There is a Watchtower article entitled "How Reliable Are the Gospels?" (w08 10/1 pp. 12-14 ), which states the following:
Do the similarities between the synoptic Gospels indeed prove that the writers simply copied from one another? No. Why not? For one thing, Jesus promised his disciples that the holy spirit would ‘bring back to their minds all the things he had told them.’ (John 14:26) ....some of the Bible writers may have read and referred to the work of other Bible writers, but such a practice would suggest careful research, not plagiarism.....Obviously, Matthew, an apostle and eyewitness, did not need to plagiarize the writings of Mark, who was not an eyewitness.
The Watchtower simply ignores the facts. Let's prove how Matthew copied from Mark and even misrepresented him. Let's read a portion of Mark chapter 6, according to the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE):
The Mission of the Twelve
7 And he called to him the twelve, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. 10 And he said to them, “Where you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they refuse to hear you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet for a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and preached that men should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them.
The Death of John the Baptist
14 King Herod heard of it; for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; that is why these powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, “It is Eli′jah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” 17 For Herod had sent and seized John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Hero′di-as, his brother Philip’s wife; because he had married her. 18 For John said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Hero′di-as had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he was much perplexed; and yet he heard him gladly. 21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For when Hero′di-as’ daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will grant it.” 23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out, and said to her mother, “What shall I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the baptizer.” 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king, and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard and gave orders to bring his head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
Feeding the Five Thousand
30 The apostles returned to Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going, and knew them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns, and got there ahead of them. 34 As he landed he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
So, Jesus sent the twelve to preach empowered with miracles (verses 7-13). Note that there is a flasback (in red letters) between verses 14 and 29, in which Mark narrates the death of John the Baptist. Then, Mark returned to the story in verse 30, so now the disciples of Jesus "told him all that they had done" in their preaching tour. Accordingly, Jesus and the twelve went to a lonely place to rest a while. However, the author of the Gospel of Matthew told this story by misunderstanding Mark's flashback:
12 And his disciples [of John] came and took the body [of John] and buried it; and they went and told Jesus. 13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely place apart. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. (Mark 14:12-13)
Matthew misunderstood the succession of the events in Mark. Matthew failed to remember that it was a "retrospect," makes a smooth transition to the narrative which follows: John's disciples inform Jesus; and "when Jesus heard. . ." (Mt. 14:12-13). Therefore, the author of the Gospel of Matthew could not be the apostle Matthew, because an eyewitness could not misrepresent the account of a non-eyewitness. Thus, it is most plausible to see Mark's order as original and prior to both Matthew and Luke. So, The Gospel of Matthew is another forgery of dishonest christians.
opusdei1972
JoinedPosts by opusdei1972
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The Watchtower on "How Reliable Are the Gospels?"
by opusdei1972 inthere is a watchtower article entitled "how reliable are the gospels?
" (w08 10/1 pp.
12-14 ), which states the following:.
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opusdei1972
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Is this ignorance or arrogance?
by Pinku injws refrain from voting in the political elections saying politics belongs to satan (in obvious violation of bible statement that secular governments are gods minister on earthromans 13:1-6) being built on american soil, there is no reason to think that jws are ignorant of our founding fathers like benjamin franklin who wrote in his autobiography that good leadership rested on the foundation of moral and spiritual character.
he lists in it 13 virtues (such as contentment, humility ......) he valued the most which became the basis of a chart that he used daily to check his attitude and behaviors!.
he tells us that contentment is the greatest asset one can have (because you may have everything else you can dream of, yet if you do not have contentment, it is like you have nothing), yet it is something you are born with, the essential quality of your being.
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opusdei1972
The Watchtower's religion is not for thinking persons.
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"TatianJW Apologist or a Heretic Witness?"
by opusdei1972 inin the year 2003 (w03 5/15 pp.
27-29) the watchtower analyzed the heretical views of tatian, a christian of the second century, in an article entitled "tatianapologist or heretic?".
let's read some portions:.
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opusdei1972
The Bible is the source of the problem when we avoid to learn how unbiased scholars have disentangled some of its contradictions. We have to admit that the Bible is a set of books with different authors with different agendas. There is no god behind the books of the Bible.
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"TatianJW Apologist or a Heretic Witness?"
by opusdei1972 inin the year 2003 (w03 5/15 pp.
27-29) the watchtower analyzed the heretical views of tatian, a christian of the second century, in an article entitled "tatianapologist or heretic?".
let's read some portions:.
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opusdei1972
In the year 2003 (w03 5/15 pp. 27-29) The Watchtower analyzed the heretical views of Tatian, a christian of the second century, in an article entitled "Tatian—Apologist or Heretic?". Let's read some portions:
Consider, however, Tatian’s writing entitled On Perfection According to the Doctrine of the Savior. In this work he attributes matrimony to the Devil. Claiming that individuals would be tying their flesh to the perishable world through marriage, Tatian strongly condemns it.
Nevertheless, as far as I know, Joseph Rutherford forbidden marriage too, though he could have some affairs:
"...should the Jonadabs[the great crowd] now be encouraged to marry and rear children? No, is the answer, supported by the Scriptures......" (The Watchtower, November 1, 1938; "Fill the Earth", page 323)
Now let's go back to the Watchtower's article on Tatian (w03 5/15 pp. 27-29):
It appears that about 166 C.E., after the death of Justin Martyr, Tatian either founded or associated with an ascetic sect called the Encratites. Its adherents emphasized strict self-control and mastery of one’s body. They practiced an asceticism requiring abstinence from wine, marriage, and possessions.
