What do you think about this?

Question

In his book, Truth in Translation, Jason BeDuhn wrote:

You see, Protestant forms of Christianity, following the motto of sola scriptura, insist that all legitimate Christian beliefs (and practices) must be found in, or at least based on, the Bible. That's a very clear and admirable principle. The problem is that Protestant Christianity was not born in a historical vacuum, and does not go back directly to the time that the Bible was written. . . .

For the doctrines that Protestantism inherited to be considered true, they had to be found in the Bible. And precisely because they were considered true already, there was and is tremendous pressure to read those truths back into the Bible, whether or not they are actually there. . . .

Catholicism, while generally committed to the idea that what the Church believes can be proven by and is grounded in the Bible, maintains the view that Christian doctrine was developed, or brought to more precise clarity on key points, by the work of theologians over time. It is not necessary, from the Catholic point of view, to find every doctrine or practice explicitly spelled out in the Bible. . . .

The Jehovah's Witnesses, on the other hand, are more similar to the Protestant in their view that the Bible alone must be the source of truth in its every detail. So you might expect translators from this sect to labor under the Protestant Burden. But they do not for the simple reason that the Jehovah's Witness movement was and is a more radical break with the dominant Christian tradition of the previous millennium than most kinds of Protestantism. This movement has, unlike the Protestant Reformation, really sought to re-invent Christianity from scratch. Whether you regard that as a good or a bad thing, you can probably understand that it resulted in the Jehovah's Witnesses approaching the Bible with a kind of innocence, and building their system of belief and practice from the raw material of the Bible without predetermining what was to be found there.

No I am not, and neither is Jason BeDuhn.

Ellen J: That was sort of the point. They changed their beliefs to suit the Bible.

Answer 1

r u a Jehovas witness?

Answer 2

The differences that are found between all Christian religions are based on their specific interpretation of what the Bible "means" as well as the interpretation of specific texts.

Personally, I am not a big fan of organized religions for this one reason. I'm sure that each and every one of them believe themselves to be the only "right" interpretation of scripture but let's face it...some are just plain weird.

I prefer to base my beliefs on what the various religions agree upon as I think it is the information that seems most likely to be truth. That is only two items to my knowledge...God is the creator...and Jesus is the Son of God who died and was resurrected from that death.

Answer 3

In fact, this is the very basis on why I chose to become one of Jehovah's people. Too many others reason away Bible fact under the force of man-made tradition...which is their right. Just wasn't where I was heading in my search for footstep followers of Christ. It also explains why some people see us as a faith which is always re-inventing itself. In fact, the first people, in this era, to decide to begin with the bible as opposed to with lead teachings, had to work backward through all of that dogma, doctrine, and tradition, to get to where we are today. The bible itself says that the light of truth gets progressively clearer - I feel personally, this is paralleled by one's honest, humble, and hungry search for it. I like this comment!

Answer 4

Paul,Peter,James,etc. were Jews (not from Rome) from Isreal.Jesus taught them in Isreal (even Paul was converted on the way to arrest christians in Isreal (not Rome).
None of the apostles were converted or stated ministry in Rome.Paul was a christian when he went (as a prisoner) to Rome.Stephen was stoned in Isreal and probably never saw Rome.
Jesus said to preach the "Good news" starting in Jerusalem.
The Day of Penticost wasn't in Rome (it was in the upper room).
They were first called christians in Antioch:
Acts 11:26
Why were christians fed to hungry lions?

Answer 5

Is "sola scriptura" in the Bible? Imean if principals come only from scripture where do you find "sola scriptura" in the Bible?

Answer 6

I'm not buying a religion where they rewrite the Bible to suit their theology no matter how "innocent" they are.

Answer 7

I see that someone wanted to be kind to the JWs. The rest is rather old stuff.