B.C. A.D.

by homme perdu 21 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • minimus
    minimus

    So they DID have their own calenders published in the Golden Age---just like RR said.

  • Lady Lee
    Lady Lee

    come on Min I luvs ya but what good is a calendar in a magazine?

    Not worth a whole lot I would suspect

  • BluesBrother
    BluesBrother

    I latterly have become aware that it is not just a JW thing . I cut and pasted the quote below from www.religiousintolerance.org

    The Ethic of Reciprocity (the Golden Rule) suggests that one should not intentionally cause pain to other humans. We should treat others as we would wish to be treated. Since only one out of every three humans on earth is a Christian, some theologians and other authors felt that non-religious, neutral terms like CE and BCE would be less offensive to the non-Christian majority. Forcing a Hindu, for example, to use AD and BC might be seen by some as coercing them to acknowledge the supremacy of the Christian God and of Jesus Christ.

    Consider an analogous situation: the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance. The most recent version of this pledge includes the phrase: "Under God." Imagine what a Wiccan (who believes in a God and a Goddess), or many Buddhists and strong Atheists ( who do not believe in the existence of God) feel when having to recite those words. Consider how a Christian would feel if the pledge read "Under Buddha" or "Under Allah."

    Although CE and BCE were originally used mainly within theological writings, the terms are gradually receiving greater usage in secular writing, the media, and in the culture generally.

  • shotgun
    shotgun

    Calendar published 1935 pushed but never fully adopted and then abandoned, the Luau idea for the Memorial celebration was a contentous issue.

    http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/64517/994076/post.ashx#994076

  • blondie
    blondie

    The use of A.D. and B.C. in the WT publications dropped off after 1964 except for quotes from other sources.

    It may be due to this article which I don't have access to.

    A.D.-B.C. system: g65 6/22 11

    ***

    w99 11/1 2000?A Marked Year? ***

    In the B.C.-A.D. system of dating, events that occurred before the traditional time of Jesus? birth are designated "B.C." years (before Christ); those that took place after are labeled "A.D." years (Anno Domini?"in the year of our Lord.") However, some informed scholars prefer to use the secular designations "B.C.E." (before our Common Era) and "C.E." (of our Common Era.)

  • NeonMadman
    NeonMadman
    If I'm not mistaken it was 1982.

    I don't think so. I was baptized in 1969, and I remember them using the BCE and CE designations ever since I was involved. I don't remember a time when they used AD and BC, and I started studying in 1966 - so I think it must have been before that that they made the change.

  • blondie
    blondie

    Neon, your experience fits in with the timeline on the WT-CD where the use of AD and BC dropped off after 1964.

  • RR
    RR

    I checked the WT CD Rom, and typed in both CE and BCE and the earliest date is 1982.

  • blondie
    blondie

    Starts using C.E. in 1964 (73 times in WT; 1 times in 1957)

    w64 2/15 p. 107 Of Which God Are You a Witness? ***

    They have inherited the faith of God?s true, chosen people of nineteen centuries ago or of the first century C.E. For this reason they are called by the same names that applied away back there.

    Starts using B.C.E. in 1957 but really starts being used in 1964 (92 times in WT; 2 times in 1963)

    *** w57 10/1 p. 593 Endurance like Job?s in the Time of the End ***

    Noah, Daniel and Job were not in Jerusalem when it was destroyed in 607 B.C.E.

  • Farkel
    Farkel

    blondie,

    : However, some informed scholars prefer to use the secular designations "B.C.E." (before our Common Era) and "C.E." (of our Common Era.)

    One has to wonder WHO these "informed" scholars were. One has to also wonder why SOME "informed" scholars are "informed" and other scholars are NOT informed. After all a scholar IS informed, is he or she not. Doesn't the very definition of "scholar" mean that person is "informed." Isn't the notion of an "uninformed scholar" an oxymoron? Not to the Watchtower Printing Corporation it isn't!

    How does one become a "scholar" and end up NOT being informed?

    Curious minds needs to know more about Watchtower Idiocy(tm).

    Farkel

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