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Zathrus
King Kong
Joined: 28 Aug 2002
Posts: 2273
Location: WI USA
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 Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:40 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | If we are lovers of the truth, there is nothing to fear from such an examination. |
Amen. And if the religious organization you're part of loves the truth, it has no reason to fear its teachings being examined.
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Establishing the law by receiving the righteousness which is by faith, without the deeds of the law!
2 Cor 3 "11For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious."
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Officially approved in 451 |
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bibletalk
Tadpole
Joined: 19 Aug 2006
Posts: 17
Location: New York, NY
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| Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 2:06 pm Post subject: Use of secular sources by Witnesses |
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The Witness publication, “Let Your Kingdom Come,” has an appendix on pages 186 through 189 that offers the following thoughts:
1. Secular sources for the desolation of Jerusalem in 587/586 include Ptolemy’s Canon, Nabonidus Harran Stele, VAT 4956 and Business tablets.
2. “No historian can deny the possibility that the present picture of Babylonian history might be misleading or in error.”
3. “Christians who believe the Bible have time and again found that its words stand the test of much criticism and have been proved accurate and reliable. They recognize that as the inspired Word of God it can be used as a measuring rod in evaluating secular history and views.”
4. “We believe that the most direct reading of Jeremiah 25:11 and other texts is that the 70 years would date from when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and left the land of Judah desolate.”
5. “Furthermore, Josephus elsewhere describes the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and then says that “all Judea and Jerusalem, and the temple, continued to be a desert for seventy years.” (Antiquities of the Jews X, ix, 7)”
6. “We are willing to be guided primarily by God’s Word rather than by a chronology that is based principally on secular evidence or that disagrees with the Scriptures. It seems evident that the easiest and most direct understanding of the various Biblical statements is that the 70 years began with the complete desolation of Judah after Jerusalem was destroyed.”
While Witness publications do reference secular sources and use their data, as noted above, they do not feel bound to accept those sources as final authorities. |
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Wolvo
Alley Cat
Joined: 06 Jul 2008
Posts: 181
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| Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 6:50 am Post subject: |
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| Bibletalk wrote: | | While Witness publications do reference secular sources and use their data, as noted above, they do not feel bound to accept those sources as final authorities. |
Thanks Bibletalk for the reference.
In coming to their 607BCE date however they do rely on those sources you mention as final authorities.
To calculate 539BCE as the date Cyrus conquered Babylon, JW's rely on Ptolemy's Canon, Vat 4956 and Business tablets.
They then estimate that Cyrus announced his decree to release the Jews from captivity about 18 months later, bringing it to 537BCE. They count backwards 70 years from this date to calculate 607BCE. They then count forward 2520 years to calculate 1914CE.
So you see the Watchtower society relies heavily on secular sources to calculate their dates. The only dispute JW's have with secular sources is their definition of the 70 year period.
The 70 year period however can be harmonised with a 587/6 BCE date for Jerusalems destruction. But JW's refuse to accept this as it would throw their 1914 central doctrine out. |
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