WHEN DID APOSTACY SET IN?

by badboy 23 Replies latest jw friends

  • Leolaia
    Leolaia

    Narkissos....The Society did a whole series of articles on some of the apostolic fathers and early apologists around the time the Trinity broshure came out. In those articles they continued the same practice of misrepresenting the theological views of these writers (such as saying that Irenaeus and Polycarp faithfully continued to distinguish the Jesus Christ from the Father, omitting the painful fact that these writers referred to Jesus as God).

    They were similarly ambivalent about Justin Martyr:

    ***w92 3/15 pp. 30-31 Justin?Philosopher, Apologist, and Martyr ***

    Whether at the hands of Crescens or other Cynics, Justin was denounced to the Roman prefecture as a subversive and was condemned to die. In about 165 C.E., he was beheaded in Rome and became a "martyr" (meaning "witness"). Hence, he is called Justin Martyr.

    The writing style of Justin may lack the luster and tact of other learned men of his day, but his zeal for truth and righteousness was apparently genuine. To what extent he lived in harmony with the Scriptures and Jesus? teachings cannot be said with certainty. Yet, Justin?s works are valued for their historical content and many Scriptural references. They provide insight into the lives and experiences of professed Christians of the second century.....

    So, then, Justin sought truth and rejected Greek philosophy. As an apologist, he defended the teachings and practices of professed Christians. And for professing Christianity himself, he suffered martyrdom. Especially noteworthy was Justin?s appreciation for truth and his bold witnessing in the face of persecution, for these qualities are found in the lives of Jesus? genuine followers today.?Proverbs 2:4-6; John 10:1-4; Acts 4:29; 3 John 4.

    Here Justin is praised for his "zeal for truth," his "righteousness," for "rejecting Greek philosophy" (omitting the fact that he used the philosophy to validate certain Christian beliefs), for "appreciating the truth," for his "bold witnessing in the face of persecution" which caused him to die for his beliefs and "suffer martyrdom". And yet there are suggestions that he may not have "lived in harmony with the Scriptures" and he is suggested as being a "professed Christian" which frequently is code for "Christian in name only" in WT publications. No mention is made that he believed that Jesus was God (e.g. "Christ ... is called God, he is God, and he always shall be God," Dialogue 58), or that he tried to interpret the triad of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by using the writings of the Greek philosopher Plato (1 Apology 60).

  • steve2
    steve2
    Doesn't making sense of an old text in a new historical context always involve a lot of "human reasoning"?

    Sure does! As time passes, it takes more and more and more rules to illustrate that we've moved on from rules (comparing early Christianity with the Talmudic approach). How ironic.

  • eljefe
    eljefe

    JW's always say the first witness was Able. So, I guess Cain would be the first apostate.

  • badboy
    badboy

    Thanks for everone's input.

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