[quote]pat wrote:
[quote]mse2us wrote:
[quote]Severiano wrote:
[quote]confusion wrote:
I will guess and say you are a JW. you’re always welcome here. I respect that JWs know what they believe and live it without apology,nor compromise. They also take the gospel message seriously and try to help people find god. I don’t criticize someone who is trully doing their best to live for god and spreading the gospel message.confusion[/quote]
So here is where I get confused… You brought up all the wolves, pagan like beliefs brought about by the Greek… But then you tell a J.W. that you understand their positions. But, J.W.'s do this thing where they say they only go by what the bible states, yet they go by the King James Bible, which isn’t original at all. I would be more understanding of J.W.'s positions if they went by ancient gospels that aren’t necessarily used by the Bible, as well as gospels from the bible to have a true understanding of the faith, and it’s history like they claim to have… They seem to be somewhat gnostic in their practice, not voting or taking part in war… Even against the Nazi’s.
What I don’t understand is, what is the real rigid original Christian Doctrine anyways? It’s my understanding/ hunch as is a lot of much smarter people than myself that the Bible, and the Abrahemic God is just an accumulation of all of the omni properties from other Gods, and there are bits and pieces of other Gods stories that make up the story of Christs properties.
You find things like virgin birth, making water into wine, rising from the dead all things that have been done before Christ that were facets of other Gods abilities, and even extremely similar storylines…
So, again… Where, and what are the actual original works of Christianity? We know there are some old Hebrew works. 
I think the most important thing to avoid, while being Christian is picking and choosing what to follow, and arguing ways from the bible when it’s beneficial, and ignoring aspects of the bible again, when it’s beneficial. Unfortunately there are a lot of people who claim to be Christian that are like this.[/quote]
Interesting points. You’re right, the King James Bible isn’t original. Not only that, the King James Bible is one of the worst Bible translations available today. The main reasons is because the translation isn’t accurate and the way we talk today is different from the way people talked back then. Meaning that it’s not in modern English so some words in the King James are no longer used and some words used in it have different meanings today. For example, according to the book Truth in Translation(an excellent book for getting a better understanding of the different translations), the word “prevent” meant “come” not “hinder.” “Let” meant “prevent” now it means “allow.” “Suffer” meant “allow,” now it’s used for experiencing pain. There’s literally dozens of words like this in the King James Bible. Fortunately, we stopped using the King James Bible way back in the 1950s. We use the New World Translation and according to the book Truth in Translation(written by James David DeBuhn an associate professor of religious studies at Northern Arizona University and is not a Jehovah’s Witness), the New World Translation is the most accurate of all the major translations of the Bible. Not only is the New World Translation a very accurate translation but it’s been revised so that it won’t have the problem I described with the King James translation. It was revised in 1984 and most recently in 2013.
We do use other ancient manuscripts to help our understanding. For example, the writings of first century Jewish historian Josephus is often referred to especially with regard to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. That’s because at Luke 19:41-44; 21:20, 21, Jesus told his disciples exactly what would happen when Rome came to destroy Jerusalem. In 33 C.E. Jesus told them that a literal wooden fence would be built around the city so that no one could escape and that the temple would be so thoroughly destroyed that not a stone would be left upon a stone. Two days later he told his disciples that when they saw Jerusalem surrounded by encamped armies they should know that the city’s destruction was near. When his disciples saw this they were to immediately begin to prepare to flee the city. If they did not leave, they would be caught in the city when the fence was built and would be unable to escape and be killed with the Jews. Josephus reported on what happened and it happened exactly as Jesus prophesied. After the Jewish revolt in 66 C.E., general Cestius Gallus attacked the city and surrounded it. For some unknown reason he withdrew from the city. According to Josephus and other reports, the faithful Christians (who were already expecting the end of the Jewish system of things based on the signs Jesus told them to look for at Luke 21) who were in the city remembered what Jesus said 33 years early and immediately fled to a neutral city in the mountains name Pella. Four years later, in 70 C.E., general Titus had his soldiers build a 4.5 mile fence in just three days that surrounded the city. After 5 months, Rome completely destroyed the city and the temple. Over a million people which included unfaithful Christians who didn’t heed Jesus’ warning and the Jews who had no clue about the prophecy Jesus told his disciples, were killed and tens of thousands were taken into slavery. Josephus recorded this and his writings can be found in the book entitled Jewish War and Roman historian Eusebius Pamphilus wrote a book entitled Ecclesiastical History which mentions the Christians actions once the Roman army withdrew in 66 C.E. We use these writings and other to help us get a better understanding of the time period of the Bible and to strengthen our faith in Bible prophecies such as the one I just explained. However, none of these secular writing are inspired by God like the Bible is. We believe that of all of the ancient writings, the Bible stands alone as being the only holy book and when any secular book contradicts the Bible, we believe the Bible.
Regarding the Nazis…JWs were the first and initially the only religious group to openly oppose Hitler and the Nazis(there were individuals within Catholic and Protestant religions that opposed Hitler but they were the minority. The majority of Catholic and Protestant religions not only accepted them but embraced them). Because of that they were among the first to be put into concentration camps. Over 10,000 were put into camps and hundreds died.
Regarding the works of Christianity…the Hebrew scriptures are just as important as the Christian-Greek scriptures but there is very little regarding Christianity in the Hebrew scriptures. The Hebrew scriptures shows how the seed or offspring mentioned at Genesis 3:15, that would undo the effects of the rebellion in the Garden of Eden, would be produced from Abraham’s offspring. And how this seed, Jesus, would rule as king over a kingdom that will remove the current kingdoms or governments and rule forever(Daniel 2:44; 7:13, 14; Isaiah 9:6,7; chapter 11). The original first century Christians are the original Christians. The only way to find the original works of Christianity is to read the Christian-Greek scriptures. Jesus told his disciples to seek first the kingdom and once the Christian congregation was formed that’s what they did. They understood that it was through God’s kingdom that God’s original purpose which is perfect humans who would live forever in paradise on earth would be fulfilled. We model ourselves after the first century Christians and put our hope in God’s kingdom to remove the current wickedness we see today.
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NWT is really not a good translation. Secret committee, no independent verification outside the Watch Tower. Most Christian denominations do not recognize it as a valid translation.
I know you are a JW and that’s what you guys use, but it is considered an errant translation by most Christian denominations, both Protestant and Catholic.
I mean no offense at your faith or your beliefs. I just want to make it known that the majority of Christian scholars do not recognize the NWT and do not consider it an accurate translation.
I am not saying this to you per se, but for those who aren’t familiar with the Christian faith that the NWT is used only by and for JW’s and no others.[/quote]
99 percent of our beliefs can be found in any translation of the Bible. I actually prefer to show people in their own translation of the Bible so people can’t say that we come to our conclusions because our Bible is different.
Regarding the accuracy of our translation. . . . take a look at the book Truth in Translation as to why the New World Translation is the most accurate of the major translations. The author is a third party professor who is not a JW.
It’s no surprise that other Christian denominations don’t agree with it. Since our beliefs are different than all other Christian denominations and we try to show people why beliefs such as Hellfire and immortality of the soul is not Biblical the first things people will say is because our Bible is different. It’s actually 99 percent the same as the other major translations.