A Lesson to Be Learned
Why did Tatian deviate so far from the Scriptures? Did he become “a forgetful hearer”? (James 1:23-25) Did Tatian fail to turn down false stories and thereby fall prey to human philosophy? (Colossians 2:8; 1 Timothy 4:7) Since the errors he subscribed to were so great, could some mental aberration be suspected?
Whatever the case, Tatian’s writings and example provide a glimpse of the religious climate of his day. They demonstrate how damaging the influence of worldly philosophy can be. May we take to heart the apostle Paul’s warning to turn away “from the empty speeches that violate what is holy and from the contradictions of the falsely called ‘knowledge.’”—1 Timothy 6:20.
Ok, so, according to the Watchtower, Tatian became an apostate after associating with an ascetic sect. It seems that the Watchtower knew this information from the second century church father Irenaeus , who said:
those who are called Encratites (self-controlled) preached against marriage.....They deny, too, the salvation of him who was first created. It is but lately, however, that this opinion has been invented among them. A certain man named Tatian first introduced the blasphemy. He was a hearer of Justin's, and as long as he continued with him he expressed no such views; but after his martyrdom he separated from the Church, and, excited and puffed up by the thought of being a teacher, as if he were superior to others, he composed his own peculiar type of doctrine. ("Against Heresies", Book I, Chapter 28)
Note that, according to Irenaeus, Tatian introduced the "blasphemous" view that Adam would not be saved by Christ's ransom. But is this not what Jehovah's Witnesses preach in their literature?.
On the other hand, the Watchtower has used a work of Tatian in order to defend the four Gospels:
Early in the history of Christianity, critics argued that the Gospels contradicted one another and thus their accounts could not be trusted. The Syrian writer Tatian (about 110-180 C.E.) came to the defense of the Gospels. He felt that any apparent contradictions would disappear if the Gospels were skillfully harmonized and blended into one account instead of four.
Tatian set about preparing such a harmony. It is not known whether his original was in Greek or in Syriac. Whatever the case, about 170 C.E., Tatian completed his work, known as the Diatessaron, a Greek word meaning “through [the] four.” Why should you be interested in this noninspired composition?
In the 19th century, critics began to promote the view that none of the Gospels were written before the middle of the second century C.E.; hence, they could have little historical value. Ancient manuscripts of the Diatessaron discovered since then, however, provide definitive evidence that the four Gospels—and only the four—were already well-known and accepted as a collection by the middle of the second century C.E.
Discovery of the Diatessaron and commentaries on it in Arabic, Armenian, Greek, and Latin led Bible scholar Sir Frederic Kenyon to write: “These discoveries finally disposed of any doubt as to what the Diatessaron was, and proved that by about A.D. 170 the four canonical Gospels held an undisputed pre-eminence over all other narratives of our Saviour’s life.” (w10 3/1 pp. 8-11, "Why You Can Trust the Biblical Gospels")
So, Interestingly, the Watchtower needs "heretical" christians to have evidences in favor to the four Gospels. Thus, it seems that the Christian God used apostates in the second century to defend the New Testament. -
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Anyone else notice the new Terms of Use on jw.org?
by leaving_quietly ini first noticed it today... slides up at the bottom.
i wonder why they felt the need to do this?
this is just silly for a religious website..
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opusdei1972
DOES IT MEAN THAT WE CAN'T QUOTE PORTIONS OF THE TEXT OF JW.ORG ?
WHAT ABOUT FAIR USE?
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Jehovah deceives us
by opusdei1972 inpaul said that god does not lie:.
in the hope of eternal life, which god, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time (titus 1:2).
however, jehovah god deceived his people:.
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opusdei1972
Moses Joe - As for the decieving spirit, it actually means something different from lying. What it means is that their counsel always proved worthless.
I think that the author understood "the deceiving spirit" as literal as the following "evil spirit":
Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him. (1 Samuel 16:14)
Clearly, it was a literal evil spirit.
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Jehovah deceives us
by opusdei1972 inpaul said that god does not lie:.
in the hope of eternal life, which god, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time (titus 1:2).
however, jehovah god deceived his people:.
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opusdei1972
Doug Mason - The Bible is not a flat board; it is not one book written by one person or group of people.
It is not a scholarly analysis. I am just playing with the rules of the witnesses. They believe the Bible is one book and was inspired by Jehovah.
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Jehovah deceives us
by opusdei1972 inpaul said that god does not lie:.
in the hope of eternal life, which god, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time (titus 1:2).
however, jehovah god deceived his people:.
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opusdei1972
Paul said that God does not lie:
in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time (Titus 1:2)
However, Jehovah God deceived his people:
Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD, surely thou hast utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, 'It shall be well with you'; whereas the sword has reached their very life." (Jer. 4:9-10)
Jehovah said he can fool a prophet:
“‘But if the prophet is fooled and gives a response, it is I, Jehovah, who have fooled that prophet.+ I will then stretch out my hand against him and annihilate him from my people Israel. (Ezekiel 14:9)
“Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the LORD has proclaimed disaster against you.” (1 Kings 22:23)
This is why The Governing Body is a gang of liars, because they worship Jehovah.
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If Jehovah God Really Loved Humans & This Earth How Might He Show It?
by minimus insupposing that you might say that you believe in god, how might a god of love, show that he really cares about us all?.
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opusdei1972
One way would be by sending another Bible with true words, not as the current Bible which is full of lies and myths.
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Heavy metal
by Godsendconspirator ini have always loved heavy metal music (thrash metal to be more specific).
since heavy metal is usually associated with satan and occult themes many christians and jws in particular stray away from it.
in my teenagehood i was listened to it obsessively until i started studying and got baptized at age 18 and i started listening to other genres.
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opusdei1972
Hear this song and see how the singer is worshipping :