Cygnus,
Here is the link:
It's a review of the book. The book is not anti-NWT! The reviewer is!
We are a pretty lazy bunch on JWD. If you went to the first page, it has the link to the flaming book anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This One Is For Scholar And His Celebrated WT Scholars
by Honesty 68 Replies latest watchtower bible
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inquirer
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Hellrider
Just one thing, on the "bias in translation"-problem. Just because there is bias in all translation, this isn`t an argument for the NWT. Neither is it an argument for that "it`s ok" to be biased. The fact that "everyone else is doing it" never was an argument for allowing doing something everyone knew was wrong.
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Cygnus
This reply is written in haste as football is coming on television soon.
scholar, you're a silly man. That's all I have to say.
Nark, I'm sure there's very rigorous proofreading done of WT publications [edit (see, I didn't proofread!)] and has been for a long time. I know that doesn't logically make FW a scholar, but so what? As said in the foreward of the NWT, it rests on its own achievements in translation, not the supposed qualifications of the translators. Look at all of the PhDs that hooberus and Rex trounce out that are in support of ID. I say "phooey" on someone's supposed doctorate or "qualifications." Do you have a PhD? But I think your posts are extremely intelligent and worthy of thought. Same for Leolaia, and AlanF. And me .
inquirer, Jason BeDuhn's book is pretty old news. I've read the reviews on Amazon before, but thanks. While I've never corresponded with Jason directly, he posted on H2O briefly in 1999 and I was in the middle of it. And I know Stafford and his friends pretty well, so I'm pretty up-to-date with what's what. But thanks, and I enjoyed your other posting.
Vis-a-vis "bias," I am one of the "so what" crowd. There are so many Bible translations and so many commentaries you could fill your life just studying Green, Barnes, AT Robertson, Metzger, and modern scholarship. Maybe what set FW off into wanting to produce his own Bible was the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. He must have orgasmed himself nearly to death with that and its accompanying research.
ANYWAY, keep on keepin' on, JWD posters. This is a great thread. Now it's time for some football!
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steve2
Boiling everything down to its essence this is what shows up:
Scholar aims to defend the very religious organization that he himself is not prepared to follow in all respects.
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OldSoul
To be fair, so did a lot of ex-JWs when they first came here. Pointing that fact out is probably not going to help them overcome their cognitive dissonance. The mor likely effect will be to send them scurrying for "safety" again in the clutches of the Ravenous Bug-Blatter Beast.
OldSoul
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Jeffro
To be fair, so did a lot of ex-JWs when they first came here. Pointing that fact out is probably not going to help them overcome their cognitive dissonance.
However, there is a difference between honest people looking for answers, and someone here simply to stubbornly and dogmatically 'defend' an indefensible point.
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OldSoul
It is obviously annoying. I was trying to point out the probable result on lurkers who may have come here with the intent to support their beliefs.
Respectfully,
OldSoul -
steve2
One of the wonderful things about posting here is the absence of authoritarian-elicited "uniformity" to ensure we all take the same approach to the same situation. Usually I would agree that none of us wants to do anything to put off lurkers. But let's be realistic: To some lurkers, even to see a post raise relatively mild doubts about the Watchtower would be hard to handle.
I agree with Jeffro: There is a difference between posters who seem genuinely confused and searching for answers and posters who repeatedly and dogmatically assert the JW position and who make cheap shots along the way. Sorry, Oldsoul, but I had enough of swallowing my need to express my views when I was a JW. My position is that, even if some lurkers are put off, they will never be the same again.
Each lurker now secretly knows from direct experience that the JW story is far from "the truth" - even if they run back to the stultifying safety of the kingdom Hall.
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Forscher
Hey there Hellrider!
By pointing out that there is bias in most translations I am not endorsing the practice, I am merely pointing out the fact of it. My personal opinion is that translators should do their best to drop their biases and translate as accurately as they can. Let the cards fall where they will! Niether am I endorsing the NWT. It has both strengths and faults of its own. It will havr to stand or fall on its own merit.
Because there is bias on the part of translators, it's a good idea to own a number of translations for comparison and do our homework. For those who want to arrive at the best understanding of what it says, that is the only option short of learning the Biblical languages and studying it in those. Even then, one has to be careful. Again, it pays to do the homework.
Cygnus, I don't really care about FWF's credentials beyond pointing out to the person who wanted to say that the translators of the NWT were scholars of note that FWF's credentials weren't up to snuff in that regard. I just wanted him to face the facts that the person's on the NWT team are no longer as anonymous as he assumed, nor as highly qualified as he touted. In the end, the work will speak for the workman. And that is as it should be.
Forscher