by GermanXJW 24 Replies latest jw friends
Awake!-Magazine of January 22nd, 2004 contains the article "Why I believe in the Bible? A Nuclear Scientist reports" as told by Alton Williams.
http://www.physics.aamu.edu/Faculty/Williams.php
[email protected]
http://www.physics.aamu.edu/Images/Williams.gif
edited to make links clickable - Scully
What makes him a scholar? All the degrees in the world do not a scholar make!
carmel
Carmel... I think he may very well be a scholar in his own field. (Or at least, have been; his site doesn't show any publications since '94.) That doesn't make him an authority on religious matters, of course.
Well, I have tried to contact the eMail-adress but after several hours I got the reply: user not known :-(
Thanks "GermanJW!" Can you contact this guy directly, since his email account, from what others have said, is not valid. I?d like to contact him and get his actual opinion!
Oh yes, if he supports the 1914 crap, I might try and contact his superiors to see if they know of his wacky beliefs! I hate deceitful people (and "organizations"), I hate liars, and people willing to tell lies!
Like others have said, what relationship does Biblical Chronology have with a Scientist in his field? It makes for "good-press" to quote him from the Watchtower's point-of-view, but nothing else!
I did some work for the writing department about 8 years ago, while trying to help my friend (actually my employee) answer questions from "real" readers! A JW who was working for me got "packages" from Brooklyn at my office. When I asked about it, he explained they wanted his help in answering questions from readers. He had worked part-time for the writing department while at Bethel.
He had been at the "big-house" (Brooklyn Bethel) for about 15 years, left, then came to work for me. Anyway, I was amused at the thought-provoking questions that came from university professors (I was actually astounded that these folks would actually read the trashy "Awake!" Magazines) from all over the world! They wanted to know why "Awake!" made certain statements that were not founded in real Science! Several complained about miss-quotes of their research in Awake! In most cases, I didn?t have the ability or background to help in a response (duh!). Most of these folk had PhD?s, immersed in their respective fields; I couldn?t offer any rebuttal, so I didn?t in most cases. My friend, I suppose, tried to answer their questions, but I doubt he was actually able to refute their claims!
A little side note: my friend graduated from college with a math degree at 18! He was working on his PhD when he was 18, but learned the "truth" (as JW?s call it)! I worked with him while in Bethel, 1978-1980. Interestingly, he had some conflicts (some verbal fights actually) with a few people (including Gene Smalley ? "research") in the writing department. He worked on proofreading the "Insight" and "Proclaimer?s" books. He also did some historical research/writing for the "Proclaimer?s" book. This is another story I?ll tell it sometime in the future.
Thanks "GermanJW!" for this info! Please get this guy?s email address or phone #. Thanks again.
I found another adress:
Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University*
Dr. Alton Williams
Center of Excellence in Nonlinear
Optics and Nonlinear Optical Materials
P.O. Box 1268
Normal, AL 35762
(205)851-5930 (Phone)
(205)851-5622 (Fax)
[email protected]
I would not contact his superiors because I think this really has nothing to do with his job.
But what I would like to know is if he is really quoted correctly. And if he is than the recurring "mathematical correct" strikes me. I think than he is aware of the flaws of 1914 and he is just willing to confirm the "mathematical correctness" of the calculation.
Can someone scan and post this article? It looks interesting and important.
And I agree, the only "mathematics" used in determining the 1914 date is addition, the rest of the year's determination is based upon interpretation, and forcing the "starting" year to be 607 BCE.
The issue here is not mathematics, and I am surprised that a physicist, trained in the use of mathematics, would say such a thing. It makes the whole article suspect, like it is contrived, stretched or distorted in some way. (Watchtower writers at work?)
--VM44
Here is Alton Williams Ph.D dissertation title:
THE CLASSICAL TRAJECTORY IN NON-RELATIVISTIC SCATTERING..
WILLIAMS, ALTON CLEOTHA, PHD. UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, 1978. 167 pp.
Also, the title of the article is "Why I believe in the Bible? A Nuclear Scientist reports"? And then he goes into a lengthy discussion of the year 1914? The year 1914 is NOT in the Bible!
Rather, the title of the article should be, "Why I believe in The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and its Biblical Interpretations"
--VM44
This second eMail-Adress does not work either. It is strange: the article states that Williams is still working for the Alabama A&M University. He even has a personal website there but cannot be reached...
