James or John? If the answer is yes, I'll ask: did they even HAVE the Bible?

  It's kinda fun to ask questions to get people to think. Unfortunately, most are too groggy to understand what it is they just realized.
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  Phizzy

  It is fascinating to ponder what the writer, more than likely not Paul himself, of 2Tim had in mind as "Scripture" ?

  No doubt the already agreed Hebrew Canon, but his own letter being a latish 1st century writing, could he perhaps have considered some of the writings not now included as "beneficial" and as "Scripture" ? We will never know.

  But certainly the WT is ignoring the scholarship that has gone on in the last 100 years about the N.T as we have it, and is ignoring the evolution of that Canon.

  The arguments that went on before the late 4th Century amongst the heavy-hitters of the Church are a delight to read, some voted for Revelation and Hebrews for example, others did not. Some included a number of writings not later finding their way in to the Canon.

  Surely God's Channel, the FDS, responsible for dispensing spiritual food at the proper time, should be making its own mind up as to what is Canonical and what is not, not relying on the decisions reached by various Councils of what the WT would call the Apostate Church ?

  Surely their NWT, revised or not, is in fact an Apostate Bible ?
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  notsurewheretogo

  Matthew 24:34: "Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened."

  The GB explaination on this scripture:

  "How, then, are we to understand Jesus’ words about “this generation”? He evidently meant that the lives of the anointed who were on hand when the sign began to become evident in 1914 would overlap with the lives of other anointed ones who would see the start of the great tribulation."

  I am still waiting for why this is "evident" that Jesus meant this...leaps of logic indeed except there is no logic...
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  FadeToBlack

  @notsurewheretogo: that one is absolutely, hands-down the ultimate wake-up call for any still in with a few non-borg dominated brain cells. If that didn't make someone ask questions, nothing will. At least about doctrine. But some, like my wife are not so concerned about 'facts'. For her and others it will be something else that stirs that other side of them to action.

  For those interested in non-JW ideas about where the bible and specifically the Hebrew/OT text came from, I can recommend an older book I just finished recently. It is titled: Who wrote the Bibel? Author Richard Elliott Friedman. Originally published in 1987 with 2nd edition in 97. Great explanation of how the text was really a product of its time and how its non-inspired authors still managed to produce something quite remarkable (although admittedly not something people living many centureis later should be using to make major life decisions). Very accessible read for those of us who did not get to go to Harvard.